Joy Part 2

In the shuffling madness

Of the locomotive breath,

Runs the all-time loser,

Headlong to his death.

He feels the piston scraping --

Steam breaking on his brow --

Old Charlie stole the handle and

The train wont stop going --

No way to slow down.

Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull

The last post on this subject concluded with the assertion that faith provides a measure of joy that transcends what the pleasures of this world have to offer us. Is there any proof for this, or is it just the byline of an often repressive and hateful religion? I think the answer is that it offers us everything, so long as we do not mistake the constructs of men for the promises of God.

The key to grasping the kind of joy offered in Christ is understanding that the temporal pleasures described in my last post are fleeting. They will pass. This is not debatable; wine, women, and song can only sustain a man as long as he is able to court them. Even if we manage to stave off our existential terror through our youth, the problem will come back to us eventually: who am i, where am i going, and what did all of this mean anyway? We cannot escape human frailty: "the fact that we do not know who we are or where we are going in this ocean of chaos." (Timothy Leary)

However, Christ can. He is not a man in history or mysticism who achieved transcendence; instead He brought transcendence with Him. What this means for believers is that Christ brings with Him an intrinsic joy that is not bound by transience. What we are given does not fade, it does not grow old. It is something given to us by God, who is a source that has power to add to us what we cannot find in ourselves. Going back to Lewis, why "[fool] about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us?" Consider that for a second. How far is it that we go for some small escape from boredom, misery, or our various insecurities? Yet here is the offer to take those issues off our back permanently for submission to what most of us ruefully admit anyway: the fact that we are unable to manufacture our own fulfillment.

If Christ offers us all of these things, can our faith really be called different?  Are we simply gorging ourselves on a mystical or spiritual high rather than a material one? I think the answer to this question lies in Christianity's insistence on a self-denial that seems so counter-intuitive. We are told that men must lose themselves to find themselves, and that those who would wish to become great must be the servants of us all. Not removed from the world, but rather consistently laying down our own interests, security, and comfort for that of our brothers. This is what distinguishes Christ among religious figures – His total dedication to those around Him to and beyond the point of death.

But it is also important that we realize that this dedication is not an end in itself. Christ does not dedicate Himself so fervently to the salvation of men simply for their own sakes. As Paul states: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” (Romans 5:7) I know that I am neither righteous nor good, and can give many examples to prove that point. Rather, Christ's dedication comes from the fact that all men are the sons of God, wayward sons most certainly, but sons nonetheless. This does not imbue us with any innate righteousness, it simply emphasizes that we are precious to Him and He seeks to draw us back into His presence. It is that presence which instills such a powerful sense of joy, and what gives men the ability to sing praises to God in the same breath that they are fed to lions in the Colosseum.

Thank you for reading, I'll hope to have another update ready this time next week. Until then, be well.

"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give 

him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him 

a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know 

how to give good gifts to your children, how 

much more will your Father in heaven give 

good gifts to those who ask him!“

(Matt. 7:9-11)