Despite the holiday cheer, this can be a challenging time of year for many, especially when so many things are going so wrong everywhere you look. How can we be joyful when our country is so divided, the planet is warming out of control, our democracy has been co-opted by wealth, and wars are raging across the globe? Can we be joyful in times like these?
Yes. Because it’s always times like these. And joy is precisely what sustains us by redeeming life’s inevitable struggles.
Joy is made for hard times. It’s an attitude, similar to hope, and just as resilient. Joy is not what ensues when times are good; it’s our refuge when times seem darkest. Joy is where we start, not where we arrive. So let us be joyful.
Every year around this time, I return to the following anecdote from Clarke Dewey Wells:
Several years ago and shortly after twilight our 3½-year-old tried to gain his parents’ attention to a shining star. The parents were busy with time and schedules, the irritabilities of the day and other worthy pre-occupations. “Yes, yes, we see the star — now I’m busy, don’t bother me.” On hearing this the young one launched through the porch door, fixed us with a fiery gaze and said, “You be glad at that star!” I will not forget the incident or his perfect words. It was one of those rare moments when you get everything you need for the good of your soul — reprimand, disclosure and blessing. It was especially good for me, that surprising moment, because I am one who responds automatically and negatively to the usual exhortations to “pause-and-be-more-appreciative-of-life.” Fortunately, I was caught grandly off-guard.
Joy is not something to be sought. It’s absolutely everywhere, if we pay attention as children do. When you take time to notice and savor the good already in your life, the beauty in small things, gratitude emerges effortlessly and joy with it.
So pause, and savor each small, good thing in your life. The people. The animals and plants. The food, water, air and warmth. The coffee, clothing, music and lights. Stop reading, and try it now. Try spending a few moments not wanting anything more.
It’s no secret that every life is filled with struggle, sorrow, pain, loss and death. Love — shared joy — is what makes it worth it. It’s the connection and possibility — our tether to all that is eternal and immortal — that brings purpose to this all-too-brief existence. Without love, there is only distraction and decay.
One of my favorite quotes (not least of all because it comes from a book titled "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs") is as follows: “In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever in and of itself.” In connection we find our life’s purpose. And if we feel hopeless, or joyless, or loveless, it’s because we’ve lost that connection. Many people, cynical and mistrusting of joy, are trying to build communities around fear and anger. But houses built on sand are ever doomed to collapse. Only communities built on love can be sustained.
We’ve lost faith in ourselves and each other. That’s the ultimate root of all that’s wrong in the world right now — and, perhaps, always. We fret about our cultural and societal systems failing, but every such system is, at root, made of people and the trust that binds them. If we can’t love one another, no system of laws can save us. Each other is all we’ve got. And loving each other just as we are is precisely what will bring out the best in all of us.
So let us be loving, and let us be joyful — not as an escape or an indulgence, but as the absolutely essential first step in healing all that’s gone wrong in our society. Joy is resistance in a world that wants us to be resigned and hopeless. Joy is what makes life and humanity worth fighting for and is what sustains us when all seems lost.
In spite of everything, life is beautiful. Life is good. Life is meant to be en-joyed. Let us embrace joy with all our being and so do justice to the gift of life we’ve each been given.
You be glad at that star.
Urie is a lifelong Idahoan and graduate of the University of Idaho. He lives in Moscow with his wife and two children. You can find his writing on Substack (hopeanyway.substack.com) or you can email him at ryanthomasurie@gmail.com.
