How to find joy (March 24, 2008)
By the grace of God I myself usually do this naturally, but the least I can do is to share it in here so that others can try it if they want to—
Many who know me think I’m somehow immune to the pain of life (boredom, meaninglessness, hopelessness, loneliness), but I assure you I’m not! It’s the way I react to it that makes the difference.
Most people—influenced by our culture, no doubt—seem to view the pain as something to be avoided by means of entertainment or activities that they often don’t even particularly enjoy but that merely serve as what one friend of mine calls “boredom preventers,” or by surrounding themselves with expensive possessions, dwellings, & vehicles, with which they hope to buffer themselves against the emptiness.
I and all other deeply joyful people, in contrast, embrace the pain as something to be worked through in the heart, mind, & soul, after which we will feel deeply joyful until the next psychic challenge comes along, and upon working through that pain will be even more joyful than before, thus constantly growing in joy. By embracing the pain instead of trying to insulate ourselves against it, we transcend it and become even happier than we were before the pain struck.
When Jesus said it’s harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven, I think part of what he meant was that rich people have more means to do all those artificial things in order to avoid facing the pain and emptiness, the working through of which is the only way to experience true joy, which is surely a chief component of the kingdom! In this sense they’re poorer than those whose circumstances make the pain of life (& the need for God) unavoidable.
