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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Harry Baker

Good morning.

I was recently asked to write a poem on the theme of joy. To get myself in the right headspace for it I thought I would start listing things that bring me joy, no matter how big or small. This included but was not limited to: Crisps. Stroopwaffles. Leftovers for breakfast. How proud my teenage self would be of how often my adult self wears trackies. That sleeping, reading, and writing poems can never be a waste of time. Clearing my inbox Turning my phone off Being out of breath Crying. Especially in films. Fireworks. Self-Esteem鈥檚 latest album. Everything else Self-esteem does. Finding out that Stormzy plays both Wordle and Nerdle and taking this to be further evidence that we could indeed be really good friends. Musical Bingo Only Connect Taskmaster Ted Lasso My Yellow Wellies A decent Whatsapp group My nieces

Before long, what was initially quite a difficult activity begun to snowball, until by the end it was harder to stop than it had been to start. The final poem ended up simply being an extended list of joyful things, finishing with the fact that the start of this year was possibly the lowest I have ever felt and yet here I am. Being prayed for, being held, being warm, being vulnerable, being open, opening a packet of crisps.

A few days after finishing I came across the fantastic Mary Oliver poem that finishes with the line: Joy is not meant to be a crumb, and I was reminded that all these small things added up to something much bigger indeed. God thank you for joy. May you grant us space to reflect on the things that bring us joy in our lives, and may we be open to the abundant opportunity for joy that each new day may bring.

Amen.