Joy…
Victor Vasnetsov’s Dulcimer Players (1899)
Joy leaves no room for anything else… There is no “unjoy.”
~Archimandrite Meletios Webber (during one of his talks in Colorado Springs)
from Dynamis’ Church Father’s Wisdom:
Don’t expect to find joy and rest in anything that grieves your soul and upsets divine grace. Joy is a gift of God to our soul… And if you dishonor it, it will not come back, unless you feel sorry and repent with much pain for every sin you committed. But what is the point of thoughtlessly chasing away the dove of grace, and then with regret and many sighs seeking it back again? Many people have chased joy away by foolishly dishonoring it, and then it never came back.
~Elder Joseph the Hesychast, Monastic Wisdom, Forty-ninth Letter, p. 23
Joy can be a great attribute for man to have, but man must have it in moderation.
Man cannot have joy incessantly, because there will be times in life when he will be grievous.
On the other hand, man should not neglect joy when it is appropriate to enjoy it, or it may never return for him to enjoy.
there is a difference in what the world calls “joy” and what real joy is… the one is really just excessive happiness with ones circumstance and the other is a gift from God.
a for instance would be the saints who retained joy in duress o joy in the Lord…
but I am not gifted with this, so I cannot say from experience.
Leah, did Fr. Meletios elaborate this teaching when you heard him? It’s a little enigmatic for me and needs some clarification. (I do have his book and was a bit confused reading this quote there as well.) How do you understand this?
Here is one way I make sense of it. Joy departs when we fall into sin (which we do often). By God’s grace, we are able to perceive/receive joy when we are cleansed and once again come into communion with Him (which is a progressive–often one step forward, two steps back–kind of thing). In reference to George’s comment and your response, if my memory is serving me correctly, St. Seraphim of Sarov is said to have referred to those he spoke with as “My joy” and greeted everyone, regardless of the season, with “Christ is Risen!” It seems to me many of the Saints come to live in such a state of joy, and that it is synonymous with uninterrupted communion with Christ in the heart. Most of us still struggling with the weight of our sin just get fleeting experiences of this state of grace. It is a mighty struggle, the ascetic task, to learn to live there increasingly. Paradoxically perhaps, it seems to me that in this life such a state of joy does not rule out perpetual mourning for sin as well.
It seems that this touches on a few themes…
(Archimandrite Sophrony in St Silouan the Athonite)
The length of time a person takes to assimilate the grace of God, which is indeed lengthy and the “one step forward, two steps back” situation you mention. This seems to pertain to ascetic life – which actively seeks God and His grace.
Fr. Sophrony writes that:
I think the two quotes in the original post jive in that if our hearts chase God away- then joy, the grace of the Holy Spirit, is not possible. One is either in a state of grace or joy in the Lord, or he is not, hence there is no “unjoy.”
As to George’s comment, we seem to differ in the distinction that “joy” is a gift from God, not just another adjective for happy. Real joy is something different and more than this.
Forgive me, now I have probably muddled things even further!
{sigh} We seem to be either seeking God or not to, while God always seeks us… the state produced when both come together is joy – I think.
Leah
Thanks, Leah. I think what you have said and how I was making sense of this teaching are pretty close. Your quote from Fr. Sophrony about God’s pursuit of man “to an incomparably greater extent” is one that struck me. This is something that my logic readily assents to, but my doubting heart resists! Thank the Lord that He is “greater than our hearts” and never turns away our repentance, no matter how many times we fall.