Rythme, Joie de vivre, Robert Delaunay, 1930.
Tears may flow in the night,
but joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5
As we move through Advent, our anticipation builds; the themes have run through hope and peace, and we now arrive at the joy before the outpouring of love and glory we feel on Christmas Day. The Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen described the difference between joy and happiness as; while happiness is dependent on external conditions, joy is ‘the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved and that nothing – sickness, failure, emotional distress, oppression, war, or even death - can take that love away’.
Thus, joy can be present even in the midst of sadness. Two things strike me here, the unconditionality of love, and the contrast between light and dark. The first, as Christians, is what gives us comfort, a comfort in understanding that nothing can prevent the deep joy of knowing Christ. The second not only teaches us to be accepting and patient, but also that light cannot exist without dark, summer without winter, joy without sadness. We need comparators to appreciate fully, and we need to understand the need for patience and trust.
In this painting, Delaunay contrasts the bright, joyful colours with duller, earthy tones. In doing so he pictorially represents the words of poem, But could you? in which the poet, Vladimir Mayakovsky, splashes a pot of colour on the trivialities of daily life, work-hours and boredom:
I blurred at once the chart of trite routine by splashing paint with one swift motion.
So, yes, our lives do contain disappointment, sadness, the mundane, and uncertainty, but we must rejoice and be glad because, heeding the words of the Psalmist, although our nights may be dark, ‘joy comes in the morning’. And as we feel the joy, let us give praise, a praise from the very depths of our hearts.
You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance;
you have taken away my sorrow
and surrounded me with joy.
So I will not be silent;
I will sing praise to you.
Lord, you are my God;
I will give you thanks forever.
Psalm 30:11-12
Gwyn Davies