The Fifth Day of Christmas: More Joy
“Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say rejoice.”
I’m up before everyone else in the house this morning. I arose before dawn for some reason. I’m telling myself it is so I don’t lose the workday habits, but really, I think I’m just a little anxious today. There’s no reason why I should be. That’s the joy of some of my mental foibles. Sometimes I’m just anxious.
So, defying medical wisdom, I am drinking coffee and spending some time on Teh Interwebs. That’s sure to help matters. This Italian Roast is delicious. Ha!
I’m on Facebook a lot. Some of you may also know me there. On Facebook, I’ve been tracking my work as a Third ORder Franciscan Novice by posting daily Franciscan Nuggets. They are from the Rule that all us Tertiaries follow. Here is today’s Franciscan Nugget.
“Day Twenty Nine - The Third Note, cont'd - This joy is a divine gift, coming from union with God in Christ. It is still there even in times of darkness and difficulty, giving cheerful courage in the face of disappointment, and an inward serenity and confidence through sickness and suffering. Those who possess it can rejoice in weakness, insults, hardship, and persecutions for Christ's sake; for when we are weak, then we are strong.”
We spend a lot of time talking about, meditating on, and generally considering the topic of joy. It is one of three foundational disciplines: Humility, Love, and Joy. Joy, for me, always starts with small, everyday experiences and items.
Drinking coffee. A hug from my spouse or child, petting the neighbor’s dog. These things give me life. I focus on these simple joys so that I can be better prepared to be joyful even as the shit hits the fan. These quotidian joys balance out the heartbreaking data dump that life can also bring. They are not a spiritual panacea. They are an act of spiritual rebellion. They bring healing. They keep me right sized. They help me keep perspective.
Either the Gospel of Christ is good news for all, or its not good news at all.
Today is the Fifth Day of Christmas. Golden rings and all that. Today is a day to celebrate joy. In the face of all of life’s difficulties, challenges, and heartbreak, joy is the only right response. Do not rejoice in difficulty because of difficulty. That is a kind of false pride akin to seeking martyrdom. Do not pretend that everything is going to be alright. That’s toxic positivity. No, rejoice in spite of life’s difficulties, challenges, and heartbreak. Rejoice anyway.
Joy is spiritual rebellion.
Rejoice.
“Joy, for me, always starts with small, everyday experiences and items.
“Drinking coffee. A hug from my spouse or child, petting the neighbor’s dog. These things give me life. I focus on these simple joys so that I can be better prepared to be joyful even as the shit hits the fan.”
I’ve been pondering lately the connection between Joy and Gratitude. I’m not sure I have landed on anything quite yet. But when I read your lovely entry today, I immediately thought of Gratitude as a practice.
I’m definitely thinking about this, in part, because of an episode of “Do By Friday” that I listed to recently (DBF is a weekly challenge podcast with Alex Cox and Merlin Mann). In this particular episode, the challenge was to say a simple, quiet, “Thank you ” in mundane (and not-so-mundane) moments.
It wasn’t a, “Thank you” directed to anyone in particular … certainly not specifically to the Christian concept of God or Christ. And it was perhaps most interesting to hear Merlin’s framing of when he found himself saying, “Thank you.” It was in moments where something happened through no particular cause – certainly not the result of his own effort. But in situations where one might assign an outcome to chance, or fate, but that sounds like higher stakes than most of the examples.
It was in the act of spontaneous Gratitude toward a fairly normal, everyday occurrence that I think I found myself reflecting the most. Examples like the ones you shared in this piece.
I’m not sure where this leaves me, but I do know I’m catching myself trying to whisper, “Thank you” more often than I was just a few weeks ago. And I do think I’m recognizing smaller moments of Joy more frequently as a result.
It’s Five Gold Rings day, the day when we all take joy in catching up because we all know the words, and because the music pauses just a bit to breathe, and because it’s something that sounds like a normal gift, something we can wrap. (Swans can get testy if you come at them with paper and tape.)
We’ve had family visiting for the last week from Canada and New Mexico. It’s been wonderful, but they all left for home yesterday, and the quiet is luxurious. My sofa is mine again.