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Sorrow & Joy
Writing from his cell in Tegel prison, a prisoner of the Gestapo awaiting execution, Dietrich Bonhoeffer penned the following curious words in 1944:
Sorrow & joy,
Striking suddenly on our startled senses
Seem, at the first approach, all but impossible
Of just distinction one from the other
Even as frost and heat at the first keen contact
Burn us alike
click for full text of the poem
Over sixty years later they still have a keen resonance for us.
Recent news stories have shown yet again how closely sorrow and joy live cheek by jowl. Kate Burton, was all smiles after her release, and yet sorrowful for the continuing difficulties experienced by the Palestinian people.
She has talked openly about "losing her rag" with her captors, but still appreciates the frustration which led them to such an act.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world a small mining community is wracked by sorrow, then joy, then sorrow all over again as 12 miners prove to be 11 bodies and one live miner.
The mining official who first brought jubilation by telling them the good news, later had to be escorted from the premises for his own safety as jubilation turned to heartbreak and anger.
It is part of human life and being to sustain a ride on this emotional roller-coaster.
As Bonhoeffer wrote - sorrow and joy burn us alike, but still we cling on.
It is at times like this that we are grateful for the earthy realism of the Gospel writers. We have four different accounts of the life of Jesus - all of which depict a messiah who experienced deep passions and emotions.
Sometimes we hear Jesus smile and utter quiet words, other times we hear him shout and curse.
On occasions we see him entertain the crowd with stories and wonders, and at other times berate them for their lack of faith.
The Jesus who lifted a child from the crowd for blessing, was the same Jesus who drove the traders out of the temple and sent their stalls flying. Surely it is only such a messiah who can be any help to us when sorrow and joy burn us alike.
He, if anyone, must understand that we humans can cry with joy one moment, and cry with anger the next.
It's the way we are made.
When Bonhoeffer's journey of sorrow and joy came to its end in April 1945, he went to the gallows "more reconciled to his God than any man I have ever seen", according to the Chaplain who witnessed his last moments.
Whatever moments of sorrow or joy 2006 may bring, God will be present in them all for those who look for him.
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