Disney World is billed as the "Happiest place on earth." It is so called because the place has a heaping amount of attractions and characters that are designed to make and keep us happy. And, it's called "the happiest place on earth" because the people who do public relations and marketing for Disney have done their homework.
They know we love to be happy. We love warm fuzzies, happy stuff and happy people; we love to be around it. That's why Disney has a commercial every year after the Super Bowl, in which they ask the winning quarterback what he's going to do after having won the Super Bowl. And naturally, we all know the answer: he invariably says that he's going to Disney World.
That's no mistake of course. A guy who is at the pinnacle of happiness who declares that he's going to a place to either continue the happy feeling or find a way to be even more happy by spending a few days at Disney World.
Happiness is great. Happiness is wonderful, until it's not. We can't be happy all the time. In a world where the average welfare recipient in the United States is better off financially than a super majority of the world, I know that I live a charmed life relatively speaking. But, even so, I can't always be happy. I have stresses. It is difficult to live in a world where there is so much oppression and poverty. That makes me pretty unhappy.
So, in the spiritual context, when we can't be happy, when happiness runs out, we have another Spirit-given principle we can connect with.
Naturally, it's joy. Our culture uses the terms happiness and joy interchangeably but, they are very different. Happiness is an emotion or inclination we have or feel in response to good fortune. When my portfolio has made gains in the stock market, I am happy. When I have the time to cook a meal, I am happy. When I can watch "Project Runway" or all is well at work and at home, I am happy. My happiness is contingent on good fortune.
Joy, is a tad different. It's not an emotion, but rather a sense of inner-wellness and an appeal to that which is righteous and sound externally. God and Spirit, at least according to the Scriptures, pours joy into us. If I am having a difficult day at work, I may not be happy, but I can be joyful. If "Project Runway" is not on, I may not be happy, but I can be joyful.
Spirit does not promise us happiness. But, Spirit does promise us joy. In the quiet moments, when we are not happy, when we are not in the "happiest place on earth," we can be joyful, and that will hold us until another happy time...or until the next season of "Project Runway."
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