“The women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy . . .” Matt. 28:8

“Happiness turns up more or less where you’d expect it to—Joy, on the other hand, is as notoriously unpredictable as the one who bequeaths it.”  Frederick Buechner

Just as the Spirit is unpredictable, so too are the gifts which the Spirit bestows, notably the gift of joy.  The birth of Jesus and the resurrection serve as book ends to the joy that people experienced in His presence.  The life of Jesus is one in which those with whom He has an encounter experience the surprising fullness of joy.  Whether it was the lame who walked, the dead who were raised, the “sinners” who were forgiven or the disciples who encountered Him transfigured into glorious splendor before their very faces, people were surprised by joy.

You might recognize the phrase “Surprised by Joy”, as it is the title of a book by C.S. Lewis.  In it he recounts the life events that took him from being an atheist, to a theist to a Christian.  He had an unrecognized longing for a Presence greater and more meaningful than any he had encountered.  And when, gradually, he was brought into that Presence he experienced the sacred surprise of being filled with a glorious and inexplicable joy!

When was the last time that you were surprised by joy, dear friend?  In what form did that joy take?  What—or whom—did it look like? What was the result?  How has it changed your life?

The joy experienced by those who encounter the living Presence of God is transformational.  Life-changing.  The magi would never be the same, nor would the women who first witnessed the resurrection, nor would St. Paul who was surprised on the Road to Damascus nor would . . . You?

We spend so much of our life planning for and attempting to program happiness.  And perhaps we do a very effective job of it.  But far too often those experiences are fleeting—they have no real lasting power.  And then we are on to the next rush.  But joy isn’t like that. The Spirit introduces a God-element into our lives—it could be a person, a place or an experience—that drills so deeply into our very being that it cannot be excised or eliminated.  It is the Spirit of Joy which now makes a home within us.  Everyone and everything is seen in a different light—the light of eternity.  And thus no matter how dark our days might be, we have within us the Presence of that Sacred Source that instills us with life and love and even laughter.

“Surprised by Joy” by Lewis was inspired by a poem by William Wordsworth which speaks of just such a surprising encounter after the death of his daughter, which I’ve included below.  Lewis was surprised by Joy—literally—by Joy Gresham, who edited the final draft of his book and would become Lewis’ wife.  Her untimely death was crushing for Lewis, and yet he retained that Presence of Joy, which sustained him in his journey.

Again, what about you dear friend?  Where is your joy?  Who is your joy?  How are you living in the Presence of Joy?

Surprised by joy—impatient as the Wind I turned to share the transport—

Oh! With whom but Thee, deep buried in the silent tomb,

That spot which no vicissitude can find?

Love, faithful love, recalled thee to my mind—But how could I forget thee? Through what power, even for the least division of an hour,

Have I been so beguiled as to be blind to my most grievous loss? 

That thought’s return was the worst pang that sorrow ever bore,

Save one, one only, when I stood forlorn,

Knowing my heart’s best treasure was no more;

That neither present time, nor years unborn

Could to my sight that heavenly face restore.