Monthly Musings
April 2008
You know, sometimes our spiritual lives and study can be pretty serious work. So I have found that it’s always good to remind myself that although it is serious work, that it also can be a very joyous work…full of fun, laughter, and play! I believe joy is an essential element of spiritual growth.
Jesus told us in the gospel of John 15:11 “ I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete!” He didn’t say partial joy, joy once in a while or joy someday. He said complete joy!
So many times we hold this picture of a somber, serious and reflective Jesus. That was the Jesus of my youth. Now I see Jesus as an enthusiastic, dynamic man full of joy, passion and laughter. Sure Jesus had his solemn moments, a lot of them, but this guy had to have enjoyed himself. He had to have a degree of charisma, allure and joyfulness to draw people in. His message would have carried little weight if he had no passion for what he was teaching. And with passion comes great joy!
It's a strange thing, but I've noticed that often it is the most "religious" people who have a problem with laughter and the full expression of joy. They just can't seem to find a connection between God and light heartedness. To them, everything associated with faith should be approached with the utmost seriousness. They walk around so afraid of not being "politically correct" that they end up presenting faces of pious worry rather than enjoying the presence and utter joy of a relationship with a living God!
Billy Sunday once noted that "too many people have just enough religion to make themselves miserable." Some people think it is their duty to keep laughter at bay, happiness under the table, saving joy for the "afterlife". Guess what...we are in the afterlife! We are in the before life! There is only one life and that is the now life! If we want joy it's our spiritual “duty” to discover it now! Now there's a word that can bring up all kinds of old church baggage. Duty! Stay with me for a minute.
I believe that as a part of our earthly journey we have a "duty" to ourselves to continually seek out the truth and to serve others in doing the same. In the past I have been taught that this duty should be a self-depreciating, staid and sobering exercise. But lately I don’t think a high state of spiritual awareness can be accomplished without a sense of joy, a sense of passion, excitement and zeal involved in the process.
Now as far as churches go, when we sign on to be a part of a spiritual community, it's not all take and no give. There are "duties" of membership that usually involve participation in its activities and some kind of a tithe. What makes a church run? Volunteers and tithes...right? Without them the organization does not function. But the attitude behind the volunteerism and behind the tithes is the most important aspect of the process. The "attitude" is the oil that will allow the system to work effectively or not. There are three ways to look at this idea.
1. I have to! Volunteering and tithing as simply a requirement, a function, a perfunctory act of doing the minimum to get by. It is a completely joyless act and creates a joyless church.
2. I ought to! This second scenario is giving of oneself and ones abundance as a moral response or obligation. The church lets you know it needs more volunteers, is short on the budget, or someone within the church needs help so we act solely out of a place of obligation, maybe even guilt. When you serve from this mindset you create not only a joyless church but a needy one too.
3. I get to! This third scenario of spiritual "duty" is to see it not as duty but as an opportunity! Whatever the task is, it can and will be done with a sense of delight. Done with a feeling that however mundane the job may be, there is a mindset than knows it is a chance to share, to contribute to something you believe in, to learn something, to meet new people and to open up channels for a greater expression of God. This kind of attitude is a gateway to Joy.
New Thought is a message of opportunity, of hope and joy and if we get too serious about our spiritual endeavors we have missed the whole point. Here are some of the tools and opportunities I have learned on my quest for greater joy!
1. Don’t allow my attitude to be based on my circumstances!
We have power and control over our reality and there is a place of inner joy and strength that is untouched by the human experience. I’m not talking about happiness here. Happiness is based on chance and based on happenings. Happiness is found in a consciousness that says as long as everything is going my way I will be happy. The minute something goes wrong the happiness is lost. Happiness is circumstantial. Joy is relational! Relational to what? To God! Joy is an inner delight derived from an intimate relationship with the God of your very soul. No matter what the circumstances, no matter what life brings my way, if I have this inner delight, this inner grounding as a result of my relationship with God, joy will flood my soul, no matter the circumstances.....guaranteed!
2. WHEN and THEN thinking doesn’t create joy! When I get a new car, when I get married, when I get divorced, when I have enough money, when I pay off bills, when I get over this physical ailment, THEN I will be happy. When never comes.
Joy is available to you right now not in some distant time or place. Jesus told us heaven is here, it is now, it is at hand and it is within! He didn't tell us it was in a car or a house or in some far off distant place or time. Many people on the planet are putting off joy thinking it's only available in some hereafter as some kind of a reward. Joy is not something God distributes as a reward to those who manage to live their lives avoiding pain or sin. Joy is, instead, an integral part of our spiritual design, an integral part of the human spirit. I like to think of joy, not as something to go out and acquire, but rather a condition that is always present! It is woven into the fabric of our souls and it surfaces in direct proportion to our willingness to see it now, and to be present to it now!
When and then thinking has a sister called What if thinking! Living in a state of “What if this happens, what if that happens never allows you access to the joy available to you in the present moment. Jesus says in Matt 6:27 “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Norman Vincent Peale said – “Don't take tomorrow to bed with you”!
3. The greatest joy is gained through service to others. I have found that when I am feeling the most down, depressed or alone that a sure-fire way to get over those emotions is to do something for someone else. By offering myself to my church without the need for payment of any kind I have gained a fast pass to an inner sanctuary of joy. I have heard it said, “service is the highest form of prayer, and the highest form of worship”. For me service is the greatest access to joy!
It says in Isaiah, chapter 58:10-11 "Feed the hungry! Help those in trouble! Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you shall be as bright as day. And the Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy you with all good things, and keep you healthy too; and you will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring”. Sounds like a great deal to me. Albert Schweitzer said, “I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve”. Heaven exists in the exchange of energy between one being and another and I find that my level of heaven and joy is greater when I am the one doing the giving.
4. Complaining takes me out of joy and gratitude puts me back in!
The apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in all circumstances." Notice he said give thanks "in" and not "for" all circumstances. In other words, there is something we can give thanks for in every situation of life. Looking for what is working will bring you joy. Focusing on what is good right now in your life will create and expand the goodness and light. And we all know what light does…it eliminates darkness. There is more in life to be joyful for than to be sad about. Like most things in life, when we sit down and produce a mental list of blessings and highlights, we come to realize very quickly how fortunate we are and how truly good life has been.
5. Joy takes effort! Joy often arrives at the end of a long exhaustive effort, and most times surprises us right smack dab in the midst of effort! I’ve heard it said that joy, like opportunity, is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like hard work.
An attitude of joy is a decision that is followed by action. Many of us have given away our power and set joy on a shelf waiting for that perfect mate or relationship to create it for us. Some are looking for the perfect church to create joy for us, some the perfect pill. Joy will only come when we create it for ourselves. No one can do it for us. No pill, no relationship, no church. We have to seek it out within ourselves with a dogged determination because we know we are worthy of it! Sometimes it is only if we determine that we shall bring joy into this set of circumstances that it will be there.
6. Joy is healing. Aside from love, joy is the greatest tool for healing. By and large I think most doctors would agree that the person who has a good attitude, who can laugh and joke and cut up in the hospital bed before and after a surgical procedure, is far more likely to recover. And if not, at least he or she can go out smiling. When I leave this plane of existence I want to do it laughing, with a smile on my face and I want my last words to bring joy to anyone who happens to be near. I quoted Norman Vincent Peale earlier. This man was given a diagnosis that he was going to die. What’s the first thing he did? He put on 3 stooge’s movies, Abbot and Costello movies, and Laurel and Hardy movies. He had people tell him jokes all day long and he read humorous books. He beat his illness and when asked his secret, he said he healed himself through joy and laughter!
I’ll leave you with this quote from Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice”!