The most infuriatingly sublime aspect about Joy is that it can
not
be controlled or harnessed. It can not
be summoned by an act of will. True Joy simply occurs at the most unexpected
moments; then it vanishes, like a wisp of smoke. It is more fleeting than infancy.
I do not think God originally intended Joy to be fleeting. There
is good reason to believe God wanted it to be a constant state for humanity in constant communion with Him. The Garden of Eden was a place for sublime Joy. Bliss. Ecstasy. The loss of constant and complete Joy from the human condition was a consequence of the Fall.
Joy is a byproduct being close to God. Joy reflects something of His divine
character. Joy increases in frequency the closer we draw to God. Conversely, Joy
fades the further away we move from God.
I’m continually struck by the
tenderness of the account of creation in the book of Genesis. God created the heavens and the earth: Out of
chaos He made a universe of order. Out of formlessness, emptiness and darkness,
God brought light, structure, and substance (Genesis 1.1-14).
The world teemed with plant and animal life (verse 20-24).
God
declared it all to be good (verse 9 &12b, 18, 21b, 25b). Not only did God
see that His creation was good, He blessed it (verse 22). Into this good and
blessed environment God created humanity (in His own image) as the climax of His
creativity (Verses 26-27). Once this was
accomplished, God looked at his creation said it was very good (Verse 30).
Genesis tells us that God placed Adam in
a garden in the eastern part of Eden
with every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
Eden was ideal for nurturing joy. Man was saturated with the most
important ingredients and sources of all true Joy: an intimate
love-relationship with God, a sense of belonging, and a divinely appointed purpose
(to tend the Garden). The Fall ruined the state of complete and continual Joy.
C. S. Lewis said “Joy is the serious business of heaven” ─ and so it
is. To be in the presence of God is the ultimate Joy or the ultimate terror,
depending upon what we do with the question of sin and how we respond to the
second figure in the Triune God: Jesus Christ.
Centuries after the Garden of Eden, Jesus referred to joy being
complete:
I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains
in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you
remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
given you. This is my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples. As the
Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my
commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s
commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in
you and that your joy may be complete. My commandment is this: Love one another
as I have loved you.” (John 15.5-12)
Whereas the first Adam brought death, Christ is the “last
Adam” who
brings life. Christ brings life to people dead in sin. He
reveals the true meaning of love and restores joy. Jesus himself tells us about
how to make joy complete once again.
Granted it is not like the pre-Fall Joy of Eden because Original Sin cut
the clarity of the earth-joy connection. But real joy comes still comes from God. Real joy flows through Christ,
like nutrients moving through branches.
Notice that Christ’s imagery is so fitting with creation and nature:
Vines and branches and men bearing fruit. Fruitful lives bring glory to God. Again, we
find ingredients and sources of all true Joy: they are an intimate
love-relationship with God, a sense of belonging, and a divinely appointed
purpose.
This is only possible when people are intimately connected with the
Vine, which is Christ. Without this
spiritual connection we can do nothing that brings glory to God. The Father’s
Love was in His Son and his Son’s love is in His followers—the “children of
God.” Saint John
put it this way.
“But to those who did accept him [Christ] he gave
power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were
born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by man’s decision but of
God. And the Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only
son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1.12-14)
John’s language shifts to that of a family and adoption,
through the
personal choice of faith. This biblical passage
taken from the first chapter of the Gospel of John begins with the same words
that start the book of Genesis: “In the beginning”. The same source of divine love that created
all life (so powerfully described in the first chapters of Genesis) is the same
redemptive Grace behind Christ’s Incarnation. This love is behind its creative
act of man’s spiritual regeneration “to those who believe in his name”. It is so
movingly described in the first eighteen verses of John 1, and ending in a
forceful affirmation of Jesus’ deity.
"Planned Parenthood claims that only 3 percent of its services are abortion-related. A story by Rachael Larimore, a writer for Slate.com, labeled that claim as “the most meaningless abortion statistic ever.” Most women who have abortions at Planned Parenthood also have other related services at the same time.
Centuries after the Garden of Eden, Jesus referred to joy being
complete:
I have two grandsons. Both are involved with television. Yesterday was hectic. Both were at different television productions miles apart. My wife drove one to his set while my daughter took my other grandson to be in a commercial for a food company. He was supposed to be playing street hockey when he gets hungry. It didn't take any acting for him. He's a typical Canadian boy who loves street hockey. He had fun and got paid for it. 
I came across a pleasant surprise. The National Catholic Register: America's Most Complete Catholic News Service, has a sectioned called "The Best In Catholic blogging" by Tito Edwards, Their online edition for August 2nd 2015 included A blog post of mine originally published July 12th on the HumanLifeMatters' blog under the title "Complete Abandon To Christ and the Purpose of Our Existence". 
