What Does It Mean To Rejoice? Part 2

As I wrote and finished up my last post, I kept thinking about the promise to always rejoice.

What does that mean?  Surely it doesn't mean to be blissfully happy all the time.  Just because we are sad or down or struggling with depression, doesn't mean that we are unrighteous.  But how could I best explain that?

Well, yesterday I "happened" to be listening to Elder Holland's most recent conference address, "Songs Sung and Unsung": full talk here.  I will include excerpts that stuck out to me, hoping that they will capture the peace I felt as I listened to it for myself later to refer to and perhaps others that struggle with inner darkness despite their best efforts. 

“There is sunshine in my soul today,” Eliza Hewitt wrote, “more glorious and bright than glows in any earthly sky, for Jesus is my light.”1 ...But today I wish to lift out of context just one line from it that may help on days when we find it hard to sing or smile and “peaceful happy moments” do not seem to “roll.” If for a time you are unable to echo the joyous melodies you hear coming from others, I ask you to hold tenaciously to the line in this hymn that reassures, “Jesus listening can hear the songs [you] cannot sing.”2 

Among the realities we face as children of God living in a fallen world is that some days are difficult, days when our faith and our fortitude are tested. These challenges may come from a lack in us, a lack in others, or just a lack in life, but whatever the reasons, we find they can rob us of songs we so much want to sing and darken the promise of “springtime in [the] soul”3 that Eliza Hewitt celebrates in one of her verses. 

So what do we do in such times? ...In those moments when the melody of joy falters below our power of expression, we may have to stand silent for a time and simply listen to others, drawing strength from the splendor of the music around us. Many of us who are “musically challenged” have had our confidence bolstered and our singing markedly improved by positioning ourselves next to someone with a stronger, more certain voice. Surely it follows that in singing the anthems of eternity, we should stand as close as humanly possible to the Savior and Redeemer of the world—who has absolutely perfect pitch. We then take courage from His ability to hear our silence... 

On those days when we feel a little out of tune, a little less than what we think we see or hear in others, ...remember it is by divine design that not all the voices in God’s choir are the same....our Heavenly Father delights to have us sing in our own voice, not someone else’s. Believe in yourself, and believe in Him. Don’t demean your worth or denigrate your contribution. Above all, don’t abandon your role in the chorus. Why? Because you are unique; you are irreplaceable. The loss of even one voice diminishes every other singer in this great mortal choir of ours, including the loss of those who feel they are on the margins of society or the margins of the Church. 

But even as I encourage all of you to have faith regarding songs that may be difficult to sing, I readily acknowledge that for different reasons I struggle with other kinds of songs that should be—but are not yet—sung.... 

I find it hard to sing sunny, bouncy lyrics when so many around us suffer from mental and emotional illness or other debilitating health limitations. Unfortunately, these burdens sometimes persist despite the valiant efforts of many kinds of caregivers, including family members. I pray we will not let these children of God suffer in silence and that we will be endowed with His capacity to hear the songs they cannot now sing... 

Brothers and sisters, we live in a mortal world with many songs we cannot or do not yet sing. But I plead with each one of us to stay permanently and faithfully in the choir, where we will be able to savor forever that most precious anthem of all—“the song of redeeming love.”11 Fortunately, the seats for this particular number are limitless. There is room for those who speak different languages, celebrate diverse cultures, and live in a host of locations. There is room for the single, for the married, for large families, and for the childless. There is room for those who once had questions regarding their faith and room for those who still do. There is room for those with differing sexual attractions. In short, there is a place for everyone who loves God and honors His commandments as the inviolable measuring rod for personal behavior, for if love of God is the melody of our shared song, surely our common quest to obey Him is the indispensable harmony in it. With divine imperatives of love and faith, repentance and compassion, honesty and forgiveness, there is room in this choir for all who wish to be there.12 “Come as you are,” a loving Father says to each of us, but He adds, “Don’t plan to stay as you are.” We smile and remember that God is determined to make of us more than we thought we could be...

I had some follow-up thoughts in my scripture reading today, as I read the part after the promise of "rejoicing."  The following, I believe, is what God means by "rejoicing":
-you shall be filled with the love of God
-always retain a remission of your sins
-grow in knowledge of glory of God
-not have a mind to injure one another but live peaceably
-not suffer kids to go hungry or fight, but teach them
-succor those that stand in need of succor

I have felt deeply sorrowful and still been able to feel or experience all of those things.  Even though there are songs we cannot sing at times, we may still rejoice in the silent chambers of our heart as we feel God's peace and comfort...even as we suffer.