Discovering Joy in Beauty and Salvation

You know it when you feel joy. She “jumps under one’s ribs and tickles down one’s back.” But joy dodges our attempts to pin her down. She is tricky to define. Trying to catch joy with a definition is like fishing with a shoelace, like trying to describe a friend to someone who doesn’t know them. Defining joy, says theologian Miroslav Volf, is like describing champagne as “a bubbly liquid but forgetting all about its golden color, whiffs of ripe pear and fresh baked bread in its aroma, or traces of apple, vanilla, yeast, and nuts in its flavor, and, of course, its capacity to intoxicate.” Better to drink some for yourself if you want to know the taste. So it is with joy.

What Is Joy? A Journey of Discovering Joy

Another reason joy is tricky to define is because she is characteristic of other emotions such as love, gratitude, hope, contentment, and peace. We can’t easily distinguish joy from her companions. This is why joy is sometimes defined in relationship to other emotions. Nicky Gumbel says, “Joy is love rejoicing.” This resonates, doesn’t it? But it also says more about love than joy. I imagine that joy plays between love and peace. But joy isn’t so selective. You’ll find her gently sitting shiva with grief and sorrow too.

Joy and Her Companions

The ability of joy to mingle with other emotions has led to some creative ideas, such as conjoyment.

Conjoyment: A Glimpse of Joy

“Something more than mere contentment but less than full-on joy,” says author Eric Weiner. “We might experience conjoyment,” he continues, “when we are doing something mundane, like sweeping the floor or sorting our trash or listening to that old Bob Dylan CD we haven’t heard in years.” Perhaps conjoyment is joy not quite dancing and not quite resting. It’s joy getting nostalgic while cleaning. And if you’ve felt conjoyment, you know it touches on joy, but it’s not quite joy either.

A definition can’t catch the essence of joy. Stories are better. But a definition can still help. So, here is my best shot: Joy is an emotion that arrives as our lives are apprehended by goodness or beauty.

This is joy, reluctantly defined.

Joy in Everyday Moments

If we have eyes to see, we uncover joy almost everywhere. Like someone searching for sand crabs on the coastline, we may not find her under every rock. But we also don’t need to look too hard before we uncover her. We cannot deny the presence of joy. Even when joy eludes us, her fragrance lingers in the air like Chanel No. 5. Because joy invites, and invites, and invites us into her presence. Her invitation might be tossed into our laps during the doldrums of the ordinary. In any occasion, even at the most inopportune time, joy pops by—rather unconcerned whether or not we’re prepared. When joy comes out to play, it is when something good is at hand. She stirs our hearts to celebrate goodness in its many, many forms. And so often, as is her way, joy shows up when we’re with others or thinking of them. Because she is deeply relational by nature. She takes us by the hands and dances in the space between us. Joy rises and falls like a crescendo. As her symphony ends, we sigh in appreciation, It is good.

Discovering Joy in Salvation

Everyone has stories about joy because joy is part and parcel of what it means to be human. While we can all experience joy, we can also know “the joy of salvation.” Salvation is a churchy-theological word that encompasses more than the forgiveness of sins. But often that’s all we think of if we drive past a billboard with the words “Jesus Saves.” This is true. But it is so much more too. Salvation reaches into the depths of restoring and renewing all things. It encompasses the redemption of our bodies, minds, and souls; the healing of relationships, communities, and nations; as well as the holistic restoration of creation itself as justice rights the wrong of every injustice. It is the refrain sung by Benjamin Gibbard: “Only love will save this place.” This is the story of salvation—a love that is weaving together a tapestry of complete goodness and beauty. I believe every little joy is an invitation as well as a glimpse into this story. Because every moment of goodness and beauty is grace lavished upon us from the saving love of God.

How Joy Reflects God’s Love

The arrival of joy can take us by surprise—and she illuminates too. Joy is a herald disguised in the form of a magpie who enchants us so we can see the beauty of life. When joy taps us on the shoulder, we turn around in surprise. She often brings a revelation as her plus-one. She unveils the goodness of life, as we see through her eyes, and attunes our ears to the divine benediction in all things: It is good, good, very good. Joy tugs us ever closer to the joy of salvation. Ever so gently, our fears ease in her presence. We are not missing out, because with joy we rest our heads against her and listen to the heartbeat of life and salvation—it is all gift.