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Jesus said, Gospel of John 15.11, to his followers:
I have said these things to you, so that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.
Five words stand out here: "my," "joy," "in," "your," "complete." Let us look at each one in succession.
1) My - Jesus signifies anyone who knows fulness of joy. Jesus does not say he is giving or can give joy; he is sharing wisdom that, if followed, will allow his followers to know the joy he enjoys. This prudence is not merely of Jesus, Christian, church, or religion. Anyone following truth comes to welcome joy. While joy is uncaused, we engage a life of wise choices and nurture ourselves wisely to be able to receive this causeless joy. Someone who lives joyfully can be an inspiration for us to do the work that allows our heart to open to the same subtle, contented bliss.
2) Joy - Joy is not happiness. Happiness is a passing feeling of pleasure. Happiness is only present when one is being pleased. A joyful person gets a pay raise, and she erupts in an ecstatic celebration. Nothing wrong with that, yet joy would be present if, rather than the pay raise, her employer had fired her. She might be deeply saddened, even feeling anger, but she would have joy. Being fired from a job cannot take her joy away. Why? Her joy is underlying satisfaction and contentment, marked by gratitude, that is more subtle than happiness. Joy can be present with sadness, while happiness cannot. When a hospice chaplain, I saw persons dying and joyful, and I saw persons dying miserably, even caustic and angry. What was the difference? If we live joyfully, we can die joyfully. A motivation for following a spiritual path is to equip ourselves to live today and die someday with a gladsome spirit.
3) In - This relates closely to the prior "Joy." Happiness comes from without yourself, and joy comes from within yourself. This "in' is why we nurture ourselves spiritually, as the sad man in the story; resultant is the transformation of afflictive thoughts and emotions. What is afflictive? What brings unnecessary suffering. Buddhism says, its first of the Four Noble Truths, "Life is suffering," meaning not that Life Itself is suffering, but we suffer. Life does not make anyone miserable; we make ourselves miserable. So, we need an inside work. Contemplative Christians call this "conversion of the heart," meaning not conversion to the Christian faith, the church, or any religion, but our True Selves.
4) Your - This relates with "My"; that is, no amount of devotion to Jesus or anyone can give one joy. Being baptized a thousand times can not do one thing to provide you joy not already within you. One could worship a million Jesuss or meditate before a myriad Buddhas and be a bitter, ungrateful, and disgruntled being. One can enjoy joy, when one oneself receives it from within. If I want the Sunshine outside me to shine within me, I must welcome it inside me. I cannot borrow it from the Sun or anyone else.
5) Complete - We do not want infrequent or frequent visits to joy, though these are blessings. These times of joy arising are signs of joy we can always enjoy (in-joy), even when we are sad or in pain or feeling lost and confused. We are, then, living in joy, for joy lives in us.
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Last, one could say, "I can't be joyful, look at what I've done in the past, my past failures, mistakes, how I've hurt others, ...." No, we can all know this joy. Joy is the grace of this moment. Joy is not about what I have done, should have done, could have done; joy is not about me at all. That "i" that is blocking joy, using the past as the illogical excuse, is simply a way the "i" remains self-absorbed. With forgiveness, we are freed to joy. We will soon write on forgiveness, but for today, this day: Enjoy joy!
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(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2020
Story "The Land of Laughter" is an adaptation from Anthony de Mello. Taking Flight.
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