Surprised by Joy

 



“You have to watch this.  You will love it.”


And I did.


Surprised by Oxford is a film based on the memoirs of Carolyn Weber.  


Without giving much away (because you should really see this!), it’s a word play on Surprised by Joy, by C S Lewis.


Lewis goes into great depth as he explains his perception and definition of joy, but I want to focus on just one line. 


“ I doubt whether anyone who has tasted it would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasures in the world. But then Joy is never in our power and pleasure often is.” (Surprised by Joy: The Shape of my Early Life, 19.)


We are the keepers of our joy, but not the creators.  


It can’t be forced, though we can manipulate and create circumstances that increase its likelihood.  


So today I was watching for those moments. 


And surprised multiple times.


In the sensation of a 2 year old’s chubby fist curling around a strand of my hair as her warm forehead presses into my neck and she falls asleep to the gentle sway of my body. 


In the warmth of the autumn sunshine radiating against my cheek and pulling me into prayer with Heaven.


In the reading of words of gratitude that take me back to multiple moments of joy spent in the early hours of hundreds of days teaching teens around my table.


In Genesis we find these words, “59And the LORD said, Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith, I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; and whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall.

60Wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy.”


These bits and moments of joy- they build a longing for eternity within us.  


And through our Savior we can truly have the songs of everlasting joy.


So perhaps they shouldn’t surprise me, as opportunities are always there.


God literally plants innumerable intersections for us to encounter Him all around us.


They are fine tuned for us individually, but even when we are looking they will still come as a surprise.  


And we can all be surprised by joy. 


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