Nick Welsh, Shop Manager of The Iona Community Welcome Centre on the Isle of Iona, shares her monthly book recommendations. This month they are joyful!
Joy of all sizes
I have been ruminating on the subject of joy this week. Many people come to Iona and experience joy: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. As I write, the Iona Community team is looking forward to a wedding in the Abbey of two volunteers who met here, Suzie and Brian. I know it will be a day of great joy for them, their friends and family who have travelled to be here, and for those of us on Iona who saw their relationship blossom last year.
Easter makes me think of the quote from Psalm 30:5. “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”
After Jesus’ crucifixion, how full of despair and fear must the disciples have been, and then how much greater their joy when they had their eyes opened and realized Jesus was still with them. This verse has helped me through some dark nights of my life, especially four years ago when I was going through a course of chemotherapy. The joy was always feeling God close to me and having my family around me.
Joy comes on many levels. We sell Divine Joyful chocolate bars in the shop. I witnessed a young girl being gifted a bar by another member of her pilgrim group yesterday, and the smile on her face was a delight to see. Chocolate also brings me great joy!
Last week a customer came into the shop, browsed the books and had a cup of coffee. She said: “I love this shop. I came last year and it always feels so welcoming. I come here and I don’t feel judged, if only every Christian space felt the same.” That is exactly how we want the shop space to feel. It warmed my heart to know that we had achieved that.
We all need more joy in our lives: small joys like chocolate or great joy like celebrating the wedding of friends.
Joyful book recommendations
My book recommendations this month are full of joy. They are all available from the Iona Community shop.
- The Book of Joy. A conversation between Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama by Douglas Abrams
These two pillars of their faith met for a week and shared conversation and stories about how to live a life of joy despite times of great despair. - Whispers of Light by Joy Mead
Joy’s poems celebrate what it is to be alive and also, perhaps, what it is to contemplate death. - Good News of Great Joy by Neil Paynter and Peter Millar
Daily readings for Advent from members, associates and friends of the Iona Community in various different countries around the world.
Photo: Guests spell out Iona. Credit: C Mannall/Iona Community
USA North East