BURLINGTON – When was the last time you experienced joy? Take a moment: the birth of a grandchild, a perfect summer day, being in the presence of a dear one, that time you couldn’t stop laughing? Has it been a while? Are there days or headlines or experiences that steal your joy?
The American poet, Wendell Berry once said, “Be joyful, though you’ve considered all the facts.” That is a powerful theological and spiritual statement. It is also a statement of joy as resistance. I have come to believe, deeply believe, that joy as resistance is an essential spiritual practice for the living of these days.
In John 15:11, we recognize a part of Jesus’ farewell words to his disciples. In this passage, Jesus uses the imagery of a vine and branches to talk about the need for connection and love and community. “I am the vine, you are the branches.”Love one another as I have loved you.”. And, he says, “I have said these things to you that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” Here we have some clues as to the kind of joy that sustains in times of impending loss and sadness; the kind of joy that is strong enough to weather the hard times, the harsh times, the times when it seems like we will never make it through what feels overwhelmingly difficult and cruel and unjust.
It seems clear Jesus wanted his disciples to remember that no matter what, they were not on their own nor were they simply individuals each with their own lives and struggles. No, his powerful metaphor was a reminder that we’re in this together. The United Church of Canada’s Statement of Faith ends by saying, “In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.” But, Jesus’ words in the Fifteenth Chapter of John go even further. Not only are we not alone because God is with us, we are not alone because we have been given to one another and commanded to love one another as we have been loved.
A woman who had recently lost her young son to cancer confessed to her friends from her church, “I don’t know what I believe anymore. I can’t even pray.” One of them gently replied, “then we will pray for you. Until you are able to do so once more, let our prayers carry you.” Isn’t this, at our best, what we do for one another? When one of us gets too weary to go on, we carry each other through those dark days. In the struggle for justice and right relationship, we find ways to keep our courage alive, our hope ignited, together. Isolation is such an effective tool when the powerful are attempting to break someone.
My friend, Giles, was a POW in Korea for nearly three years. He tells stories about how he and his fellow prisoners survived by being present for one another. Even when beaten and tortured and isolated, they found ways to communicate through tapping and sound. When allowed to be together, they took turns teaching classes for each other on what they knew. Giles taught a course on etiquette and folding napkins to set a formal table. In the Korean Veterans War Memorial in D.C. is a pair of Giles’ pajamas and his most precious gift from his imprisonment:a needle made by a fellow prisoner out of a small bone, a Christmas gift. Together, they found ways to give each other moments of joy.
Wellesley College historian Kellie Carter Jackson is the author of a book entitled, “We Refuse: A Forceful History Of Black Resistance.” In it, she documents stories of enslaved Black women who would sometimes walk into the forest for miles in the middle of the night to throw dance parties. They did this as an act of defiance, to remember their humanity, that their existence was about more than slavery. They did this together, to keep one another going and say you will never take our humanity, you will never take our joy from us.
I don’t know about you, but these days try my soul. I limit my consumption of news. I have to or I can become completely overwhelmed. I don’t want to live in the land of despair because that robs me of the ability to act, to believe that change is possible and to do whatever small good I can right here and right now.
I need to remember that the world is a beautiful place and there are good people everywhere. I need to laugh and when I am weary, gratefully let someone else lead for a while.
Most of all, I need to remember I am not alone.
We are, all of us, in this together. I have been and am loved and I can and do love. All of these are ways I try to remember each day to open myself to being surprised by joy.
If this is one of those hard patches for you, if the land of despair is calling your name, I hope you’ll dance.
Dare to resist! Be joyful, though you’ve considered all the facts.
The Rev. Dr. Lynn Bujnak is the Conference Minister for the Vermont Conference of United Church of Christ
