I follow Deacon Steven Graydanus on Facebook. He posted this homily which discusses a subject I think is worth discussing, the pursuit of joy. The whole thing is worth reading, but I will share some excerpts:
"How do we pursue Christian joy, especially in this Easter season but also throughout the year?"
"Begin with the conviction that your joys as well as your sorrows matter to God, and that joy as well as sorrow is for this world, not just the world to come. When bad things happen, we often tell ourselves and one other that God has a plan, that God works for good in all things. We look for meaning in suffering, but never forget that there is great meaning in joy. Every good gift in this world speaks to us of God’s goodness and love."
"...Ask God for the gift of joy. I hope few of us would dare to try to tackle the self-denial and sacrifices of Lent without praying for God’s help; why should we not ask him to fill us with Easter joy?"
"We can also ask him to lighten our burdens, the crosses we carry. He may or he may not, but we can ask. This also is in the liturgy, in the beautiful embolism prayer right after the Our Father:
Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil; graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress…
"Don’t listen to those who tell you that we should only pray for strength to endure hardship, and not to be spared it! Pray for both!"
"....We live in anxious times. Two years ago we had no Easter festivities because of the pandemic lockdowns: the Lent that never ended. This year Easter has been overshadowed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the threat of wider war, not to mention economic woes: rising gas prices, inflation. And let’s not forget violence and war in other countries: Yemen, Myanmar, and various nations in East, West, and North Africa. Lord, have mercy."
"And while the world has always been thus, today we’re bombarded more than ever with constant updates from the world of anxiety and outrage. We carry it around in our pockets, and for too many of us this screen is the first thing we look at when we wake up and the last thing we look at when we go to bed. Too often we spend our days immersed in thoughts of how awful everything is all the time. We tell ourselves that we’re staying informed, when what we’re really doing is poisoning our souls."
"And then there are the individual crosses that we all carry, some much heavier than others. Financial worries; marital problems; difficult relationships with parents or children; difficult working conditions; health problems, including mental health issues: depression, anxiety disorders."
"...We all live every day in the shadow of Good Friday. Don’t let anybody tell you different. And, honestly, Good Friday is much more immediate and vivid to us than Easter. We know from experience what suffering and death look like in a way that none of us knows what resurrection looks like. We know there was an empty tomb and that when Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and the other disciples, he was neither an apparition nor a mortal man. He had flesh and bones; he had wounds that you could probe; he ate food and in today’s Gospel even did some cooking. But there was something very mysterious about these encounters and even what Jesus looked like. Neither Mary Magdalene nor the two disciples on the Emmaus road recognized Jesus at first. In today’s Gospel there’s that curious phrase: “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They realized it was the Lord”—but not the way they recognized one another."
"This is very mysterious, but in this mystery we believe that God is at work overcoming all evil and suffering and death, and in this belief is the deepest root of our joy. We must pursue this joy, or we’ll get stuck on Good Friday. We live every day in the shadow of Good Friday, but it is also possible to live in the light of Easter."
Some things particularly spoke to me, such as this bit: "Too often we spend our days immersed in thoughts of how awful everything is all the time. We tell ourselves that we’re staying informed, when what we’re really doing is poisoning our souls."
And the "embolism prayer" was a new term to me, referring to the words after the Our Father at Mass.
I liked the deacon’s point that Easter is 50 days while Lent is only forty days. I would make the further point that the whole liturgical year was once the days after Pentecost before it was reduced to ordinary time.
ReplyDeleteSomehow our liturgical year with its two cycles (Christmas and Easter with their two cycles a preparation period and a post celebration period) has made Christian life into an almost balance between a focus on penance and focus on joy. Then the discussion becomes how to balance them in a Catholic both/and.
That forgets that we live all the time in the post-Pentecostal era; that we have been given the Holy Spirit. Each liturgical year we remember first the Incarnation and then the Passover (the passion, death, resurrection and ascension) that tells us how we got to where we are, namely the age of the Spirit.
This is the Joy of the Gospel, that wonderful title of the Francis document pointing the way forward.
I once read an article that said there is a great value to having rose-colored glasses, of looking upon the brighter side of life. The author claimed that depressives were in fact too attuned to the realities of life.
When I was an undergraduate, and things seemed to be going wrong (e.g., the Vietnam War) I took inventory of my life and the world. I decided that the world both near and far was in fact in pretty bad shape.
But I also decided that I didn’t really fit in, and that was a basis for optimism. So. the best philosophy of life is realistic optimism. Face the realities of life but be optimistic about the way forward. The Holy Spirit is active in both our lives and in the world.
I had no idea that those words are called the embolism prayer. I’ll have to research that. Embolism makes me think of imminent death by stroke or heart attack.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, think it’s a good homily. Better than most. I am not an optimist. There are a gazillion studies out there about how optimists live longer, are happier etc. Some claim that optimism can be learned. I tried, but no permanent change. I have tended to believe it’s an inborn personality trait. My husband is also not an optimist. Of the four sibs in his family only one is an optimist. One of our three sons is an optimist. My husband’s parents were pessimists. His family life wasn’t very supportive, just as mine wasn’t. So I also wonder how much one’s family experience influences this trait. I know that Jack, Katherine, and Jim all grew up in close, supportive families, based on what you have written here. I did not, and Jean did not. I think Stanley may have had a supportive family, but not sure. I am the youngest of 5 - my parents were not optimists, and 4 of their 5 children aren’t either. The eldest is - how much is inborn and how much is because the family she experienced before her teenage years was relatively intact. I barely saw my father growing up. I only experienced severe anger and tension between my parents. My father walked my eldest sister down the aisle when she married and paid for her wedding. My brother walked with me on my wedding day. My middle sister lent me her wedding gown, and provided her home for a low-cost reception which my husband and I paid for. My eldest sister never had to give our mother money to pay bills from her high school minimum wage earnings. She never worked in high school. I had a social security card at 13 and sometimes had to lend my mother money for groceries and even the mortgage once. I was a year younger than my classmates at high school graduation (the school PTB decided to skip me from 5th to 7th. - no 6th) and so I was financially independent at age 17. My college scholarships covered both tuition and room and board, fortunately. I paid for all personal expenses- from clothing to toothpaste. My parents didn’t have happy families growing up either. So how much are optimism and pessimism nature and how much nurture? And how does this trait impact faith. I turn away from the RCCs almost morbid emphasis on suffering. I was raised with a vision of an angry, cruel God, the one that is seen mostly in the OT. Jack, you’re the expert in this stuff, so….
Stanley doesn't shy away from realistic assessments, but he a spirit which seems unquenchable (and which I love).
DeleteAnne, that is so sad for you and your mother that she was left without resources after the divorce. You are to be commended for your help to her, and your perseverance and determination in finishing college on your own. I'm not sure I could have done that had I been in similar circumstances.
DeleteAnne and Jim,
DeleteMy parents were separated due to my father's mental problems. But I was loved which makes me capable of love and knowing what love is. That's enough to make life bearable and actually quite good.
I would prefer to eschew both optimism and pessimism. Pessimism can paralyze, causing lack of energy and action in the face of real threat. Optimism can cause one to ignore real threats and problems entirely. The best is to be aware, attuned, even wary. Best we avoid the mistakes of the past, and make our inevitable new mistakes a way to learn and improve.
ReplyDeleteI just finished listening to actor Peter Coyote narrate Andrew Bacevich's new book "After the Apocalypse". It's target is American exceptionalism and the overreach of American empire, its spiritual genesis and cost. He sees factual history as a restorative for saving our country from delusion. He, by no means, believes this reform of the American mind is inevitable. I agree that the greatest enemy of the country America is the empire America. Like with climate change, I don't feel that our citizens have the clarity to make the necessary changes. That's my pessimism. But to do or say nothing, sitting back in a comfortable despair, cannot be allowed. There are solutions out there. I always think of finding solutions as mining, digging around, taking a direction, see if it is fruitful. If not, take another direction. But the changes in direction may be have to be radical. This straight path we're on isn't leading anywhere good.
I love that homily!
ReplyDeleteI do tend to be optimistic. To be honest, I think my optimism is sinful in some ways, because it's rooted in pride: that I can handle anything that life throws at me.
I read recently (here at NewGathering? I don't remember exactly where) a piece that contrasted optimism and hope. Hope came out on top in the comparison. I think hope is the more authentically Christian way to celebrate Easter in the midst of life's difficulties and calamities.
I think Christian joy goes beyond optimism and pessimism. It's not mere happiness or positivity. I think it is a bone deep contentment that you did the right thing and that trumps whatever consequences might come from that. The joy of the martyrs who did not deny their faith would be the ultimate earthly example of Christian joy, I guess.
ReplyDeleteMy sense is that the Christian joy requires a lot of acceptance that our powers to do good are limited and never guaranteed. It also seems to require a trust that God is going to pull this all out of the crappier and bring goodness for all creation out of bad.
I don't have that kind of faith all the time. Nobody does. The Psalms have become increasingly important to me as reflections on the struggle to have faith and the encouragement to to live up to it.
I think the biggest impediment to Christian joy is putting yourself at the center of the universe and not being able to lose yourself in the common struggle of humanity. Pride, I suppose.
Very insightful comment!
DeleteThank you for considering my thoughts, Jack.
DeleteOur relationships to our families in early life obviously shape our relationships to God and others. However, that can sometimes be complex. For example, some children of an amicable divorce can still become impaired in marrying themselves, if they have no ready answer to their parent’s divorce. On the other hand, some children of divorce find ready explanations for the divorce, and simply decide they can successfully marry by avoiding what their parent(s) did.
ReplyDeleteOur experiences of the world during our late teens and twenties also tend to shape us for life. If we experience times as difficult, it can make us very self-centered, and intolerant of others for the rest of outlives. If we experience the world as easy, we are more likely to become gracious and open to others.
Again, this is an area where I see the values of Dunbar’s emphasis upon our social cognitive experiences. A lot of things fall into place if we consider the limitations that are shaped by our cognitive experiences, and the amount of time available for social relationships.
Jim and my posts must have crossed in the ether. Yes, I agree pride creates unwarranted optimism: "I am smart, good looking, and am an economic success! What could go wrong?"
ReplyDeleteI think that same pride can also destroy empathy for others, and that fosters pessimism: "Lookit me pulling myself up by my bootstraps! All these other people are totally screwing up the world."
Jim believes his optimism- that he can handle anything that life throws at him - could hint at the sin of pride. Perhaps. But I am also optimistic that I can handle what life throws at me as an individual. I’m not pessimistic about my individual life, I’m pessimistic about the state of the world, and especially about the state of this country. I’m extremely pessimistic about the kind of country our 7 grandchildren will be living in.
ReplyDeleteHow does being an optimist or a pessimist affect Christian “joy”? If I had to guess, I would say that the deacon who wrote this is probably an optimist. But, he could actually be a pessimist who is determined to be optimistic and full of christian joy through sheer force of will. Maybe there is no relationship between temperament and faith or christian joy.
"Maybe there is no relationship between temperament and faith or christian joy." I guess that's my point.
DeleteRight, please don't get me wrong - I'm not optimistic about the world :-) I'm not exactly pessimistic, either, but I'm extremely anxious about it.
DeleteFWIW, I think conservatives tend to be more pessimistic than progressives about the state of the world. Progressives, from what I can tell, tend to buy into the whole, 'The arc of history bends toward justice' concept - a view for which I'm unable to find warrant in human history. (Ask Ukrainians which way the arc is bending at present.) But maybe conservatives also are more optimistic, because we also don't believe in social or historical determinism, i.e. a person's race or economic status needn't be the final word on the range of possible outcomes for her. We conservatives believe individuals, or organized groups of individuals, can affect things, not only for the worse but also for the better. To be sure, we may try but fail, and whatever effect we bring about may turn out to be for the worse, because we lack sufficient foresight (which is a good reason to avoid gigantic policy undertakings: the unintended consequences also can be huge). So maybe we are more pessimistic after all :-).
In my experience, many conservatives like to believe that there is no such thing as social or historical determinism because it allows them to blame people for their own problems. That goes some way toward absolving them from the obligation to empathize or help. Most conservatives will generously help individuals in whom they see potential or deservedness. But they are skeptical of "investing" in drunks, convicts, or anybody who complains about their lot.
DeleteAs a progressive, I don't believe that the Universe bends toward justice, and I think that is a mischaracterization among conservatives who just want to dismiss progressives as impractical hippie-dips.
I hasten to stress again that I don't think political affiliation or an optimistic or pessimistic attitude is in any way connected with what I understand as "joy" in the Christian sense.
DeleteJim, it is the “ conservatives” in the US and Europe - the GOP, the Orbans, the LePens - who are the reason I’m very pessimistic about the future my grandchildren will face. I suppose those you call conservative might be optimistic is because they see the growing strength of right wing parties in the US and Europe. It makes them happy. It terrifies me.
DeleteAnne, I don't call the Orbans, Le Pens, etc. conservatives. I call them authoritarians. There's a difference. If conservatives here are happy about the rise of extreme right wing parties, they don't understand the situation. Of course there's people here who would more properly be called authoritarian too.
DeleteKatherine makes a good point. Political labels can be pretty dicey.
DeleteKatherine, The GOP that I supported for years with both time and money no longer exists. Those who call themselves Republican these days and call themselves “ conservative “ do not stand for the policies that “ conservatives “ once stood for. Labels are dicey. True. But the reality is that they are working towards having the same kind of authoritarian government here that Orban has created in Hungary. We’ve witnessed a veritable parade of “conservative” media folk (Fox), politicians ( Pence, for example), and now the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) make pilgrimages to Hungary this year. Of course trump admires Orban tremendously, along with LePen, Putin and other right- wing authoritarians. CPAC is holding it’s annual conference in Hungary this month! LePen lost, thanks be to God, but she got a lot more votes this time than previously. The “ conservatives “ in America are totally under trump’s sway and they are supporting authoritarianism. So these “conservatives“ terrify me as they seem quite determined to succeed at destroying our democracy the next time around. The red state legislatures are not only busying themselves with making abortion illegal in their states, they are redistricting to reduce the impact of minority and Democratic voters, as well as passing laws that will allow them to replace Democratic electors with Republican electors in 2024, as they tried to do in Pennsylvania in 2020. They were stopped by the existing laws, so they are changing the laws to more easily ignore election results that don’t favor their candidates.
Delete"Those who call themselves Republican these days and call themselves “ conservative “ do not stand for the policies that “ conservatives “ once stood for...The “ conservatives “ in America are totally under trump’s sway and they are supporting authoritarianism. "
DeleteAnne, I largely agree with you. My mode of conservatism is that of personal responsibility and liberty, and relatively limited government. (It kinda/sorta fits into the shape of Catholic social teaching, but - to continue with the jigsaw puzzle metaphor - one has to pound pretty hard to get some of those corners to fit :-)).
I certainly agree with Katherine that "authoritarian" is a better label for Trump than "conservative". I don't think Trump's core voters - the grievance-motivated white working class, and the cultural-warfare-motivated Evangelicals - care very much about personal responsibility and liberty, and may feel some antipathy toward limiting the size of government. An authoritarian wants to use government as a weapon to attack the political enemy, wants to use the resources of government to offload personal responsibility. And the history of Evangelicalism is rife with attempts to use the levers of government to semi-establish an official religion.
Jim, the RCC is pretty big on trying to use government to impose its teachings on all too. It’s not just evangelicals who have worked to impose their religious beliefs about abortion, gay marriage on all; who support using tax money to fund religiously run private schools; who use their pulpits to promote selected politicians even though it’s against the law; to claim that any for-profit employer can refuse to include contraception coverage in company health plans by claiming « religious freedom » exempt them from following the laws that are supposed to protect all Americans. The RCC does all of this as well.
DeleteJim - « e. a person's race or economic status needn't be the final word on the range of possible outcomes for her. We conservatives believe individuals, or organized groups of individuals, can affect things, not only for the worse but also for the better. «
DeleteAnd how is that different from what progressives believe?
The big difference is that progressives work to make the playing field more level for those whose race, gender, or economic demographic put them at an automatic disadvantage in American culture to support the potential for a positive outcome . Most conservatives oppose these measures because they seem to think that every poor kid born in the slums can pull him or herself up without help and become Ben Carson. Unfortunately, being born into adverse circumstances makes life a whole lot harder than it is for white, middle class people.
Why are Christians not "optimistic" about the world? I guess I don't get it. I realize I am a Bad Catholic and skeptical Christian, but aren't we supposed to subscribe to the notion that Christ will wipe away every tear in this life or the next? Even if there is no justice in this world, aren't we supposed tasked with alleviating suffering as best we can, knowing that this is a reflection of Eternal Justice?
ReplyDeleteJean, I think you are right that Christians should be optimistic about their ultimate destiny. Also that we should seek to alleviate suffering as best we can.
DeleteScience tells us the sun will eventually burn us up in a supernova if we don't waste the planet first. I guess that could make you pessimistic if you didn't also believe that what we do matters, however futile it seems in mortal terms. I think the Crucifixion looked mighty futile to a lot of people: "Heal some cripples for a few years, buck the authorities, and what does it get you? Dead."
DeleteChristians aren't optimistic about the world because we recognize the persistence of sin, which manifests itself in war, nuclear build-ups, exploitation of our common home, climate change, racism, etc. etc.
DeleteIs it possible to recognize the persistence of sin while realizing that it matters that we struggle against it?
DeleteImo, terms like optimism and pessimism hamper any discussion of Christian joy. Optimism and pessimism are merely temperaments molded by earthly circumstances. Joy is a state of being that comes from the Holy Spirit.
Or maybe I am just totally full of sh*t.
Christians should be optimistic about the world because God has created the world and transformed all creation through the incarnation of Jesus. Now we are not only God’s children but also his brothers and sisters.
DeleteJesus has already won the final victory over sin, and we have been given the Holy Spirit to inspire us.
While we should be realistic about our limitations and the sinfulness of humanity, we should also be confident that God is with us.