“Now stay focused on Jesus, who designed and perfected our faith. He endured the cross and ignored the shame of that death because He focused on the joy that was set before Him; and now He is seated beside God on the throne, a place of honor.” (Heb. 12:2)
“Life is a precious gift conceived and given in love. Each breath is an offering of the Holy Spirit inviting us into intimate secure union with our adoring Father and beloved Son. This entire week recalling Jesus’s passion is a testimony to the breadth of His love for us.
As I encountered several doe-eyed fawns, a pair of mating mallards, several hawks, and a blue heron while walking in the woods this past week, I found my spirit lift and spontaneously sing the simple hymn The joy of the Lord is my strength. He heals the brokenhearted and they cry no more. He gives me living water and I thirst no more” (Allienne G. Vale 1971).
Poet Susan Williams tells me I am not alone:
I Count It Joy When I Hear
the voices in the river flowing by
the words whispered by the wind
the sound of rain pattering on the roof
the sound of geese overhead returning through the miles
©February 14.2021 by Susan Williams
Similarly, award-winning Baltimore poet Lucille Clifton expresses the same exhilaration in hag riding:
why
is what i ask myself
maybe it is the afrikan in me
still trying to get home
after all these years
but when i wake to the heat of morning
galloping down the highway of my life
something hopeful rises in me
rises and runs me out into the road
and i lob my fierce thigh high
over the rump of the day and honey
i ride i ride
And yet, in the midst of the unshakable reality of God’s unseen kingdom ruled by love, there is the concurrent reality of the principalities and powers set against God and His good creation, who delight in creating chaos around us and within us. They turn us against one another and against confidently trusting in God. They play to our pride, lust, anger, and contempt out of our self-protective strategies fueled by fear rooted in the wounds we have experienced.
We live in a time or rapid change where old certainties for many of us are being shaken. We feel our vulnerability to forces seen and unseen that are beyond our control.
Amid great opposition in his day, Nehemiah encouraged his Jewish brothers and sisters to “not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (8:10 RSV) Or as The Voice translation expresses Nehemiah’s hope, “Do not grieve over your past mistakes. Let the Eternal One’s own joy be your protection!”
For 16 years I journeyed with the 8th grade students at Cambridge School through the stories of the hope-filled, courageous men and women of faith who persevered through the unfathomable challenges of the Great Depression, World War II, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Cold War. My hope was to instill in these young men and women the confidence that they too could endure the challenges of their day. Over the course of those 16 years, we encountered the hardships of HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria killing millions in Africa; the threat of Islamic terrorism; and the impact of social media on their senses of well-being. Through it all, we engaged the ongoing challenges of disinvestment, violence, mass incarceration, and substance abuse that afflict communities in our own city of Baltimore.
Each Fall we would travel with Cuirim Outreach to a squatter community in Nogales, Mexico to partner with brothers and sisters there who were loving their neighbors through worshipping together, playing together, and working together to bring beauty and comfort to their simple homes and community. We experienced the joy of the laughter of the children as we put on simple carnivals and told stories of Jesus over simple meals that we helped prepare and serve.
This past January I had the opportunity to return to Salam Farm on the slopes of a volcano in rural Java, Indonesia. While I was there over 90 Indonesian grade school students were invited to walk up the hillside to join Indonesian and international high school students in experiencing 8 fun-laden farming activities. The children were divided into 8 groups with corresponding animal names and invited to practice their corresponding team animal sound as they spent the next couple of hours rotating from station to station. These children study in classrooms in serious disrepair and come from homes that are also incredibly simple. But what I experienced that day has left an indelible impression on my soul. My heart overflows even now as I recall their joyous, spontaneous laughter.
I Count It Joy When I Hear
a child at play
laughing at the ball he tried to catch
swinging on the swing set and shouting higher, higher
jumping up and down in the mud puddle calling for Mom to join in
running to Daddy coming home from work giggling Daddy Daddy Daddy
Jesus came so that we might be restored to love, joy, peace, and hope securely rooted in union with Abba, Him, and Holy Spirit. We see Him delight in meals shared with friends and those in bondage to illness, oppression, poverty set free. He laughed and he played with children. And when the time came, He endured the cross because of the joy set before Him.
It takes tremendous courage to see the humanity of others when we feel threatened. Psychologists tell us our most immediate instinct is to assess whether we are safe and secure. Hardships and wounds we have experienced understandably foster defensive responses of anger, hate, contempt, lust, and greed. All of these reactive postures flow from our fear-filled pride that we are on our own to take care of ourselves. And yet Jesus tells a different story. He is the ultimate embodiment of Abba saying I’m coming for you. I see you. I hear your cries. And I am actively caring for you.
I Count It Joy When I Hear
The Lord talking to me in the Bible
God answering my prayers be it yea or nay
Jesus speaking to my heart when my courage fails
The small quiet voice of God during the day.
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As we walk with Jesus this week may we find the same joy that He shared in secure loving connection with His Father that enabled Him to endure the cross and thereby conquer death so that we with Julian of Norwich may be able to proclaim: All is well. All shall be well.
Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Ps 30:5)
Some additional verse to awaken joy:-)
Joyful, joyful we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love,
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, hail Thee as the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day. – Henry Van Dyke
Let a joy keep you.
Reach out your hands
And take it when it runs by,
– Carl Sandburg
Surprised by joy — impatient as the Wind
I turned to share the transport . . .
– William Wordsworth