Title: The Gravity of Joy
Author: Angela Williams Gorrell
Pages: 245
Publisher: Eerdmans
My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Gravity of Joy tries to understand and measure the concept and feeling of joy against research done from multiple disciplines. The author, who describes herself as a practical theologian, has proposed that joy be a counteragent to America’s crisis of despair.
In early 2016, Angela
was hired by the Yale Center of Faith and Culture to work on the Theology of
Joy and the Good Life project. At this point, she was full of hope and the
future filled with possibilities. Within a year, she lost three family members
within four weeks. Her cousin’s husband died by suicide, her nephew died of a
heart attack, and her father died as a result of illness stemming from his opioid
addiction.
Through the throes
of her sorrow, Angela felt that life was not joyful. It was a long walk
towards death. She felt suddenly ill equipped to discuss joy, let alone teach
others to strive to achieve it.
Struggling with
grief, Angela became part of a team leading a Bible study at a women’s prison. It
was there that she became aware of the helplessness of the lives of the female
convicts, how badly the odds were stacked against them, and how they cling to
hope. These women acted as the friends who took the lame man on a mat to Jesus.
Lost herself, Angela helped the prison women and was helped by them in turn.
The author’s experience in the prison ministry touches our hearts, making women like Amy, Gloria and Jayla and many others real to us. Her experience there proves that Joy has grit… Joy has a mysterious capacity to be felt alongside sorrow and even -- sometimes most especially -- in the midst of suffering.
It is these
experiences, combined with stories from her life and other observations that make
up the book.
Each chapter
begins with a verse from a famous writer, such as Rainer Marie Rilke, the
Psalms, Acts of the Apostles etc. This quote sets the tone for the chapter.
Angela relates her
commentary to relatable events, such as Anthony Bourdain’s death by suicide,
even as he projected joy and passion for his work. Along the way, we get introduced
to poems like Walt Whitman’s “O Me! O Life!” along with bits of her course work
that she teaches at Life Worth Living.
The writing style
is engaging, friendly and meaningful. The author writes candidly on subjects
that must have been painful to write about, in particular, her father’s
addiction to opioid pills and how they altered his personality.
With time, Angela learns that It is incredibly difficult to lovingly bear witness to grief rather than walking away or trying to fix it. It is much harder to share space with grief, to breathe its pungent air.
Talking to the
family members of young people who have given in to their addictions, she
creates a counter to the culture of despair. She encourages us to name and
acknowledge our emotions, particularly our grief and fears.
The author gives us real examples of young people driven to death on account of addictions. She accurately spells out what is wrong with the world today. The fact that social media has influenced us to believe that life matters only if there are high impact achievements. And that people obsess over ways to market their life better as if they were products instead of human beings.
Part of facing
emotions is attending to grief through deep listening. To lament openly the
things that bring us pain and to search hard for beauty.
Angela draws parallels between her own situation and Holy Saturday’s unique place in Christ’s Passion. She likens Holy Saturday to the in-between space when we no longer feel overwhelming grief but comfort and meaning are beyond our reach too. In this space, she realises that The God who sometimes is shrouded in sheer silence is apparently also the God of marching bands.
She urges us to
seek joy and meaning in the midst of grief and reminds us to forge connections
and listen to one another’s stories with empathy. So we realise we matter.
Through her experiences with grieving, Angela clarifies how joy and meaning can help us beat sorrow. Despair struggles to breathe where meaning resides.
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