May We Keep Dancing Beloveds | Monday Invocation
“You changed my mourning into dancing. You took off my funeral clothes and dressed me up in joy so that my whole being might sing praises to you and never stop. Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.”
Psalm 30:11-12 CEB
Psalm 30 is a Psalm that claims victory and praises God for deliverance over the darkness of the world. Another popular verse of the Psalm says, "Weeping may stay all night, but by morning, joy!" Leaning into this aspect that joy always comes. Celebration always comes. The end to suffering always comes.
Right now, there is a lot of suffering happening in the world. We live in a time where things just feel - hopeless at times. Every day, the news presents us with heartbreaking natural disasters, like the wildfires in Maui, glacier flooding in Alaska, and rare tropical storms in Southern California. There are also situations that are just plain bewildering, like the news about how the International Chess Federation has enacted new restrictions for transgender individuals for the foreseeable future.
So where do we go from here? How do we claim that joy when there is so much happening and it’s hard to even keep up with it all? Two things: We have to make room for that joy and remember that the Divine has delivered us before and will do so again.
It is a good thing to be aware of what is happening around us and be engaged with our communities enough to know how to care for ourselves and those around us. However, if all we engage with is the heartbreak of the world, then our hearts will always be breaking and make room for nothing else. Are we making space for joy to come in? Are we giving space to interact with the people and things that bring us joy? Or is our gaze strictly set on the acts of harm and injustices of the world? Building that space for joy reminds us of what we are striving for as a community, and it rebuilds our souls in ways that work can not.
Maybe you are like me, and dancing it out in your room to that classic Fall Out Boy song brings you joy. Maybe working on a piece of art, going to an amusement park, walking through the park, cuddling with your cat while reading a really good book, or having lunch with a life-giving friend is what brings you joy and gives you peace. Making room for joy to enter into our lives helps breed space for more joy and creates a balanced and healthy system for when things seem that all is lost.
Lastly, we must remember that the Divine has delivered us before, just as the Divine has delivered the psalmist in their troubles. We as a community have had victory with the Declassification of Homosexuality as a Mental Disorder (1973), the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (2011), the legal acknowledgement of the right to marriage through Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), and increased representation in media, just to name a few. The Divine is still working for us, through us, even when we cannot see it. We still have a long way to go in gaining rights for LGBTQ+ persons, but that does not make these wins null in void. It makes them that much more important to remember.
We have danced and celebrated our right to be, our right to exist and our right to be protected in the world as much as the next person. We have celebrated every victory, and will continue to do so. May we keep dancing, beloveds, and never stop.
We recognize that sometimes there are more strenuous situations that require more help than just “making room for joy” or “remembering that the Divine has delivered us before”. You can visit The Suicide Prevention Lifeline or call 1-800-273-8255 if you are in distress or experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide. You can also visit our external resources page for additional resources that may be helpful as you seek help.
