Happiness is liking and enjoying what I have. I am happy that I have a congenial and comfortable place to stay, a place I call home. I am happy I have a car with which Anabelle and I can go and enjoy sights or visit friends and family. I am happy I have books to nourish and inspire my minds and go on flights of fancy in the world of ideas. I am happy that I have sufficiency of material resources that I don’t have to worry about going hungry.
Joy is loving and taking delight in who I am, where I am, and what I have become. I am joyful when I can share what I have with others whom I love. I am joyful when I am amazed by the sights and the marvels there are in nature and in creation. I am joyful when I am with family and friends in love and in service. I am joyful when I can share what I have so that others do not have to go hungry or thirsty or naked or lonely or sad.
Happiness is fleeting while joy abides. Happiness is about liking and having while joy is about loving and giving. Happiness is mostly physical. Joy is mostly about the spirit. Happiness comes from being with people. Joy comes from abiding in the Lord’s presence and being one with Him.
Keep me safe, O God; you are my hope.
Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying:
“I pray not only for these,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one,
as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
that they also may be in us,
that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me,
so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me,
that they may be brought to perfection as one,
that the world may know that you sent me,
and that you loved them even as you loved me.”
John 17: 20-26