Opening to Joy

December’s theme is “Opening to Joy”. If I close my eyes and imagine what this might look like, I see the light of the stars bursting through the darkness of space. I imagine the Christmas lights that people put on their houses to bring joy to these months of long winter nights. I ask myself what joy meant to me as a child and I remember opening my mouth to the sky to catch snowflakes, the smell of my mother’s shortbread, and the holiday crafts that we would make together as a family. Then I leave my imagination, and my past, and bring myself back to the present moment and wonder what opening to joy means right now. Where can I find it? How can I share it?

It occurs to me that during this pandemic, finding joy in the ordinary, in all the things that are right in front of us, is a skill we’ve had to sharpen for our own well being. We’ve had to spend more time than usual in the same place, with the same people, or even by ourselves. I think about how this everyday sameness started to weigh me down, with only the intentional searching for joy and what I should be grateful for to buoy me back up and keep me from sinking too far into despair. I recall that sometimes this deliberate search for joy almost seemed superficial, or forced.

But now we’re coming back together, back into each other’s actual physical presence and I have become aware of how what was once a forced search for joy has come into a natural and habitual way of paying attention to what sparks joy for me in the moment. When once I may have felt self-conscious about pausing and really experiencing the joy of the moment, I now find myself just naturally pausing, opening up my heart and letting it all in. And then, letting it all out in a moment of gratitude and sharing it with others.

Most often, these moments happen when I am surrounded by the UUCL community. Not only is it so joyful to be together, but also to experience the joy that all of you are giving.

I came across this quote in my resources for “Opening to Joy” and I thought it was perfectly suited for this community. And what’s more, this magic happens around here more often than just Christmas time.

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each other’s burdens, easing other’s loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas. –Quote from William Carey Jones