Kissing the Joy

Can you tell me why some days overflow with joy while others are humdrum at best, and the pits at worst? July 5th - an extra day in a magnificent weekend; should have been one of those joyful days, with nothing big planned...rest, relaxation, a small household project, topped off by a White Caps game with good friends...pretty much the good life. No complaints; all good. but in the grand scheme of things, it came and went as expected. Some days, like July 5, you are just glad that nothing went wrong to spoil the plans. So be it.

Then there was yesterday, July 6. The extra day off on Monday set Tuesday's agenda - picking up loose ends from Sunday. I figured a day in the office was in order; mail from the long weekend, the last few Annual Conference details to wrap up, phone calls to return, a worship service to build...pretty much the normal routine of life. Same old, same old...

Then, bit by bit, unplanned and unannounced, joy arrived: (1) A phone call made to the insurance company produced the good news -- more reimbursement than expected for items stolen on Palm Sunday evening; (2) An email from a young couple whose wedding I officiated in 2003, asking about baptism of their first child; (3) A trip to Novi to see our two grandsons, Brendan who played baseball and Karson who just played...oh - our son Nick was there too. All an incredible gift; (4) Finally, at the end of the day, an 11th-inning walk-off home run by Johnny Damon to keep the Tigers alone in first place.  Even the one planned event - the trip to Novi - provided it's own unpredictable moments of joy - a fist-bump after Brendan's come-from-behind victory and an exuberant hello-hug from Karson, complete with dusty hand-prints all over my shirt. The kind of hand prints you want to frame and hang on your wall.

Taken together, these two days are proof positive of the Yiddish proverb: Mann traoch, Gott Lauch (Man plans, God laughs). 

William Blake has a little poem, "Eternity" where he talks about how a too-tight grip on life destroys it. His advice is to release our grip and "kiss the joy as it flies."

"He who binds to himself a joy, does the winged life destroy.
He who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in eternity's sunrise."

We hold tightly to life and we find disappointment; we destroy the winged life. But if we kiss the joy as it flies through our experiences, our thoughts, our coming and going...every such moment is a sunrise.

I'm a planner, an organizer, a designer of much in my life, which is to say that I must leave God laughing a lot. One thing I know: When the God-given joy flies unexpectedly in, I can cling desperately to it, freezing the moment for future reference like a fist-bump, or dusty hand-prints on my shirt. Or, I can kiss it and let it go, knowing there will be another sunrise simply because that's how grace works. I think I'll give grace a chance.

This is My Song
With gratitude to Georgia Harkness, ca. 1939.
United Methodist Hymnal, © 1989, The United Methodist Publishing House

“O God of all the nations…”
On this Independence Day I pray for the safety of those who serve in our armed forces, and for the safety of those who serve in other countries, including those who oppose us. As always, the front lines are those who either feel they have no other choice for a future than military service, or they are answering a call which they believe to be more compelling than anything else. They are doing their duty, and scripture commands that we support our governments. They cannot be asked to take scripture less seriously than those who choose another way to express it.

“But other hearts in other lands are beating…”
I continue to pray for an end to war, which is idolatry in its most violent expression. My heart aches for families separated and devastated by wars that have no justification, if war ever does. I pray for an end to the greed of leaders at home and abroad causing or allowing injustice, whether in our land or others, and an end to the hatred that is founded in fear of those who believe differently than I do. I pray that Christians, Muslims or Jews whose founders all share a common holy city, though they may not understand their Creator in the same way, will all work and pray for peace, guided by the God who is known through the rituals and symbols that were forged among the peoples of the middle east.

“But other lands have sunlight too, and clover…”
I pray for the homeless in our country, and for those forced to leave their homeland and families to become homeless in our nation. Whether they be legal or illegal by current political definition, people of faith are called to live under another Authority as well, and to welcome the sojourners, offering hospitality as if they are ‘angels’. One who walked with Jesus said, “Once we ourselves were not a people, but now we are God's people, by the mercy of God.” (1 Peter 2:10). God is merciful, and we are made in the image of God. So should we be merciful.

“Thy kingdom come, on earth thy will be done…”
I pray not that we return to some imagined “Christian nation’ of the past; that state is a revised memory of the true history of our beginnings. I do pray that we step boldly into the future as Godly people, for God is already there and awaits our faithful response to his leading. America at its best does not replicate the past, but imagines a better future, and strives forward to improve the conditions of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all of our people. We are called to be better than our past.

“Let Christ be lifted up till all shall serve him…”
I am a Christian, and I understand the power that comes from beyond me, without which I am nothing. I pray I will never be speechless about that power. But others whose religion is different than mine also know this power that comes from a source beyond, and I rejoice that we have this in common: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”. (Psalm 46:1)

“and hearts united, learn to live as one…”
I am a Christian and a Citizen of the U.S., but that doesn't prevent me from recognizing and respecting the faith of those whose God is revealed in the culture and customs of Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, India, China, Japan, Thailand, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Latin America, or the Arctic Circle. I know in whom I have believed, yet I seek common ideals that bind me with other humans who seek the same peace.

“O hear my prayer, God of all the nations…”
I believe in Jesus Christ, who said he is the way, the truth and the life. I believe his way is among the greatest gifts humankind has received by grace, and that his way and his words have the power to lead all people into the presence of God. This Jewish carpenter did not establish a new religion (nor did his followers think it necessary), but instead he asked all of us to be transformed by God as our own religion guides us. He showed us the prophets of his faith as an example, and urged that we treat one another with justice, mercy, and humility; in fact he asked us only to love God and love our neighbor. (Matthew 22:37-39). Every religion at its best does that too. Imagine if we would all devote ourselves to it, and nothing else? Those without faith would be more convinced of the power of our prayer, and the vitality of our faith.

“myself I give thee; let thy will be done.”
On this Independence Day, I pray that I’ll always remember how dependent I am upon the grace of God, and upon those who join in the human endeavor to rise to the highest level of living possible – life in concert with the will of God. I pray that I will not forget to look for the places where God is making his will known, and that I, without fear or hesitation, freely and joyfully make that will my own. This is my song.

Bill Johnson
July 4, 2010