Are we surprised by joy or sadness? Our world in which we live wants to surprise us with sadness. News reports keep telling us about murders, conflicts between countries, the pandemic, political strife. You don’t have to go far to see images of hatred, violence, and cruelty toward one another, often the more sensational the better. Indeed, the powers of darkness want to surprise us with human misery. These surprises stun us and serve to numb us to the extraordinary suffering of others.

One of the great challenges of faith is to be surprised by joy during our challenges. I remember last year, during the darkest days of the pandemic, prior to the vaccine, when the news kept rolling out the increasing numbers of infections and death with no hope in sight. After listening to the news one evening and seeing the frightening forecast with little optimism, I felt deflated and frightened. What was going to happen?

A family Zoom call was scheduled that evening for a special birthday. Once we were connected, a cupcake with a single candle appeared, we sang Happy Birthday from all points of the country. In those precious moments, the center of attention shifted from sadness to joy – the joy of celebration, the presence of family even on a remote Zoom call, the awareness of our blessings for health and even silly jokes. Love triumphed fear. We were surprised by joy!

At Easter, Jesus was raised from the dead and appeared to many people filled with fear: the women at the tomb, the disciples huddled in the upper room, Peter fishing in Galilee carrying guilt for betraying the Lord. Jesus surprised them as he came to each of them breathing resurrected spirit of peace and joy. To their troubled hearts Jesus declared, “Be at peace,” “feed my lambs,” “love one another,” “make disciples,” “know that I am with you always.”

Jesus is the reason for our joy! Will we trust him or keep saying, “Yes, but have you heard about…?” Henri Nouwen says this about joy: “When I trust deeply that today God is truly with me and holds me safe in a divine embrace, guiding every one of my steps, I can let go of my anxious need to know how tomorrow will look, or what will happen next month or next year. I can be fully where I am and pay attention to the many signs of God’s love within and around me.” May we all continue to discover glimpses of God’s joy each day.

Together on the journey,

Louise