*Very* rough notes for a Wednesday Koinonia group reflection next week…

In the United States, one of their foundational documents, the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, states that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

 ¢â‚¬   Dietrich Bonhoeffer: locked up for months in a dark Nazi prison was led out by the guards to be executed. His face was shining with joy which surprised his executioners.  ¢â‚¬   Rita Backhouse: abused by a alcoholic husband, but she never lost her joy. How do people get to be like that?

* Ph 4:4 ~  ¢â‚¬ËœI wish you all joy, again I say, all joy be yours ¢â‚¬â„¢. In only 4 chapters, Philippians has words like  ¢â‚¬Ëœjoy ¢â‚¬â„¢ and  ¢â‚¬Ëœrejoice ¢â‚¬â„¢ 15+ times; Jn 16:22 ~ Upper Room!  ¢â‚¬ËœThese things have I spoken to you that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be full. No one can take your joy from you ¢â‚¬â„¢). Job 38:7: … a time when  ¢â‚¬Ëœthe morning stars sang together, and all the children of God shouted for joy! ¢â‚¬â„¢. Beatitudes: all about happiness here and now: Happy are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek… William Barclay:  ¢â‚¬ËœOh the sheer joy… ¢â‚¬â„¢. Catechism:  ¢â‚¬ËœOur chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever! ¢â‚¬â„¢ Haydn the composer, when asked why his church music was so cheerful, said  ¢â‚¬ËœI cannot make it otherwise. When I think of God my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap from my pen! ¢â‚¬â„¢

The ultimate  ¢â‚¬Ëœfruit ¢â‚¬â„¢ is love: others are aspects of love (cf. colours of a rainbow).

NT  ¢â‚¬“ one of the most joyous books in the world. Opens with joy at the birth of Jesus and ends with angels singing  ¢â‚¬ËœHallelujah! ¢â‚¬â„¢ Notes of joy everywhere (eg. ? In the jail at Philippi  ¢â‚¬“ even though Paul had a serious temperament, and didn ¢â‚¬â„¢t enjoy very good health, + beatings/stoning/ shipwrecks:  ¢â‚¬ËœRejoice, again I say, rejoice! ¢â‚¬â„¢, miracle at Cana wedding, Jesus at parties).

* Happiness is what you believe you experience when you ¢â‚¬â„¢ve collected enough  ¢â‚¬Ëœstuff ¢â‚¬â„¢ (money, accolades/respect, power, health, answers to tough questions  ¢â‚¬“ you make up your own list for a talk with your spiritual advisor). It has everything to do with  ¢â‚¬Ëœaddition ¢â‚¬â„¢ of  ¢â‚¬Ëœgoodies ¢â‚¬â„¢… Happiness is something you obtain for a price (holiday, what advertisers sell you, something in a bottle  ¢â‚¬“ liquid or pills, whatever ¢â‚¬â„¢s in your bank a/c, two seats at a show/movie…

* Joy is what a true Jesus-person has when all the stuff is taken away… It ¢â‚¬â„¢s about  ¢â‚¬Ëœsubtraction ¢â‚¬â„¢.  ¢â‚¬ËœHappiness happens but joy abides… ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬    ¢â‚¬ËœHappiness is what I feel when I’m close to my own soul, joy is what I feel when I’m close to God. ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬   Pastor: I look at the faces in the church;  ¢â‚¬Ëœmany of them are anything but joyful: some of them are set so grimly that to smile would cause permanent injury. The same careworn looks, the hard hostility, the dreadful anxieties crease their faces just as much when they leave worship as when they entered… ¢â‚¬â„¢ Thomas Watson:  ¢â‚¬ËœThe two most difficult things to do: make the wicked sad and the godly joyful. ¢â‚¬â„¢ But in worship we are not mourning a defeat but celebrating a victory; the  ¢â‚¬Ëœeucharist ¢â‚¬â„¢ is a thankful/joyful celebration.

 ¢â‚¬   YES BUT: temperament (eg. the fatalist, the  ¢â‚¬Ëœkill-joy ¢â‚¬â„¢ who wants to spoil the happiness of others), depression, circumstances (war, poverty, disasters). Some cheap evangelism offers a trouble-free Christianity:  ¢â‚¬Ëœcome to Christ and all your problems will be solved ¢â‚¬â„¢.

Those who try hardest to be happy are often the most miserable. (Flirting at Singles ¢â‚¬â„¢ conferences.  ¢â‚¬ËœGSOH ¢â‚¬â„¢).

Real happiness comes as a by-product to those who are involved in worthwhile or enjoyable activities, so that they forget to ask themselves whether they are happy or not…

Secrets of Joy?

 ¢â‚¬   It ¢â‚¬â„¢s a gift: surrender, and receive it! Jesus promised three things to his followers: constant trouble, and constant joy because of his constant presence… The essential Christian basis for joy is a genuine openness to lives being a gift from God.

 ¢â‚¬   Think about who ¢â‚¬â„¢s made his home in your life:  ¢â‚¬ËœJoy is a flag flown high from the mast of our life  ¢â‚¬Ëœcos the King is in residence there! ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬   Deep lasting joy is a by-product of a clean, selfless life; it ¢â‚¬â„¢s not an end in itself. C S Lewis ( ¢â‚¬ËœSurprised by Joy ¢â‚¬â„¢) says a self-centred life which rotates around itself is evil at the core… The more you give yourself away the more you receive; only the one who dies will live. Joy is a corollary of devoting ourselves to others. {Hold up book  ¢â‚¬“ Frommer ¢â‚¬â„¢s  ¢â‚¬Ëœ500 places where you can make a difference ¢â‚¬â„¢}. Michel Quoist:  ¢â‚¬ËœYour joy will begin at precisely the moment you abandon the search for your own personal happiness and seek the happiness of others ¢â‚¬â„¢. Stop taking yourself so seriously! Get your ego out of the way and connect back to kindness. “Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too.” -Frederick Buechner. GBShaw  ¢â‚¬“  ¢â‚¬ËœTrue joy in life is in being used for a purpose recognized as a mighty one… being a force for change instead of a feverish selfish little clod of grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. ¢â‚¬â„¢ A surrealist painter is someone who ignores the flowers and paints the manure heap in the corner of the paddock. So be grateful for ll of life: each of us has been infinitely blessed – beginning with the gift of life. Whatever may appear to be missing or broken on any particular day, our glass is not half full, it is 99.9% full.

 ¢â‚¬   Live serendipitously. Jesus:  ¢â‚¬ËœStudy the birds! ¢â‚¬â„¢ Charles Hartshorne (philosopher  ¢â‚¬“ 16 proofs for the existence of God – and ornithologist):  ¢â‚¬ËœSome birds, like some people, sing for the pure joy of it ¢â‚¬â„¢.  ¢â‚¬ËœGod enjoys the happiness of all of his creatures! ¢â‚¬â„¢ (our dog, Charlie). Wonder.

 ¢â‚¬   Forgive everyone for everything: Anger and joy don’t mix.

 ¢â‚¬   Marianne Williamson has written that there are really only two primary emotions in the universe, love and fear. So anytime you ¢â‚¬â„¢re feeling anxious, insecure, worried, angry or resentful, you ¢â‚¬â„¢ve left love and entered fear.  ¢â‚¬ËœThe darkest night has stars in it; and the Christian is someone who sees the stars rather than the darkness. George Matheson:  ¢â‚¬ËœO joy that seekest me through pain ¢â‚¬â„¢. Joy is not simply  ¢â‚¬Ëœpleasure ¢â‚¬â„¢ or  ¢â‚¬Ëœfun ¢â‚¬â„¢ or the absence of pain. Many have taught us that joy and pain can exist side by side (but those of us whose lives are relatively pain-free mustn ¢â‚¬â„¢t judge those for whom their pain is intolerable). Jan Newham: Rowland, I’m wondering if the biblical concept of ‘joy’ usually or always relates to a time of suffering, especially grief / weeping. eg, Ps 30: 5 Because rebuke is in his anger, and life is in his pleasure; at evening, weeping will spend the night, and in the morning – joy! Also Ps 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.

 ¢â‚¬   Life is NOT “Supposed to be Fair”: Know that there is no single way that life is “supposed” to be. Demanding that life meet our expectations is a sure fire recipe for a miserable existence. Life is a game with no rules. Life just happens to us regardless of our best intentions. Our only path to joy lies in being open to receiving whatever life throws at us – with gratitude.

 ¢â‚¬   Start today: Whatever course-correction you need to do, start today. Not tomorrow  ¢â‚¬“ today.

From a FB friend: Years ago, a pastor asked my family to make a poster. What we ended up with was a two-layered deal. There was a Christmas tree laden with pictures my children cut from toy ads, etc., and across it, we wrote JUST STUFF. Remove the tree, and behind it was the cross, clearly giving the light that illumined the tree. Above it: THE GOOD STUFF.

* In a book by Byron Katie A Thousand Names for Joy, she shares this mantra: “I am a lover of what is.”

Rowland Croucher

April 2012 jmm.aaa.net.au

~~

And here’s the one-page handout for our Wednesday group:

Fruits of the Spirit: [2] JOY

US Preamble to the Declaration of Independence: “We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

 ¢â‚¬   Dietrich Bonhoeffer: locked up for months in a dark Nazi prison was led out by the guards to be executed. His face was shining with joy which surprised his executioners. (How do people get to be like that?)

~ NT  ¢â‚¬“ one of the most joyous books in the world. Opens with joy at the birth of Jesus and ends with angels singing  ¢â‚¬ËœHallelujah! ¢â‚¬â„¢ Ph 4:4 ~  ¢â‚¬ËœI wish you all joy, again I say, all joy be yours ¢â‚¬â„¢. In only 4 chapters, Philippians has words like  ¢â‚¬Ëœjoy ¢â‚¬â„¢/ ¢â‚¬Ëœrejoice ¢â‚¬â„¢ 15+ times; Jn 16:22 ~ Upper Room!  ¢â‚¬ËœThese things have I spoken to you that my joy might be in you, and that your joy might be full. No one can take your joy from you ¢â‚¬â„¢.

The ultimate  ¢â‚¬ËœFruit of the Spirit ¢â‚¬â„¢ is love: others are aspects of love (cf. colours of a rainbow).

~ Happiness is what you believe you experience when you ¢â‚¬â„¢ve collected enough  ¢â‚¬Ëœstuff ¢â‚¬â„¢ (money, accolades/respect, power, health, answers to tough questions  ¢â‚¬“ you make up your own list for a talk with your spiritual advisor).  ¯Æ’  Joy is what a true Jesus-person has when all the stuff is taken away… It ¢â‚¬â„¢s about  ¢â‚¬Ëœsubtraction ¢â‚¬â„¢.  ¢â‚¬ËœHappiness happens but joy abides… ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬   YES BUT: temperament (eg. the fatalist, the  ¢â‚¬Ëœkill-joy ¢â‚¬â„¢ who wants to spoil the happiness of others), depression, circumstances (war, poverty, disasters). Some may be born with  ¢â‚¬Ëœnice genes ¢â‚¬â„¢ – http://jmm.org.au/articles/29912.htm . Some cheap evangelism offers a trouble-free Christianity:  ¢â‚¬ËœCome to Christ and all your problems will be solved ¢â‚¬â„¢.  ¢â‚¬ËœOh joy that seekest me through pain… ¢â‚¬â„¢ Huh?

SECRETS OF JOY?

 ¢â‚¬   What kind of God do you believe in? He ¢â‚¬â„¢s made his home in your life:  ¢â‚¬ËœJoy is a flag flown high from the castle of my heart  ¢â‚¬Ëœcos the King is in residence there! ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬   It ¢â‚¬â„¢s a gift: surrender, and receive it! Jesus promised three things to his followers: constant trouble, and constant joy, because of his constant presence…

 ¢â‚¬   Do you have someone who loves you, and listens both to you and to God at the same time?

 ¢â‚¬   Deep lasting joy is a by-product of a clean, selfless life; it ¢â‚¬â„¢s not an end in itself. C S Lewis (Surprised by Joy) :  ¢â‚¬Ëœa self-centred life which rotates around itself is evil at the core… ¢â‚¬â„¢

 ¢â‚¬   Live serendipitously. Jesus:  ¢â‚¬ËœStudy the birds! ¢â‚¬â„¢ (And small children and animals!).

 ¢â‚¬   Forgive everyone for everything: Anger and joy don’t mix.

 ¢â‚¬   Start today: Whatever course-correction you need to do, start today. Not tomorrow  ¢â‚¬“ today.

~ In a book titled A Thousand Names for Joy, there ¢â‚¬â„¢s this: “I am a lover of what is.”

From our Wednesday Koinonia group:

Discuss (on the subject of Secrets of Joy):

1. Is covetousness always wrong? (No: eg. Paul: ‘Covet earnestly the best gifts’)

2. Don’t let what describes you define you

3. The sayings of joyful people? (Eg. ‘There are people worse off than I am’)

4. God has forgiven you – let no one accuse you, not even yourself!

5. A ‘disabled/differently abled’ child often brings real joy to a family: why is that?

6. Re ‘entitlement’. How does Willie Loman’s experience (‘Death of a Salesman’) help us with the ‘pursuit of happiness’ idea? What do we do with the loss of respect when we move from one group to another, for example?

Happy… oops Joyful thinking!

Rowland Croucher

April 2012 jmm.aaa.net.au