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If there’s one thing the Grinch reminds me of every year, it’s how important joy is in our lives. This is the time of year when we are reminded the most about the need for joy in our lives. And if we are lacking that joy, we often turn just as green as the Grinch with envy during this time of year. In fact, maybe that’s why the Grinch is green after all – he’s green with envy of the joy down in Whoville.

But if you’re anything like me, right now joy seems hard to come by. I think we’ve all got a part of the Grinch inside us or maybe even a little Grinch following us around this time of year. I know I’ve been brought low over the past week or two – from complications with relationships to family members facing severe medical challenges to the latest outrages coming in our political news. It seems like my personal Grinch is strong this year.

And from what I’ve heard from others, their Grinches are out in full force this year too.   In fact, there are three Grinches I’ve heard a lot about this year.

First up is the Grinch of Perfectionism. Every year some of us feel like we need to make the holidays picture perfect. Or should I say, every special family moment should be an instagram moment too. We need the perfect tree. We need to keep up with all the latest trends in decorating, toys, cookie recipes, wreaths, crafts, ornaments, well, you get the idea. We want perfection because we only see the perfect images others choose to portray. But perfection is impossible. Perfectionism is a tool that we have created for ourselves, an incredibly unhelpful tool that tells us constantly we aren’t good enough. Just as we have created this unrealistic, perfectionist image we are all striving towards, so too can we vanquish this Grinch of perfectionism.

I’ve also seen the Grinch of Loneliness around a lot this year. People who live far from their families, both blood family and chosen family. People who are alone for the first time on Christmas, people who have been alone for the past twenty Christmases. This time of year you get reminded constantly about family and going home, but family and home just aren’t always safe places for all of us. Even if you’re in a loving family, at some point this year you’ve likely felt some kind of loneliness. Parenting can be the loneliest job. And in an ever more connected world, many of us feel more isolated than ever. But we too can vanquish this Grinch of Loneliness.

And right now the biggest Grinch I see out there in the world is the Grinch of Fear. We live in uncertain times. All of us are facing very real and scary fears right now. Fears around finances. Fears around family. Fears around health. Not to mention that every day there is a new fear coming from a few miles down the road. Right now many of you whom are federal workers are in the midst of a shutdown with no clear end in sight. People right now are using fear to try and justify their preexisting hatred. They are with purpose and intent trying to make us fear each other so they can maintain power. They are trying to grow the Grinch bigger, but we too can vanquish this Grinch of Fear.

Because just like in our story, the Grinch succumbs to joy. The Grinch eventually gives into the holiday joy from Whoville. The Grinch is defeated by joy. And there’s an important lesson here – joy is an act of resistance. Living a life of joy helps us resist so many Grinches in our lives, because as shown in our story, joy is the antidote to the Grinch. Joy is the antidote to loneliness. Joy is the antidote to fear. Joy is the antidote to perfectionism. Joy is the antidote to so much in life, and joy is the reason for this holiday season.

Joy and Joyful Resistance can be found in Yule. The light is returning after the night of the longest dark. We have resisted the darkness in our lives and we are now back on our way to the light. I find The Winter Solstice and Yule deeply grounded in optimism and hope that our worst is now behind us and to celebrate that with joy.

Joy and Joyful Resistance can be found in Hanukah. Hanukah celebrates how the Maccabees resisted their oppressors and reclaimed the holy Temple. It celebrates the miracle and joy of how one day of holy lamp oil lasted eight days while new holy oil was prepared.

Joy and Joyful Resistance can be found in the Christmas story as well. The birth of Jesus brought that hope and joy into the world, and in it, a liberating theology that counters oppression was born. The story of Jesus is one of faithful resistance, and the story of Christmas is one of hope and joy.

Joy is what helps us resist all that tries to keep us back from achieving our best possible lives. Joy is an act of resistance.

So how can you bring more joy back into your life?

How about we start with a coin? It’s not quite the gold that one of the wise men brought. But let’s look at both sides of that coin. The first side of the coin is giving.

Giving your time, talent, and treasure to organizations that move you. Giving your energy to causes that bring you joy. Giving gifts to those around you. After all, it’s better to give than receive.

But giving also means the broader sense of giving love out there in the universe. In the morning, set an intention that during the day you are going to try and increase the amount of love in the universe that day. Maybe you let that person merge in on the Beltway. Maybe you cover a cup of coffee for a stranger. Maybe you decide to be nice to someone who has been mean to you in the past. Maybe you decide to finally not read the comments. Give love to your neighbor, and all of us are your neighbors. Give love and gain joy.

The second side of the coin is receiving. In order for one person to give love, the other person needs to be there to receive it. We have to be open to receiving gifts this holiday season and not solely focus on giving gifts to others. I’m also giving you permission to be a little selfish this holiday season – because you deserve joy too.

We also have to be open to receiving joy from unexpected places. I’m looking back at the past month in my life and sure enough, the things that have given me the most joy were most certainly from unexpected places. If we allow ourselves to receive joy, the universe will eventually provide it. But we have to be open to it, and that’s something easier said than done.

Can you imagine a world that was just filled with joy? Where we joyfully resisted the grinches who worked to keep us down? Where none of us had any grinches to worry about during any time of year? Where none of us were afraid and all of us were loved? Then we would truly embody joy in the world.

 

(This homily was originally given at the 4pm Family Christmas Eve Service at Cedar Lane UU Church on Christmas Eve, 2018.  This was immediately proceeded by our children and youth acting out the Dr. Seuss version of The Grinch.)