The Simmering of Joy

Coffee with Cream and Sugar
An Invitation into the Sweet Oneness of God
#7-The Simmering of Joy 

JOSEPH JACKSON (BLACK LIKE COFFEE) 

August ushered in joy and hope.
September came and went.
Joy remains in the atmosphere
Hope is still in the air. 
I feel joy, joy, joy deep down in my heart. 

“Hope is making a comeback!”

 October is here, and the planned blog for September is still waiting.

What’s going on?
Is it procrastination?
Or busyness?
Or the need for a quiet space and place?  

Perhaps just as the leaves are slow to change colors this Wisconsin fall day,
I, too, have been slow
to put pen to paper or fingers to keys on the computer keyboard.  

Slow but sure!
Simmering.  

A few days left now until the presidential election. 
Even this waiting time has felt slow.  

Hope is still in the air.
Joy remains in the atmosphere. 
Joy, joy, joy deep down in my heart. 

HEATHER LEE (WHITE LIKE CREAM) 

Joe and I met in late in August after both of us had the opportunity to attend the Kamala Harris rally in Milwaukee where she received and accepted the nomination to run for President of the United States. There was really nothing like it. A woman of color. Let me say that again–a woman of color, running for President—supported by so many, including another woman of color (Michelle Obama), who used a phrase that Joe references in his slow, but sure, writing, “hope is making a comeback!”.  

Joe sat in my backyard that day in August, both of us sharing about our experience of this new energy of hope…of joy…of a woman (like me) of color (like Joe) standing in front of a nation with a smile of hope—a smile on her face (it doesn’t take much, does it).  I wondered if we dared, do we dare, acknowledge the Spirit’s movement, its invitation, its entrance into our mean-spirited, scowling, divisive, political landscape with a smile and with feelings of hope, of joy, of loving each other, of belonging. Those gifts don’t come from anything but the Spirit. A woman leader, a leader of color, who smiles, for heaven’s sake, who speaks of a challenge to love our neighbors—all our neighbors. Joe and I were poised to write, to put pen to paper, to lift this joy from the Spirit that we were again surprised and ignited by. 

And if I may quote my friend Joe here on this, now, October day:
August ushered in joy and hope. September came and went. October is here, and the planned blog for September is still waiting. 

 Does this ever happen to you? I know it does. Do you ever have mountaintop experiences (can I call them that?) — experiences that are so filled with hope and joy and connection that you want to shout them from the mountaintops?— and then, somehow, you just don’t do it—you can’t find the words or the time or the place to capture them in their fullness. So, you hold them in your heart, deep down in your heart, and let the joy simmer there for a while. You let it simmer, like a pot of chili on a Sunday autumn afternoon, and somehow the joy finds its way slowly into it all.  

I am reminded of the Biblical story of the transfiguration (Matthew 17), where Jesus hikes up the mountain with a couple of his buddies and, while they are on the top, he turns into something resembling a pillar of light flooded with the love of God. It was quite a moment for everyone. In fact, his friends (Peter, James, and John) wanted to build a tent up there so they could just stay together in their shared experience of hope and joy. That doesn’t turn out to be possible, so they meander back down the mountain and go back to work. Jesus even instructs them not to mention it to anyone yet—let it simmer for a while—share it later, after the battle is over. Well, he didn’t use that “battle” word, (but it reminds me of a song Joe likes-see the sugar below) but it was something like it.  

So, my joy is still here this October day, just like Joe’s, deep down in my heart. Do you want to join us here in this simmering pot, where joy is a key ingredient? Hope is in the air. My prayer is that you can carry it with you here in these last days before the election–that you can you go out and watch the leaves on the trees slowly turning (if you are lucky enough to live in a place where leaves turn this time of year); that you can touch that simmering joy within you and bring it forth with something as simple as a smile—a smile at the immigrant, the person with different colored skin than you, the neighbor living in a way other than the way you choose to live, heck, smile at everyone with the joy in knowing that we are all walking up and down these mountains toward light and love together.  

SUGAR (THE SWEET ONENESS OF GOD) 

This is Joe, and I have something to say about the sugar. The sugar is sharing the joy and blessings experienced. The sugar is that God keeps proving God’s self over and over again. Every time I think there can be no more joy, God brings it on! My wife, Brenda, asked me Sunday evening after a high time at church, “are you still leaping for joy?” YES! The joy of celebrating children and youth day was still simmering within me. The joy of receiving two youths and two adults as new members of the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church family was still simmering within me. Joy is still simmering, and, although it doesn’t look like it here on the couch on Sunday night, I’m still leaping.  

This is Heather, and I have something to say about the sugar in our coffee and cream too. It wouldn’t be one of our blogs if there weren’t a few songs strummed up in our hearts that brought us together. There is probably no way that you are not already singing I’ve got the Joy Joy Joy Joy down in my heart.  Interestingly I saw that Nike is using this song in a commercial that reminds viewers that winning isn’t comfortable (and to buy their products, I imagine). I find the looks on the faces in this ad to be remarkably aligned with what Joe and I have described in our own efforts to share this simmering joy in our hearts.  

Joe also introduced me to the Gospel song; Don’t Wait till the Battle is Over-Shout Now.   Remember the battle I mentioned above?  We have been sharing our joy stories—shouting them out to each other here before the battle is over. Joe shares his photographs of his morning walks, his quotes from his readings, his time with children and families at his church. I have been sharing about a trip I just took to Germany, where I connected with over a dozen lifelong friends that I don’t see for years on end—truly one mountaintop experience after the next. On that trip, the 11-year-old son of one of my dear German friends asked me a question in English. This is an 11-year-old boy, conversing with me in his second language. He asked, somewhat quietly and unsure, what I imagine was a prompt from one of his English language classes, “Heather, what is your dream job?” That question made me laugh out loud initially, but he was so serious. And in honoring his seriousness, the question touched me deep down in my heart—it touched joy—and the simmering and slow changes that have brought it into the whole of my life through the work that I am doing at A Moment of Retreat (AMOR) LLC –the work that I get to do every day with people, neighbors, from all walks of life, in spiritual guidance and companioning. You know what, I told him? I told him that I was working my dream job, and I teared up in that response. Joy leads the way. What brings you joy will guide you…through the slow but sure and simmering changes of life. 

We send joy to all desiring some joy in their lives. Oh, Be Joyful. Tell us the joy that is simmering for you. 

3 thoughts on “The Simmering of Joy”

  1. Simply beautiful, this blog leads me to remember a song by ,, Kirk Franklin ( called joy). JOY JOY DOWN IN MY SOUL, sweet, beautiful wonderful!!! Joy, Joy in my soul.

    Finding joy in an uncertain time. Learning about joy, knowing that the world didn’t give it , and the world can’t take it.
    The joy of living free in a world without racism, but the oneness of the community
    Helping all generations to love again. Leading them to love The Creator, as well as our neighbors, and self.

    Thank you for this wonderful blog, it shows the oneness in hope , joy and international community.

    Thank you Pastor, and Heather

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