But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Luke 2:10-11
“Do not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were not created for pleasure: you were created for spiritual joy. And if you do not know the difference between pleasure and spiritual joy you have not yet begun to live.
Life in this world is full of pain. But pain, which is the contrary of pleasure, is not necessarily the contrary of happiness or of joy. Because spiritual joy flowers in the full expansion of freedom that reaches out without obstacle to its supreme object, fulfilling itself in the perfect activity of disinterested love for which it was created.
Pleasure, which is selfish, suffers from everything that deprives us of some good we want to savor for our own sakes. But unselfish joy suffers from nothing but selfishness. Pleasure is restrained and killed by pain and suffering. Spiritual joy ignores suffering or laughs at it or even exploits it to purify itself of its greatest obstacle, selfishness.”
Thomas Merton in New Seeds of Contemplation (New York: New Directions, 1961) 259.
There’s a common Christmas song that touches our hearts: Joy to the World. This got me thinking about what brings joy. It’s not pleasure or purchases, though that’s what the marketers will tell you.
It’s found in Jesus. Read again the proclamation of the angel. The first part is not to fear. As Merton notes, life in this world is full of pain. It’s real and it is everywhere. But don’t fear it.
You see most people use what they have to run from pain to pleasure. It only leaves them empty. Instead, we must instead pursue joy. To do this we must do one thing: steer clear of selfishness.
Where am I going with this line of thinking? The good news was that a Savior was born for all people, who would save us from ourselves, because selfishness will destroy us and steal our joy.
Let’s do something else instead. Let’s use what we have to make Jesus know, as He offers joy to a world gripped with fear. And be aware of his killjoy tactic, namely, selfishness.
If the evil forces, like Wormwood in Screwtape Letters, can get you to be fearful on one hand or selfish on the other, you will get off track and not relay the message the angel’s proclaimed.
Alternatively, when we renounce our selfish desires we actually find what we have been looking for all along. It transcends pain and troubles and surpasses all pleasures. It’s joy!
Generosity is using all you are and all you have to grasp this and help others take hold of this joy. It’s what Christ modeled in coming to us in the first place.
Jenni and I observe Christmas today with Sammy, Emily, Sophie, and Peter, as I head to Africa tomorrow. I have one ultimate aim on this journey: to spread joy in some of the poorest places in the world.