Joy, a simple word
of three letters,
a word that names
the highest possibility of human life.
Joy is not a feeling
in response to a fortunate event.
That is happiness;
and it fades away
as quickly as the
happy situation passes.
Joy is not a momentary
response to love or sky or water.
That is happiness;
and it disappears when love is gone
or the sky turns
gray or the water hardens into ice.
No, Joy is a condition
of spirit
which so fills my
being
that no amount of
unhappiness can cast it out.
Happiness and unhappiness
are feelings in my heart.
But Joy and the absence
of Joy are conditions of my whole being.
Happiness and unhappiness
have causes.
Joy comes to pass.
Joy and happiness
can each stand alone,
but when they happen
together,
Joy can make happiness
even more happy
because love and
sky and water
can reflect the inner
Joy.
Joy echoes up from
my depths
when love speaks
the first word.
The happiness of
sky and sunshine
resound in my being
as Joy.
I do not contain Joy
as a feeling inside my skin,
but Joy embraces
me as the profound tone of my being.
Joy upon depth of
unspeakable Joy
flows thru my being.
And my human response
to the mysterious Joy is thanks.
88 OUR EXISTENTIAL PREDICAMENT: LONELINESS, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, & DEATH
Return to the Table of Contents of Our Existential Predicament.