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Joy and Justice for All of Us

Two divine ideas flowing from the same heart…

Flashback! About a year ago, I created and posted this simple diagram on Instagram (May 3, 2021). I had been contemplating these two divine ideas of joy and justice. It seemed like there had been so much chaos and confusion, but thankfully in May 2020 I ran across this beautiful book, Joy Unspeakable - Contemplative Practices of the Black Church, by Dr. Barbara A. Holmes, that helped me reclaim the kind of joy that is, as she says, “as comfortable in the shout as it is in the silence."1 

In 2020, it seemed like so many people were trying to be joyful through the pain of everything that was going on, a pandemic, a nasty election cycle, the murder of George Floyd, and so much more, including our own personal losses.  It seemed like some folks just wanted to escape (to the pink fluffy cloud) - and some wanted just an absence of the tension (no noise at all).  For me, this was the perfect season to continue to focus on the sustaining power of joy, not to ignore what was going on around me, but to draw upon the inner strength of joy. Though it very much felt like a season of turmoil, grief, rage, and division (and still does), I anchored myself in faith and the richness of unspeakable joy that celebrates the truth and the light regardless of appearances to the contrary. On my morning walks, I would contemplate joy.

I recall thinking early in 2020 how much kinder and wiser we all were going to have to become with what was coming in the days and months ahead. I felt like it was the quiet before the storm. Now as I look back, the storm billowed and rolled! We might have been tossed and disheveled. But somehow, by the grace of God, joy was there all along…ever present, and we are still standing!

I’ve been a collector of joy - all things joy - for quite some time, posters, cups, shirts, etc. These are reminders to keep my own joy stirred up. And I do that by centering myself daily in prayer, affirming that divine love and joy is a part of who and what I am, no matter what; we are created with it and wondrously made. Two and a half years into a pandemic, lots of folks want joy now! But guess what...Are we willing to know the source and giver of true joy?

One thing I’ve come to realize is that there’s no “pursuit of joy”…we already have it. But we need to access it and activate it, and this is an act of our will. Oh yes, plenty has been written on how to get “happiness” from outside ourselves. But really, joy is an inside job. It must be released from the innermost reservoir of our own hearts. The good news is there are plenty ways to access it: prayer and meditation, walks in nature, sitting by the ocean, music, rhythm, dance, poetry, performing arts, spoken word, gatherings, etc. - these of some of the ways that help us reconnect with our joy. Again, if we are willing.

And if there’s one thing I’ve witnessed and felt in my very bones, my ancestors knew real joy. They HAD to know real joy to sustain them through an outer society that wanted to make us “the least” in society. My ancestors knew better. They knew their real value and true worth was rooted in joy…the joy of knowing who we really were all along… God’s very own! That’s why we used to sing this song as I was growing up in the church:

	This Joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me
	This Joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me 
	This Joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me
	The world didn’t give it, the world can’t take it away.

This joy is powerful. It is our God-given birthright, the fruit of the Spirit. It can loose the chains, ward off despair, and break down walls. It is rooted in divine love and it is our choice whether we want to cultivate it, stay in the life-giving stream of it, or not. I believe when we embrace it, we can change the world for the better. We can create the beloved community. I believe all justice movements that truly seek to create a world that works for all will find joy to be a restorative, relational, renewing force for good.

I say let’s get in the stream of it together and DANCE! Let’s see what wondrous things can be re-imagined and brought into fruition in our lives and in our world. More love & joy to come. Don’t despair, my beloveds. Let’s get into the presence of deep inner joy. ASK, SEEK, KNOCK…joy is always ready to rise up and answer.

“You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy…”
- Psalm 16:11

Peace & blessings,

Rev. Dinah

1 Barbara A Holmes, Joy Unspeakable—Contemplative Practices of the Black Church (Minneapolis:  Fortress Press, 2017), 200.
News

Reclaiming Your Joy

7 Tips for Reclaiming Your Joy

Sometimes we can get bogged down in life. We drift, we can get stagnant, and we can sometimes feel no sense of direction or purpose. I have come up with these reminders to help me reclaim my joy.  I’ve used them over and over. This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a great start! In the book, The Revealing Word, it says that joy is “the happiness of God expressed through its perfect idea in [humankind]…and that joy and gladness are strength-giving.” Wow, did you know that joy and gladness can give you strength? (Nehemiah 8:10)

Joy is more than a fleeting moment of happiness.  For me, it is more like an underground reservoir that shoots up warm springs of living waters in my soul whenever I need them.  True joy arises from within as we focus on all the good that is in our lives and the Source of our good.

When you claim and reclaim your joy, it does not mean you are not compassionate with others or that you don’t notice the challenges of life that are going on around us or in our world. We are not side-stepping anything. But with joy, you will have the strength and energy to be up for the tasks that lie before you.

So here are some of the tips I use for reclaiming my joy all the time and help me keep it stirred up!

  1. Stir up love, and you’ll stir up joy. Joy stems from divine love, unconditional love, the God-kind of love (agape love). I call it loving “just because.” Boost up your love with kind thoughts, words, and deeds, and walk in the wisdom of divine love and you will find your joy meter rising. When you feel your joy is at a low point, consider how are you doing in the area of expressing and manifesting unconditional, inclusive, non-judgmental love…to everyone! Stir up love, and let joy rise! “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35 NRSV
  2. Praise is the language of joy.  Whatever we praise, bless, or magnify grows! Gratitude and thanksgiving multiplies, germinates, and fertilizes everything in our lives and affairs. We can express our appreciation and gratitude to those around us each day. In prayer, we can give thanks. With a heart full of thanks, joy automatically rises. “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” – Psalm 34:1
  3. Prayer, Meditation, and Contemplation fills up our reservoir of joy.  When we consciously commune with the Divine and tap into the Presence, we are continually filling ourselves up with joy. Allow yourself to get still and go into the Silence…and be filled with the spirit of joy.  “You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore” – Psalm 16:11 NRSV
  4. Set your mind on God’s good. Think on all the good that God is unveiling and expressing in your life and all around you and joy will rise in your heart.  “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. – Philippians 4:8 NRSV
  5. Go and do good for others. Find a way to serve joyfully in community, in your spiritual community, at your school, in your neighborhood, or globally. Selfless service without thinking about reward and benefit can open up your heart to more love and joy. Your giving becomes the gift, and the joy of giving is its own reward. “So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.” -Galatians 6:10 NRSV
  6. Play, engage in creative fun. Go dancing, …yes, dance! wave your arms in the air, like you just don’t care! Play music. Go to an art festival, a museum, or do some art! Go sailing, go to a play or a concert, and find a way to get in a good belly laugh (not at others, of course, but with others). Proverbs tells us “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.” (15:13); “but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.” (15:15); and “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” (17:13).
  7. Find your tribe.  Find and share your joy in a community that is inclusive, accepting, loving, non-judgmental, uplifting of one another, and supportive of you finding your spiritual highest good. It may not be a traditional brick and mortar church. It can also be some collective group that enhances the individuals involved with it. “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:24-26 NRSV

Add a SPLASH of JOY to everything you do this week! Share more JOY tips with us online at: Facebook Page and Discussion Group and like our Page.

Blessings & love,

Rev. Dinah

Dinah Chapman 120310_046

News

Join the “JOY” Train! Woohoo!

Greetings!

Ok… so it’s February! I can still say “Happy New Year,” right? It might be a little late, but it’s not too late to send you wishes of PEACE, HEALTH, ABUNDANCE, and JOY for the upcoming year and beyond. As a matter of fact, I am wishing you a LIFE of joy!

I can think of no better way to start the year than in the spirit and energy of divine joy. My goal this IMG_3457year is to reach as many people as I can and splash their day with some joy.  You might have heard in January 2018 that I launched an on-line ministry of joy – – UNITY JOY ABUNDANTLY EXPRESSING MINISTRIES. However, I admit I was slow getting it out the gate due to taking on a full-time day job and becoming the senior minister of Unity of Tri-Valley Spiritual Center in Dublin, CA in early 2018. But the call to this work of joy never left my heart.

So, it’s re-charge time! I am inviting you to join me in lifting the world in the spirit of true joy. Joy is not just for Christmastime. Though our challenges and experiences may be tough, the ever-abiding truth is that the reign of God’s joy never ends. No matter how dark the night, joy comes in the morning. It is always present to those who choose it and expect it.

If you would like to join me in this re-commitment to joy and gather into this circle of rich, heart-warming, spiritually nourishing connection, I’m asking you do three things to help me have a successful launch by February 28th:

  1. Go to unityjoy.org and join my mailing list.
  2. Like my Facebook page – @UnityJoy
  3. Join my FB discussion group – and tell me what brings you joy!

I look forward to connecting with you on-line.  Until then, I envision you blessed this year with all your heart’s desires and joy abundantly expressing!

Joyfully and lovingly,

Rev. Dinah

News

Announcing…More JOY!

UJAE-blog020518

Great News to Share!

I am delighted to announce that Unity-Joy Abundantly Expressing Ministries has been approved as an alternative Unity ministry by the Unity Worldwide Ministries (UWM) Board of Trustees! Stay tuned for more news as I embark upon exciting ways of sharing and connecting with others as we all awaken to our spiritual essence of JOY and discover our own joyful expressions of this magnificent quality of being. A host of opportunities for you to join in are coming soon! I am inviting you to be a part of keeping the JOY going….so stay tuned… If you haven’t already done so, I would love for you to join my mailing list at dinahchapman.com to start receiving updates and the latest news on the launch of this NEW ministry! Let’s share more JOY and let JOY rise in our world!

Blessings always,

Rev. Dinah Chapman, M.Div.

 

Events

There’s Joy in it…

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Within the first few months of seminary in 2013, I had the pleasure of taking an elective, and I was not quite sure what I was getting myself into. It was simply called the Peace Seminar and the description sounded interesting enough, about how we can create a world that works for everyone. Well, there were enough things happeninShaiff IMG_6723g in the world, that made me go hmmmm…. So how do we, who claim to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, engage in our world in a way that will allow us to shift to a higher way of being, doing, and having that alleviates suffering and the agonizing pangs of not enough-ness? It was a tough, challenging class taught by Dr. Shariff Abdullah, (center of photo) who has made his life’s work and spiritual practice all about inclusivity.  Shariff Abdullah says in his book, Creating A World that Works for All,

“My work is my spiritual practice, and Commonway Institue is my principal vehicle for that practice. The institute’s focus is inclusivity – – teaching the theory, philosophy, and practice of the inextricable linkage between our individual lives and The Other. The links already exist; we just help people become conscious of them…We humans have much more that unites us than separates us. Commonly helps people see that.” (Chapter 3 Inclusivity–Spirit and Practice, page 63)

Little did I know that this class and this work would dig down into the core of me and resonate so strongly, so that years later I am still passionate about what Shariff Abdullah and Commonway Institute are doing. Through much of 2013, 2014, 2015, however, I could not understand the disconnect of seeing symptoms in our society of great dis-ease, fragmentation, and exclusivity driving the actions and reactions in our nation, and on the other hand seeing basically no higher ground operatives ready to meet the challenge of this atmosphere head on.

So here we are in 2017, and I asked myself “what’s changed?” We are all praying, asking what is ours to do, and finding our vehicles for taking action in some form of spiritual social activism in our own way. The headlines continue to be hurled at us ceaselessly and endlessly. I often hear within my own heart, ” do what’s in front of you.” Wherever we are working along the spectrum of healing the world, it is ALL needed.

IMG_8500Maybe this work of inclusivity is not sexy or glitzy enough for everyone to jump on the bandwagon in droves. However, I believe when enough people get sick and tired of being sick and tired…they’ll wake up and realize that instead of hacking away at the symptoms that are manifesting on the surface, we’ll begin to also work the deeper work of shifting our collective consciousness and awareness to the underlying spiritual aspects and qualities of our humanity and our divinity. Then we can find that pearl of great price — our linkage, our spiritual heritage that allows us to live in unified, divine harmony in the beloved community and be as One.

I’ve prayed, I’ve asked what is mine to do, and one thing is to bring people together who believe it’s possible to live, collaborate, dialog and make changes that come from a place of inclusivity and not exclusivity. Are you passionate about taking some action and don’t know where to start? A good place to start would be to engage in Dr. Shariff Abdullah’s Shadow-to-Light workshops. Working on a personal/individualistic level is fine if that is all you can do, however, working on the collective, greater system and institutional level is very much needed as well.

My action and activity over the next 12 weeks is to facilitate Dr. Shariff Abdullah’s powerfully transforming workshops called the Shadow-to-Light (S2L) Program, starting Sept. 5 at Unity of San Leandro in San Leandro, CA. There’s still time to sign up if you want to join in shifting the energy on the planet from the shadows to LIGHT……I will be the local lead facilitator inviting 12 other transformation catalysts to attend who also want to see a world transformed to higher ground. We need people from all walks of life, no matter your race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or political affiliation. For more information and to sign up, go to:  unitysanleandro.org/special-events. We would love to have the synergy of face-to-face dialog, but if you are not near this workshop in the Bay Area or in your area, go to the online version of the workshop: Online Solo S2L Course

Together – Let us embrace and usher in the LIGHT!

Peace & blessings,

Rev. Dinah

News

Sunday Morning at Unity of San Francisco – Dec. 4th

Rev. Sonya Milton and me

I was up and at ’em early last Sunday morning to arrive at Unity of San Francisco early enough to do a sound check before the service. I received a warm welcome and was embraced by this  jubilant congregation. Thank you, Cinder Ernst and Uma Maedke for helping to make this singing opportunity happen for me. During her talk, Rev. Sonya Milton reminded us to think on being filled with that hope and expectancy in the coming weeks that something wonderful is happening within us.  “Something truly worth waiting for” is the realization of our Oneness with GOD. The dawning of this LIGHT in our minds and hearts is happening all the time. That light within us is the CHRIST light… oftentimes, just awaiting our recognition of it.

My heart was truly overflowing with gratitude to be able to deliver my message in song, which is… we are loved with a HUGE MAGNIFICENT LOVE that is everlasting and connects us all in a beautiful way. “Beloved,” which is track 9 on my CD “Rivers of Living Waters,” is fast becoming a favorite of many. It speaks of the unique, rare quality that we all have.

We all have gifts we have been sent to share with the world. Our LIGHT shines so brilliantly for the entire world to see and to share. I encourage you to LET your LIGHT shine. YOU are the one we all have been waiting for. Your gifts are the blessed heavenly gifts that we all have been waiting for. So SHINE ON, my beloveds! YOU ARE the BELOVED child of GOD. Do you know how special you are? Has anyone told you lately? If not, please find a nice quiet spot and let me sing it to you…. Love and infinite blessings to you this week and throughout this joyous season!

Love, peace, and joy!

– Dinah

Uma Maedke and Michael Grossman