For many of us Lent is a dreary and lugubrious season to be filled with self-discipline, and self-scrutiny, only to be relieved by the alleluias of Easter. And yet, one of the prefaces assigned to the eucharistic prayer in our Prayer Book (page 379) bids us to “prepare with joy for the paschal feast.” Joy is always in season, whether the hangings are festal or penitential, because joy is integral to our experience of God.
C. S. Lewis speaks of being “surprised by joy,” which is usually the way joy chooses to break into our lives. As such, joy is immediate, and beyond words. It is a profoundly intuitive experience of one’s self within the ever-unfolding and all-embracing mystery of God. The experience of joy calls forth from us a letting go, an abandonment of our preconceptions and fixed notions of how things ought to be. And this for many of us is a direct threat to our sense of order and our need to feel that we are in control.
“You have put joy in my heart more than when grain and wine and oil increase,” cries the psalmist. Clearly, the psalmist understands joy as an experience of overwhelming abundance. Paul proclaims that joy is the fruit of the Spirit. And Jesus himself declares that joy is the reason for his intimate sharing of himself and his relationship to the One he addresses as Abba. “I have spoken thus to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy complete.”
It is worth noting that Paul does not speak of the fruits of the Spirit, but rather the fruit which he then goes on to describe as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This suggests that these qualities are not to be seen as separate but as different dimensions of one all-embracing reality, each containing within itself all of these aspects which are manifested as needed: as patience in times of frustration, as generosity when need is perceived, and as a disciplined life as one seeks to respond in gratitude to God’s abundance.
Joy is not to be identified with the kind of superficial happiness or mindless enthusiasm that from time to time bring relief from the rigors of life. Instead, joy is often sober, quiet and deep. It is not easily dislodged by passing moods or the ebb and flow of events. Joy conveys a sense of being firmly rooted, in spite of – or even because of – the dark and difficult things that are woven into the fabric of our lives. Because joy is the work of the Spirit in us, it grounds us in the confidence, courage, and consciousness of the Risen Christ.
Joy also imparts a spirit of adventure. It opens us in hope and availability to the world around us. As Carlo Caretto of the Little Brothers of Jesus has observed, “All too often our concern is to remain at home undisturbed, however dull and joyless it may have become. We are afraid of adventure, of the new and the mysterious. If it were left in our hands we would ask God to remain here on our level. When all the while our happiness depends on our moving upward toward God.”
All this being so, it is sad indeed that the very last thing a great many of us expect from our participation in the life of the Church is a sense of joy. Some of us in fact are actually made uncomfortable and find ourselves ill at ease in the presence of joy. Why? Perhaps it is because joy always comes to us as a gift beyond our grasp or control. As such, all we can do is simply accept it. Joy is not something we can create, no matter how well run our various systems of governance, how decently and in good order we do things, how honorable our intentions and noble our hearts.
Are we ready to be surprised by joy? What would happen to us if we decided to make Lent a time of joyful preparation? Could it be that some of our monumentally ponderous efforts at self-improvement would be cast aside? Could it be that our little home-grown pieties would be shattered as the Spirit cracks us open to the deep joy already planted within us waiting to be released and become part of our consciousness? Furthermore, could it be that what I have described largely in personal terms is also God’s deepest desire for us all as Christ’s Risen Body, the Church? Only our personal and corporate living of this question will reveal the answer in a resounding YES.
May this lenten season be for you all a time of joyful preparation for the paschal feast. And may we allow ourselves to be surprised by joy, and open our hearts to the One who, in Christ, through the working of the Spirit, is so profoundly open to us, in order that our joy may be full and complete.
The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold
XXV Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA