{"id":2582,"date":"2016-11-04T06:09:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T12:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturespath\/?p=2582"},"modified":"2018-04-15T21:20:46","modified_gmt":"2018-04-15T21:20:46","slug":"religion-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion and Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cLet religion be to us life and joy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0So begins a lengthy description of religion and religious life by Unitarian minister Vincent B. Silliman. A poem by Sufi Poet Hafiz says:<\/p>\n

\"sunset-1176695_640\"<\/a>What is the difference
\nBetween your Existence
\nAnd that of a Saint?<\/p>\n

The Saint knows
\nThat the spiritual path
\nIs a sublime chess game with God
\nAnd that the Beloved
\nHas just made such a Fantastic Move
\nThat the Saint is now continually
\nTripping over joy
\nAnd Bursting out in Laughter
\nAnd saying, \u201cI Surrender!\u201d<\/p>\n

Whereas, my dear,
\nI am afraid you still think
\nYou have a thousand serious moves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I\u2019m afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make. Religion can seem big and serious and solemn. We are here to ask hard questions: questions about good and evil, about faith and doubt, about what we should do and who we are. Questions about life and death. All of these are big, serious, solemn, important questions.<\/p>\n

And yet. Let religion be to us life and joy. We are also called to joy, to happiness, to mirth, to laughter. To being together in fun as well as in effort. To supporting each other in joy as well as in sorrow. Let religion be to us life and joy. Let our covenant call us to the joy of worship as well as to the responsibility of it.<\/p>\n

Moving Forward with a Chant<\/h4>\n

Several years ago, I was in a Pagan chanting workshop. One of the chants was a prayer that went like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cSing through my voice. Play through my hands. Let the way be open.\u201d<\/p>\n

This sort of offering is part of my faith \u2013 the offering of myself to something larger, something that moves through me. Something that might use my voice to speak. Something that might use my hands to do its work in the world, if I will let allow that to happen.<\/p>\n

But I am much more used to thinking of the larger reality as working through me rather than playing through me. Play through my hands. What an idea! I might be faithful in joy as well as labor, in happiness as well as solemnity.<\/p>\n

What is the something larger is that you serve in your religious quest? Perhaps that is the Gods, or perhaps it is Humanity. Perhaps it is a vision of a world community of peace, liberty, and justice. Perhaps it is a local community of justice and hope. Whatever it is that you feel commands your loyalty, the words of your mouth, the work of your hands.<\/p>\n

We serve these not only with work, labor, toil, effort, and struggle. We serve them also with play, with happiness, with lightheartedness, with joy. May we be like saints, continually tripping over joy and bursting out in laughter. May our religious communities become places of joy. May religion be to us life and joy. May it be so.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I’m afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2431,"featured_media":2583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1172,707,20,23],"class_list":["post-2582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chanting","tag-joy","tag-spiritual-practice","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nReligion and Joy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Erica Baron writes about Religion and Joy: In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I'm afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Religion and Joy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Erica Baron writes about Religion and Joy: In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I'm afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nature's Sacred Journey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-04T12:09:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-04-15T21:20:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/857\/2016\/11\/sunset-1176695_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erica Baron\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erica Baron\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/\",\"name\":\"Religion and Joy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-04T12:09:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-04-15T21:20:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#\/schema\/person\/c6cc7248c31d8d9d06adf7bae19db131\"},\"description\":\"Erica Baron writes about Religion and Joy: In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I'm afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Religion and Joy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/\",\"name\":\"Nature's Sacred Journey\",\"description\":\"Celebrating UU-Paganism and Earth-Centered Experience\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#\/schema\/person\/c6cc7248c31d8d9d06adf7bae19db131\",\"name\":\"Erica Baron\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3487f62c599f06f80de0679e7c1d0b5?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3487f62c599f06f80de0679e7c1d0b5?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erica Baron\"},\"description\":\"Rev. Erica Baron was raised as a Unitarian Universalist and was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 2008 after receiving a Master of Divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School. She dabbled in Pagan spirituality from high school through graduate school, but got serious about pursuing a Pagan path after her ordination. She has received training from and is an active member of the Temple of Witchcraft. She currently serves as the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills in Kingston, NY.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/author\/ebaron\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Religion and Joy","description":"Erica Baron writes about Religion and Joy: In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I'm afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Religion and Joy","og_description":"Erica Baron writes about Religion and Joy: In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I'm afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/","og_site_name":"Nature's Sacred Journey","article_published_time":"2016-11-04T12:09:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-04-15T21:20:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/857\/2016\/11\/sunset-1176695_640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Erica Baron","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erica Baron","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/","name":"Religion and Joy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-11-04T12:09:10+00:00","dateModified":"2018-04-15T21:20:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#\/schema\/person\/c6cc7248c31d8d9d06adf7bae19db131"},"description":"Erica Baron writes about Religion and Joy: In our Chess game with the Gods, in our search for truth and meaning, I'm afraid that it is too easy to become lost in thinking that we have a thousand serious moves to make.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/2016\/11\/religion-joy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Religion and Joy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/","name":"Nature's Sacred Journey","description":"Celebrating UU-Paganism and Earth-Centered Experience","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#\/schema\/person\/c6cc7248c31d8d9d06adf7bae19db131","name":"Erica Baron","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3487f62c599f06f80de0679e7c1d0b5?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a3487f62c599f06f80de0679e7c1d0b5?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Erica Baron"},"description":"Rev. Erica Baron was raised as a Unitarian Universalist and was ordained to the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 2008 after receiving a Master of Divinity degree from Andover Newton Theological School. She dabbled in Pagan spirituality from high school through graduate school, but got serious about pursuing a Pagan path after her ordination. She has received training from and is an active member of the Temple of Witchcraft. She currently serves as the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills in Kingston, NY.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/author\/ebaron\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2431"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/naturessacredjourney\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}