Finding Joy in Uncertain Times
Sermon given by Rita Schiano
June 12, 2022
Last fall when I signed up to do this service, I had a lot about which to be joyful. My upcoming marriage to Michelle (for those who don’t know, after 18 years together, we made it official last September).
Covid vaccinations rates were up; number of cases and deaths were down.
I was starting to get calls for work after an 18-month drought.
Yes…things were looking up; I felt joyful.
As is my habit when I agree to give any type of presentation, I grab a notebook where I can jot down ideas that may come to me in the percolation stage of writing.
Knowing that the theme for June would be Joy, I wrote down something that came to mind almost immediately: “Joy cometh in the morning.”
These words seemed etched in my memory. I knew I had heard them before in some circumstance that was meaningful. I just couldn’t place where. I closed the notebook and thought, “Put it aside for now. Plenty of time to think about and write this sermon.”
About 8 weeks ago, I thought it was time to start preparing for this service. Not an unusual timeframe for me….I tend to write a draft, rewrite it, edit, edit, edit, and hone it some more. My business writing students have my mantra drilled into them: The best part of writing is rewriting; so edit, edit, edit.
However, I couldn’t seem to get started. Several days passed, and I still could not put a word down on paper. Days turned into weeks. And I knew I was getting underwater when Lila emailed about the music selections for today’s service. I wrote back, “Whatever you choose is fine with me.” (Thank you, Lila.)
On May 9th I e-mailed Roxann asking for the OOS template. I figured that might kick me into action. The OOS would make it tangible.
It didn’t.
And when one month ago today, May 12, Roxann emailed, wanting the title of the sermon, I knew I was not only underwater, but drowning. I admitted to her that I was struggling with writing the sermon. However, I pondered for a bit, then suggest the title: Finding Joy in Uncertain Times, for that was, in truth, how I was feeling.
Now, those of you who know me, know I’m a very optimistic person. I’ve a forward-thinking outlook on life. So one would think writing a sermon about joy should have been a no-brainer.
Yet, every time I thought about the theme, joy, I felt distressed, angry, aggrieved, and fearful.
I had descended into that dark night of the soul, what Eckhardt Tolle described as the “collapse of a perceived meaning in life…an eruption into your life of a deep sense of meaninglessness.”
I thought deeply about these feelings I had. I realized I was distressed about many things: the horror going on in Ukraine; the mass shootings occurring far too often in our country…..and now those children…those little children….
I was angry at the so-called political commentators choosing to give credence to the horrific actions of a Russian dictator, rather than stand by our president; those so-called political commentators who stand by legislators and jurists, who seem to care more about the unborn child, than the lives of the already born children.
I was aggrieved that those rights which I have lived with for nearly 50 years may be, if not overturned completely, will be whittled away to a nub.
And I was fearful that my marriage to the woman I have loved for nearly 19 years, could be abolished if settled law was able to be dismissed by the determination of 5 people.
Distressed, angry, aggrieved, and fearful.
I went back to my notebook which still contained only that one line: Joy cometh in the morning.
Why was I remembering these words? And then it came to me. … where I had heard that line of scripture that had stuck in my brain.
It wasn’t during a sermon, or a religious education class, but from an episode of The West Wing. In Season 4, as President Josiah Bartlett was traveling to an NEA convention to speak to educators, a bombing happened at a college. As he was walking into the venue, information about the bombing was flowing in rapidly, and he knew he had to address it.
Here's what he said:
“Joy cometh in the morning, scripture tells us. I hope so. I don't know if life would be worth living if it didn't.”
He goes on to tell them that he doesn’t yet know who set off the bomb at the college, if it was one person or ten. He doesn’t know what the motive. He then says, “All I know for sure, all I know for certain, is that they weren't born wanting to do this. There's evil in the world, there will always be, and we can't do anything about that. There’s violence in our schools, too much mayhem in our culture and we can do something about that.”
It was a powerful message.
In the 1960s, Timothy Leary, during a press conference used the phrase, 'Tune in, turn on, and drop out.” Those seven words became the mantra of a generation, of my generation.
In his 1983 autobiography, Flashbacks, however, Leary wrote that those words, 'Tune in, turn on, and drop out’ were often misinterpreted to mean, "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity," and not what he meant as a way of explaining a sequence of personal development.
For Leary, "Turn on" meant to go within, to activate and become sensitive to our various levels of consciousness. Of course, psychedelic drugs were one way he saw to accomplish this end.
"Tune in" he meant was to interact harmoniously with the world around us. And "Drop out" meant self-reliance, a discovery of one's singularity, a commitment to choice, and to change.
Now, 60 years later, instead of 'Tune in, turn on, and drop out,’ we hear people say, we may hear ourselves say, “Turn it off. I’m tuning out.”
More and more we find ourselves dropping out of the conversations about what all is going on because we are so damned frustrated about the inane commentary, political posturing, and lack of action.
Now some of you may be thinking, “So what does any of this have to do with joy?” I’m getting there.
You see, Joy is difficult, perhaps impossible, to define. Dr. Robert Holden, creator of The Happiness Project, however, believes joy can be described. In a recent blog he shares the thoughts a few inspirational people who have tried to express what joy means to them.
He quotes Helen Keller who described joy as “the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow.”
In the Upanishads, the sacred texts of Indian literature, it is written: “From joy springs all creation, / By joy it is sustained. / Towards joy it proceeds, / and to joy it returns.
Holden refers to joy as the soul of happiness. And while it can be felt emotionally and appreciated mentally, it is so much more than just an emotion or a state of mind.
So perhaps the way to think about joy is to understand what matters most in human life. And I think that answer has to begin by asking oneself, “What matters most to me?” For me, it’s living an authentic life, one that is in alignment with my moral, ethical, and spiritual ideals.
Yet, joy is not purely an individual pursuit. It must involve, it must deeply involve, our connection with others.
Our connectedness to others was effected greatly by our having to be socially distant, physically distant from one another. That’s why getting kids back into the classroom together was so important. School is where we learn to build relationships with others during our formative years.
Perhaps that is why so many of us are finding this moment in time so challenging. From the loss of millions of lives globally to the Covid-19 pandemic, to the devaluing of human life, witness not only in Ukraine, but in the insidious racism and hatred that has permeated our national culture.
Many people, perhaps even some of you here today, are feeling profound sorrow.
Yet, history has shown us that we can experience joy and sorrow at the same time. The secret is to stay connected to those things that deeply matter to our ethical and spiritual ideals.
We cannot afford to “Turn it off and Tune it out and drop out.” We must stay engaged. And while the news is overwhelming, we cannot afford to not stay engaged. Politics are so divisive, yet we cannot afford to tune it out and turn away. We must be proactive; we must stay engaged with our voices and with our vote. It is a moral imperative that we do so.
We have to commit to, as Leary stated, interacting harmoniously with the world around us with a commitment to choice and to change.
By doing so, then we will keep ourselves open to the small joys in life. The joy a beauteous sunset; the exuberant wag of a tail. The joy felt when sharing a wonderful meal with friends.
There are so many small things, moments of wonderment which bring us joy. But we’ll miss them if we turn off and tune out and drop out of the conversation, for we will stay lost in the morass of sorrow that we feel about what is going on in our world, and in our country.
In their blog, Spiritual Practice, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat wrote, “Joy is an essential spiritual practice growing out of faith, grace, gratitude, hope, and love. It is the pure and simple delight in being alive.”
The more you tune in to joy and let yourself feel it, the more uplifted you will become. When we turn on to the feeling of joy, what often emerges is not only external…out there….and it is not only internal, “in here.” For joy is everywhere we are, if we choose to drop in to it.
“We cannot cure the world of sorrows,” wrote Joseph Campbell, “but we can choose to live in joy.”
Indeed. For joy cometh in the morning.
Amen. And blessed be.
Sermon given by Rita Schiano
June 12, 2022
Last fall when I signed up to do this service, I had a lot about which to be joyful. My upcoming marriage to Michelle (for those who don’t know, after 18 years together, we made it official last September).
Covid vaccinations rates were up; number of cases and deaths were down.
I was starting to get calls for work after an 18-month drought.
Yes…things were looking up; I felt joyful.
As is my habit when I agree to give any type of presentation, I grab a notebook where I can jot down ideas that may come to me in the percolation stage of writing.
Knowing that the theme for June would be Joy, I wrote down something that came to mind almost immediately: “Joy cometh in the morning.”
These words seemed etched in my memory. I knew I had heard them before in some circumstance that was meaningful. I just couldn’t place where. I closed the notebook and thought, “Put it aside for now. Plenty of time to think about and write this sermon.”
About 8 weeks ago, I thought it was time to start preparing for this service. Not an unusual timeframe for me….I tend to write a draft, rewrite it, edit, edit, edit, and hone it some more. My business writing students have my mantra drilled into them: The best part of writing is rewriting; so edit, edit, edit.
However, I couldn’t seem to get started. Several days passed, and I still could not put a word down on paper. Days turned into weeks. And I knew I was getting underwater when Lila emailed about the music selections for today’s service. I wrote back, “Whatever you choose is fine with me.” (Thank you, Lila.)
On May 9th I e-mailed Roxann asking for the OOS template. I figured that might kick me into action. The OOS would make it tangible.
It didn’t.
And when one month ago today, May 12, Roxann emailed, wanting the title of the sermon, I knew I was not only underwater, but drowning. I admitted to her that I was struggling with writing the sermon. However, I pondered for a bit, then suggest the title: Finding Joy in Uncertain Times, for that was, in truth, how I was feeling.
Now, those of you who know me, know I’m a very optimistic person. I’ve a forward-thinking outlook on life. So one would think writing a sermon about joy should have been a no-brainer.
Yet, every time I thought about the theme, joy, I felt distressed, angry, aggrieved, and fearful.
I had descended into that dark night of the soul, what Eckhardt Tolle described as the “collapse of a perceived meaning in life…an eruption into your life of a deep sense of meaninglessness.”
I thought deeply about these feelings I had. I realized I was distressed about many things: the horror going on in Ukraine; the mass shootings occurring far too often in our country…..and now those children…those little children….
I was angry at the so-called political commentators choosing to give credence to the horrific actions of a Russian dictator, rather than stand by our president; those so-called political commentators who stand by legislators and jurists, who seem to care more about the unborn child, than the lives of the already born children.
I was aggrieved that those rights which I have lived with for nearly 50 years may be, if not overturned completely, will be whittled away to a nub.
And I was fearful that my marriage to the woman I have loved for nearly 19 years, could be abolished if settled law was able to be dismissed by the determination of 5 people.
Distressed, angry, aggrieved, and fearful.
I went back to my notebook which still contained only that one line: Joy cometh in the morning.
Why was I remembering these words? And then it came to me. … where I had heard that line of scripture that had stuck in my brain.
It wasn’t during a sermon, or a religious education class, but from an episode of The West Wing. In Season 4, as President Josiah Bartlett was traveling to an NEA convention to speak to educators, a bombing happened at a college. As he was walking into the venue, information about the bombing was flowing in rapidly, and he knew he had to address it.
Here's what he said:
“Joy cometh in the morning, scripture tells us. I hope so. I don't know if life would be worth living if it didn't.”
He goes on to tell them that he doesn’t yet know who set off the bomb at the college, if it was one person or ten. He doesn’t know what the motive. He then says, “All I know for sure, all I know for certain, is that they weren't born wanting to do this. There's evil in the world, there will always be, and we can't do anything about that. There’s violence in our schools, too much mayhem in our culture and we can do something about that.”
It was a powerful message.
In the 1960s, Timothy Leary, during a press conference used the phrase, 'Tune in, turn on, and drop out.” Those seven words became the mantra of a generation, of my generation.
In his 1983 autobiography, Flashbacks, however, Leary wrote that those words, 'Tune in, turn on, and drop out’ were often misinterpreted to mean, "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity," and not what he meant as a way of explaining a sequence of personal development.
For Leary, "Turn on" meant to go within, to activate and become sensitive to our various levels of consciousness. Of course, psychedelic drugs were one way he saw to accomplish this end.
"Tune in" he meant was to interact harmoniously with the world around us. And "Drop out" meant self-reliance, a discovery of one's singularity, a commitment to choice, and to change.
Now, 60 years later, instead of 'Tune in, turn on, and drop out,’ we hear people say, we may hear ourselves say, “Turn it off. I’m tuning out.”
More and more we find ourselves dropping out of the conversations about what all is going on because we are so damned frustrated about the inane commentary, political posturing, and lack of action.
Now some of you may be thinking, “So what does any of this have to do with joy?” I’m getting there.
You see, Joy is difficult, perhaps impossible, to define. Dr. Robert Holden, creator of The Happiness Project, however, believes joy can be described. In a recent blog he shares the thoughts a few inspirational people who have tried to express what joy means to them.
He quotes Helen Keller who described joy as “the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow.”
In the Upanishads, the sacred texts of Indian literature, it is written: “From joy springs all creation, / By joy it is sustained. / Towards joy it proceeds, / and to joy it returns.
Holden refers to joy as the soul of happiness. And while it can be felt emotionally and appreciated mentally, it is so much more than just an emotion or a state of mind.
So perhaps the way to think about joy is to understand what matters most in human life. And I think that answer has to begin by asking oneself, “What matters most to me?” For me, it’s living an authentic life, one that is in alignment with my moral, ethical, and spiritual ideals.
Yet, joy is not purely an individual pursuit. It must involve, it must deeply involve, our connection with others.
Our connectedness to others was effected greatly by our having to be socially distant, physically distant from one another. That’s why getting kids back into the classroom together was so important. School is where we learn to build relationships with others during our formative years.
Perhaps that is why so many of us are finding this moment in time so challenging. From the loss of millions of lives globally to the Covid-19 pandemic, to the devaluing of human life, witness not only in Ukraine, but in the insidious racism and hatred that has permeated our national culture.
Many people, perhaps even some of you here today, are feeling profound sorrow.
Yet, history has shown us that we can experience joy and sorrow at the same time. The secret is to stay connected to those things that deeply matter to our ethical and spiritual ideals.
We cannot afford to “Turn it off and Tune it out and drop out.” We must stay engaged. And while the news is overwhelming, we cannot afford to not stay engaged. Politics are so divisive, yet we cannot afford to tune it out and turn away. We must be proactive; we must stay engaged with our voices and with our vote. It is a moral imperative that we do so.
We have to commit to, as Leary stated, interacting harmoniously with the world around us with a commitment to choice and to change.
By doing so, then we will keep ourselves open to the small joys in life. The joy a beauteous sunset; the exuberant wag of a tail. The joy felt when sharing a wonderful meal with friends.
There are so many small things, moments of wonderment which bring us joy. But we’ll miss them if we turn off and tune out and drop out of the conversation, for we will stay lost in the morass of sorrow that we feel about what is going on in our world, and in our country.
In their blog, Spiritual Practice, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat wrote, “Joy is an essential spiritual practice growing out of faith, grace, gratitude, hope, and love. It is the pure and simple delight in being alive.”
The more you tune in to joy and let yourself feel it, the more uplifted you will become. When we turn on to the feeling of joy, what often emerges is not only external…out there….and it is not only internal, “in here.” For joy is everywhere we are, if we choose to drop in to it.
“We cannot cure the world of sorrows,” wrote Joseph Campbell, “but we can choose to live in joy.”
Indeed. For joy cometh in the morning.
Amen. And blessed be.