I feel I must now explain my thoughts on joy versus happiness. One being one very much preferred expression of the other, but not the ultimate desire. In other words, happiness is an expression of joy, but not the only manifestation.
There's a great quote out in the twitter world that originated from who knows where and it goes: "Joy is not the absence of sorrow, but the settled conviction that the gospel is true in the face of sorrow." And I very much believe that statement. What I was trying to get at in my previous post is that I function better when I'm happy- and that doesn't mean I don't understand sorrow or avoid it or repress it, all things I think you cannot do and be a Christian, but that it's okay to operate in the happy realm- it's a byproduct of joy.
And joy encompasses joy and sorrow and everything in between and it is my belief that you cannot know true joy without knowing sorrow. Nor is joy very far away from peace. The peace that passes all understanding and knowledge. These things sort of go hand in hand. And that also means you have a contentedness with joy, sorrow, hardship, happiness, peace, conflict but at the same time have a dis-contentedness with the way things are.
Also, I think I should say that all these things are very very important for a very big reason: they help us love. If we are to be witnesses of Christ, to the ends of the earth, we need to know how to love. And I don't think you know how to love well without joy, sorrow, happiness, contentedness and peace. You may be able to preach, to go to church, to be apart of christian community, but I don't think you'd be able to love others well without understanding how much you are loved. And when you experience how much you are loved you experience love, joy, sorrow, happiness, and peace. It's just what happens when God comes into your life and speaks. His love transcends. It's the reverse of the apple of the tree of good and evil. When you bite the apple of God's love, you experience goodness, grace, peace, love, joy. Things we were created to experience as God's children. The things that make us alive. Make us lights in darkness.
I had googled "ponderific" and it led me to one of your posts. I then read a few more of your blog entries. I am just blown away with some of the similarities between you and I as well as your insights into different topics. I didn't know where else to put this but in a comment, so thank you for your blog! Wow! I've bookmarked it and hope to read some more posts soon. This is so totally cool. Thank you!!!
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