We dream and soon forget that paradise is lost and that we are but pilgrims on the way. And as the castles we build are but reflections of our nothingness, the way to them is emptiness, and their possession but the seizing of an unsubstantial dream.

Yet, some joys do come to us with all the savor of an autumn fruit, with the satisfying fullness of reality—and most often they come unexpectedly.

Our job is not to hunt for passing joys, or to build dream-delights of nothingness. Ours is the task of living now, in the simple, solid fact of our state of life, where a more substantial truth and truer delights are to be found than in the chasing of any dream.

Should we, then, not look ahead, not rejoice in things to come? Oh yes, we should. But let us place our hope in what is really Joy, in him upon whose face the angels desire to look.

And if, while seeking this perfect Joy, we find that he has granted us along our simple days, an abundance of fanciful delights, let us thank him for these reflections, these sparkling facets of the Joy to come.

But let us not anticipate their coming with too much eagerness, nor cry too bitterly when they are gone. For in our desire of what is but a shadow and in our pain over its inconsistency, we may be losing sight of the One whose gift of delight is for everyone.

—Reprinted with permission from Alleluia Press, Allendale, NJ, 07401