WEEK of JOY – Daily Advent Devotional – Day 15
Link to this week’s Advent devotional: joy.
WEEK of JOY
Sun, Dec 13 – DAY 15
Joy becomes the focus of our candle-lighting this week. How does the light of joy shine in your life?
One question we often ask is the distinction between joy and happiness. Happiness is often described as an emotional state of being that depends on external and goal-oriented circumstances to find fulfillment: it is defined by outward connections, accomplishments, and experiences. Joy, on the other hand, arises from an internal and spiritual wellspring. Happiness might be considered the arrival at a desired destination, while joy can take place at any time, by savoring the journey along the way, regardless of what’s happening.
So what spiritual practices support joy? As we have reflected in the past, find a way to re-frame a day through gratitude and appreciation is an excellent starting point. Advent is a wonderful time to explore this question and find resources that can build this capacity within you.
— Rev Gail
I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. — John 15:11
When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. ― Rumi
… joy came from deeply held spiritual beliefs but it also came from a place even beyond that. Joy comes when you make peace with who you are, where you are, why you are, and who you are not with. When you need nothing more than your truth and the love of a good God to bring peace … — Sandra Brown
Sat, Nov 28 Gratitude Reflection
Pay attention to darkness. What are the gifts that darkness brings to you?
Shade provides respite from glaring light or extreme heat. Night permits sleep and rejuvenation. Shadows reveal depth.
Darkness is, in some ways, the absence of light and color. In other ways, it is the blending of many hues to create a deeper, richer palette. Darkness may be identified as the fecundity of the womb and the slow nurturing of the dormant earth in winter. Darkness is the home of starlight, the natural element through which all light moves.
What form of darkness feels significant today? The cozy dark of a beloved corner where you can tuck up and retreat? The vaulting depths of a night sky? The eternal emptiness of the unlit ocean? The secret darkness of a hiding place where a treasure might await you?
In our faith tradition, darkness is that fertile state of being, across with the Spirit moved, originating the creative dynamics that resulted in genesis. Life sprang out of darkness.
Give thanks for darkness. . — Rev Gail
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him. — Daniel 2:22
Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness.
It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.
— Mary Oliver
You must have shadow and light source both.
Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.
— Rumi
Sat, Nov 21 Gratitude Reflection
Appreciate what rises. What goes up. What climbs.
The sun breaks over the horizon as it starts the day. People, in their efforts to achieve things, often rise. Sometimes the ascent is its own journey, sometimes it’s the path that leads to a goal or destination.
Sap rises. Birds and plans take off, balloons go aloft: they all rise. New life pushes up through the earth, toward the hope and necessity of sunlight, and rises.
Emotions rise. Expectations rise. Energy rises. Sometimes rising comes as too much of something: overwhelming or out-of-control.
Implicit in rising is the idea that things will soar. That you are making progress. Summiting. Reaching for a climax. Overcoming some obstacle or challenge.
Within the idea of the rising is also its corollary. What rises will also descend. Will settle down. Find a lower point or landing place again. Root itself in calm.
For now, let us give thanks for what rises, and all the promises and possibilities in that movement. — Rev Gail
Rise up, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you. — Genesis 13:18
You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. — Deuteronomy 11:18-19
Rise up, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; do not forget the oppressed. — Psalm 10:12
We rise by lifting others. ― Robert Ingersoll
You’ve seen my descent. Now watch my rising! — Rumi
Sat, Nov 14 Gratitude Reflection
Give thanks for food. For sustenance.
Consider how each element of a meal arrives on your plate. Trace its possible origin: sea or forest, field or garden, farm or stream. Imagine how it was caught, grown, hunted, raised or harvested. Track how nearby or far away its beginnings, then the means by which it was packaged and transported, whether a few miles, state-widths and ocean-lengths. What person selected it for your plate? How was it then prepared for eating?
Consider the earth that offered up its nourishment to feed you, and the many hands that brought it to your table. Take note of those who have fewer choices about their meals, and worry about what they’ll eat at the next meal, or how they’ll feed their family. Appreciate the way your body is sustained by the food you notice today. The jobs that are maintained by your choices, the environmental justice implied in your selections.
Of course, in our faith, Love itself becomes food. Offers spiritual nourishment. In many cultures, the preparation of food, the offering of hospitality, and the consumption of a meal are all sacred rituals.
Give thanks for food. — Rev Gail
… who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
O give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
— Psalm 136: 25-26
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
— Psalm 147: 7-11
He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.
— 2 Corinthians 9:10-12
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. — Tecumseh
Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life. ― Rumi
Meditation on weakness & strength, love & reconciliation: many members, one body. Theme from 1 & 2 Corinthians.
As for the body, it is solid and strong and curious and full of detail; it wants to polish itself; it wants to love another body; it is the only vessel in the world that can hold, in a mix of power and sweetness: words, song, gesture, passion, ideas, ingenuity, devotion, merriment, vanity, and virtue. Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.
— Mary Oliver
Questions to consider as themes from 1 & 2 Corinthians:
- What part of your body is weakest, most vulnerable?
- Which part of your body is strongest?
- In your community, who is weakest? Who is strongest?
- When and how do we honor those who are vulnerable? Do we honor anyone whom you consider to be weak?
- When and how do we become weak and vulnerable with others? For others? In what ways does this reveal strength?
- Who is your ‘opposite’? What do they add to your life?
Songs about body:
- Bleed the Same by Mandisa feat. TobyMac, Kirk Franklin (Christian) – Lyric: https://youtu.be/HVKuA1s5I3o
- This Is Me from Greatest Showman (anthem) – Link: https://youtu.be/CjxugyZCfuw
- Hair Body Face by Lady Gaga (rock) – Lyric: https://youtu.be/-z-8kcfU6Hk
- We Are the Body by Brooks Hills Music (Christian) – Lyric: https://youtu.be/OYOCdVI9m1Q
- Song of the Body of Christ by Marty Haugen, David Haas, Joe Camacho & Rory Cooney (Christian hymn) – Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI_Oz_PpejU
- Body by Loud Luxury (rock rap) – Link: https://youtu.be/D_rqZm231HY
- Body by John Suaste (melancholic ballad) – link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55d5dhsReg
The body is a sacrament. The old, traditional definition of sacrament captures this beautifully. A sacrament is a visible sign of invisible grace. In that definition there is a fine acknowledgement of how the unseen world comes to expression in the visible world. This desire for expression lies deep at the heart of the invisible world. All our inner life and intimacy of soul longs to find an outer mirror. It longs for a form in which it can be seen, felt, and touched. The body is the mirror where the secret world of the soul comes to expression. — John O’Donohue
So it is not hard to understand
where God’s body is, it is everywhere and everything; shore and the vast fields of water, the accidental and the intended over here, over there. And I bow down, participate and attentive
it is so dense and apparent.
— Evidence (excerpt) by Mary Oliver
The Body is Like Mary
The body is like Mary, and each of us has a Jesus inside.
Who is not in labour, holy labour? Every creature is.
See the value of true art, when the earth or a soul is in
the mood to create beauty;
for the witness might then for a moment know, beyond
any doubt, God is really there within,
so innocently drawing life from us with Her umbilical
universe – infinite existence …
though also needing to be born. Yes, God also needs
to be born!
Birth from a hand’s loving touch. Birth from a song,
from a dance, breathing life into this world.
The body is like Mary, and each of us, each of us has
a Christ within.
– Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi