On a scale of 1-10 – where is your “joy-o-meter” these days?
Bah humbug. Ah… Let me say it again. BAAH HUUMBUGG!!! Ah, I feel so much better. Bah humbug. Bah humbug, bah humbug. My, that’s ever so much nicer. Feels good to say that, I must say. Feels good to get that off my chest. Because I think I need to get that out of me. I need to shake off the doubt/sadness which would be scrooge-like within me. I need to rid myself of the cynicism that precludes me from experiencing Advent/Christmas joy.
You see, it is so easy not to feel the joy. It is so easy not to be rejoicing this season. A good friend has stage 4 prostate cancer. Mom is in the early stages of hospice care. I had dinner with an UMSL alum after a three year hiatus, and she has through ugly, ugly things since I last saw her, and my heart is sad for her. The church is still mired in this abuse scandal, and though I am grateful to have just celebrated my 34th anniversary since ordination, I am sick at heart from the revelations that have come to light, and the ones that undoubtedly will. I WAS glad to see the sun yesterday afternoon, but the weather hasn’t been helpful. And. And. And… Do you know that in your own life these days? The feeling when Bah humbug seems to be the most honest word in our hearts, the truest word in our world.
Into that experience, the church says: Put on your ROSE vestments, light the joyful candle, prepare your heart for major joy and peace. “Rejoice always” Paul writes from his prison cell. “Again, I say it: Rejoice,”. So on a scale of one to ten, how joyful are you these days. What is the joy-o-meter doing? Because we are invited to celebrate God’s nearness, and to let ‘joy’ and ‘rejoicing’ be the words in our hearts
So what does joy look like? In a gloomy time, how do you let yourself be found by it? How do you let it wash over you and catch you? Paul gives us some hints:
· “Your kindness should be known to all.” If you want to live joyfully, then others should know of your concern and love for them. There is something that gives joy to the heart when the heart gives to others, shows mercy to others. We find the beginning promise of joy stirring within us, as we reach out to those in need.
John the Baptist spells this kindness out even more clearly: What you need to do is not heroic stuff. No need necessarily to be a missionary in a far off land. Rather, if you have two coats and your neighbor has none, guess who owns the second coat. And if you have food, and your neighbor doesn’t… And if you exercise power over others, don’t abuse it. In concrete action your kindness must show itself.
· “The Lord is near.” He is always near. I am just the one so caught up on going from event to event and thing to thing – I never slow down enough to really hear. (Hurry always empties the soul, as you might remember from two weeks ago. So, here is one of my go-to penances during advent. Stop the car a half a block away from home. Turn off the radio. And just sit for three minutes. (If it helps, imagine Jesus opening the passenger side door, and joining you in the silence.) Let that silence deepen your sense of the nearness of God.
· “Have no anxiety, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” When you remember with thanksgiving, an interesting thing happens. You discover that God has been faithful to you. Then, you find gratitude welling up in your heart. And what I know is that it is hard for gratitude and sorrow, gratitude and pity, gratitude and anxiety, gratitude and a lot of other ‘non-joyful things’ to live in the same heart at the same time. So, my other go-to penance in advent is to do a simple gratitude journal. List just three things a day that tickly your heart. For example, a 2nd grader commented to mom after first reconciliation on Wednesday: “Mom, this is the best feeling ever.” Hard not to have a smile on your face when you hear things like that.
So, on a scale of one to ten, where is the joy-o-meter registering these days? If it is high, then continue the kindness, the outreach, the love to those who are struggling. If it is low, then you know at least in part what you have to do.
Bah Humbug? Sometimes you do have to say it. Just to get the sadness out. Just to get the frustration out. But, to live Bah Humbug all the time? I don’t think so… and neither does God…