The Heart of Celebration
“At the heart of celebration, there are the poor. If they are excluded, it is no longer a celebration. A celebration must always be a festival of the poor.”
Jean Vanier, philosopher and theologian
The world tends to celebrate homogeneously. The rich with the rich. The elite with the elite. Those living in privileged socioeconomic spheres have the resources, time and space to celebrate. Yet, these celebrations can be found shallow, empty and numbing. These kinds of celebrations can quickly have a diminishing return on enjoyment.
When we choose to celebrate with those who have been marginalized, forgotten or struggling economically, there is a strange, counterintuitive joy and depth to the celebration. There tends to be an increased return on enjoyment.
Henri Nouwen wrote, “We need to focus on the poor, not primarily because the poor need us, but because we need the poor. Jesus says: ‘Blessed are the poor.’ He does not say: ‘Blessed are those who care for the poor.’ The poor are holding a blessing for us that we need to receive.”
Solomon wrote in Proverbs, "If you mistreat the poor, you insult your Creator", so the reverse must be true when “we celebrate with the poor we celebrate with our Creator.”
The very act of celebrating with the poor anchors us in our deeper story—one which precedes any current hardship or pain. It also keeps us from living naive, out of touch lives, isolated from true humanity.
God asks people of faith to join the poor in their pain and in their injustice. He also asks them to join the poor who are rich in wisdom, deep in faith and full of gratitude. He asks them to join in the celebration we are all human and loved and blessed by God.
Pema Chödrön concludes, “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.”
As we celebrate with the poor, God implores us to...
...Sing, not because all is good or all is secure or all is certain
Sing because the soul is stronger than temporary, painful circumstances....
...Dance, not because you know the rhythm or know the move or understand the groove
Dance because your soul is moved and you feel the freedom, you feel the fire…
...Cry, not because you are weak or stained or have lost all hope.
Cry because joy happens in vulnerability…
...Laugh, not because life is always funny, or the sky is always sunny
Laugh because it’s free medicine and brings on healing…
“To live with Jesus is to live with the poor. To live with the poor is to live with Jesus.” ~ Jean Vanier
“...for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.” ~ Proverbs 15:15