Joy-A Novel Concept

"Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy." Psalm 33:3

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.

William Wordsworth

"The reader who finds these three episodes of no interest need read this book no further, for in a sense the central story of my life is about nothing else.... I will only underline the quality common to the three experiences; it is that of an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction. I call it Joy, which is here a technical term and must be sharply distinguished both from Happiness and from Pleasure.

Joy in my sense has indeed one characteristic...

in common with them; the fact that anyone who has experienced it will want it again."

C.S. Lewis

Couldn't we all stand to write and read more about it?