Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing 2

This liberty to mourn, grieve, lament--or more simply just be sad every once in a while--is a great burden lifted, especially for those of us with a more melancholic temperament. But it's probably precisely because I'm one of those stuck with the melancholy that I wonder if, as is often the case, the camp that has swung the pendulum has let it swing too far.

Some of us pendulum swingers have begun to believe that if anyone is happy, they must be faking it. Anyone who seems to have the joy of the Lord must be fooling themselves. It's not that easy we say. We've equated authenticity with sitting around moping and talking about how hard and difficult life is all the time. I suppose I'm exaggerating, but there's some truth in there somewhere.

The truth is, we melancholics have to realize that actually, there is a joy that strengthens, a hope that endures, a peace that passes understanding. And it's ours to be had here and now in this life. That is to say, we can point to the laments in the Bible all we want, but the other camp that's clapping and singing happy songs has their own fair share of biblical support to back things up too.

OK, so nowhere in the Bible are we exhorted to go skipping around town with a smile on our face singing about how happy we are. (What a relief!) But it's hard to deny that the point of this whole big story is a hope that keeps us going through difficult times. It's a knowledge of the bigger picture, of what's going on behind the scenes, of the end of the story, of what's still to come. And this is what's supposed to bring us that joy, hope, peace, gladness.

Not to mention those exhortations to count it all joy and rejoice in the middle of suffering, and that the original recipients of those exhortations were facing some real suffering, not just a bad day at work.

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control. These aren't really melancholic words either.

So while the permission to lament is much needed progress, let's not force people to lament when they don't need to, and let's not excuse a sadness that is actually a loss of real joy due to a self-focused lack of the big picture. The happy camp isn't exactly wrong, after all.

But when you've got one person (like the song leader) rightfully pushing for the silver lining and directing us towards the hopeful happy ending, and another person (like the OT prof) rightfully asking for permission to mourn and lament...Who's right? Who wins? What's the answer?