Joy
“Dancing in the Son-light, everybody’s feeling warm and bright.
It’s a supernatural delight, when we’re dancing in the Son-light”
I don’t know whether everyone knows the above song which I unabashedly misquoted here, but I thought it’d be appropriate to describe what I’m feeling today. And it has taken me all of 2 weeks to be able to put this down into words; not because I couldn’t explain my emotions and experiences over this period of time, but rather because it has taken my puny mind and mis-directed heart that entire period of time to finally comprehend what God was putting me through.
Yet, more importantly, “dancing in the Son-light” doesn’t equate to a happy-jumpy elation that one would automatically imagine when thinking about it. On the contrary, this is a peaceful joy that only God can give, even though my heart and mind are crashing, malfunctioning and hurting from the questions and worries that still haunt the human nature that is so deeply embedded within. In fact, this joy can only stem from 2 things:
2. That He does all things well.
And there was all that we see
The sound of Your voice
The works of Your hand
You do all things well
You do all things well”
- “You do all things well” by Chris Tomlin
Sorry… thought the song was appropriate here.
So I guess joy is a choice… a response to what is happening in and around us, given our knowledge and experience of God in our lives. In his book, Here and Now, Fr. Henri Nouwen draws parallels of the relationship between sorrow and joy to all the apparent contradictions that Jesus reveals in His cross – life and death, victory and defeat, love and pain. Yet, we who are disciples are called to take up our crosses and follow Christ, and to be, as St Paul says, crucified with Christ on our cross… and the tough part is not to struggle too much when we’re hanging on our cross.
And yes, the world says this is probably crap. After all, what we’re taught in the world is to try to escape and push away any thing/situation that brings pain, suffering, hurt, while doing our utmost best to strive for happiness (temporal?), victory (over each other?), wealth (material?). To die is gain? To the world, bullshit. To carry our cross? To the world, irrational martyrdom and sadism. To see joy in sorrow? Total nonsense.
I guess it boils down to one question: do we choose God and His ways, with all the pain and sorrow that they may bring while underlying all that is an unmovable joy and peace? Or should we look towards the temporal happiness that chasing all things of the world may bring? And even if we may make the right choice, it’s one that we will have to make every morning, every time we hurt inside, every time something goes awry.
My choice? Joy. Anyone who has that name? Heh.
Rhino 5
posted by Rhino for God! at 3:35 PM
2 Comments:
Vishnu Yahweh, Jehovah (Hebrew: 'Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay', ??-?? ) are some of the names used for God in various translations of the Bible (all translating the same four letters - YHVH). El, and the plural/capital form Elohim, is another term used frequently, though El can also simply mean god in reference to deities of other religions. Others include El Shaddai, Adonai, Emmanuel. When Moses asked "What is your name?" he was given the answer Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, which literally means, "I am that I am," as a parallel to the Tetragrammaton Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay. See The name of God in Judaism for Jewish names of God. Most Orthodox Jews, and many Jews of other denominations, believe it wrong to write the word "God" on any substance which can be destroyed.
As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my care was employed in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; and that the contrary motivation must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct.
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