The Transcendent Joy of the Holidays
Readings
Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Psalm 118:24
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
Luke 15:10
Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Isaiah 55:12
For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Emanuel Swedenborg’s Secrets of Heaven #5511 [2]
[2] It is similarly the case when the internal, or those living in their internal, declare that the joy experienced by the angels originates in love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, that is to say, when they are actually engaged in performing deeds of love and charity, and that those deeds hold within them so much joy and happiness that these are beyond description. This will come as a 'hard' idea to those whose joy springs solely from self-love and love of the world and who take no interest in their neighbour other than for their own selfish reasons. Yet heaven and heavenly joy start to exist in a person when self-regard vanishes from the useful deeds he performs.
Click for today’s children’s lesson
The Transcendent Joy of the Holidays
by Rev. Cory Bradford-Watts
Read the message below
A corresponding video premieres today at 7 pm ET, click here to watch on YouTube
Christmas and the holidays are an interesting time of year because no matter how seemingly nonreligious we become in Western society, we still love celebrating it and getting festive! I think this is because no matter our beliefs, there’s something compelling about the joy of the season, about the joy that comes when families connect, when we dress and celebrate festively, when we collectively listen to songs and messages about communal love, joy, and hope, and when we take some time away from the hubbub of life, focus on giving to the oppressed and our loved ones, and rest a bit in (relative) peace. We like to forget, but this is the type of joyous living that God encourages us to find throughout our traditions and specifically in the Christian Bible, and so perhaps there’s a lesson for us in the holidays that we can carry forward through the rest of the year.
Some of us would love that, carrying Christmas and the holidays forward throughout the year! Needing no excuse to play carols in July (some of us already don’t), baking cookies and giving to others. I don’t think there’s anything shameful about it, and perhaps we should lean into the trend – actively taking time to spread the cheer of the holidays no matter what time of year we’re at sounds like what our world needs today. Of course, this also entails letting go of our oppressive approach to economics and allowing more opportunities for families to be together in ease.
Indeed, we often get our best glimmers of joy right around the holidays. And there’s a reason joy is mentioned so often in our Christmas carols, as it’s the gift that Divinity gives to each of us as we lean into the qualities of life that I think the Universe, the Lord, holds dear, and are in a real sense the Lord’s advent with us – no matter our religion. It’s during the holidays when we most actively centre on these things, whether we think of them as Divinely empowered or not! And becoming more attuned to this truth, to the modes of living that God has continuously tried to empower in our various traditions, can further empower us to accept God’s advent into our lives and receive the fullness of joy.
The Bible has a lot to say about joy. We read some of that today, where scripture told us that joy “is good medicine,” that we should rejoice and be glad realizing that today is a gift from the Lord, and that those who take refuge in God should ever sing for joy in peace. It’s quite the message of hope, but what does it mean? What is joy and how can we receive it?
Those verses and others have an answer for us; when we center on God (known by many names through many cultures) and God’s attributes we begin to tap into the wellspring of joy. Instead of making it about a specific name of God (as even in the Bible, God is known by many names!), when we make it about the core of who God is and actively receive that living God in our lives then a peaceful joy begins to advent. Like Christ being born in Bethlehem, our own innocent joy may start small and humbly, but if we foster its growth and empower its ability to testify, heal, and uplift us, we’ll eventually feel it in its everlasting glory.
Like in Christianity, Buddhist and Taoist teachings also tell us that when we start to relax our bodies and minds into a deep awareness of being – the great I Am, letting go of our worries, addictive attachments, and distracted thinking, then we begin to receive a bliss beyond imagining. As we allow the Prince of Peace to work within us through a place of peace, uplifting our own peace, patience, and compassion, we find joy abounding.
The holidays connect directly with many of the attributes we hear about God, about Christ (“the saving one”). In our giving we connect with God’s gift in everything, from the process of life and evolution that gave rise to us, to the peace and joy that’s at the root of our consciousness (although we often become distracted from it). In our care for the disadvantaged we touch on Jesus’ (“Jehovah-with-us’”) care for the downtrodden, poor, and oppressed. And in our joyous singing and diverse merry making, we embody the spirit of worship in celebrations of life, love, freedom, and community. These are the attributes at the core of who God tells us she is. These are the attributes of Divinity that we naturally gravitate toward in all our diverse celebrations, and that we can start to leverage further for greater joy, connectivity, and peace in the world.
Unfortunately, we do a disservice to Christ’s life when we make it all about believing in Christ’s life and story (“or go to hell”), often missing what Christ himself ministered to. This is why people often seemingly let go of Christ (at least, the way Christ has been offered to them) but hold on to the holidays. The traditional four Advent Candles of many churches point to joy, peace, love, and hope, not only for those labeled “Christian,” but for all those willing to receive their light in their lives. Indeed, the Bible tells us that just as the sun shines on all things, the Lord shines on all people with equality, hoping to spread the warmth of these living attributes through and around everyone in relationship with us in our own diverse ways. Just like how the light of the sun contains all the colors of the light spectrum, of which we reflect each in our own way. We’re told that this is due to God’s love for everyone, which leads him to be “the light of the world,” offering Divine joy to all.
So, let’s truly listen to the words of Christ this holiday season to truly make it Christmas and lean into our joy. Let’s carry forward throughout the year our efforts to uplift the disempowered and the downtrodden, working to change our system to a Christ-like one. Let’s turn toward compassion and the warmth of love in our peaceful reflections and actions. And let’s continue singing songs of joy, hope, and thanksgiving, embracing our diversity of traditions and cultures in the all-encompassing light of God’s advent within and through us.
Joy and peace to you,
Rev. Cory