Weeping and Dancing
One
Jesus and John
Over and over again, Jesus points out to the Pharisees that they aren’t happy with anything. They’re not happy when He proclaims the truth, they’re not happy when He heals the sick. They’re not happy when He casts out demons. At one point, He points out that they weren’t happy either with Himself or with His cousin John.
He says, “To what shall I compare the men of this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another: ‘We piped you a tune and you did not dance. We sang you a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist came eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘He is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is justified by her children.”
The Pharisees were always dissatisfied but for inconsistent reasons. No matter what God offered, they were just never happy with what God was trying to do. So where do we see that dissatisfaction, that evil, toxic dissatisfaction in the world or ourselves today?
Two
Are You Unhappy No Matter What?
It’s a mark of spoiled children that they’re never happy with what they get. If you take a spoiled kid to a movie, they’ll complain about the movie, or the snacks, or the fact that they would have rather gone to a sports game. If you take them to one friend’s birthday party, one they wanted to go to, they’ll complain that a different friend wasn’t there. If it’s a busy day, they’ll complain they didn’t get any free time. If you give them free time, they’ll complain that they’re bored. They can always find something they don’t like, no matter how desperately you’re trying to please them.
And, unfortunately, there are an awful lot of grown-up people with the same problem. They go from one crisis to the next. When they stop bringing up one workplace drama, it’s only to bring up a new one. Their husband spends too much time at work, then their husband spends too much time at home. They’re so upset that they can’t get pregnant, and then when they finally have a baby all they can talk about is how difficult it is being a parent. It’s like whatever God offers them, whatever He resolves for them, whatever prayers He answers for them, dissatisfaction is always their default strategy.
Is that you?
Three
Life and God’s strategy
As a matter of fact, God does play jigs and sing dirges for us. He does give us times of delight and times of sorrow.
He gives us times in life where we feel like we’re with John the Baptist, desert, camel’s hair, no bread, no wine. Dry, joyless, unpleasant. These times are times to really push through, to develop our spiritual muscles, to learn how to let go of things we thought we needed, but actually don’t. And He gives us times in life when we feel like we’re at a banquet with Our Lord, eating, drinking, rejoicing in the goodness of God’s generosity and forgiveness.
The key Christian strategy is to lean into both, to embrace both. If He’s asking you to stay strong, to follow through on something tough, then hang in there. You can handle it, and it’ll be worth it. If He’s asking you to simply rest in the goodness of Who He Is and all He’s already done for you, then take delight in that. Get grounded in God’s joy.
If God plays you a happy song, be happy. If God plays you a difficult, sad song, then endure by His grace.
Four
In times of consolation, remember desolation. In times of desolation, remember consolation.
St. Gregory the Great says that one of the keys to doing well in life is to remember this alternating, up-and-down structure of human life. If life is an alternation of jigs and dirges, then don’t make the mistake of thinking that whatever stage you’re in now is permanent.
St. Gregory says, “In times of consolation, remember desolation, and in times of desolation, remember consolation.”
If life is great right now, praise God. But don’t forget that another challenge is coming, and get ready for it in advance. If life is very difficult, remember that it won’t last forever. Soon things will look up, there will be a period of rest and tranquility. So hang in there.
It’s only when we start thinking that life will always stay like this that we start to fall apart. If we remember to be both strong and flexible, we’ll be able, by God’s grace, to respond rightly to whatever He sends us.
Five
Jesus ends His illustration of the jig and the dirge, the happy and sad music, with an abrupt and kind of confusing coda. He says, “But wisdom is justified by her children.”
What does that mean?
Well, Wisdom refers, ultimately, to God’s magnificent design for the universe as a whole and for each person’s life in particular. So it makes sense to say that those who accept that design, who accept the way God wisely alternates joy and difficulty, those who accept that design and work with it will prove what a good design it is.
And so who are Wisdom’s children?
They’re the saints. They’re the ones who respond willingly to the way God’s will is made known by ever-changing circumstances. They are absolutely a credit to their Father.
Jesus begins by talking about spoiled children, who won’t respond rightly to either joy or sorrow. The children of wisdom, the children who are both strong and grateful, the saints, they show what a good system God has designed for our lives if only we will submit to it.