Southern District
Speaking Personally
By Donna Pritchard

I’m thinking a lot about joy today.  It is Monday of Holy Week.  I participated in a very moving Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday worship yesterday, leaving the church with tears in my eyes as we remembered how Sunday turns into Friday, on the trek from palms to passion.

I’m thinking a lot about joy today.  It is Monday, March 17, and in just a few short hours my daughter Kate and I will board an airplane at the Eugene airport.  Nearly 24 hours later we will arrive at our destination and step off a plane in Quito, Ecuador.

I’m thinking a lot about joy today.  In just five weeks I will be joining United Methodist Christians from around the world for 10 days of worship, study, theological debates, persuasion, celebration, and sleep deprivation in Ft. Worth, Texas, for General Conference.

I’m thinking a lot about joy today.  That may seem antithetical to the situations and experiences I describe.  But only if you take them at face value, and look only at what is on the surface.  Eugene Peterson, in his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society, writes this about joy:

“Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence.  It is not what we have to acquire in order to experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience. . .”

Peterson suggests that joy has a past as we remember the story of salvation, and as we recall those times in our lives when God’s promises have been fulfilled.  It also has a future, and is nurtured by anticipation.  We know that Monday of Holy Week will be followed by Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, yes; but we also know that Easter Sunday is just around the bend.  We can anticipate great joy when we walk in the way of faith and obedience.  Again, in Peterson’s words:

“There is plenty of suffering on both sides, past and future.  The joy comes because God knows how to wipe away our tears, and in the work of resurrection, God creates the smile of new life.”

The work of resurrection.  The smile of new life.  Perhaps that is what makes it possible for me to think a lot about joy today.  For surely 24 hours of traveling is not the best fun I can imagine.  Surely the grief and pain of crucifixion is nothing to celebrate.  Surely a grueling schedule of legislative committees and plenary sessions and late nights followed by early mornings for strategy sessions and study and devotion is a little bit daunting.  Yet I am choosing joy today.  With God’s grace, I’ll still be choosing joy when I get back from Quito, when Easter Sunday 2008 is another great memory, and when the last gavel sounds at General Conference.  What about you?  Will you choose joy today?

Grace and Peace,
Donna