How I Found Joy Amidst Frustration
A family vacation spent with a broken foot and a walking boot on was not on my List of Things to Do in 2024. This was our third trip to a family camp at Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp, so I truly looked forward to chatting with other campers during four days of group hikes. Typically, I prefer the camp’s “medium” difficulty options, but even the first day’s so-called “easy” hike turned out to be all but impossible for me to complete. So, I passed my time on the other days by finding even easier, emptier paths at nearby forests and parks, ambling alone.
At first, it was a bit hard not to feel bitter, isolated, and sad about my less-than-ideal situation. Yet once I quieted the jealous troll within, slowed down my already slug-like speed, and absorbed the incredible surroundings plus the small details I might have otherwise missed, I discovered I became filled with joy. When I returned to the camp, I shared my experiences with others, just as they shared theirs with me.
Why Joy Has Power in a Troubling World
If your social media feed is even a bit like mine, then you know it can be incredibly hard to feel joyful some days. The environmental news from around the world is frankly awful, even terrifying. Then there’s news about pesky new viruses, political disunion, the various challenges facing communities and congregations…well, it’s just a lot, isn’t it? Burying my head in the sand isn’t going to improve my life or anyone else’s, though. Instead, I have to find ways to “hike up the mountain” that are doable, sustainable, and life-giving. That’s where joy comes in.
Joy dispels trolls, revels in wonder, and affirms that all of us deserve to live fully. Joy is an essential ingredient in the recipe of life. It’s the renewable fuel for our action, the wind power behind our advocacy, the solar energy that lights up our encounters. Joy connects people and ideas and communities and places, all while building memories and passion and movements and healing. Joy that is not shared is still pretty darn nourishing, but shared joy feeds another’s soul too.
Joy Creates Joy
Suppose you were to start a conversation with an acquaintance on our shared climate crisis, focusing on the millions of people around the world who are migrating to a different place because the heat is unbearable. If you did, you’d likely both end up feeling overwhelmed and defeated. Who can help that many people? However, if that same conversation starts with a story of the joy you feel when you help a migrant family in your community, you open up the potential for unexpected partnerships.
Recently, I shared the illustration in this post with our staff, and its message of growth spoke deeply to us. The image is from his short piece called, “Masterplan for a More Joyful World,” in Issue 023 of Simplify Magazine, an online resource I love. I share it here with the permission of its creator, Brad Montague. In his email to me, he briefly shared a joyless experience of working on a climate-related project, then wrote, “My feeling is that the way forward is to remind people of the beauty. We’ve mistakenly fallen for the belief that fear and shame are the best motivators. Wonder. Awe. Love. These things are the deepest well to draw from.” I entirely agree! Draw deep, and let the bucket overflow!
Joy is Key to Climate-informed Ministry
On Sunday, October 6, Iowa Interfaith Power and Light will hold a special event called, “Climate-informed Ministry: What Do We Do Now?” I hope you’ll attend if you can because it will allow you to explore how congregational life can and will be different when viewed through a ‘climate lens’. The short presentations will encourage you to ask yourself and your congregation members, “What do we do now?” We’ll explore questions like:
- How do we become a resilient congregation?
- How can we deal with the growing eco-anxiety around us?
- How can we use our spaces to add joy and beauty in our community?
I don’t have any idea what new insights participants will come away with. What I do know, though, is that if joy is at the core of our environmental actions, together we’ll create more shared hope, more kinship with all of creation, and still more joy for the journey ahead.
Ready, set, grin!