By Lois E. Wilson
Benjamin Franklin cautioned, “The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” His quote advises happiness is the successful result of one’s actions, interactions, or deeds. Therefore, it can be fleeting—to be experienced briefly and disappear.
What about joy, is it elusive too? Stanislaw Lec warned, “When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet.” Will there be joy in 2022?
“Joy is hard for being pure and delicate, but no less hard for having its feet on the ground. It is bliss without otherworldliness. It lies tantalizingly in between the extremes of beatitude and bestiality which are increasingly the postulates of our world.” (Eric Bentley)
William Lake states, “He who binds to himself a joy does the winged life destroy. But he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity’s sunrise.”
Often the words “happiness” and “joy” are used as synonyms. They both appear in many Bible verses.
One Biblical definition states: “Joy is a feeling of great pleasure and happiness that is dependent on who Jesus is rather than on who we are or what is happening around us. Joy comes from the Holy Spirit, abiding in God’s presence and hope in His word.”
Therefore, it is said Biblical joy is a perpetual happiness that comes from knowing and trusting Jesus. In various versions of the Bible, the Magi on seeing the guiding star (Matthew2: 10) rejoiced with great joy or were joyous at the sight.
The last verse of the Christmas carol “Joy to the World” acclaims “Joy to the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love.”
Nehemiah 8: 10 “Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” This is an important promise. As we proceed through our daily activities, the joy we find with our family, friends and those we see each day is important. There is no “glum” joy.
Emily Dickinson said it concisely: “Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.”