As I started writing, I began thinking about the Boston Marathon tragedy that occurred on Monday. I was at work at the time, and one of my coworkers told me she'd heard about it on the radio. I didn't understand at first, wondering if I heard her right. Why would someone bomb a marathon?
No one actually knows WHY someone bombed the finish line, why they wanted to harm so many innocent people, why they were willing to create destruction that killed at least 3 people.
So as I was writing about the definition of joy, I thought about everyone who is experiencing unbelievable sorrow after the bombing. Joy, unlike happiness, can exist at the same time as sorrow. While my heart is broken for everyone who was harmed and even killed, I am still so joyful and thankful for everyone who is alive today who was minutes, even seconds, from being killed. I have joy in seeing the response of millions of people who are uniting their prayers and sympathies with everyone who was injured and the families of those who were killed.
I just found out that a chemical plant in West, Texas blew up yesterday and at least fifteen people were killed. Someone tried to poison President Barack Obama. And two 14 year old kids have been charged with murder after killing a homeless person on a dare. Just this week.
JOY comes from God, who loves us and promises He is still and always will be GOOD, even when there is evil and tragedy in this world.
Here are my three short writings on joy. The first one is in my own style, just some stuff I threw down to get ideas and a basis. The second is my rewrite in the style of St. Paul. The third is the revised version of that rewrite.
In loving memory of the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombing, 4/15/13, the victims of the Texas Blast, 4/17/13, and for all victims of senseless violence. May they all find strength in the joy of the Lord.
4/18/13
Definition
My definition in my own style: Joy
Joy. Joy isn’t easy to define, because it is not a synonym for happiness as language leads us to
believe. I have heard many people say that they have experienced joy within their hearts even at the
same time as experiencing deep sorrow or pain. It is a Christian virtue; the JOY of the Lord is our
strength. It is not simply a feeling; it is transcendent. It is not ignoring sadness, or ignoring situations that are contrary to good feelings and happiness. Joy is, in a sense, the overcoming of sorrow. It is delight in some great, unchanging good that no evil, sorrow, or pain can overcome. Joy is never losing sight of the fact that we are all loved into being by God, and delight in that Love creates something much deeper and permanent than happiness.
My definition rewritten in the style of St. Paul (1 Cor. 13, KJV version): Joy
Though I smile and laugh with people around me, if I do not have joy, it is all superficial, and
lasts but a moment before it comes to nothing.
And though I am cheerful and my circumstances are good and I can forget my troubles and
fears, and if I have all the friends and good company in the world, and can be merry to forget my
hardships, if I do not have joy, it is a passing moment and will give way to other things.
And though I go out of my way to avoid bad news and difficulties and the problems of the
world around me, and though I am known for being a happy person and always willing to smile, if I do not have joy, it cannot last and will do no good to anyone.
Joy can endure; it is lasting; it is self-perpetuating by the merits it leaves behind; it is contagious; it is mysterious and desirable;
It leads people to be freer than they were before; it gives hope and strength to the heart; it
makes a change in those who possess it that is pleasing and perplexing;
It does not flaunt itself, but shines gently from the hearts of those who have it; it cannot help
itself.
Joy can endure what may come. If there is trouble or pain in the world, or within me, joy can
outlast it; if there is fear and uncertainty all around me, joy can overcome it.
For when we are happy, we have a taste of what joy is, but it is only a taste.
When we experience joy, true joy, that taste will turn into a savoring of the bliss and delight
heaven can dispose us to.
When I was young, the goal of my life was to be happy. I avoided what was painful and desired
what felt good; but when I grew older, I desired something better than what felt good; I desired what I
was made for.
And even now when we savor joy in this world, when we reach our heavenly home, our joy will
never be shaken. It will be unadulterated; we will feel only delight in realizing all that we are and all
we’ve been given.
Be happy, be merry, be cheerful, but above all, take joy: for the joy of the Lord is our strength.
My definition rewritten in the style of St. Paul (1 Cor. 13, KJV version): Joy REVISED
Though I smile and laugh with people around me, but I have not joy, it is nothing.
And though I am cheerful and my circumstances are good and I can forget my troubles and
fears, and if I have all the friends and good company in the world, and can be merry to forget my
hardships, if I do not have joy, it is nothing.
And though I go out of my way to avoid bad news and difficulties and the problems of the
world around me, and though I am known for being a happy person and always willing to smile, if I do not have joy, it will not profit me.
Joy can endure; it is lasting; it is self-perpetuating by the merits it leaves behind; it is not
ineffective but contagious; it is mysterious;
It is not binding but freeing to those who find it; it is not self-seeking but self-giving; it is not
easily shaken by external forces:
It comes not from emotions but from a person; Christ Jesus;
Joy never fails. If there is trouble or pain in the world, joy can outlast it; if there is fear and
uncertainty all around me, joy can overcome it.
For when we are happy, we have a taste of what joy is, but it is only a taste.
But when perfect joy enters our hearts, the partial joy of happiness will pass away.
When I was a child, I perceived happiness as a child, I sought it as a child, I made it the goal of
my life as a child; when I grew older, I put away emotions for something greater.
Be happy, be merry, be cheerful, but above all, take joy: for the joy of the Lord is our strength.
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