Lenten Day Thirty: Joseph Campbell

This quotation reminds me that it’s time for me to read some more of Joseph Campbell, a professor of literature who worked in comparative mythology and religion and whose studies covered many aspects of the human experience.  Campbell’s emphasis on joy is very relevant and welcome.

“We cannot cure the world of sorrow.”  Very true.  That ability is not given to us.  We can do our share to try to alleviate sorrow, but sorrow is a basic part of life.  Even Jesus wept.  Yet Campbell states that we can choose “to live in joy.”  To choose to live in joy is to recognize, I think, the difference between happiness and joy.

We may find ourselves in a spiritual or emotional quandary if we expect to always be happy, that happiness is our God-given right, or that seeking happiness will set us free because (in my very humble opinion) happiness is fleeting.  Happiness is a perfectly baked crème brulee with a topping like a very thin ice-skating rink.  Happiness is being surrounded by those we love on Christmas morning.  Happiness is being on vacation with good friends or finally making it to the beach to sit beside the waves and watch the pelicans glide by. Happiness is good for the soul, it’s necessary, but it’s also temporary.

For me, joy is something deeper, more grounding, and permanent.  Joy is the trust that we are unconditionally loved and always connected to the Divine source of love. It is the reminder that in every situation, it is never too late for God.  Joy comes as gift, grace, and reminder.  Joy is the moment we open our eyes each morning, take a new breath, and say “thank you.”  Joy is the moment we open the blinds, realizing we’ve been given another day, another chance.  Joy is the feeling of the communion bread melting on our tongues, given to us by Love. Joy is the understanding that in the most tumultuous of storms we are grounded, attached to, Love, and that nothing can sever that connection.  We may let go, but Love does not.

“There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning,” wrote Thornton Wilder.  That bridge of love is what keeps us connected to all those who have gone before us, and for those who have lost precious friends and family, we know that love-connection-bridge can never be broken.  That bridge is how I think of joy, as well, something permanent, solid, and strong that keeps our hearts bridged to God’s, no matter what.

So, yes, there is sorrow, and will be sorrow. Bu the sorrow cannot overwhelm us when we choose to live in joy.  Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5).

Blessings ~ Rosemary