Minister's Message – June

“Every day, I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight… It was what I
was born for – to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world – to instruct myself over
and over in joy, and acclamation. Nor am I talking about the exceptional…”
–Mary Oliver, from her poem Mindful

Everyday indeed; if only we have eyes to see.

Delight. Acclamation. Joy. They offer themselves to us each day – no matter what. The
challenge is to notice the offer – as Oliver says, to look and listen closely enough that we are
aware of the instruction.

And it won’t be exceptional instruction. About this, Oliver is also right on the mark. Maybe
that’s why invitations to joy can be so easy to miss: they involve everyday stuff. The smell of
coffee. The taste of really great strawberry-rhubarb pie. Your kid jumping full force into a
puddle. Your lover laughing. Someone looking you in the eye and saying “Thanks. No.
Really, I mean it. Thanks!” Ending the day knowing that you mattered, that you made a
difference. A sunset whose colors you can’t name because you’re not sure you’ve ever seen
that color before. The feel of water on your body as you swim. Ordinary stuff. Nothing
exceptional. No wonder more dramatic things – like stress about work or worries about bills
or illness – can drown it out.

Indeed, it’s never seemed a fair fight to me. Joy versus worry. Joy versus fear. Joy versus
doubt. I imagine that’s why every great religion and every sage worth their salt says that
being a person of joy involves paying attention. In other words, joy can’t win without us; it is
just not flashy enough to draw attention to itself. We’ve got to notice it.

And the pay-off for noticing is grand. The feeling of joy surely differs from person to person,
but I think Oliver puts her finger on the one quality common to us all when she says that the
world becomes “soft.” Despite all the hard edges and scary twists and turns, joy makes life
feel soft – safe, loving, open, welcoming, even “on our side.”

With all that said, a new definition comes to mind: “Joy is the experience of life shifting from
foe to friend.” I know it’s not the usual definition, but, right now, it feels right to me.

How about you? What’s your definition? And maybe more importantly, how are you being
invited to experience the joy of life’s friendship right now?!

Joyful about getting to be on this journey with others,

Sincerely,
Rev. John McCarthy