Joy: A Few More Thoughts

Several months ago, I treated the subject of joy from the perspective of Bono, the Irish rock star. More than a few of you commented on how surprised you were to learn that Bono has developed a spirituality of joy that he tries to insert as part of his music and his relationship with audiences all over the world. When we associate joy with our faith or spirituality, we almost always think of Christmas which is typically a very joyous season. But Easter and post-Easter Pentecost also create a joyous season of faith. Handel’s Messiah is sung, in selective parts, both at Christmas and Easter services. Alleluia is a word repeatedly sung in liturgies and in common prayer throughout the Easter season. We have reason to be joyous because we acknowledge our redemption, and we know we are destined for eternal life. It is fine to be jumping for joy this time of year. 

And all year, for that matter.

So argue Archbishop Desmond Tutu and His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, in their book, The Book of Joy. My friend and fellow-blogger, Sr. Melannie Svoboda, SND, made ‘Joy,’ the topic of her blog last week. The book is a discussion of conversations between these two Nobel Prize laureates, collected by author and editor Douglas Abrams. The question on which the book pivots is, How do we find joy amid life’s inevitable sufferings?

I urge you to read Melannie’s blog because she gives the essence of the book and how it is that two people who have led sometimes difficult lives could manage to be joyful as they gave witness to faith and love for millions. At the end of my blog, I give Melannie’s blog address. You will find it informative and up lifting. 

Melannie’s reflection got me to thinking. The question of how do we find joy in the midst of so much suffering is a thorny one indeed. The sight of a baby born as an orphan in Gaza, cut from her dead mother’s womb, nearly sent me over the edge the other evening while watching the news. A quote I read from a Sister working for immigrants in Chicago which says, “None of us earned our citizenship; we were born into it” made me wonder why we make it so hard for others to achieve it. And then there are the people I know of who endure abusive marriages, who lose family members, especially children, to all sorts of addiction, who endure the loneliness of family alienation, and on and on it goes. 

But there are moments of hope when joy seeps through the cracks and love and faith surface dazzling us with more joy. Both Tutu and the Dalai Lama attest to this.

For example, this past week I had the experience of being with 200 members and associates of my community at a gathering in Cincinnati. At the end of a long day of meetings on Saturday, four of us decided to go out to dinner and debrief the day. On the way to the restaurant, we started recalling funny stories we had experienced over the years in our ministries. Pretty soon we were laughing so hard we nearly missed the restaurant driveway. Once inside, the waitress took us to a booth as we continued laughing and telling more stories. The waitress said, “I wish I could have dinner with you girls!” When seated, one of the sisters told a famous joke she told once before but we love it so much we had asked her to tell it again. Yes, you can believe it: we were off again, rolling side-to-side in the booth, laughing so hard we had to hold our sides, our water glasses shaking on the table! And we had not even had any spirit beverage at that point!! 

A woman, who had been watching us, came to our table smiling and asked if we were nuns. Very sheepishly we said yes but asked how she knew. “Your joy,” she said. She had attended our university as did her mother and sister and then another round of laughter occurred as she recalled stories of the nuns who taught there and the antics of the students—all women at the time.

When we finally settled enough to eat our dinner, others who were leaving the restaurant came up to us and said they were so happy to observe such happy, joyful friends. We hadn’t realized we were so noticeable. Were we actually giving witness to something, something rare and attractive in this day of absorption in cell phones and not in each other? Thinking we might have been too boisterous, we started to apologize, but everyone said, “No apologies. We’re happy to see happy people.” 

Reflection

The words, “Your joy,” have remained with me since the woman shared them with us. Our joy was in being together, sharing stories we experienced, telling jokes (even old ones), and friendship. 

This might have been like the joy of the Beloved Community of the followers of Jesus after the Resurrection. We four sisters are not without our own challenges to joy. We have struggled through family issues, deaths of loved ones, misunderstandings within our ministries and sometimes that pervasive shadow of loneliness. Like everyone else, we need the comfort and consolation of friends to challenge what Melannie wrote can descend into a “bully attitude” where we can become isolated and self-centered. 

I suggest you reflect on what makes you joyful and then work at it, show it, live it. Other people will come up to you then and say, “You’re a person of faith because I see your joy.” Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit so why not during these days of pre-Pentecost when we celebrate the presence of the Spirit in our lives of faith, pray that you might open your heart to more joy and become as St. Ireneus encouraged, “An alleluia from head to foot.”

Check out this wonderful song on YouTube (kids will love it) that was sent to my community last week: “This Joy That I Have,” by Resistance Revival Chorus

Melannie Svoboda’s blog can be accessed through google or https://melanniesvobodasnd.org/

Be joyful my friends!!