"Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy." Joseph Campbell
Thursday is my ‘on call’ day. It is the day I visit hospitals, nursing homes, call to check up on those who have had surgery or have been ill. I share a rotation with my colleagues, each of us taking a different day of the week.It is a fine arrangement and allows us each the opportunity to check in with our community. As you might imagine some days are filled with sorrow and others with joy. This past week for instance I was privileged to see two beautiful twin boys, new to the world, still soft and fragile, a complete double package of wonder. Other days I have seen people in pain, fear, distress, grief and deep sadness.
Today as I drove to a hospital I found myself stuck in traffic and sitting very close to other cars. The bumper sticker on the green minivan was right at my eye view. "We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy." These wise words of Joseph Campbell were in very small print. This was definitely one of those bumper adornments that was either meant for those inside or to be read while the car was not moving. To do so at any faster speed would have been dangerous! The rectangular sticker did not include the words that introduce this statement….Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. That part doesn’t seem like the stuff of bumper stickers to me.
What would it mean to participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world? It is, in some ways, a curious directive.There seems to be the understanding that sorrow is inevitable which is certainly true. It is a by-product of a life of connection, of relationship. If we are truly engaged in our lives and the lives of others, in significant relationships, invested in the world, we will have sorrow. People disappoint, lives end, change infringes on what we have planned, what we have known, bad things happen to good people and to a marvelous world.
But to participate joyfully in the sorrow implies that we continue to hold on to that connection, recognizing its power to transform even in the darkness of a bleak situation. Joy is not happiness, that emotion that can be battered about by so many outside forces. Joy, something that lives deep within, can be a way of living which is, I think, Campbell’s point. Given what we know about how life works and doesn’t work, isn’t the most productive choice to live joyfully? It may not always be easy but I believe in the end it will be the most rewarding.
The refrain of a favorite song goes: "No storm can shake my inward calm while to that rock I ‘m clinging, If Love is lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?" Though the sorrows of the world may press in, may we each set an intention of joy…….and lift our voice in song. It’s bound to make a difference.