Since this blog is supposed to be some sort of reckoning of joy, and not a mere sounding board for my own hot air, I thought I would share a little something (well she used to be little at least) that brings me a lot of joy.
We got her out of a cardboard box from a Wal-Mart parking lot, amidst a fuzzy bundle of siblings on a cold December morning. It may sound silly to say so - but our finding her was absolutely providential and a grace for which we give thanks every day.
We had been looking for a puppy, with a general idea of what we were looking for. Border Collie, Sheltie, or Collie - something with intelligence and expression. Of course, in Abilene at the time it was hard to find a great dog if you were picky - and we were picky. A couple of days of looking passed, with nothing to show for it except the fading enthusiasm at the chance to get a puppy and raise it. Jen and I had just about given up the "local" hunt, when we happened to look in an aging phonebook for a shelter we hadn't seen or previously visited. We found one, or so we thought.
Turns out it was closed - and a vet's office had taken up residence in the meantime. We walked in, sighed, and began to walk out. A rather nice woman asked us if we could be helped, and we told her our story (and apparent mistake in coming to their office) and what we were looking for in a breed. Then, to our amazement and great joy, the woman replied by saying - "there was someone in here trying to get rid of some Border Collie/Collie mix puppies earlier, I think she said she was going to go to Wal-Mart." Immediately we headed off.
There's a few things you know about a person who's as close to you as Jennifer is to me. One of those "things" is a certain look Jen has when she lays eyes on something for which there can be no use in talking her out of. When we arrived at Wal-Mart and shyly plodded our way over to that humble box and peered over the edge, only to be met by an eager velvet-covered face followed by a "mighty" 3.4 pound puffball body, it's an understatement to say that Jen had one of those "looks" of unshakable decision.
That "puffball" is about 60 pounds now, 2 years later and never for a moment have we considered it a mistake, bother, or coincidence that we ended up with her. As a Seminary student, it's easy to get enraveled in the hard "issues" and doctrinal concepts and forget the sweet and simple measures of grace we are afforded more than occasionally. Dark and uncertain days are certain to come, and we're promised no end to that reality this side of eternity. Where shall we find joy? In Christ, of course! But what do we mean when we say that. One could say much when asked, but for me it's in the small blessings and in the everyday grace we are afforded that the Christian may find the earmarks of the careful and loving leading of the only One who can satisfy our thirsting souls with living water.
I know people who ramble on about running to the ends of the earth to be "happy." People ruin and leave marriages for no good reason, chase after acclimation upon acclimation to no end, wander from job to job and squander riches on every comfort that can be peddled. I don't mean to sound insensitive to people who are caught in the desperate search for significance and fulfillment, but I've come to a place where such prattle bores me.
You carve dead idols and wonder why you feel dead serving them? We become like who we serve. Serve what is dead and you will reap death - pursue One who is Life and you will reap life. That doesn't mean it's every really easy, but it's nonetheless true.
What in the world does my beautiful dog have to do with this latest tirade? Notice I didn't ever say she makes me "happy," I said she brings me "joy."
She brings me
joy because she's not the end of the process. It's Who that silly dog makes me turn to and see, thank, and know. If not for that, Nali would be nothing more than yet another distraction (albeit a cute one) in an increasingly crowded life. She would entertain for certain, but not bring
joy. Why? Because Joy isn't hers to give. And it's not anyone or anything else's to give either. Not husbands, not puppies, not video games or cars or ice cream or a better paycheck or food or sleep or more friends or alcohol or books or movies or BattleStar Galactica, or music or security or a new SUV. Joy isn't theirs to give, and it's not yours to create for yourself. Those things won't save you from a life of desperate flailing at "the next best thing." Nothing will. Death from death - life from Life.
The question for the thirsty is - "Why continue to draw from a well you know to be dry?" Why look for joy anywhere but where it is guaranteed? Do you want to be entertained, or do you want to be satisfied? Do you want to be amused, or do you want to be Saved? Do you want to be "happy" or do you want Joy? Don't like that line of questioning? Sorry, but I've had my fill of this inane "happy" talk we hear so much from the talking heads and the talk show hosts and most of the unregenerate saps who write "romantic" comedies. We're desperately in need for someone to clear the air on the differences between "happy" and having
joy afterall.
I think I know Who I'll listen to.
"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live;and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
'Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts;let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon'"Isaiah 55:1-7
All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
Isaiah 44:9
