Joy as Resistance

Award winning author, Evette Dionne, said, “Joy is a revolutionary force. We need it as much as we need anger because it is joy that will help keep us in these bodies long enough to enact justice.”

Why? Because it unifies, lifts spirits, energizes with positivity, reminds us that there is still good in the world, takes us out of our fear and despair for the moment and brings us hope.

Let’s be clear, Palm Sunday celebrates a resistance march. It wasn’t a victory march – clearly Jesus hadn’t won anything. Nope, it was blatant resistance against empire, against those in power who were oppressing the people.

Here’s what I find fascinating. Jesus had to know that those in power were getting closer and closer to arresting him as the days went by. Not that he was psychic, but (having once been the target of people wanting to get rid of me) there are signs, whisperings, gossip, looks, weird behavior, a different energy. So, Jesus had a choice… he could back off which wasn’t who he was and would have basically nullified everything he’d worked for to that point. Or he could make lemonade of the lemons he was given.

I figure he decided he had one more move in him before he was arrested, and he had better make the most of it. Jesus had been drawing huge crowds to listen to him, now how could he mobilize them? Another prophet or messiah might have riled the people up, fed on their anger, and led them in literally fighting back - it had happened before and would happen again. But Jesus was the non-violent sort. He had never sought to motivate through anger. He had always encouraged people to be the best they could be by reminding them of their sacredness, of their belonging in the kin-dom of God, of God’s love for them no matter what. So, what, on the eve of Passover, when hundreds of thousands of Jews (most of whom Jesus had never encountered) were flooding into Jerusalem, could draw the people together not in anger and fear, but in joy and unity? Because joy in the face of oppression IS resistance. How about a parade? Yes! A symbolic parade that all Jews would understand, in which Jesus cast himself as the new ruler from Zechariah 9:9 triumphantly coming to Israel “humble, riding… on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Oh, the power of joy!

Catholic priest and theologian, Henri Nouwen, once wrote, “Community is the place of joy and celebration where we can say to one another, “Be of good cheer: the Lord has overcome the world… [C]ommunity is the place where you and I continue to let the world know that there is something to celebrate, something to be joyful about, something to be ecstatic about… We have to be people of celebration in order to be peacemaking people. Sour, somber, utterly serious peacemakers are not real peacemakers. We have to be a people who have seen a vision and celebrate that vision together.”

In those moments when Jesus rode through Jerusalem, the people were sharing a vision. A vision of liberation from an oppressive regime and a Jewish hierarchy who were in their pockets. A vision of new life, freedom, prosperity, abundance. A vision of a time where they could live in peace, worshipping as they chose, living in harmony with God and one another. And they celebrated that vision with great joy.

I suppose we have to ask ourselves if it was a tease. Jesus dangles this vision knowing that it wasn’t going to last long. But maybe those ordinary folks who had been most downtrodden needed that one day to give them sustenance and resilience for the days to come. Maybe it unified people in a way that even making the pilgrimage for Passover didn’t.

Many of us have been to the protest rallies recently where people today are banding together for a vision of a more just world. The rallies are actually full of joy. They are supportive. You meet people you never would have met. You come together, unified over a common cause. You laugh and chant and wave and sometimes sing. And you leave feeling less alone, less fearful, and a bit more hopeful.

Audre Lorde wrote, “The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.” Joy, and celebrations in particular, focus our attention on our commonalities, not our differences.

So, maybe it wasn’t a tease. Maybe it was exactly what the people needed.

Let me be clear. I’m NOT saying that we should put our head in the sand when it comes to the struggles in our lives. We have to deal with them, whether it is fighting against injustice, dealing with a chronic or terminal illness, facing family problems, dealing with job, home, economic uncertainty, living with poverty… or any number of other things in life that cause stress. What I’m saying is that choosing joy is a way of saying “I refuse to allow this to have the power to constantly bring me down. I refuse to deny myself joy, fun, laughter simply because life is hard and sad right now.” What I’m saying is that choosing joy is a really good resistance tool to help us get through.

Ingrid Fetell Lee, author of The Aesthetics of Joy, wrote, “For activists, who live with chronic stress, the risk of burnout is physiological. Prolonged states of heightened negative emotion raise blood pressure, cortisol, and respiration rate, putting stress on the cardiovascular system. Rest is vital, but rest alone doesn’t create resilience. We also need moments of release and celebration to mark the small victories and restore body and mind. Research shows that small bursts of positive emotion can help reset the body’s physical responses to stress, so that people can continue to fight from a place of wellbeing and strength.

What dictators have always known is that joy is a force that gathers and channels energy that can threaten to upend the rigid control of a population. That is why throughout history the arts have been forbidden when dictators came into power. Lee explains, “Music, dance art… all fuel an emotional response that creates momentum, one that can be hard to control.”

For example, in China under Mao, listening to Beethoven was a crime. Folk or traditional music is often condemned, like the banning of Jewish music in Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union censored songs by artists like AC/DC, Tina Turner, and Julio Iglesias. In communist Albania, they banned the saxophone. In Trinidad, the British banned drumming. And the list goes on.

Joy also affirms our humanity. Joy is a sign of a vibrant life, of resilience in the face of struggle. To choose joy is to decide not to let something or someone take our very humanity from us.

May we take the positive, hopeful, joyful energy of Palm Sunday and allow it to nourish and replenish our souls for the challenges of our lives and our communities. And as we walk through our days, may we remember to seek, accept and choose joy, thus helping us to be resilient as we strive continually for justice.

Love & Light!

Kaye