Is it in that picture hung on the freshly painted wall?  Or is it in that work project that seemed to take forever but is done?  Is it that clean sink just scrubbed to look like new?  Is it crossing a finish line in a much anticipated race?  Perhaps it is found in that prized car so desperately longed for. Or in the face of a newborn child?  Maybe it is in that newly wed spouse or the one that has been around for decades now. Is it the house?  The sunrise?  The sunset?  A fresh bouquet of flowers?  That new outfit complete with the perfect accessories?  That dish you just prepared that is tantalizingly beautiful and delicious. A song. A poem. A book. Physical attributes. Intelligence. Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. 

Where is it found?  

Can it be found anywhere?

Is it known at the diagnosis of a disease?  Can it exist as a coffin is lowered in the ground as thoughts of continuing seem impossible in that moment?  Is it in a hospital bed with needles and cords and beeps of life hanging on?  Is it in the uncertainty of tomorrow when the struggle just seems too great?  Is it in the anger of knowing abuse?  Is it in the death of another unborn child because it just wasn’t wanted?  Can it possibly exist in a nation torn and ripped and bleeding to death from an election?  

Oh!  It can be found in all of those places. Because it isn’t situations, circumstances, things, or people that cause it to exist. Not an election. Not an abortion. Not abuse. Not the sunrise nor the sunset. Not flowers or landscapes. Not family or friends or enemies. Neither drugs nor alcohol can bring it into being. 

It is only found in the depth of knowing God. To sit still and quiet just to hear silence. In the silence the listening echoes only Him. Removing all hindrances. Draining life’s battles so that all is left is all that is important. 

Realizing the worries of yesterday are minuscule and ridiculous. And isn’t the worry of the MINUScule the subtraction of joy. That equation doesn’t add up. 

To live with the contentment of knowing God both in the depths of silence and in the chaos of life’s freeway of hills and valleys and bumps and crashes is the longing of my soul. He brings contentment. Only Him.