At the advent of the new millennium, my friends and I set out to conquer Mt. Pinatubo. The effort involved a fast-paced hike across vast stretches of lahar canyons resembling the lunar landscape. After negotiating a short but steep final ascent, we reached the volcanic crater in 6 hours. What awaited us was a spectacular view of a crater lake. The still water, turquoise-blue in the crater’s nooks, shimmered in the hazy light. The next day, after dismantling our tents and the obligatory kodakan, my companions and I stood together in silence to have a final look at the crater lake. Then we began our descent. Some of my companions, however, still took a last, lingering gaze at the scenery. Joy was etched on their faces and, at the same time, I recognized a momentary look of deep longing. And then it was all over. We headed back to the city to resume our busy, mundane existence.
We met a few days later to swap photos from the climb. Conversation drifted to the vision on that mountain. We soon realized that what we saw became a haunting memory on everyone’s mind. Not a few expressed the desire to return to Pinatubo again, including myself. Yet it dawned on me that even if we reprise our Pinatubo climb, we would fail to recapture that particular joyful moment.
And this seems to be the prevailing norm in life. Philip Yancey, in his book The Bible Jesus Read, writes: “An encounter with beauty of intense joy may cause for a time to forget our true mortal state — but not for long”. In most cases, this feeling of joy[1] is fleeting — even though memories of it hound our everyday existence and would not easily die despite our daily struggles with life.
Joy, I believe, takes on various forms. I, for instance, have a particular fascination with mythology and fantasy which gives me a great amount of joy. While I do not see myself as a knight in shining armor or a toad waiting for a princess’ kiss, I do have this longing to be with Aslan the Lion in Narnia, to travel with the elves in Middle Earth, or to fly like Peter Pan over the skies of Neverland. I have this certainty that I would enjoy living in these magical places. If only these places exist. And like these tales, I also believe that we, humans, want our lives to have “happy endings” in this earthly existence. This is probably why the expressions “live happily ever after” and “ride off into the sunset” are so ingrained in pop culture. Again, if only we could live happily ever after.
Dreaming the Impossible Dream?
We have this longing to be filled with joy: a joyful feeling that would never leave us despite all the troubles and problems that this life brings. But would such a joyful feeling be possibly sustained? Would such expectation or longing be that realistic? We have to search the Scriptures for guidance. The Bible says that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, NIV). Joy suggests goodness. It implies our desire to experience the goodness that once existed but we have never fully known.
Joy also is man’s response to God’s creative spark. This is especially true in inspired music where one could get a sense of a divine presence and handiwork. Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus in Messiah, for instance, is considered as one of the most jubilant passages of music ever composed. When he wrote the Hallelujah Chorus, Handel was said to have exclaimed, "I do believe I have seen all of Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.” His statement echoes the psalmist’s reverent awe in Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (NKJV). Handel’s Messiah was first performed with the King of England in attendance. When the first Hallelujah notes rang through the hall, he was so deeply moved that he rose to his feet and remained standing until the last note was played. Even a powerful king at that time acknowledged that he was a mere subject to the King of Kings[2].
But at the fall, even the creation that God had perfectly created was made subject to the bondage of sin. Death, destruction, pain, suffering, sickness – these are the consequences when “sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 NIV) when humankind took the bait of temptation. "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you… for dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:17-19, NIV). And so we find that the blessings, such as the enjoyment of nature which God bestowed on humankind before the fall, became tainted by this curse. This has brought about hard toil, tears, despair, disease, struggle, and eventual death.
Eternity in our Hearts
In my mind, I sometimes ask myself if this longing for joy’s “permanence” is somehow connected to mortal man’s unconscious quest to repair his broken relationship with God, the Creator of all, both seen and unseen.
C.S. Lewis sensed in these “longings” what he called “advance echoes” of heaven or the original design of creation that was untainted by disobedience and sin. “We all feel that longing sometimes: in music, in beauty, in love, and in nature. Flashes of beauty and pangs of aching sweetness”, he said, “are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard.” (C.S Lewis: Collected Works).
Lewis believed that this feeling of discontent for the present state we are in is actually a hint, a way of reminding us of what we lost and what it is we hope to regain. He explained it this way: “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well there is such thing as water… If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world….probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).
We can conclude, therefore, that joy points to something better, sweeter, and more lasting. God, in His infinite grace, has built in us a restless yearning for the kind of perfect world that can only be found in his perfect rule. He has given us a glimpse of a perfect creation when we experience joy or gladness in our hearts. Indeed as the anonymous author of the Ecclesiastes, after his long pondering on existential despair, declared that God “has set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV). He has never meant life to be this way. We can state then that fleeting feelings of joy are previews of what would happen in the future when “…creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom…” as Paul declared in the Book of Romans (Romans 8:21, NIV). A joy-filled moment is therefore a summation of what God intended this life to be.
From Here to Eternity
A good and loving God would want his creatures to experience joy, delight, and personal fulfillment (P. Yancey, The Bible Jesus Read). Isaiah prophesied that the day will come when the curse will be lifted: “…the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them (Isaiah 11:6, NIV). Nature will be redeemed. We will enjoy all nature without fear of danger since there will be no more destructive vengeance in nature like, for example, a volcanic eruption. The wrong will be made right. The relationship with God will be restored. The sick will be healed. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, NIV). Joy, then, gives us hope that in God’s economy, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV).
While I was writing this piece, my wife and I found ourselves discussing if there was a specific incident in the Gospels that I could cite to show the Son of God in a joyful mood. We failed to find one. I recalled Isaiah’s description of Jesus as “…a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3,NIV). Then my wife came across Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) which could be the missing piece of the puzzle: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (emphasis added).” We came to understand that Jesus’ joy was not in this world. His joy lies in the knowledge of man’s eventual redemption and reconciliation with God, even if it meant His suffering and death.
As these thoughts were sinking in, a film I watched several years ago came to my mind. Immortal Beloved, a film that depicted the life and loves of Ludwig Beethoven, left a lasting impression on me that lasted till now if only for one of the final scenes that to me was an inspired vision of film-making. Beethoven, completely deaf at that time, was standing in front of an orchestra as it played the final movement of the Ninth Symphony — the Ode to Joy. Images flashbacked on his mind: he was a boy escaping from his drunk, abusive father, running through a forest toward a placid lake that seemed to kiss the night sky.
Perhaps, the young Ludwig was in pain at that time. When he swam into the lake, he was probably talking to God. Did God hear him? Slowly, the camera pulls back to reveal the reflection of stars that keeps company to the young boy. That, in my view, was divine perspective – the loving Father, dwelling above the starry canopy, compassionately gazing down at His puny, hapless creation. Watching this scene, I realized that the world may let us down, but our unseen, heavenly Father would never fail us. To me that is enough. In fact, it is more than enough cause for rejoicing.
Reflection: Joy in its fullness can only be experienced in Christ’s promised return when God will wipe every tear from our eyes. John the Baptist said: “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice.”(John 3:29, NIV)
References:
Bruner, K. and J. Ware. 2001. Finding God in the Lord of the Rings. Tyndale. USA.
Lewis, C.S. 1996. Mere Christianity. Touchstone. New York.
_________.2004. The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis. Thomas Nelson.
_________.1955. Surprised by Joy. HarperCollins. London.
Towns, E. 1982. Bible Answers for Almost All Your Questions. Nashville, Tennessee.
Yancey, P. 1999. The Bible Jesus Read. Zondervan. Michigan.
Zacharias, R. 2003. Recapture the Wonder. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, Tennessee.
[1] One has to distinguish between happiness and joy. Happiness, according to the dictionary, is based on luck or good fortune. Joy on the other hand, is described as a vivid emotion of pleasure. While happiness depends on circumstance, joy hinges on one’s emotional well-being.
[2] Royal protocol demanded that whenever the monarch stands, so does everyone in his presence. Thus, the entire
audience stood too, initiating a tradition that has lasted more than two centuries.
We met a few days later to swap photos from the climb. Conversation drifted to the vision on that mountain. We soon realized that what we saw became a haunting memory on everyone’s mind. Not a few expressed the desire to return to Pinatubo again, including myself. Yet it dawned on me that even if we reprise our Pinatubo climb, we would fail to recapture that particular joyful moment.
And this seems to be the prevailing norm in life. Philip Yancey, in his book The Bible Jesus Read, writes: “An encounter with beauty of intense joy may cause for a time to forget our true mortal state — but not for long”. In most cases, this feeling of joy[1] is fleeting — even though memories of it hound our everyday existence and would not easily die despite our daily struggles with life.
Joy, I believe, takes on various forms. I, for instance, have a particular fascination with mythology and fantasy which gives me a great amount of joy. While I do not see myself as a knight in shining armor or a toad waiting for a princess’ kiss, I do have this longing to be with Aslan the Lion in Narnia, to travel with the elves in Middle Earth, or to fly like Peter Pan over the skies of Neverland. I have this certainty that I would enjoy living in these magical places. If only these places exist. And like these tales, I also believe that we, humans, want our lives to have “happy endings” in this earthly existence. This is probably why the expressions “live happily ever after” and “ride off into the sunset” are so ingrained in pop culture. Again, if only we could live happily ever after.
Dreaming the Impossible Dream?
We have this longing to be filled with joy: a joyful feeling that would never leave us despite all the troubles and problems that this life brings. But would such a joyful feeling be possibly sustained? Would such expectation or longing be that realistic? We have to search the Scriptures for guidance. The Bible says that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, NIV). Joy suggests goodness. It implies our desire to experience the goodness that once existed but we have never fully known.
Joy also is man’s response to God’s creative spark. This is especially true in inspired music where one could get a sense of a divine presence and handiwork. Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus in Messiah, for instance, is considered as one of the most jubilant passages of music ever composed. When he wrote the Hallelujah Chorus, Handel was said to have exclaimed, "I do believe I have seen all of Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.” His statement echoes the psalmist’s reverent awe in Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (NKJV). Handel’s Messiah was first performed with the King of England in attendance. When the first Hallelujah notes rang through the hall, he was so deeply moved that he rose to his feet and remained standing until the last note was played. Even a powerful king at that time acknowledged that he was a mere subject to the King of Kings[2].
But at the fall, even the creation that God had perfectly created was made subject to the bondage of sin. Death, destruction, pain, suffering, sickness – these are the consequences when “sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 NIV) when humankind took the bait of temptation. "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you… for dust you are, and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:17-19, NIV). And so we find that the blessings, such as the enjoyment of nature which God bestowed on humankind before the fall, became tainted by this curse. This has brought about hard toil, tears, despair, disease, struggle, and eventual death.
Eternity in our Hearts
In my mind, I sometimes ask myself if this longing for joy’s “permanence” is somehow connected to mortal man’s unconscious quest to repair his broken relationship with God, the Creator of all, both seen and unseen.
C.S. Lewis sensed in these “longings” what he called “advance echoes” of heaven or the original design of creation that was untainted by disobedience and sin. “We all feel that longing sometimes: in music, in beauty, in love, and in nature. Flashes of beauty and pangs of aching sweetness”, he said, “are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard.” (C.S Lewis: Collected Works).
Lewis believed that this feeling of discontent for the present state we are in is actually a hint, a way of reminding us of what we lost and what it is we hope to regain. He explained it this way: “Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well there is such thing as water… If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world….probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity).
We can conclude, therefore, that joy points to something better, sweeter, and more lasting. God, in His infinite grace, has built in us a restless yearning for the kind of perfect world that can only be found in his perfect rule. He has given us a glimpse of a perfect creation when we experience joy or gladness in our hearts. Indeed as the anonymous author of the Ecclesiastes, after his long pondering on existential despair, declared that God “has set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV). He has never meant life to be this way. We can state then that fleeting feelings of joy are previews of what would happen in the future when “…creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom…” as Paul declared in the Book of Romans (Romans 8:21, NIV). A joy-filled moment is therefore a summation of what God intended this life to be.
From Here to Eternity
A good and loving God would want his creatures to experience joy, delight, and personal fulfillment (P. Yancey, The Bible Jesus Read). Isaiah prophesied that the day will come when the curse will be lifted: “…the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them (Isaiah 11:6, NIV). Nature will be redeemed. We will enjoy all nature without fear of danger since there will be no more destructive vengeance in nature like, for example, a volcanic eruption. The wrong will be made right. The relationship with God will be restored. The sick will be healed. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, NIV). Joy, then, gives us hope that in God’s economy, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV).
While I was writing this piece, my wife and I found ourselves discussing if there was a specific incident in the Gospels that I could cite to show the Son of God in a joyful mood. We failed to find one. I recalled Isaiah’s description of Jesus as “…a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3,NIV). Then my wife came across Hebrews 12:2 (NIV) which could be the missing piece of the puzzle: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (emphasis added).” We came to understand that Jesus’ joy was not in this world. His joy lies in the knowledge of man’s eventual redemption and reconciliation with God, even if it meant His suffering and death.
As these thoughts were sinking in, a film I watched several years ago came to my mind. Immortal Beloved, a film that depicted the life and loves of Ludwig Beethoven, left a lasting impression on me that lasted till now if only for one of the final scenes that to me was an inspired vision of film-making. Beethoven, completely deaf at that time, was standing in front of an orchestra as it played the final movement of the Ninth Symphony — the Ode to Joy. Images flashbacked on his mind: he was a boy escaping from his drunk, abusive father, running through a forest toward a placid lake that seemed to kiss the night sky.
Perhaps, the young Ludwig was in pain at that time. When he swam into the lake, he was probably talking to God. Did God hear him? Slowly, the camera pulls back to reveal the reflection of stars that keeps company to the young boy. That, in my view, was divine perspective – the loving Father, dwelling above the starry canopy, compassionately gazing down at His puny, hapless creation. Watching this scene, I realized that the world may let us down, but our unseen, heavenly Father would never fail us. To me that is enough. In fact, it is more than enough cause for rejoicing.
Reflection: Joy in its fullness can only be experienced in Christ’s promised return when God will wipe every tear from our eyes. John the Baptist said: “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice.”(John 3:29, NIV)
References:
Bruner, K. and J. Ware. 2001. Finding God in the Lord of the Rings. Tyndale. USA.
Lewis, C.S. 1996. Mere Christianity. Touchstone. New York.
_________.2004. The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis. Thomas Nelson.
_________.1955. Surprised by Joy. HarperCollins. London.
Towns, E. 1982. Bible Answers for Almost All Your Questions. Nashville, Tennessee.
Yancey, P. 1999. The Bible Jesus Read. Zondervan. Michigan.
Zacharias, R. 2003. Recapture the Wonder. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, Tennessee.
[1] One has to distinguish between happiness and joy. Happiness, according to the dictionary, is based on luck or good fortune. Joy on the other hand, is described as a vivid emotion of pleasure. While happiness depends on circumstance, joy hinges on one’s emotional well-being.
[2] Royal protocol demanded that whenever the monarch stands, so does everyone in his presence. Thus, the entire
audience stood too, initiating a tradition that has lasted more than two centuries.
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