Joy

The Tony Awards were this past Sunday night: an awards ceremony celebrating the plays and musicals on Broadway and the people who make the magic on stage possible. It’s the only awards show I watch. I could not care less about the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes, but I put the Tonys on my calendar at the beginning of the year. I cheer, I cry, I sometimes think a person or show should have won instead of the actual winners. If I’m watching it by myself, I’m often on social media, seeing other people’s reactions to the winners, the presenters, and the silly bits in between awards.

Oftentimes, Tony acceptance speeches comment on the feeling of belonging and found family that the theater community provides for people who don’t seem to fit in other places. Most of the speeches on Sunday touched on this, and I found Jonathan Groff’s acceptance speech particularly moving.

Reflecting on my love for the Tony Awards and for theater more generally had me wondering: where do you experience unconditional belonging and acceptance? Where do you find simple, uncomplicated joy? Where might there be an invitation to cultivate these things within your own life, within our community?

When God speaks to Job out of the whirlwind, God reminds Job and his friends that humanity isn’t at the center of God’s creation, and that sometimes God creates things just for the joy of it (I always think of the platypus as the prime example of this!). 

May we be on the lookout for simple joy in our lives and in the world. May we be people who bring joy and loving acceptance to everyone we meet. Amen.