Good Tidings of Great Joy!

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. – Luke 2: 10-11

December 12 is the third Sunday in Advent. Traditionally, this is the week when we explore the aspect of the Divine that we call Joy. Joy is a state of being. Like the other three Divine aspects that we reflect upon during Advent - Hope, Peace and Love - Joy is a natural state of the Divine self. Our souls, as expressions of the One, exist as Joy expressing. That we do not always experience the state of Joy is evidence that we have forgotten who we are. Advent is a time for remembering, a time of preparing our hearts and minds for the reawakening of the indwelling Christ.

Joy is one of the attitudes of Christ consciousness that we can embrace and embody as we awaken more fully to our Christ Light. It is also one of the attitudes of mind and heart that we can develop now in order to prepare ourselves to birth the Christ Light in this dimension.

As I say in my book, In This Moment, Joy is…

The wellspring of Life expressing in its fullness. It’s the inexplicable, inimitable Lightness of Being that is experienced as all creation.

Joy is a state of being. It is an experience that is difficult if not impossible to put into words. Like Peace and Love, Joy is an aspect of God which must be experienced in order to know it.

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give you” (John 14:27). And, in his letter to the Philippians, Paul refers to “The Peace of God that transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). The same can be said of Joy. The Joy of God is not given by the world and it is beyond our ability to understand it with our normal way of thinking and knowing. The Joy of the ‘I Am’ as our true nature must be expressed and experienced.

Joy is not the same as happiness. Joy is an experience of the soul that occurs in our realization of our oneness with the soul and with God. It is a state of mind and heart that can only be experienced at depth in the consciousness of Oneness.

Anne Robertson, a Methodist pastor, writer and executive director of the Massachusetts Bible Society, explains that the Greek words ‘Makarios’ and ‘chairo’ provides us with insight into the difference between happiness and Joy. ‘Makarios’ which has been translated into English as ‘happiness’ refers to the freedom from cares often experienced by the rich. On the other hand, ‘chairo’ translated into English as ‘Joy’ refers to the “culmination of being” or “the good mood of the soul.”¹

The Joy that we experience is an expression of our connection in God, yet it is but an inkling of the inimitable Joy of the Spirit.

I hesitate to admit this, but as I contemplated Joy this week, I realized that I don’t often experience it. I felt sad as I recognized that the concept of Joy is nearly foreign to me now. As I sat with my sadness, I was able to recall times in my childhood when I experienced Joy. In fact, there are many times as a child when I felt Joy. I felt Joy running through the hay barn on my Grandmother Howard’s farm. I felt Joy playing softball on the dirt road in front of our house where I spent my childhood and adolescence. I felt Joy when my grandmother Norman would come to stay with us for a few days. I felt Joy every year as Christmas approached. Not only did I get a break from school, but I was excited knowing that Santa would bring me all the things on my list. I felt overwhelming Joy on Christmas morning when I awoke before sunrise with an eager expectancy ready to see all the things Santa had placed under the tree, and there were always  the gifts from my parents and grandparents to open as well. And, my Joy was full as we drove from our home to spend Christmas Day with my favorite cousins. Childhood Joy was a frequent occurrence.

As I recalled those time of Joy, I asked my inner Knowing, “Why do I no longer have those Joy-full times?” The answer came quickly. “It is because you fear.” “What do I fear that keeps me from experiencing Joy?” I asked.  The response came, “You fear that Joy will not last or that it will only lead to harm and hurt. You fear that you do not deserve Joy. And, you fear that you will be judged for allowing yourself to express your Joy. All of these fears arise from your attachment to your limited idea of yourself. When you are attached to the adverse ego identity, fear is your constant companion. And, fear is the opposite of Joy.”

So, how do I cultivate Joy in my life? I asked. My inner voice responded,

Go into the fear. As the Tao Te Ching says “if you want to get rid of something you must first allow it to flourish.” ² Allow the fear to enlarge. Do not suppress the fear. Dive into the fear and allow it to have its life. You will soon see that the fear is the illusion of the adverse ego and the true self will be revealed to you as the Light of the Christ shines brightly upon it.

Investigate the fear. Where did the thought that experiencing Joy leads to harm or hurt come from? Why do you believe that you do not deserve Joy? Whose voice is that? What are you telling yourself that would make you think you are undeserving of Joy? Who is going to judge you for expressing your Joy? And, if they do, who cares?

When you allow the fear and investigate the story that has stimulated the fear, the fear will dissipate and return to the nothingness from which it came. Then, Joy will arise naturally from your soul. You will return to Joy!

Cultivating Joy as a state of mind and heart reveals the illusory nature of fear and opens the space within the consciousness for the Christ Light to be born and take its rightful place at the center of your consciousness awareness. The Christ is born in the manger of your heart. The Christ is born again and again and again in every moment that you are willing and able to dive into and move through the fear and allow the truth of your Being to be revealed.

Metaphysically, angels represent the thoughts of God. The message of the angels are the insights we receive through our power of Wisdom and the intuition of our inner Knower.

The first utterance of that voice within says “Fear not…”³ as it knows that you are not in Joy, the perfect state of mind and heart that God is in you.

It goes on to say, “I bring you good tiding of great Joy for all people...” The voice speaks the truth of Joy that is the true nature of all people and is available to all as we awaken to it.

“For unto you is born this day...” The Christ is born in you every day and every minute of every day as you are willing and open to allow it.

“In the city of David…” The awareness of the Christ is born in the place of wisdom in the center of our being through the consciousness of Love.

“A savior who is Christ the Lord…” The indwelling Christ, the self-existent one, the ‘I AM,’ is the Light that reveals the illusion of fear and saves us from our misperceptions and delusions that we are not worthy of Joy.

I encourage us all to explore Joy as we prepare our hearts and minds for the birth and rebirth of the Christ within us during this Advent season. Take some time to contemplate Joy and discover for yourself if you are allowing the joy of God to be your experience. If so, I celebrate with you!

If not, dive into the fear and allow it to be revealed as the illusion it is. Ask yourself what is stimulating the fear in your mind. As you move through the fear, you will discover the Truth of your Being, the Light of the Christ. In that Light, you will reclaim Joy.

Joy to the world. The Lord (the self-existent I AM) has come!

¹ Anne Robertson, “Joy or Happiness?” St John’s United Methodist Church

² Tao Te Ching, Chapter 36, Translation by Stephen Mitchell