Unspeakable Joy

I'm right in the middle of my third week of college, homework on either side of me and the prospect of trying to find a job looming over me. I really don't have enormous cause to be writing about joy right now. But wait, last year this time I was all about joy; if I signed your t-shirt at nationals I probably signed it with John 15:11, the banner on my phone reads "Psalm 30:5", I was aspiring to be the little girl who was told by a lot of random people "It's so nice, you're always smiling!".

Well in general I'm a pessimist so I'm not sure where the always smiling thing came from in the first place. But on rare occasions some really extreme optimists can get me to see their side of things and I think "You know, maybe life isn't so despressing after all." (Yes. That extra s is supposed to be there. Don't question.) On more amusing occasions some extreme pessimists bring out the optimist in me because I'm a contrary sort of person so I'll become an optimist to play Devil's Advocate. Either way I do enjoy my brief trips into the happy land that is optimism.

You're probably wondering what in the world all this talk about optimism and pessimism has to do with joy. Give me a little time to collect my thoughts; I might be able to explain myself. In one chapter of Orthodoxy G.K. Chesterton narrows down the definition of a Christian optimist as not "trying to prove that we fit in to the world" but "(Christian optimism is) based on the fact that we do not fit in to the world." He talks about loving the world in the way you love a friend struggling with a problem, by trying to improve it. He also talks in the next chapter about a great characteristic of saint is their "levity" and "angels can fly because they take themselves lightly."

Sorry, still rabbit trailing.

All right, for the sake of argument: Dictionary.com defines Joy as

the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation

Hmm. I'm a little skeptical about whether that's an exact definition of what I'm looking for. We're going to move on from my Chesterton tangents and the literal world of dictionaries to the place where I should have started:

John 15:11 "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

What is the Biblical perspective on joy? Well I have absolutely no doubt that many great authors and theologians and pastors and philosophers and everyone else in the world have written volumes on it. I recommend you go find one of their works to read. In the mean time I'm going to hunt out just a few (a very few) occurrences of the word "joy" in the Bible.

The first one that comes to mind?

James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

Oookay, joy is facing trials? Not exactly how I would have described it right off. But it's not really an abnormal Biblical definition, Hebrews 12:2 says Jesus "for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame." Now we all know that we're supposed to have the same attitude as Christ and when you think about it that way trials really can be joyful, there is always (and you can quote me on that "always") something bigger and better waiting at the end of the trials we endure for God. In fact that's what the James verse is talking about too if I hadn't purposefully taken it out of context. It goes on to say "because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Then we get a list of all the good things that come out of perseverance which ends with receiving "The crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."

While I'm at it, do you remember my rabbit trail? That's where my Christian optimism works in here. The joy of the improvements you make to the world you love are what can keep you optimistic, in case you were wondering.

That definition worked out surprisingly well after a rough start, it's the joy of a labor of love. What other instances of joy have I come across? I'm glad you asked.

In the midst of a lot of very distressed (if hopeful) Psalms you every now and then run across some Psalm that is just bursting with joy. Psalm 66 starts out by telling you to shout with joy to the Lord, I can tell you that even when I'm really happy I don't shout too much, I never really was the screaming girl type. But Psalm 66 goes on to list reason upon reason upon reason and they all pile up to some well-deserved shouting. Thirty chapters later in Psalm 96 the trees get in on this and start singing for joy. Now that is some serious joy right there.

Those are some pretty normal ones; I'm going to finish off with the chapter that actually set me off on this tangent. Last night I ran across a less-well-used Psalm that gives a pretty good description of the sensation of joy, if not necessarily how and when and where we're supposed to feel it. Psalm 126 is the chapter in question and as assigned reading (because if you've got this far you might as well just go read those six verses) it's just a really happy Psalm.

So what was the result of this mostly stream-of-consciousness investigation of joy? Nothing really, just sharing some thoughts. My final thought is what I've always felt about joy; that real joy can't come from anything on this normal earth to which we abnormal people belong, it has to come from a much more heavenly source because he loves to share his joy with us so that our joy "may be complete."






If you read through all of that I applaud you. Actually I sympathize with you, let me get you some sympathy cookies and a Chesterton book to read instead.