Chasing Joy
“Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.”
Every year, on my birthday, I select a word that will guide me into the next year. Some people do this on New Year’s. But I started to do it on my birthday. My birthday feels more like a fresh start. It’s a brand new year. A blank slate. New record. Don’t get me wrong. I still reflect and make new year resolutions on New Year's Eve. But it may be more about checking in than setting fresh goals for the new year.
I feel like we rush into many things. We rush into the work day. We rush into the fast lane. We rush our lives. I mean we even have the rush hour and we all rush to beat it. This whole idea of rushing is such a theme of my own life. And it seems like I’m feeling the need to run with this current of culture’s stream. Something different is ready to flow in my life.
It’s unnatural the way we run toward things in life. As I look back on the year in my life, I see how this rushing has ruled. It may not seem like it. But in the broad picture of things, it has happened. Rushing past routines. Rushing to the next thing. Rushing to the next cup of coffee. I didn’t even realize how much of a rushing rhythm I had until Labor Day.
I meant to spend the day in a new coffee shop. I started the day late and when I arrived at the coffee shop, it was too full for me to find a seat. I decided to hit the next item on my errands list and catch coffee in the afternoon. I didn’t realize how early coffee shops closed on Mondays around here, so that was a flop. But I went to The French Bakery. Such a cool bakery and it could be an amazing date location.
I went in to get a latte and had planned to grab it and take it home to sip while working on this blog. I decided to go find a seat on the other side of the building on the outdoor seating. I saw this brick wall and thought I’d get a good picture to capture the coffee and this moment. I was just going to get the picture and head out.
But I sat for a moment and I realized something.
I’m getting coffee to go to another place to cross another task off the never ending Lexie list. Rush. I was moving quickly toward something in the race against life.
I sat there for a moment or two to savor the moment. To savor the mural in front of me. To savor the perfect 70 degree day. To savor how I never savor the moments anymore. To savor how little I sit. Not to complete a task. Not to scroll on my phone. Not to read a book or write a blog post. Savor the moment. Savor the coffee. Stop the rushing to stop and smell the roses around me.
It wasn’t just this moment but it was all the moments in this year. So much happened in such a short amount of time. It was easier to move quickly than to sit and savor. Even when my whole world crashed and I had no furniture. Just an empty apartment, a highly energetic puppy, and my suitcase. The only thing I could savor then was the quiet and the next thing in front of me. The only thing I could savor was the fresh flowers I just purchased to make the apartment feel less empty. When my apartment started to fill up again, so did my soul, and my schedule soon followed. The rushing began again. I may not have as busy of a social life as I did before. But the rushing still happens. The busyness and wasted habits fill our vicinity more than we like to admit.
This realization was interesting and convincing. This is not how I want to begin my year 29. The last year of my twenties. I want to savor it. I want to enjoy it. I want to change the trajectory of life and I don’t want it to include this current of rushing. It doesn’t serve me well. It doesn’t serve us well. Whose life has greatly improved by a high level of rushing? I think it decreases our quality of life more than improves.
When I was thinking of my word, this theme of rushing came to mind. It was a significant realization. There were a few words that came to mind for the coming year.
Settle. Savor. Courage. Perseverance.
Then there was one word that sounded new to me. I liked it more than the others.
Joy.
It's a simple 3-letter word. A word we often use and sometimes we use it with very little thought at all. It's a short but powerful word. Joy is defined in the dictionary as "a source or cause of delight." Joy is like a deep abiding. Rick Warren adds his own definition: “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”
Bill High says it is close to a feeling. But it’s also a confident abiding in the vine, which is Jesus (as laid out in John 15). "It’s knowing that all of our life derives from the vine. But it is also the future expectation that everything is going to be okay as we draw life from the vine—no matter our circumstances." (1)
I have spent most of my life living in the passage of John 15. The vine and the branches and this abiding. This last year has included a lot of abiding. But this last year has also included healing and a lot of deep and hard work. Jesus refers to this as pruning in John 15. The deep, hard, and cleansing work. This word joy found its significance when I read the chapter following John 15.
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy[...]. Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
John 16:20,22
The grief we feel doesn't last a long time. It is only a short time and then it turns into joy. It turns over into a different season. In this passage, I saw God's invitation to me for Year 29. You have had your time of grief and now it is time to rejoice. Your grief is turning into joy. You have asked and now you receive.
All of this reveals the real truth of grief. It comes and goes. The real truth of joy is how it ties to something greater. It cannot tie itself to circumstances. It ties itself to God.
"Now is your time of grief but I will see you again and you will rejoice and no one will take away your joy."
I am grateful my joy cannot be taken away from me. My joy is tied to God's heart and when it is tied in that way, there is no way for it to be taken.
This year I will seek to savor the moments. But I will also be chasing joy wherever I can find it. I don't want to have any regrets or miss the life in front of me. This year is a fresh start and I am here for it.
This is a time to savor. To stop the scrolling. To drink with the french press. To read a book. To listen more to the sounds of nature. Pay attention to the things and people around me. To let this be a year of slowing down, savoring, and enjoying the life in front of me and quit the rushing.
What will you do with the one precious life you have been given? Will you rush through it quickly? Or stop and savor everything it is meant to offer? We are called to live life to the full.
(1) Bill High. "How Do You Define Joy?" https://billhigh.com/faith/how-do-you-define-joy/