Series 2 - Lesson 7 - Annotation 14
What is joy? Where is the source of joy? Why have so many persons been disappointed in their search for joy?
14. According to Webster's dictionary, joy is "the emotion evoked by well-being; a state of happiness or felicity." Metaphysically, joy can be said to be the universal idea of exultation. It is a spiritual quality expressed through man as an attitude of mind and a buoyant feeling of the heart. Joy is the welling-up and bubblingover feeling that man experiences when he is in rapport in all ways with life, his fellow man, and his God. There is an inner joy that is not expressed in emotionalism, the joy that Jesus Christ spoke of when He prayed "that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11).
The true source of joy is God, and only as we enter into the consciousness of our oneness with the Father can we find real joy. True joy takes hold of man's consciousness when he awakens to the realization of his divine nature and the blessings that accompany that realization.
Many persons have been disappointed in their search for joy because they have looked outside themselves for happiness, not realizing that spiritual fulfillment can come only from the God Presence within. This is not to imply that the things of the outer do not contribute to our joy and well-being! They do, but they take second place, and we are not dependent on them for true and lasting joy. Joy cannot be found without but comes from within, even though it will express itself through things and circumstances in the outer. The joy of the artist seeks expression on canvas, on marble, in music or dance, The joy of the parent expresses in loving acts to the children. Yet in each the joy is not found by searching for it in the painting, the sculpture, the marble, the music, the dance, or in the children, but by allowing the inner emotion of the individual to come forth through these avenues.
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Preceding Entry: What is the true and sure way for man to bring good to himself?
Following Entry: What is the universal substance?
