Tag: Joy

Waiting with Joy

The third week of Advent focuses on joy, and on Sunday the pink candle was lit beside the flames of the flickering purple candles beside it. Advent is a time of waiting, a time of darkness and long stretched-out silence before the great light and the revelrous celebrations of the king’s coming. And yet the third Sunday of Advent, in Advent, speaks of joy. This poses a question, at least to my mind: can the two (waiting and joy) be reconciled?

Before delving into this question, I want to look at a few quotations concerning joy to see what possible insights they hold for our topic of discussion. The first is a Bible verse from James: “My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy” (James 1:2). Here trials are equated with joy: joy is given as a name to describe difficulties and darknesses that inevitably appear along the human journey. What’s more, no qualifications or conditions are applied to these trials. Instead, they are considered joy whenever they arise, not only in specific circumstances or at specific times. The verse does not say that trials can be considered joy, but that they are nothing but joy and they are so in all times and in all places and regardless of external factors.

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Happy Endings

Why is it so hard to live in the moment? It is a commonly spewed piece of advice we all generally acknowledge. No, it’s not healthy to dwell on the past, nor is it beneficial to hover over our expectations for the future. Yes, living in the moment is what we are supposed to do. It’s what we tell others, what we tell ourselves. But sometimes I wonder how much time any of us really spend there. In the present, that is.

I often feel like it’s easier for my mind to flit away in the midst of happiness. It seems backwards somehow. Joyful days should consume those fearful thoughts and dissipate them. But whenever life is good, I feel more terror at the prospect of it getting worse later.

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Wanting

What do you want most?

It’s a pretty broad question. But some things must flash forward: notions of happiness and love, certain landmarks in life you long to reach. But is there just one thing that could satisfy? Could one thing ever be enough? Enough to stop the pining, enough to feel content… Enough to treasure each precious breath instead of watching the horizon for our someday etched in the starry night sky.

It’s easy to believe that the acquisition of one success would colour our world bright again. Problems rise like mountains before us, blocking our view of what lies beyond. Desire to see the other side, to see that the valley that follows is green and full of promise and not barren and bleak, is overwhelming. The path over the mountain always seem to take a different twist or turn, yet still I reach the valley and it is everything I hoped, just not in the way that I hoped. But the bliss, the relief of reprieve is momentary. The steady surface does not last.

I want success. I want happiness. I want love. I want to see my dreams fulfilled. I would hardly be human if I didn’t.

The question that remains is this: are those the things I want most?

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