Body of Joy
Poet Mary Oliver writes, “Every day, I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight.” Oftentimes the things that slay us with delight are found in paying attention to the small things, the simple acts; coming back to the texture of our own breath, the basic goodness of our beings and our bodies. This Sunday, we explore the joy we find in the embodied world and how we might cultivate love for our bodies, our physical world and the glory found in our fleshy beings, or as the prophet sings out, “even the desert rejoices.”
Join us for worship this Sunday, March 11 at 9:30 or 11:15 a.m.
Order of Service: March 11 Order of Service
Listen to the Sermon, Readings, and Call to Worship:
Offering Recipient: Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity (give here)
March Worship Theme: Wrestling with Joy
What purpose does joy serve? What is its function? Joy has no utilitarian use, so why is it so necessary? Why does life feel flat without it? In Jack Gilbert’s poem, A Brief for the Defense, he states: “We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight.” Joy lightens the heavy lifting of justice work, or the difficulty of simply living. Joy is about experiencing life welling up, of lithe spirit having its way with us even in the midst of sadness. This month we wrestle with the meaning of joy, something that serves no purpose but is absolutely necessary. We cannot make it come to us, nor can we corral it into staying. Still we can invite it, become more prone to its appearance. Most certainly, it takes wrestling with all the ways and means by which we tell ourselves that joy is frivolous.
