Spiritual Sunday: Joy

Joy is a strange concept. Perhaps something happens to you randomly and you find it pleasant and you say “yeah. I can feel good now. Let’s do this more often”. Maybe you got the promotion at work that you were hoping for. Maybe you learned that your friends were planning that birthday surprise. Maybe she said yes. Maybe you found out that your favorite comic books were going to drop in price for the foreseeable future. Whatever it is, when these special events happen in our lives, the resulting feeling is typically one called “joy”.

Joy is often one of the pursuits of all people. “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25). It is part of our existence to peruse joy and happiness.

I met a lot of people that would say that perusing joy is a worthless cause. There is so much sadness in the world these days and quite often that is all we hear about day to day. The word terror used to be used as a marketing technique for movies and thrillers, now it is used to describe the world’s events and feelings.

In the book of Luke, Christ warned his apostles that in the last day’s men’s hearts shall fail them for fear (see Luke 21:26; D&C 45:26). That we will lose sight of ourselves and lose our abilities to think clearly. We will be afraid. We will not feel joy.

In the world we shall witness tribulations, trials, and terrors, but we can be of good cheer because Christ has overcome the world. He has done the impossible so that we may be able to take the path that he has blazed. We have so much to be hopeful for. This Easter, as we talk about bunnies that lay eggs and hide them in baskets in the back yard, remember to look to the savior and his sacrifice. Because of him we can experience the joy and comfort that comes from our families and our lives.

I know that if we keep the savior as the center piece in our lives, and we surround that with family, and we do everything in our power to follow the savior’s teachings and to always seek more of his words, we will experience the Joy we are all thirsting for.

Happy Easter.