Unbridled Joy

Photo by Austin Schmid on Unsplash

I’m reposting this blog. It seemed like a good time to re-establish JOY in our lives.

Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow. —Helen Keller

Perhaps it is a bit audacious of me to post a photo of childlike exuberance in these times of unrest. I have to admit that I haven’t felt this kind of joy for a long time. But, I know it exists within me. When I totally surrender to the enchantment of each moment and embrace life as it comes to me the inner delight neutralizes the sorrow, pain, suffering, and I’m closer to that child-like joy. However, as an adult it is subtler and expressed much differently. And perhaps I and you have no desire to unleash such a physical expression of joy, but it can be imagined!

It begs the question, however, in times of the constant barrage of suffering, from where does the quiet inner joy come? The kind of joy that is unbridled, totally unlimited, like an ever-flowing well; transcending space and time and not bound by circumstances. The kind of inner consolation a young woman deported and murdered in Auschwitz expressed. In an awakened state and knowing her impending death, Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) wrote—

Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning.

I wonder from where that moment of faith sprung.

Barbara Holmes, theologian, author and former professor speaks from her roots of the Gullah people and ties joy to faith. Through difficult times she suggests that it is imperative to hope and engage in both deep inner contemplation and communal celebrations of worship, song, and dance. In both ritual and silence we move toward a more enlightened life. She writes:

Joy Unspeakable / erupts when you least expect it, / when the burden is greatest, / when the hope is gone / after bullets fly. / It rises; on the crest of impossibility, / it sways to the rhythm / of steadfast hearts, / and celebrates / what we cannot see.

The rhythms of life awakens us to activity that is visceral and invisible. Currently we are witnessing the horror of war and its subsequent destruction of innocent lives both in the Middle East and elsewhere with other kinds of destruction with no end in sight. It simply cannot be ignored. Through the ages Indigenous and African cultures have sought healing in ceremony and ritual that hold the critical moments of suffering and yet, liberates families and communities to return to ordinary life.

Based on research into Yoruban culture from the study of the writings of Robert Farris Thompson intertwined with her own cultural heritage, Dr. Holmes reminds us of the deep inner work necessary to come to wholeness with an earnestness in establishing a firm grounding on which individuals can affirm who they are—and she proposes:

[T]he contemplative moment as an expansion of human perception and a visitation of God’s unblinking inner and outer eye. When God is present, we respond in body and in spirt. Sometimes the eye swells, other times the feet leap, but inevitably the heart journeys home.

This is an amazing testament to the power of humans to do more than just survive in difficult times but through the guidance of inner light to thrive; leaving an honorable legacy for future generations. When we want to recoil and resist, Holmes seems to be saying we must expand from our center into a newness that cannot be found except through inner work.

Through his own honesty and discernment, guidance and encouragement for working through chaos and change can also be summarized in the words of Henri Nouwen:

What makes us human is not our mind but our heart,

Not our ability to think but our ability to love.

That is to say that from our moments of apparent weakness shines our ability to love ourselves and our neighbors, however they may appear to us. The experience is necessary and formative. This love is more than an emotional extension of ourselves it is a frequency that resonates beyond us, inclusive of everybody and everything. Joy ranks up there with peace and unconditional love. Imagine what a shift could occur in world affairs if through our collective consciousness we set in motion the frequency of joy. Joseph Campbell offers this insight—

We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

As embodied spirits we are constantly challenged with holding the tensions between, hope and despair, love and hatred, forgiveness and rigidity, fear and engagement. It’s an awesome and sometimes overwhelming obligation we are invited to share with our neighbors. Our soul emboldens us to keep at the task. And I believe joy is one of the graces that allows us to keep going.

Our joy may not look like the exuberant expression in the photo above, but in the imagination it looks a lot like generosity, humility and kindness for no other reason than BEing present to the person and situations before us. From my experience, sometimes this is not as easy as we wish, but it is certainly worth the effort.

In closing I offer this blessing from poet and author, priest and philosopher John O’Donohue.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.