Living with Joy

The other night I was at an event where I met up with a person I hadn’t seen in a while. They observed repeatedly how depressing Downtown was. Now, of course, they were making a general statement out of their own feelings. I try to accept people’s expressions as their truths even if I disagree. In this case, I admit I was very put off.

Downtown is a truth of the world. If it depresses you the world depresses you. If you can take on the challenge of suffering in the world and still be capable of feeling the joys that exist in the world, perhaps you can pass through the precincts of Los Angeles shrouded in the greatest privilege and know the truth of suffering that exists there to a greater degree than appearances imply.

For centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple there was an argument among the rabbis if it would ever be permissible to allow oneself to feel unalloyed joy. This is one of the most painful things for me in the Talmud. I admit, I can’t fully imagine the joy of connection with God that people (some people at least) must have felt through their experiences going up to the Temple. But I can’t imagine forcing myself to live my entire life always struggling against really feeling the joys of my life.

Everyone of us lives our lives with a mixture of joy and sorrow, ease and suffering. These binaries define each other. We make the meaning of our lives out of the tensions between the poles and out of the shock of finding them mixed together. If you see suffering in the world, please don’t turn away from it. Go ahead, be angry. Be angry at God if you want to. Be angry at our government that has failed to concern itself. Be angry with those who feel no qualms when they take theirs without concern for the needs of anyone else. Or, feel compassion and act to alleviate some of the suffering of the world and remember the joys in your life and try to bring that joy into the lives of others.