We’re at Advent III, Gaudete Sunday. This is the one devoted to joy.
After two weeks of contemplation and preparation (that’s the
plan, at least), this is the break in the stillness, when Christians bust a few
moves and proclaim the joy of the coming of the Christ.
This year—third of the pandemic, seventh of the fascist takeover
of the Republican party, unknown of the climate disaster, first of the
Russo-Ukrainian war—well, asking any cognizant person to give way to joy seems
like a stretch. Let’s face it: the world is just about literally a dumpster
fire. And that’s scary AF.
But I think that’s precisely what we all need—that break to just
take an hour, a day, a few minutes to look around you and find joy. It can be
as small as a baby’s smile or as great as an amazing cloud formation when the
sun hits it just right. If you mindfully give way to joy, it’s amazing how much
your emotional, spiritual, mental and even physical batteries are recharged.
Therefore, today’s Advent music is “Jesus bleibet meine Freude”,
known in the English-speaking world as “Jesu, joy of man’s desiring”, by J.S.
Bach. Here’s the Netherlands Bach Society performing it.
May all the people of the world find joy sufficient to lighten
the burdens we all carry.
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