There is a Joy in Brevity.
The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song. Isaiah 35
There is a Joy in Brevity/. What does that mean?
I thought it would be a nice meditation for us, on this Gaudete Joyful Advent Sunday. The prophet Isaiah leads off the Word today with messages of joy, especially for the Coming of The Lord. Yet there is a joy in the waiting, too. That is, if, then, you are willing to slow down to the speed of joy.
“Joy in brevity” means finding happiness and meaning in short moments, enjoying or savoring life along the way. It’s the difference seen in someone who is actually in a moment, rather than displaced. For example, I was watching tourists so busy with their cameras for video-taking, that it was obvious they were not really seeing and taking in what was right in front of them in the moment. They were missing things by this practice, in putting the camera in front of their face and in blocking views of others behind them. It’s a modern dilemma in the cell phone era. Another example: I can be with you at lunch with my phone off, enjoying the short moment with you, as in joy in brevity, or I can spoil it and have my phone on and be looking down at it throughout the time, like something or someone more important might need my attention.
Maybe you are good with phone etiquette, but remaining with those examples in a spiritual sense, I can say that we can treat God as someone that we would be easily distracted from. Other things can too easily capture the attention we ought to be holding for Him. Yet we must learn to have joy in brevity. Jesus taught this in John 15. He said that if you would remain in Me (or abide in Me), and I to you, then it will be so that My Joy may be in you.
The remaining or abiding practice Jesus asks for is this finding of God and what is precious in the short moments. We are to go at the speed of joy. Slowed down enough with God to appreciate your life in His. St. Therese of Liseaux called it following her “Little Way” that teaches that even the smallest acts of love and sacrifice are wondrous in God’s eyes. It’s about letting the Spirit of God in to us, instead of a selfish style to go. It took her to sainthood.
To the tourist caught up in the phone camera, I wanted to say to them: Be in life—don’t just film it, or you just might miss what is to be enjoyed. Don’t make this mistake of choosing your camera’s eye over your own two eyes. Sure, there’s a time for a picture shot—but first see what you came to see, and take it in.
On Guadete Sunday, praise to you who know and show this joy in brevity life.
I want to take note of those of you who took the time to celebrate Advent with our talk yesterday in church… or who are engaged in some Advent living…. I want to thank those who came out on that Friday of our anniversary weekend for the Taize Prayer Eucharistic Service or who came out that Sunday for our Volunteer Appreciation Concert and community time… I see that our 24/7 window is still getting many visitors to pray outside—as an example of me of people slowing down to the speed of joy—just trying to center Jesus into their lives… and bravo to those who are in prayer reflection in your life in looking at your life experiences and taking the time enough to let God guide you along. That is the Joy in Brevity practice. It is “Slowing down to the speed of joy.” Life with God is to be savored, and He is in every moment. Don’t get so crazy-busy or self-important, that you miss some important messages in your own life. God may do something to slow you down for Himself, too, and let God have His portion, then. He intends joy to you.
There is joy in brevity. It is appreciating life’s fleeting beauty, and living intentionally or purposefully because time is short. Be in the now of life. Feel it. Deal with it, rather than dismiss it—particularly the challenging moment. Too many want to dodge life. Don’t you.
Extra homily clippings (not included but researched)
There is a Joy in the brevity in life, that we can have happiness or contentment in living the life we have—one thing at a time.
Don’t look too far ahead of one’s self. Especially in being carried away by worries. The bible has a wise saying: Tomorrow will take care of itself. From the Sermon on the Mount, exactly: Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Mt. 6:34.
It’s about savoring the “now”—a sunrise, a good conversation, a moment of peace—as a conscious act against life’s quick passage. Hold on to what is happening.
The Key aspects of finding joy in brevity: Presence: Being fully in the moment, not letting past regrets or future anxieties steal today’s joy, Gratitude: Recognizing daily experiences as precious gifts, fostering contentment in little things like nature or simple comforts. St. Therese calls it her “little ways of love.” Intentionality: Knowing the value of time, we see the need for better choices and seeking wisdom from God in our way of being.. Simplicity: Christmas celebration sometimes needs this aspect, of shifting focus from the grand achievements or grand scale or the material things instead of finding joy in the everyday moments, like a hummingbird or a shared laugh.
I found joy this week in reading some kids Keep Christ in Christmas posters and in a hand-painted get well card to my door…. in seeing a person pull up to our 24/7 window to pray at an odd hour, when I happened to be going by… in waking up a number of times one night uncomfortable in bed due to meds and it helping me recall the many people in nursing homes I’ve met thru the years in that situation of restless bed time often, but not complaining… of sitting still in some rest time after surgery and just being there in that moment of self-care, not needing to be doing something else—the rest was the better thing. . Amen.