FINDING JOY

Blind since infancy, living to her nineties, Fanny Crosby 

showed the power of praise in her thousands of hymn texts,

like this one

My first job (no surprise) came with its share of humbling and challenging experiences, plus a fresh appreciation for the practical wisdom in the epistle of James.  Like this: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

Pure joy? Who was he kidding when I trudged home at night reeking of my colleagues’ second-hand smoke and nursing a headache from the press of deadlines and constant phone ringing?  This was newspaper work in the early 1970s—but I had a job! That was the joy. I remembered how I was hired—a series of “just happened” things.  Disheartened by “not hiring” answers to my job queries at local papers, faced with impending joblessness as my studies ended in mid-March, one day between classes I just happened to go down the hall of offices for journalism professors. One of my profs just happened to have his door open. He told me it just happened that a managing editor from a mid-size daily was interviewing that day for their summer college intern. The job wouldn’t start for three months, but it was something. 

I signed for an appointment, and showed up in business attire with my resume and writing samples. A few days later the editor called and offered the summer job. Plus, their women’s editor needed time off for surgery. Could I come early (like March 17!)  and fill in for her?  By mid-summer, my “intern” job became permanent.  Not only did I grow professionally but personally and, most important, spiritually, as I connected with a Bible-teaching church.

POUT OR PRAISE?

In my five years at that job, I began learning that God was ready to patiently teach me how to “do life.” One big lesson was to look for the little blessings. Despite all the pulpit-pounding admonition I hear in the book of James, there are “look-up” messages. “Is any one if you in trouble?” James asks, “He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise” (5:13).

Decades and several jobs later, I am still learning that. But it is a sweet lesson. And I am learning to pray-through-the-day, not just during the get-down-to-business “quiet time.” I wake up (praise!) and step in the tub for a quick shower (praise: Hot water! Towel! Clothes!). I fix and eat breakfast (praise: food, appliances). I plan my day (praise: I have the health to do something useful).  Things happen, and I find myself saying, “Thank you, Lord.”

William Stoddard, a pastor and teacher of a previous generation, observed in his devotional  First Light (Multnomah, 1990, p. 349): “Prayer is the time to be renewed in our love for God.  Think of all the gifts we have received.  Think of the days of sunshine and blessing.  Think of the cup that overflows with the joys of health and family and loving companions.  Think of the times that love warned us and, to our good, we heeded the warning. Think of the open doors we might never have entered without the gentle and persistent nudge of God’s love.”

Open doors!  Yes, even praise for an open faculty door in 1970 that led to my first full-time job and a writing career.