Mobs of Joy

We’re in no short supply of angry mobs these days. We open up our apps and easily find within seconds the formation of men and women coming together to berate, shout, and diminish whoever that particular “other” is. Strangers become friends simply by uniting over those they are against. The bleak prospects on the screens in our hand reveal the fractures of a society that might feel hopeless. But this isn’t the whole story.

Sometimes groups of people get together by the pull of joy alone. Sometimes they adjust their schedule, get in their car, and join together on a warm, sunny afternoon to laugh, create, and connect with other men and women. It’s still happening, I promise. Yes, movie theaters might be slowly becoming obsolete, and the malls that were once the high school hangouts have been replaced by a digital shopping cart, but people are gathering together for joy. Where are these people? You might find them hard at play.

My family and I stepped into one of these groups a couple of weekends ago as we attended a fly-in Remote Control airplane show put on by an RC club in Louisville, Kentucky. With excitement we patiently joined the line of cars from the community inching into the parking lot of the airfield. Once parked, we hauled our camp chairs and lunch past a bounce house, raffle tents, and spectators lined up watching the acrobatic stunts of the RC airplanes.

The entire event, Wings for Kids, was put on as a fundraiser for a children’s hospital, by the local RC airplane club. The around 150 members who love to join together on windless evenings and weekends decided they not only wanted to play together, they wanted to do something more with their love of the hobby. They decided to use their deep joys for flight to give back to the community, and they had a lot of fun doing it in the process.

If you’ve read my book or read my writing for a while, you know my family and I have quite an eclectic list of hobbies. We’ve played around with model railroading, coin collecting, ham radios, and RC airplanes. While most assume these activities are dying groups, I’ve found that the times we’ve interacted with various clubs and participants have been nothing but life-giving. No matter how big or small the group is, seeing the way these people of all ages come together with their passions offers us a beautiful gift.

Perhaps especially in this atmosphere of division, it might do our heart good to move into these spaces even more—to seek out opportunities to be around men and women of all ages coming together, not for what they’re against, but for their passions. Most of these club members aren’t thinking about the way the Lord formed them to love collecting, flying, or creating. They aren’t thinking about the ways their love of baking or modeling fulfills the purposes that God has made us for. But we could. We could understand and delight in these truths beneath the surface of our play together, and we can use it to pull us even closer to the person painting or flying beside us, in hopes that one day they, too, will see the giver behind their favorite gift of play.

In the next weeks I want to highlight a few community hobbyist groups that I have been particularly blessed by. I hope it encourages you and maybe even gives you some ideas for your own community!

Then around mid July, I’ll be starting a read-along type of series with my book. The plan is to post something weekly with each chapter with some background comments, extra thoughts (and even what got cut from that chapter!). I think it should be a fun addition.

I also wanted to take this time to let you know about my friend Brittany Allen’s new book, Free to Weep: Finding the Courage to Grieve and Embracing the God Who Heals. This book is such a great counterargument to many of the lies we inadvertently have believed about suffering. Just listen to these chapter titles:

• Should I be ashamed of weakness?

• Is suffering good?

• Am I suffering because of my sin?

• Am I “suffering well” if I am downcast?

• Does it mean I’m discontented if I feel sad?

• Is comparing suffering helpful?

• Is God trying to teach me a lesson?

Great questions right? Through the use of Scripture, Brittany gently walks readers through some of these unhelpful messages we’ve received about suffering into a more biblical understanding. It’s been an encouragement to me for sure, and I hope it is one for you!

I happen to have an extra copy, so if you’d like to be put in the drawing for this, please just comment Giveaway in my comments below, and I’ll pick a winner next week! (continental US only, I’m sorry!).

Thanks all for reading, I hope to see you again in the weeks to come!