Choose Adoration and Joy
Several great spiritual masters (including St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis de Sales) direct disciples of Jesus to begin their daily prayer exercises with adoration of God. This direction is simple enough to obey and implement after a certain amount of practice. It seems, however, that disciples easily forget to adore the Lord once a set of difficult circumstances arises, or if they simply do not feel like following the instruction on any given day.
This has been the case in my life during recent days. Extended travel, fatigue, and rowdy, ornery children have unsettled the usual routine. On my own first assessment, adoration seems quite impossible. So does joy, which is supposed to be a wonderful fruit of a robust spiritual life. In the eyes of a witness, the demeanor that I carry during such periods very well might seem contradictory to the adoration and joy to which I call others through my work and writing. That's right, ministers and spiritual writers can, perhaps, give the lie to their message simply by their faces and attitudes. I stand at the front of the guilty line.
So, how does one answer the call to adoration and experience the joy that God intends, even when he doesn't feel like adoring or being joyful? The answer has swirled through my head all the while. Don't wait for adoration and joy to "come back" from wherever they might have gone; don't be completely passive in the spiritual and moral life. A person (me, in this case) can take practical, measurable steps to transform his mind and will. These choices will eventually form habits. Quite simply, disciples of Jesus must choose adoration and joy, no matter the other circumstances.
Choosing to adore is simpler than choosing joy, although it is not purely simple. In its most basic form, adoration is analogous to acknowledging the role of a boss, coach, elected official, or spouse. It is quite easy to recognize that the other person is distinct from me, and that her role is different than mine. It is possible to recognize that other person and her role, even when she is unpleasant or when my day isn't going so well. The same must be said for God. God is different than me, and His role is Creator and Sustainer of life and the cosmos. This is true, regardless of how I feel from moment to moment, day to day, or year to year.
Although the simple act of recognition is some form of adoration, we must remember that it is only part of adoration. The Catholic faith teaches further that adoration "exalts the greatness of the Lord" and acknowledges the total dependence of the creature upon the Creator (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2097, 2628). At this point, the analogy used above begins to crumble. It is possible to recognize the office and role of a boss or an elected official without exalting his greatness or admitting dependence. It is not uncommon for employees and citizens to take up attitudes of pride and actions of dissent toward those who are "above." These dispositions must never be brought to our relationship with God. (It would require another post altogether to deal with the fact that these are not proper dispositions toward fellow human beings either.)
For adoration to be true, it must be an agreeable act that is exercised in willing (even joyful) obedience. Again, the Catholic Church purveys wisdom in this area: "Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as...the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love" (CCC 2096). Even when I am overly tired or frustrated, when I would rather sulk over unpalatable circumstances, an act of adoration reminds me that God is in charge and that I owe to Him more than my sourpuss attitude. That is how the virtue of religion grows, by choosing honor the truth of God's position over and above feelings or emotions are to the contrary. Adoration is that choice.
Now, what about joy? Joy is more difficult to choose because it emanates from within a person, and it is closely linked with emotions (although it is absolutely not the same as emotions). In our common human experience, it is easy to associate joy with happy feelings and agreeable outcomes, such as seeing a good movie, receiving a large tax refund, or positive election returns for a favorite candidate. Yet, none of these is a source or expression of true joy because they are fleeting, despite their shorter or longer duration.
Therefore, joy must be something else and it must be from some other source. We read from St. Paul that joy is one of the fruits of living in the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5). Life in the Spirit, says the Apostle, is opened by faith in Jesus Christ and it allows an all-pervasive moral freedom. Faith in Jesus Christ is a virtue, and joy accompanies it. Thus, it is clear that virtues cultivate joy within the person (or people) who practices them (cf. CCC 1804). Logic, then, elicits the following conclusion: the life of virtue is the source of joy.
The life of virtue is something that all of us can enact and cultivate. The circumstances surrounding us do not matter. A person can be virtuous whether she feels good or whether she feels the proverbial weight of the world on her shoulders. In fact, Sirach 6 notes that the weight and chains of virtuous living actually become the source of joy. This is exactly why St. James opens his scriptural letter with an admonition to joy: "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (Jas.1:2-4) The fullness of life and joy are available to every person simply by choosing to acknowledge God as sovereign Lord and Savior, no matter how he feels or thinks on any given day.
This has been the case in my life during recent days. Extended travel, fatigue, and rowdy, ornery children have unsettled the usual routine. On my own first assessment, adoration seems quite impossible. So does joy, which is supposed to be a wonderful fruit of a robust spiritual life. In the eyes of a witness, the demeanor that I carry during such periods very well might seem contradictory to the adoration and joy to which I call others through my work and writing. That's right, ministers and spiritual writers can, perhaps, give the lie to their message simply by their faces and attitudes. I stand at the front of the guilty line.
So, how does one answer the call to adoration and experience the joy that God intends, even when he doesn't feel like adoring or being joyful? The answer has swirled through my head all the while. Don't wait for adoration and joy to "come back" from wherever they might have gone; don't be completely passive in the spiritual and moral life. A person (me, in this case) can take practical, measurable steps to transform his mind and will. These choices will eventually form habits. Quite simply, disciples of Jesus must choose adoration and joy, no matter the other circumstances.
Choosing to adore is simpler than choosing joy, although it is not purely simple. In its most basic form, adoration is analogous to acknowledging the role of a boss, coach, elected official, or spouse. It is quite easy to recognize that the other person is distinct from me, and that her role is different than mine. It is possible to recognize that other person and her role, even when she is unpleasant or when my day isn't going so well. The same must be said for God. God is different than me, and His role is Creator and Sustainer of life and the cosmos. This is true, regardless of how I feel from moment to moment, day to day, or year to year.
Although the simple act of recognition is some form of adoration, we must remember that it is only part of adoration. The Catholic faith teaches further that adoration "exalts the greatness of the Lord" and acknowledges the total dependence of the creature upon the Creator (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2097, 2628). At this point, the analogy used above begins to crumble. It is possible to recognize the office and role of a boss or an elected official without exalting his greatness or admitting dependence. It is not uncommon for employees and citizens to take up attitudes of pride and actions of dissent toward those who are "above." These dispositions must never be brought to our relationship with God. (It would require another post altogether to deal with the fact that these are not proper dispositions toward fellow human beings either.)
For adoration to be true, it must be an agreeable act that is exercised in willing (even joyful) obedience. Again, the Catholic Church purveys wisdom in this area: "Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as...the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love" (CCC 2096). Even when I am overly tired or frustrated, when I would rather sulk over unpalatable circumstances, an act of adoration reminds me that God is in charge and that I owe to Him more than my sourpuss attitude. That is how the virtue of religion grows, by choosing honor the truth of God's position over and above feelings or emotions are to the contrary. Adoration is that choice.
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| Durer, Adoration of the Magi (1504) |
Therefore, joy must be something else and it must be from some other source. We read from St. Paul that joy is one of the fruits of living in the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5). Life in the Spirit, says the Apostle, is opened by faith in Jesus Christ and it allows an all-pervasive moral freedom. Faith in Jesus Christ is a virtue, and joy accompanies it. Thus, it is clear that virtues cultivate joy within the person (or people) who practices them (cf. CCC 1804). Logic, then, elicits the following conclusion: the life of virtue is the source of joy.
The life of virtue is something that all of us can enact and cultivate. The circumstances surrounding us do not matter. A person can be virtuous whether she feels good or whether she feels the proverbial weight of the world on her shoulders. In fact, Sirach 6 notes that the weight and chains of virtuous living actually become the source of joy. This is exactly why St. James opens his scriptural letter with an admonition to joy: "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (Jas.1:2-4) The fullness of life and joy are available to every person simply by choosing to acknowledge God as sovereign Lord and Savior, no matter how he feels or thinks on any given day.
