I was talking to my father. He still preaches every week and hasn’t slowed down at all even though he is technically a retired pastor. He said he was working on a message for the Christmas season about the difference between happiness and joy. This led me into a serious mental debate regarding these two emotions. I think joy is more long-term and happiness is a brief emotion. Happiness is a response to something occurring in the world and Joy is a state of being. Happiness is pleasure in a moment and Joy is a sense of purpose. That’s the difference. Joy understands how everything fits together. I don’t think you can experience Joy without knowing how you fit into the world and understanding how everything works together. I think what I am saying is that sometimes watching television can make me happy but I find great joy in the weird folk community. Thanks for paying attention to the work that I am doing. I hope it provides some Joy for you.
