Joy

My deepest joy is in being one. On my bike ride, I saw a black bird sitting on the post of a yield sign – its beak yellow, its head tousled like a pajama’d child, its throat moving, showing it to be the source of the joyful sound that rose beside the trail. Joy rose up in me then, too, and I felt a oneness with the bird and all the living things expressing themselves in that moment. I have heard people who think they should know say that birdsong is a mere proclamation of territory, but I never have believed this. It doesn’t account for the spontaneous rising of joy.

People also say that joy is chemical. I think saying joy comes from chemicals is similar to saying Michelangelo made his statues with chisels. It may be so, but chisels, even a vast array of them, can’t account for the works. Neither can a deep knowledge of anatomy, though he must have had that. The one thing that would need to guide the artist in the creation of such works as the Pieta is that moving of the spirit, alongside and within, that feels the presence of another – feels the weight, the gravity – that which is deeper than emotion – in the other. This spirit is what allows the viewers to feel the same thing – to not only be there watching the drama of the moment, but to be in the bodies that are portrayed – to feel the presence and gravity as if they were our own.

Joy is the same way. Though chemicals may create a high, joy guides the spirit into oneness. Joy always leads to an expression that affirms Life and benefits other living things. It leads to the leaps of grace that cause more joy to rise spontaneously in other living things. We recognize it across species as well as among our own kind.

I have heard people say they have heard no compelling reason to believe in God. To me, God is the only way to account for joy. It can’t be explained in material terms. It can’t be predicted by the presence or absence of any material elements. It is something we recognize as highly substantial, and, in fact, as one of the main things of deepest worth and value, yet it is not made out of matter. To me this says that if joy is real, then Spirit is real. And just like the tousle-headed bird beside the trail, I choose to believe in the reality of joy.