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Joy vs. Despair
- Jonathan David Cain
- May 3
- 2 min read
"I look at joy as an act of resistance against despair and its forces — all the forces of despair."
~ Wille James Jennings
(associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale University)
Resistance is a tricky thing. It's easy for us to match energy for energy and push back violently against transgressions. Living in the resistance of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King is far harder, where violence meets with passive resistance or indifference. Even harder is to meet violence with love as Christ taught us ......and he wasn't unfamiliar with flipping a table from time to time as needed.
The fight we face in resisting oppression, violence, and evil is not to match it strike for strike. It's the temptation of the flesh to retaliate and seek revenge. You hurt me, so I'll hurt you. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I'm certainly no saint. My first inclination when wronged is to let my mind jump forward to all of the ways I'm going to get even or bring my interpretation of justice. Take a big breath (me too!). We all know that our world offers us endless opportunities to be offended and angry.
When we get triggered or angry, it is at that moment that we need to remind ourselves of who we are and where we are centered. As a mother, teacher, and preacher, Iyanla VanZant has said,"You must find that sacred space within you that only you and God meet." It is in that space that we should breathe our way through difficulty.
It's a tough space to reside in, where we surrender our ego and desire for control and simply trust a higher power to direct everything into its predestined place for our highest good. I'm desperately trying to get there myself most days – so no judgment from me! It's a big ask from the Universe to meet anger, hate, and violence with calmness, compassion, and love. Darkness never becomes less; with the addition of more darkness, it requires light. Let's all do our best, forgive ourselves when we don't respond as our best selves, and resolve to try harder. It is dark, trying times. Uncertainty is everywhere – the economy, politics, and social change. All of the lights will need to encourage each other to get to the other side.
Jonathan Cain is a native of Florence, Alabama, and has been the current Curator for the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art located in Tuscumbia, AL, since January 2020. He functioned in that role previously for several years before leaving to pursue a career in education. He holds an undergraduate degree in graphic design from the University of North Alabama and graduate degrees from both the University of Mississippi (MFA – Sculpture) and the University of North Alabama (MA – Clinical Mental Health). He is an eclectic artist who likes to pursue many different media.
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