Joy!

Joy comes with the dawn.  Joy comes with the rising sun.

During the Easter season, my local church has been singing a hymn that acknowledges, “weeping may come; weeping may come with the night.”  I suspect many of us can relate to that.  Who hasn’t cried themselves to sleep?  Who doesn’t remember a night (or many) where the only bedtime lullaby has been the steady leaching of wracked-out tears onto one’s own pillow? 

This is the Easter season, though, so of course there’s more…
The refrain continues, “Joy comes with the dawn.  Joy comes with the rising sun.” 

In the dawn, my pastor leaves for Forth Worth. In two days, a friend and I depart for Texas, our plane taking off on the rays of the rising sun. 
Joy.  Joy will come with that?

I like this hymn: it affirms that we may weep, and we may suffer.  This is to be expected, and probably will occur in the darkest moments of night.  Then we are told that joy will come, and not with a “but” that denigrates or erases our weeping – no, this joy comes each morning, in a dazzling flood of light…  Weeping is possible; joy is definite.  And this joy is expressed with such sweet, sweet simplicity.  It’s beautiful. 

The General Conference legislative work, the vote counting and recording, the patient waiting and the praying– all of that lies ahead of us.  Today, I remember the joy that comes each dawn.  The joy of rebirth, of reconnecting with old friends, of meeting new ones, of being a witness to the all-inclusive love of Christ, of saying it loud and saying it proud: I am gay, and Jesus loves me.  I am transgender, and Jesus loves me.  My brothers and sisters are gay, and straight; are lesbian, and bisexual - and Jesus loves us all.  We are ALL part of the body of Christ, and that is a source of deep, enduring joy!

Whether dawn finds you traveling to General Conference, praying, working, proving childcare, working, witnessing – remember, joy  – JOY! - comes with rising sun.