I was pondering about joy this morning and realized with a start that my wish these days is not for faster car or bigger house, but joy in whatever situation I am in. I do remember the time when the next party, or big event, the next big excitement had me feeling good, till I found the feel good factor hardly lasted. And then gradually did I discover the meaning of joy.
Thomas Aquinas once said, “No one can live without joy.” But many people try. And the reason is often simply because they don’t know how to be happy! They are so intent on the three Ps — power, prosperity and prestige — that they miss out on joy.
Here’s a picture: It is a photograph taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson, who pioneered modern photography as an art form during the early decades of the 20th Century. He became known for his photographs of apparent contradictions: pictures that left mysteries unexplained.
One of his famous photographs was shot in a poor section of Spain in the 1930s. The picture depicts a run-down alley surrounded by decaying walls, strewn with rubble randomly stacked in thick piles lying on the street, and riddled with bullet holes dotting gray walls. The setting alone evokes feelings of sadness and despair.
But then the contradiction: Within the grim alley children are playing. They wear dirty and tattered clothes, as one might expect in such a setting, but like playing children everywhere, they laugh with carefree joy. In the foreground, a tiny boy on crutches hobbles away from two other boys, his face lit up with a broad grin. One boy is laughing so hard he has to hold his side. Others lean on the cracked walls, beaming with delight.
It is easy to spot contrast — and the point. Joy amidst the rubble of life! Laughter amongst ruins! I guess we cannot avoid pain, however hard we try. But we can avoid joy. We cannot escape hardship and trouble, but we can miss out on much of life’s peace and laughter.
If you feel as if you could use more joy, try something I do: Spend time daily doing something you enjoy. Do those things that bring inner peace. Learn to laugh heartily and frequently. Cultivate within yourself an attitude of hope. Fill each day with as much love as it can possibly hold. But most important, anchor yourself to the One who can give you joy in huge doses! You’ll still have plenty of problems, but through it all, you’ll find all the joy you will ever need! Just imagine, joy in the middle of Covid-19..!
