Joy

Monday, December 16

By Laura Still

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“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” 

John 1:4-5

You’ve got to be kidding, joy? Right now?

When Catherine asked me to write an Advent devotion about Joy, I was not in a good mood. It was a gray, gloomy day that turned suddenly cold, making the short hours of daylight even shorter. I had an evening event that I felt insufficiently prepared for, I had been chilled all day, and it was spitting rain. And the state of the nation and the world—let’s not even go there, except to say I’d been in a struggle with existential dread most of the year, looking for light in a tunnel that keeps stretching away into the darkness.

And yet, even in the deepest shades of night, there are points of light, far away like the stars. But also near, sparks kindled and candles lit by others who are on the same journey as I am, trying to find a way forward. Small as they are, these tiny glimmers form a chain that lets me put one foot in front of the other, looking for that next glow of radiance that lifts up my soul. So, on a day when I’m dragging my feet, feeling my way along the wall in a black funk, here comes Catherine, reaching for my hand in the dark, and holding out a candle, to rekindle the fire I’ve let go out.

Joy is like that. It appears ephemeral, a brief glow, a warm moment. But it’s really like a string of bright beads, each adding its particular color and brilliance to illuminate the whole. It is contradictory because it somehow takes intention and work, but it is also unexpected, appearing in circumstances no one can foresee. It cannot be forced or caged, but it can find its way through every barrier, physical or mental, and ignite in the lowest places of the spirit.

It can happen without warning, anywhere, at any time, but it comes most often in the presence of others. Of people reaching out to lift up someone else. Joy cannot exist without love, which means focusing not on ourselves and our own needs, but finding ways to help those around us. We become the people of God in community, not by being brilliant in ourselves, but by reaching out in the night to take someone’s hand and pass the light along the chain.

A candle goes out

but its light is not gone.

Changed, it rises

carried by currents

we cannot see,

expands

from existing in one place,

one time,

into all places, all times.

A transformation

not seen but felt,

in our deepest darkness

we hold the spark

inside us

join hands to form

the chain of light

darkness

cannot

overcome.

~~~

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Let me remember your word is a light on my path and a lamp to my feet, and you are beside me every step of the way.

Open my heart to your gift of unfailing love and the joy you offer in Christ in all times and all places, in doing work to glorify your name.

Amen.