“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy;

then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’

The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb!

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!

He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”

(Psalm 126, ESV)

One of the best things about being delivered from darkness is rediscovering joy.  Tonight I spent two hours in a land of whimsical magic watching Mary Poppins Returns.  I’ll be honest.  I went primarily to see Lin-Manuel Miranda.  He is my former celebrity crush—from the year I fell in love with Hamilton and had the opportunity to see the original cast on Broadway.

We saw the show on a Wednesday night, which meant that Lin would be hosting a Ham4Ham in front of the theater that day at noon.  After sightseeing all around the city the day before, every part of my body hurt.  But just before going to bed, Marina and I decided it would be worth the effort to get up and make the trek back into the city to try to see Ham4Ham.  That meant waking up earlier than we really wanted, driving to public parking, catching the ferry, walking numerous blocks, and taking the subway to Broadway and the Richard Rodgers Theater.  No small feat just to try to catch a glimpse of Lin.

Our efforts were rewarded when, partially by dumb luck and partially by our own cunning, we scored spots front and center of the theater’s side doors where this little street show would take place.  We had the perfect view, and I even captured the event on video, which unfortunately also captured me squealing “We love you, Lin!” as he took the mic to introduce the performer for the day.  That may have been a little excessive for a married mom of eight, but I’m claiming no regrets.

Another memorable moment that took a little effort to achieve took place during our family’s Disney trip two years ago.  We secured a last minute appointment for Lydia to receive a makeover at Cinderella’s Castle early in the morning before the place swarmed with parkgoers—a very considerate perk offered to children with special needs who struggle with sensory overload.  No one in our family wanted to miss the makeover, so we all had to be up and out of our room in time to catch the ferry to the park since the monorail wasn’t running that early.  Seeing the sheer joy on Lydia’s face when her fairy godmothers whirled her chair around was worth every bit of stress it took to get there.  She proclaimed, “I am beautiful!” to which the fairy godmother replied, “You were already beautiful; we just made you sparkle.”

Some of my most cherished memories were preceded by challenge, but the struggle somehow made the joy that much richer.

I love the promises in Psalm 126 and the sowing and reaping principle it extols.  The psalmist promises that “[h]e who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.”  (verse 6)  The implication is that the weeping is literally the seed for joy.

This truth sheds light on the exhortation that opens the book of James:  “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds.” (James 1:2, ESV)  That has always been a tough scripture to reconcile—count our trials as joy?!  But if our trials actually produce joy or at least the capacity to feel and appreciate it, then counting them joy makes all the sense in the world.

However, this only occurs when we keep our eyes off our circumstances and fully focused on the Lord.  Focusing on our circumstances breeds blame, bitterness, anger, depression, and a sense of helplessness.  It fosters a victim-mentality.  I wasted too much of my life making that mistake, and it was miserable.  Hiding ourselves in the Lord breeds trust, security, hope and ultimately, joy.  Even before the situation is resolved and even when the resolution is painful, joy is present.

The Christmas carol, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” also captures this truth.  The chorus sings of “tidings of comfort and joy.”  The two seem like a mismatch, but in light of Psalm 126 and James’s exhortation, it makes complete sense to proclaim a desire for comfort and joy simultaneously.

There were so many fun parts of Mary Poppins Returns (in addition to gazing at Lin for two hours):  cheery music, colorful fantasy scenes, Mary Poppins herself, and an endearing story.  Woven throughout the movie were some thought-provoking nuggets of truth, some even based (perhaps unknowingly) in Scriptural truth:

“When the world turns upside down, be upside down with it.”

“You are too focused on where you’ve been to know where you’re going.”

“Nothing’s gone forever, only out of place.”

“Everything is possible.  Even the impossible.”

“You’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a child.”

“Whenever I lose my way, I just look up.”

A night of whimsical, magical, colorful fantasy.  Suspension of reality.  The new, yet eerily familiar story of a family recovering from hardship and rediscovering joy.

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”  (Psalm 5:11, ESV)