There is Joy
"In these uncertain times"
"Now more than ever"
"The new normal"
"We're all in this together"
These are a few phrases that seem to have invaded my home by way of television ads and the news over the past couple of months. It's nice on the surface but I don't need to know that AT&T or Tyson Chicken or Charmin Toilet Paper are "here for me."
Whatever that means.
These ads are honing in on the overwhelming feeling of uneasiness and loneliness among all of us as we ride out the pandemic. As America begins to open up, the majority of us are all holding our breath to see how badly it goes, even as we wait to see if we'll have jobs and income by the time this is all over. It's a lot of anxiety, even for the most well adjusted among us to handle.
My husband went back to work this week and I admit to feeling anxious about it. These are scary times and all of us are feeling it. The world could use a hug right now, from real humans and not from GrubHub or our local Honda dealership, but as you know, hugging is not allowed these days either.
In our FBCD Staff meeting on Tuesday, Pastor David read this passage from Ecclesiastes 3 and it was like a hug to my heart:
"What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. " Ecclesiastes 3:11-13
Qoheleth, the author of Ecclesiastes, has always seemed to me like a jaded old professor whose dark outlook is puzzling to his young students who are just looking for a bit of positivity. For me, he always offers a dose of realism and perspective when I am looking, perhaps unhealthily, for some assurance of the future. In this passage, Qoheleth here is reminding us that *now*, the present moment, today is all that we have within our control.
We have a sense of past and of future, yes, but dwelling on either of them for too long can be dangerous.
One way people tend to deal with stress, anxiety, or even depression is through nostalgia. We bury ourselves in memories of happier times, always selectively filtering out the troubles of the past in favor of happy memories and good times. I don't need to tell you that this is not a productive way of coping with reality.
Another one that trips me up is future planning. I think ahead to what I'll do when money isn't so tight, when things are better and the world is safer. I forecast my savings account, plan my dream vacation, make a bucket list. This can be dangerous too because we all know what happens to best-laid plans, don't we?
Here, Qoheleth reminds me that all I really can hold in my hands is now. Today. A walk through my neighborhood and a chapter in a book. Another zoom call. My cobbled-together what's-in-the fridge dinner. These things are enough and I mustn't let nostalgia or fantasy steal away the joy and the beauty that can be found in them.
A teacher and hero of mine, Margaret Feinberg, wrote a lovely book called Fight Back With Joy a few years ago. She had just signed a contract with a publishing company to write a book about joy when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. To her surprise, she found that the challenge of seeking and finding joy during perhaps the roughest and steepest climb of her life was a life-changing and life-giving exercise. She writes, "Practicing defiant joy is the declaration the darkness does not and will not win."
As we cling to cliches and commercial platitudes like lifeboats in a sea of fear, there's a message to fall back on. There is joy to be found--even in the mundane, even in sorrow, even in uncertainty.
Kelsey Lewis Vincent, Pastor for Youth and Families, First Baptist Church of Decatur