The third candle of Advent is Joy. I admit to having a bit of a hard time feeling joyful over the last couple of weeks as 3 of my organist colleagues in the city have lost husband or father recently. Yesterday, I looked up the definition for "joy" in both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries. What I was expecting to find was a definition that made a distinction between "joy" and "happiness". That was not the case. Is this an instance where a secular definition of the word is very different from a faith-based definition? I don't know. I do know that the words, "O tidings of comfort and joy..." feels like a good refrain to sing these days.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Advent 3 - Comfort and joy
The third candle of Advent is Joy. I admit to having a bit of a hard time feeling joyful over the last couple of weeks as 3 of my organist colleagues in the city have lost husband or father recently. Yesterday, I looked up the definition for "joy" in both the Merriam-Webster and Oxford dictionaries. What I was expecting to find was a definition that made a distinction between "joy" and "happiness". That was not the case. Is this an instance where a secular definition of the word is very different from a faith-based definition? I don't know. I do know that the words, "O tidings of comfort and joy..." feels like a good refrain to sing these days.
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I think you are onto something in speculating that "joy" has a somewhat different meaning to those of us who look at the concept through the eyes of faith, AuntE. I think the same is true of "peace." And to me, the difference is hidden in the refrain of "O tidings of comfort and joy..." I think the word "comfort" gives us a clue. Our "joy" and "peace" come with God's "comfort" in any circumstance when we rest in His perfect care for us.
Thanks for the thought provoking post, AuntE. Merry Christmas! May you rest in the comfort of His perfect joy and peace.
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