ENJOY the Season!

 

Dear Friends,

                Joy is not a word in our everyday vocabulary. Sure, we say we enjoy someone or something. But we don’t say “I feel joy in seeing you.” We say  ”I’m happy to see you”.  Are joy and happiness the same? What is joy, anyway? Is it giddy delight? Belly-laughter?  Merry-making on New Year’s Eve?  The mood at tailgate parties? Euphoria over some particular achievement? These are all good for us – but they are not joy.  Joy is not the work of comedians or a spontaneous response to an appealing moment.

                Joy is a God-word . It is the keen awareness of the presence of God or the coming of God in our life-journey. Isaiah 61.10 gives us a way of naming  joy: “I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul.” Joy is a Christmas word, but not only a Christmas word. It is a learned response that requires time, patience, and a sustained effort.  Ugh! Work! Yes, but surprisingly light-hearted, light-filled work, work in which we become more clearly who we are and we see more clearly who God in Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is for us.

                Joy grows in us over a lifetime. The person who has learned joy gazes at, walks in this splendid and at the same time wrecked-up world and sees God’s imprint on life and nature.

                Our biblical ancestors who people our liturgical readings lived in times like ours –arduous times in which they worked at their right relationships, and made every effort to be faithful to the Lord. Like them, we are culturally enticed to seek outlets in evasion, fantasy, fleeting pleasures, and activities that are superficial or meaningless. We are invited by our times to believe that we are experiencing joy when we experience these things. Possessing the newest car, the newest toy, the world presumes, is equated with joy. But none of these things lead us to the conviction that God is in love with our world, and us.

                Last weekend, in our churches and homes, we lighted the rose-colored candle. It is unique on the Advent wreath, reminding us that God is near, and that in finding God, we find a deep satisfaction in life that is “beyond rubies”, as our British friends would say.

                A few days ago, at a local big box outlet mall, I heard the energetic ringing of the Salvation Army bell. The bell-ringer was a twenty something man who had broken his leg, I know not how. Years ago, he had heard about how another young man had dealt with a similar situation. This young man followed suit.  Rather than sit around and mope, he festooned his crutches with greens, berries and ribbons, and went out to encourage people’s generous giving. You can believe he was collecting a lot of green in his bucket!

                Don’t try to think your way into joy. It’s not a project. Don’t try program it, either. The experience of joy will overtake us if we are open. Be lighthearted and spontaneous at Christmastime. Deep joy and spontaneous fun don’t negate each other. Enjoy the season. Look around you and see for certain that God is in love with the world. We have great cause to rejoice.

~Joan Sobala, SSJ

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Seeking Salvation in Our Own Desert

Dear Friends,

            It is somehow delicious that, as winter revs up, our first and third readings have to do with desert experiences: the experiences of the captives, coming home from Babylon, and those of John the Baptist, precursor of Jesus, who also went to the desert.

            You and I share in these biblical desert experiences, wherever we live, wherever we work or spend our time. The desert is anyplace where the integrity of our soul is tried, where the fabric of our lives is stretched to tearing, where our world is in mortal battle with the challenge to human values and where tragedy is an unwelcome companion.

            It is within our own modern deserts, that we experience our own salvation, at the same time, accompanying others in the wilderness as they come to recognize and cherish salvation.

The voice of God speaks to us in the wilderness of unknowing what to do next, how to distinguish the devious from the good neighbor and, how to deal with pain, trauma and fear.

           

            In the desert, God says to us:   Stay Alert! The demons are waiting to stop us from doing our part to help build the Reign of God. In the breadth of our lives, we are exposed to moral wrong-doing and weakness, depression, addiction, loneliness and war. We travel through a variety of deserts, places within us and around us, that endanger or frighten us. Yet, as frightening as deserts may be, there is more. Isaiah describes the desert as a place of great beauty, and maybe we have seen that truth for ourselves: sweeps of sand, coiled into enchanting dunes, patterns of rose-tinted hues, concentrations of greens and copper,dry old creek beds ,and when the conditions are just right, the desert in bloom.

            In the desert, we can be sure we are embraced by God. Comfort my people, God said in Isaiah. God has comforted us in the past and continues to do so. And we, in our turn, pass on that comforting embrace to those we serve.

            When tempted in the desert and in the garden, Jesus needed the strength of God. Temptations were overcome, the goal was achieved and there was joy. Joy happens in life when the desert does not overcome us – when we reach quenching waters and find them, not as mirage, but real and refreshing, offering strength for the journey.

            Isaiah, John and Jesus, Himself, in their desert moments, bid us all: ! Listen! Listen! Listen to God’s voice in your own wilderness, for surely  you will hear the voice you long for.