Talitha Arnold: Joy in the Morning
"Weeping may tarry the night, but joy comes in the morning." - Psalm 30
How has joy come in your life?
Has it been with the light and brilliance of a New Mexico sunrise? Has joy come like "The Hallelujah Chorus" of Handel's "Messiah"? Perhaps joy burst into your life with the adoption of a new child or the birth of a grandchild. Maybe joy came with a new relationship, new job, or any other experience of new life.
Some mornings joy comes in a "pull-out-all-the-stops-and-sing Hallelujah" kind of way. Each Easter at the church I serve, a stalwart group gathers outdoors before dawn for the Sunrise Service. Often our timing is perfect, and the sun is up when we finish. Two years ago, we were singing "Amazing Grace" and just as we got to "bright shining as the sun," the sun rose over the mountains. We cheered with joy!
Sometimes joy's arrival is more subtle. Last Easter was bitter cold, and we had the shortest Sunrise Service ever. One person laughed, "I've never said the Lord's Prayer so fast!" Moreover, Daylight Savings Time had just started, so we began in the dark and ended in the dark. By the time the sun was up, we were inside, warming up over coffee.
None of us saw the sun rise. Yet later that morning, as we started the second service, I realized the world was filled with light and warmth. Sometimes joy comes like that--slowly, subtly, until we finally notice we've been given another day of life and light.
How joy comes isn't as important as that it will come--for you, for me, for this whole world. Yes, "weeping may tarry the night," but whether in the brilliance of a sunrise or as subtle as an everyday dawn, joy will come in the morning.
Prayer
Whenever and however it comes this day, O Lord, open us to your joy. Amen.