The Practice of Delight

When is the last time you remember truly delighting in something - being so enthralled with what was before your senses that you became totally immersed in the present moment and your heart welled up with joy?

Has it been a while?

When I was a kid, delight came easily. There was a season of childhood where for three years my family owned and lived at a beach resort on Vancouver Island. Almost everyday in every season I was outside either on the beach or in the forest nearby. There were many times delight came into my heart as I swam in the ocean, or watched winter storms from shore, or rode my bike as fast as I could through forest trails pretending to be the Millennium Falcon racing through a meteor shower.

As I got older, delight seemed to fade as I became more "adult-like" and less childlike. Being grown up and having a family took responsibility. Working a job and paying bills took responsibility. And of course, responsibility means seriousness (or at least to me it did).

WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL PRACTICE OF DELIGHT?

According to Shauna Niequist (link below), delight is when we engage our senses and our spirits to experience the world God made and in that moment we feel a welling up of joy, goodness, and gratitude.

Notice there is both an internal and external aspect to delight. Delight is not something that takes place entirely inside of us disconnected from what’s around us. It’s an experience of the world through our senses, and it takes place as our hearts and spirits tap into the world and appreciate what’s around us. It involves both our senses and our spirit.

Some people have a natural bent toward delight, others do not. For example, I have a natural bent toward seriousness (unless I'm on vacation and absent from responsibility). I am more inclined to see what’s wrong than what’s right, and I want to reform rather than delight.

However, I was reminded by Shauna Niequist that you cannot fuel activism long term without the practice of delight to fill you up. Without delight, our senses will dull, our heart will harden, and we will find ourselves further and further away from our own self and the world God created.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

What might delight look like in your life, in your current season? Keep in mind that what brings delight will vary from person to person and from season to season. What brings delight to you might be different from what brings delight to me. In one season you might need something restorative and gentle. In another season you may need something loud and physical and wild.

What about today? Maybe you need an exciting movie in the theatre. Maybe you need an amazing meal. Maybe you need to sit on a beach and feel the sand as you listen to the waves. Maybe you need to watch a thunderstorm.

One thing that stops delight is putting too much pressure on it. As Shauna Niequist says, “We need a low bar for delight so we can be easily delighted.” If this is true, then there is not one place where you cannot find God’s fingerprint and something to lift your heart.

HOW DO I PRACTICE DELIGHT?

Look, the winter is past,
    and the rains are over and gone.
The flowers are springing up,
    the season of singing birds has come,
    and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air.
The fig trees are forming young fruit,
    and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming.
~ Song of Solomon 2:11-13

Here's something Niequist suggests you can do today to return to delight: Go on a delight walk, right where you are, even for a few minutes.

When you walk, focus on your senses in a very determined way: What am I seeing? What word would I use to describe that colour. What am I hearing? Is that a bird? Is there a rhythm to that construction noise? Do I hear accents in people’s speech around me? What am I smelling? How does the ground feel underneath my feet?

It may be difficult at first. However, delight will eventually come, and the more you practice, the more your senses will become engaged: Wow. I never knew how many shades of green there are right outside my window. This person’s accent reminds me of a trip I went on. This smell reminds me of my childhood.

In the words of Mary Oliver, delight requires only three simple things from us: