Ode to Joy

Why we need to cultivate joy in hard times

Photo by Dmitry Shamis on Unsplash

“Pain is short, and joy is eternal.” —Friedrich Schiller

Sing for joy! It’s Spring!!!

Here in Vermont, the crocus is popping, the trees are budding, the maple sap is flowing, and with the exception of last week’s ice storm, we seem to be (finally) out of winter.

It was also my birthday, and, as is my custom, I choose a word to focus on for the coming year. This year, in spite of (or perhaps because of) the challenges of our times, I chose the word, joy.

In difficult times, joy feels hard. For many of us right now, with the daily onslaught of incomprehensible news and anxiety about what the future might hold, joy seems unreachable.

All the more reason to cultivate it. Without a conscious turning of our attention to that which offers joy, we can easily spiral into the pits of despair. Seeking and holding on to that which provides us even with brief moments of joy is one way to get through hard times with our spirits intact: Joy reminds us that life is still worth living.

For myself, I plan to focus on practices that help me find joy each day, whether that is reminding myself to offer a short prayer of thanks upon waking for the day ahead, taking a few moments to observe the budding flowers or listen to the spring frogs peeping from the pond, relishing simple pleasures like the first spring greens and the company of friends, or simply remembering that joy is abundant, if we choose it.

In that vein, I offer a reprint of my post on Radical Joy, an excerpt from my upcoming book, RADICAL SPIRITUALITY FROM A TO Z.

Enjoy!

J is for (Radical) Joy

“The fullness of joy is our birthright” – Julian of Norwich

These days, the quest for happiness is the Holy Grail. Countless books and self-help programs promise you will be “10% Happier,” raise your Happiness Quotient, or dance through life like Barbie. Understandably, we could all use a little more happy right now, but the pursuit of happiness is ultimately a spiritual dead-end.

Happiness is a fleeting emotion, usually arising due to external causes. We get what we wanted, someone says something that makes us feel good, or our favorite sports team wins the Super Bowl. Something or someone “makes us happy.” And then it passes. We chase after the next desire we think will make us happy, and maybe it does, or maybe it doesn’t, but it passes, too. And on and on. That’s why we can never be permanently happy.

But joy is a deep, abiding feeling of contentment and pleasure that has no external cause. It doesn’t come from things that “spark joy” as declutter maven, Marie Kondo, preaches, but from the inside. It’s a state of being, not a fleeting emotion. True joy isn’t circumstantial: it can exist regardless of what is happening around us. It’s possible to experience joy in difficult times. It’s possible to know joy in spite of grief or uncertainty. We can even feel joy when we are unhappy. Each moment contains the potential for joy if we allow it.

Joy is actually our innate nature. Think of children: Joy is their very being. They find joy in everything from their toes to the bugs in the grass, from tickles to the whipped cream of a cupcake. But it’s not the things that bring them joy: it’s their delighted reaction to existing. To Life.

Every tradition teaches us that joy is available in each moment and is the spiritual response to the gift of Life. Joy is an act of gratitude and appreciation. It connects us to others, enabling us to weather the storms and endure. Without joy, life becomes hollow, desperate and meaningless. With joy we find purpose, pleasure and peace.

For Buddhists, joy arises when we are living in the Now, the present moment. As Buddhist teacher, Thich Nhat Hahn, said, “The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” Worry, fear and other concerns that take us out of the present prevent us from experiencing the joy that is inherent in each moment.

Hindus call this deep sense of joy, Ananda, or Bliss. According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, one of the great Indian gurus, living from your true self is ananda, and it is considered the highest spiritual state. This is not a superficial happiness or chasing your desires; it arises when you are in alignment with your innate nature (Atman) connected to the source (Brahman). In other words, bliss is joy in being.

In Hebrew, the word for joy is simcha, and it appears frequently in the Torah. Simcha is considered a Jewish obligation. Not expressing joy for the gifts of life is an affront to the giver of Life. As the Torah commands, “Then you will rejoice in all the good things that the Lord your God has given you.” In Judaism, like Buddhism, joy is connected to the present moment, in the grateful acceptance and celebration of today. Of Life.

For Julian of Norwich, the Christian mystic who first coined the English word “enjoy,” joy comes from knowing that “All will be well, and all will be well and all manner of things will be well.” This is not a Pollyanna-ish optimism, but a deep trust that God/Source/The One is in charge and we can relax. In Christianity, joy comes from Faith.

This echoes Kierkegaard’s teaching that “It takes religious courage to rejoice.” To rejoice, you actually have to let go of fear. You have to trust. You have to believe that today is a good day and tomorrow, even if it sucks, will be, too. That takes courage.

Similarly, Rabbi Jonathon Sacks says, “Joy connects us to others and to God. Joy is the ability to celebrate life as such, knowing that whatever tomorrow may bring, we are here today, under God’s heaven, in the universe He made, to which He has invited us as His guests.”

In many ways, then, joy is relational. That’s what separates it from Happiness. Happiness is a personal feeling, and the pursuit of happiness is a self-centered activity. But joy comes from our connection to ourselves, the moment, others, the world around us, the Sacred, and Life itself. In joy we are no longer separate. We are in communion.

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Nearing the end of his life and almost deaf, Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony and the fourth movement incorporates Friedrich Schiller’s poem, “Ode to Joy.” It’s an exalted anthem to deep joyful connection. (See Tracy K. Smith’s adaptation below)

I have a wonderful memory of my son’s kindergarten class walking in a forest in early spring, stopping at each blooming flower to sing “Ode to Joy” with great glee (yes, it was a cool, little hippie school). The deep pleasure these children had at the miraculous arrival of colorful flowers after a long, dark, white winter was magnified by their voices in song. The forest rang with delight. It was pure joy.

At its root, Radical Joy is based on knowing that we are connected to something larger than our own fleeting desires, and that we can let go and enjoy. It’s a deep trust that all is – and will be - as it should be. And, as its Latin root, gaudia, implies, we rejoice in that knowledge. We are, as a friend of mine once wrote, “Here for the Joy.”

This month, we explore Joy. Where is your Joy? Where can you find Joy even in turbulent times?

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“Ode to Joy” adapted by Tracy K. Smith

O friend, my heart has tired
Of such darkness.
Now it vies for joy. 

Joy, bright God-spark born of Ever
Daughter of fresh paradise—
Where you walked once now walk rancor,
Greed, suspicion, anger, fright.
Joy, the breeze off all that’s holy,
Pure with terror, wild as flame.
Make us brothers, give us comfort,
Bid us past such fear and hate. 

If you’ve loved another’s beauty
If you’ve craved the warmth of flesh,
If your spirit is invested
In another’s sense of worth,
Lift your voice to touch my voice now,
Let our song bring joy to earth.
Lift your voice to touch my voice now,
Let our song bring joy to earth. 

Joy like water, milk of mothers.
Kind and wicked all deserve
Joy’s compassion freely given,
Joy which can’t be sold or earned.
In the depths of blackest soil
In the lightless atmosphere
In the atom and the ether,
Animating all that is. 

Let us feel it, let us heed it,
Let us seek its deepest kiss.
Let us live our brief lives mining
That which joy alone can give. 

Battered planet, home of billions,
Our long shadow stalks your face.
All we’ve fractured, all we’ve stolen,
All we’ve sought blind to your grace. 

Earth, forgive us, claim us, let us
Live in humble thanks and joy.
Let our hearts wake from our stupor,
Let us praise you in one voice.

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” —Henri J.M. Nouwen