Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness comes and goes. True joy is lasting. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is why it is lasting; it's a divine gift. Joy is what gets us through until happiness rolls around again. It's there in the dark, lighting one from within. Joy builds faith, hope and love. Joy can bring happiness around.
The key to finding more frequent bouts of happiness is JOY. I learned this from a dear teacher-friend of mine, Sue Gunkle. Sue taught algebra and calculus to high school students at an all girls' Catholic high school. She knew all kinds of formulas and answers to problems. She taught her students many math skills that prepared them to become very successful in a variety of fields. But the most valuable answers she had were to some of life's most difficult problems. Sue was a staunch protector of all life, fully adopting a Consistent Ethic of Life. Several years after I finished teaching with her Sue was diagnosed with cancer, and after a painful battle, died. At her funeral, her son shared the most important formula Sue knew, lived by, and taught. Sue knew the formula for happiness. She knew that you had to have three focuses to your life. And just like any other math problem, you had to follow the proper order of operations to get the right answer. We must focus on Jesus, Others, then Yourself. If we end up putting ourselves first, we most certainly do not arrive at JOY. We might come up with Yoj or Yjo. Far from what we are aiming for. When we build our life first around Jesus and then around others, and then ourselves, we find life to be full and joyful.My next big lesson that I bring into this year is one that comes in two parts from my years of teaching junior high. It was while spending my days in a classroom with twelve and thirteen year olds that I learned about the Jesus Nut. The Jesus Nut is actually the central piece of equipment of the successful flight of a helicopter. If it fails, the crew had better pray to Jesus since the craft is going to crash. In order for me to be successful and faithful in life, I had better have Jesus as the center of my life. I gave my students a simple hex nut to thread on their shoe strings to remind them daily of this. I still have my Jesus hex nut on my gym shoes.
I took things one step further. Jesus was a nut-- the people around him often thought he was crazy. He was treated as an outsider with controversial ideas. He's often seen that way today. But following Jesus and His Way brings much joy. He's the nut amid the joy, the cause and the purpose for a joyful life. An Almond Joy candy bar has a nut in the middle of a mound of coconut covered in chocolate. I like Joys over Mounds. Who wants to be stuck with a brown mound? Life without the Nut Jesus in the middle is like a brown mound. Believe me, junior high students immediately understand what a brown mound is, and no one wants to step in that!This Christmas I received a very special Christmas card. The word "Joy" is beautifully and boldly proclaimed on the front. The sweet sentiment inside touched my heart. Someone "knew" me, understood me, and appreciated me. I received the joy that was wished to me. That gift and a Christmas mug that a friend gave me made me realize that 2015 is to be all about joy.
So have the first two months of 2015 been joyful?
Oh yes! But not in the traditional sense. It has been full of friendships, good memories and happy news. I have new relationships, romance, new babies, and good parties. I also have stressful weather, the death of a friend's father and a former supervisor, and someone special was seriously injured in an accident. Not exactly how we expect to find joy, but Jesus has been present in all of those, and I see Him there, so there is much reason to be joyful. The greatest reason to have joy is to have found Our Lord Jesus Christ in the center of life.
"His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5
