Dec. 19, 2024

By Rev. Rick King

How can you and I cultivate joy in the times in which we live?

I’ve spoken often in sermons and columns, as well as conversations with many of you, about how to better survive the post-election moment in which we live. I’ve shared tips on limiting our consumption of news, getting fresh air and regular exercise, taking up a spiritual practice such as yoga or meditation, and finding a place where we can take action and contribute to others’ lives.

All this is directed at claiming some agency in our lives in the midst of depressing statistics, troubling cabinet appointments by the next administration, chronic or terminal illness, or the death of a loved one.

Many of you have also shared with me what you’ve already discovered about how to be happier, more grounded in a power greater than yourself, and connected to those around you in a time when it’s easy to isolate, even without knowing we’re doing that.

But did you know you can actually cultivate joy on a daily basis?

In this brief post before Christmas and the New Year, I want to share with you a practice that’s actually based on a strategy for cultivating joy in our lives: spending more time with what gives us joy and fills us with life, and letting go of what saps us of life and joy—or inviting God into that difficult time, that it might be turned in a better direction.

Every day, I review the day just past and try to remember the moment when I most felt the presence of God, grace, peace, forgiveness—maybe when I felt like I was giving and receiving love the most during the day—and I write that down in my journal (It should not surprise you that I keep a journal!). And I try to remember what I was doing or who I was with when I felt that way.

I also think back on the day and note if there was a time when I felt the opposite of joy, God, grace, love, peace, or forgiveness. It might have been a task I loathe doing at work or at home. It might be spending time with a person I have difficulty with. It might have been a conversation that went awry, and maybe I need to go back to that person and ask their forgiveness or make amends for what I said or did—regardless of whether that person needs to do the same with me.

Some days, it’s easy for me to recall the moment I felt joy—sometimes, it’s so obvious that I open the Notes app on my phone in the midst of my day and write it down.

Other days, I have to ransack the proceedings of the day, like we do a closet or room in our house, to find what gave me joy. And there are days I find it hard to recall a “down” moment during the day because I tend to focus so much on the positive that I repress the negatives.

Whether we’re able to recall THE highest high moment or the lowest of the low, what’s most important about this practice is that we begin to notice and pay attention to what’s happening in our lives, and what story that’s telling us about our life.

Some of you know I see a spiritual director about once a month to stay on track with my spiritual life and stay conscious of what my life experiences (and my responses to it emotionally, creatively, relationally) are telling me, and what they mean. And looking back over a month of these journal entries often provides the staring point for our conversations.

I believe God speaks to us through our emotions, passions, and feelings, and not just through the Bible, or prayer, or the advice of a therapist or trusted friend. God uses ALL of these things and more—if we’re attentive to them.