RECEIVING SACRED TEACHING
C. H. Spurgeon (b. 1834), a great evangelical cleric, was known to have a good sense of humor. He was criticized often for bordering on frivolity in the Metropolatan Tabernacle pulpit, where he served as Pastor.
Certain incensed fellow clergypersons railed against his habit of introducing humor in his sermons. With a twinkle in his eye, he once retorted: "If only you knew how much I hold back, you would commend me.... This preacher thinks it less a crime to cause a momentary laughter than a half-hour of profound slumber."
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Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., a member of the U.S. Supreme Court for 30 years, had a good sense of mirth. He is reported to have spoken of his choice of a career, saying, "I might have entered the ministry, if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers."
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While joy is partly a choice, flowing from the Sacred Spirit, joy is, also, joined with a sense of the nobility of our lives, work, and self. Joy is linked with strong desire, a passion, to claim that life is Good - positively an adventure. C. S. Lewis wrote:
Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
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Here, we are speaking of a relational Joy, not a mere happiness. Indeed, much of the so-called joy of our secular culture is a mere silliness, a facile shallowness, that does not reflect meaning, but boredom and restlessness.
The spiritual joy arises, not as an escape from Reality. The relational joy, flowing from the core of self in relationship to the core of others, creation, and God, is joy within the details of Reality. This joy looks into Reality, saying, "Thank You." While you can choose this joy, this joy is, as well, chosen for you, given to you.
QUIETLY RESPONDING
Reflect on the following quote from Thomas Merton. And - Ask yourself: "From where does joy come?" Ask yourself: "Am I a joyful person?" Ask yourself: "How may I be more joyful?" Ask yourself: "How may I share more joy?"
We must respond to God's gifts gladly and freely with thanksgiving, happiness and joy: but in contemplation we thank Him less by words than by the serene happiness of silent acceptance. "Be empty and see that I am God." It is our emptiness in the presence of the abyss of His reality, our silence in the presence of His infinitely rich silence, our joy in the bosom of the serene darkness in which His light holds us absorbed, it is all this that praises Him. It is this that causes love of God and wonder and adoration to swim up into us like tidal waves out of the depths of that peace, and break upon the shores of our consciousness in a vast, hushed surf of inarticulate praise, praise and glory!
*Kathleen Deignan. A Book of Hours - Thomas Merton.
Blessings!
Rev Dr Brian K Wilcox
May 21, 2009
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*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian K. Wilcox, of SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis. Brian is an ecumenical spiritual leader, open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Contact the above email to book Brian for Spiritual Direction, retreats, or workshops. You can order his book An Ache for Union at major book dealers.
