The Third Sunday of Advent: Reflection on Joy
You may have heard this common idea that ‘happiness is from the world, but JOY is from God’ often said to mean ‘we can be joyful no matter the circumstance, because we have Jesus’, but allow me to expand on Joy on this third Sunday of Advent...
From Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown: "Joy is the most vulnerable human emotion. The greek word for Joy is Chairo: described as the 'the culmination of being' and 'the good mood of the soul'. It is found only in God and comes with virtue and wisdom. It isn’t a beginners virtue, it comes as the culmination.”
I read this and my world was rocked with a deepening understanding of Joy. Joy, it appears, is actually an intense feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure, and appreciation. In Joy, we don’t lose ourselves, we become more truly ourselves. With Joy, colours seem brighter, physical movements feel freer and easier, smiling happens involuntarily.
When we think ‘Joy in the Lord’, perhaps it’s a joy of being our most true selves in the presence of the One who loves and created us! Living into our ‘imago dei’-- our divinely created selves!
Reflect on Joy
Today, take some time to reflect on joy and chat with God about what it’s like for you to consider joy here and now…
✦ Luke 2:10, we read the words the angels proclaimed; that Jesus’ arrival was the most joyous news the word has ever heard and that it is for everyone everywhere! When you think of Jesus’ arrival, do you often think of it as ‘the most joyous news the world has ever heard!’? If someone were to ask you what the most joyous news the world has ever heard is, what would you say?
✦ What is it like for you to think of the idea of Joy in the Lord as a joy in being fully yourself, vulnerable and intimate, with God, the one who made you?
✦ “Joy isn’t a beginner virtue, it comes as the culmination”. Consider that Joy is a Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) Fruit doesn’t grow instantly. From seed to sprout, to a tree that produces fruit, can take years upon years. What does this tell you about Joy?
✦ What might God be inviting you into as you consider Joy? Maybe it’s meditating on sentiments like Joy as the “good mood of the soul” and considering how Jesus meets you in your joy.
