On the several occasions that former Premier Lorne Calvert was the guest speaker at our church he often played his guitar and led the children in a rousing rendition of the camp song “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.”
The joy of those moments comes to mind when I think about the third Advent theme … joy.
This pre-Christmas season I am challenging myself to create an acrostic of the Advent themes. I quickly remembered an acrostic for joy from my childhood: “Jesus and Others and You.” The children’s group at our small evangelical church taught me to put Jesus first, others second and myself last. Looking back, I’m not sure that was the best approach for mental health, but it was the norm for mid-20th century women to praise the needs of others — parents, husband, children — before meeting their own needs. In retrospect it is no wonder there was an epidemic of tranquilizer use among middle-class women who strived for perfection but achieved little personal satisfaction in life.
Girls growing up in the 21st century are taught to heed the advice of the flight attendant… put on your own oxygen mask before attending to the needs of your dependents. Boomer women were taught that this was selfish, even though men did it all the time. Young women have learned they need to keep themselves strong if they are going to live healthy lives… spiritually, mentally and physically.
The “J” in the joy acrostic stands for Jesus because I was born into a Christian household. I believe it is important to integrate spirituality into life. I also believe there are many paths to God; Christians don’t have the only answer to our yearning for spiritual meaning. The fact that humans have had so many belief systems throughout history tells me that we have a strong need to believe in something bigger than ourselves.
However you spell joy and whatever your beliefs, I wish you joy during these dark days of the year.