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When a teen and already a clergyperson, my parents told me my maternal grandmother was afraid I was going to go insane. My parents informed me, for they were concerned about my being over-religious. I was a passionate, joyless youth. I do not regret the zeal I had; I would not, however, recommend it as healthy. I am thankful, over time, I came to discover joy. Not happiness, but joy, is what I speak of.
Joy is a deep experience of supernal Grace; it comes welling up from deep Springs within. This bliss wells up quietly even amid unhappiness. Yet, too, it can take more exuberant forms, like laughter and hilarity. Nonetheless, its general tone is a quiet flow, rather than a loud waterfall. Joy, when arising ecstatically, quickly returns to a gentle, subtle motion of presence and contentment.
This joy arises, then, not from the person or anything the person can acquire, but from Life. One may gain something he or she wants, and momentarily feel elated. This happiness quickly passes. Happiness, being founded on pleasure, cannot be sustained; joy is self-sustained, for joy is grounded in Life. Joy is genuinely en-joy-ment, en-joy-ing Life. Here, one enjoys Life through things, not using things to try to get joy.
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Kahlil Gibran, in "The Palace and the Hut," shares a story of contrasts. The tale shows the difference between happiness and joy.
Part One
As night fell and the light glittered in the great house, the servants stood at the massive door awaiting the coming of the guests; and upon their velvet garments shown golden buttons. The magnificent carriages drew into the palace park and the nobles entered, dressed in gorgeous raiment and decorated with jewels. The instruments filled the air with pleasant melodies while the dignitaries danced to the soothing music. At midnight the finest and most palatable foods were served on a beautiful table embellished with all kinds of the rarest flowers. The feasters dined and drank abundantly, until the sequence of the wine began to play its part. At dawn the throng dispersed boisterously, after spending a long night of intoxication and gluttony which hurried their worn bodies into their deep beds with unnatural sleep.
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