Great piece! I spent way too many years seeking pleasure and not joy. Joy is deep, it can surprise you by overwhelming you in a moment or last for days. You are right - surrender to God's will is the key to it.
Great essay and love the connections of joy to Chesterton and Lewis. For Lewis, he experienced joy as a child and then longed for it to return for many more years. When it finally did return, he realized he had been longing for the experience of joy but more importantly the longing for joy was pointing him to Something “other and outer”.
When one is around a truly joyful person, it impacts you significantly. You remember it. And you want to experience that joy too. I’ve put too much stock in things and people to give me joy. Reading your essay is a good reminder that joy comes from God and our joy will be complete when we are with Him eternally in heaven.
Joy has perplexed me for years. It is one of the many paradoxes of the Catholic faith. Letting go of the many things that are a waste of time (pleasures) and then instead sacrificing for others is the way I have found to have at least a modicum of joy. I am still a work in progress. Helping raise my grandkids has given me a great deal of joy these days.
What a perfect capstone to your 40 for 40 project. Well done sir!
I find that my joy comes from an external source, usually another person. Watching my children playing happily together, hearing my wife sing beautifully, being with a gregarious friend or experiencing the gift of consolation in prayer.
Do you know that there are “joy coaches.” I just found this out recently. That’s gotta be tough in this economy…
I’ll join you in pursuing joy! Thanks for the essay!
I think a lot of people, myself included, forget how central joy is to the Christian life. It has something to do with surrender, but I think a lot of people have trouble understanding exactly what that is.
This is an amazingly insightful look at joy and the concepts of it. Thank you so much for sharing this gorgeous and heartfelt piece. It really resonates with me where I'm at right now, and I'm so glad to have read it.
Beautiful my friend. What an achievement. Thanks for bringing this Joy to substack. 🙏
Thanks, Scoot. It's been a wild ride.
Great piece! I spent way too many years seeking pleasure and not joy. Joy is deep, it can surprise you by overwhelming you in a moment or last for days. You are right - surrender to God's will is the key to it.
Amen!
Great essay and love the connections of joy to Chesterton and Lewis. For Lewis, he experienced joy as a child and then longed for it to return for many more years. When it finally did return, he realized he had been longing for the experience of joy but more importantly the longing for joy was pointing him to Something “other and outer”.
When one is around a truly joyful person, it impacts you significantly. You remember it. And you want to experience that joy too. I’ve put too much stock in things and people to give me joy. Reading your essay is a good reminder that joy comes from God and our joy will be complete when we are with Him eternally in heaven.
I agree! Joyful people have that effect on others. I know that feeling all too well. I hope I can be that for others so I can point them to Christ!
Congratulations on completing your series, Walther! This was a beautiful way to close it. For what it's worth, I've always liked the word "gozo."
Joy has perplexed me for years. It is one of the many paradoxes of the Catholic faith. Letting go of the many things that are a waste of time (pleasures) and then instead sacrificing for others is the way I have found to have at least a modicum of joy. I am still a work in progress. Helping raise my grandkids has given me a great deal of joy these days.
What a perfect capstone to your 40 for 40 project. Well done sir!
I find that my joy comes from an external source, usually another person. Watching my children playing happily together, hearing my wife sing beautifully, being with a gregarious friend or experiencing the gift of consolation in prayer.
Do you know that there are “joy coaches.” I just found this out recently. That’s gotta be tough in this economy…
I’ll join you in pursuing joy! Thanks for the essay!
Joy coaches, sounds like a business opportunity LOL
You're welcome and thank you for your kind words.
I think a lot of people, myself included, forget how central joy is to the Christian life. It has something to do with surrender, but I think a lot of people have trouble understanding exactly what that is.
Agreed! As I said, it seems counterintuitive that surrender brings joy. Who would've thought!?
What a beautiful reflection on joy. Thank you adding your joy to our Substack community! 🙏🏼
Joy is a serious thing, remember that.
This is an amazingly insightful look at joy and the concepts of it. Thank you so much for sharing this gorgeous and heartfelt piece. It really resonates with me where I'm at right now, and I'm so glad to have read it.
Thank you for reading!
Love this one! ❤️