Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks.
And this is day 16 of Towards the Light,
An advent journey.
Today our theme is joy as resistance.
In its purest form,
Joy is not about the absence of struggle,
But it's about the presence of hope.
We live in a world that's often weighed down by sorrow,
And joy is a quiet act of rebellion.
Joy says,
I will not let the darkness have the final word.
And this,
This is the joy that we find in Christ.
It's not a fleeting emotion,
Something that bubbles up just because something external happens,
But it's a deep and abiding strength that's rooted in the unshakable promise of God's love.
The prophet Nehemiah reminds us in Nehemiah 8.
10 that the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Now be careful.
This isn't a placard to stick on the wall that tries to gloss over the pain or pretends that everything's okay.
This is not that kind of joy.
This is a joy that acknowledges the brokenness of the world,
The darkness of places where we go and live.
It recognizes the dark valley of death that you're walking through,
But still proclaims that God is here,
God is working,
And redemption is coming.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
The psalmist writes in Psalm 23,
I will fear no evil,
Why?
For you are with me.
And because God was with the psalmist walking through that dark valley,
I'm certain that the psalmist's eyes are on the horizon at the end of the valley,
Watching,
Knowing that the light is coming.
God is here.
God is working.
Redemption is coming.
In John 15 and verse 11,
Jesus tells us that our joy will be complete in God.
And where do we find that joy?
Well,
The verse before tells us that we find that joy when we abide in God's love for us.
Rabbin Drannath Tagore's words beautifully capture this,
Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
Remember that from an earlier reflection?
In essence,
Jesus is saying the same thing.
If we hold on to that love that Jesus speaks of,
That love that God has for us,
Our fidelity,
That is our faith in God and faith in who God is.
That fidelity keeps our eyes fixed on the horizon so that even when it's dark,
We can hold on to joy.
Joy is often found in those quiet,
Unseen moments when hope stirs before the world changes.
It sustains us in the waiting,
In the not yet,
In the promise of what's to come.
I'm sure in your life there's been moments when you've seen joy break through in the most unexpected ways and probably in the midst of the most unexpected circumstances.
A shared laugh with a friend,
The beauty of sunlight breaking through the clouds,
A word of kindness from someone when you least expected it.
These small moments remind us of the God who fills our hearts with joy,
Even in the midst of the greatest uncertainty.
So today,
Today may you discover joy as a source of strength,
Not tied to your circumstances,
But rooted in God's steadfast love.
May you notice the small,
Unexpected ways that God's joy breaks through the cracks of your day.
May you celebrate the promise that joy is not just for the future,
But for this moment,
Even now.
And may your joy be a light that brightens the lives of those around you,
Offering hope and encouragement.
Today I pray that you find one small way to celebrate joy,
That a song fills your heart,
That you can sing and lift your spirits,
That a laugh erupts between you and a friend and that laugh emits joy and amplifies the love between you.
Let joy be your prayer and your resistance to the heaviness of the world.
And in those moments,
Trust that the joy of the Lord truly is your strength.
And may grace,
Peace and love go with you,
Friend,
Making your joy full.
And the beautiful thing is that Jesus also said that when you love one another,
That is truly when your joy is full.
Walk in that love today,
My friend.
Peace be with you.
Amen.
