Many of us grew up singing “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart” at church camp, VBS, or Sunday School. It’s a classic kid favorite. The leader sings “down in my heart” and everyone yells “WHERE?!?” It’s fast and loud, enthusiastic and silly. It’s as joyful as the lyrics suggest. So, I was surprised to discover a different version of that song a few years ago. A band named Page CXVI slows it down and puts it in a minor key. It sounds sad, like it was sung not by someone who was joyful but by someone who was longing to be joyful. In the final bars, a well-known Sunday School song turns into a well-known hymn, as the band sings, “it is well, it is well with my soul.”
It reminds me that we can have hope and joy–our souls can be well–even when we are singing in a minor key. This version of the song helped me to understand that joy and happiness are not the same thing. Happiness is loud and silly, but fleeting. Like opening presents on Christmas morning. Joy is deeper and more sustained— it is present not just in good times, but in times of sadness and struggle. We can find joy when a community surrounds a grieving family after tragedy, or a child who has struggled in school walks across the stage at graduation, or the pains of labor give way to new life.
I wonder if it is helpful to think of “thankfulness” and “gratitude” in much the same way. Thankfulness is often fleeting and automatic; when someone holds the door open for us or a server hands us the check at a restaurant, we say “thank you” without even really thinking about it. But gratitude doesn’t happen automatically. We experience gratitude only after we have really reflected on something and can appreciate its significance or impact on us.
November is a month when we typically focus on thankfulness and the things for which we are thankful tend to come to mind automatically: family and friends, our health, a roof over our heads, food on our tables. But 2024 has been a tough year. Some of us have lost loved ones, or do not have our health, or will choose not to celebrate the holidays with family and friends this year.
Because of the economic downturn, some of our neighbors are struggling to put food on their tables. Thankfulness may not come easy this year. So, if thankfulness doesn’t come easy this November, let’s focus on gratitude. Let’s search a little harder and a little deeper for the things we truly appreciate. Let’s reflect on what has been most significant to us and impacted us this year. Let’s acknowledge that–just like we can find beauty in a minor key and joy in the midst of struggle—we can find gratitude in 2024.
Blessings,
David Dubovich