I have told you all this, that my own joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.
Reflection:
In his book Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton refers to joy as “the
gigantic secret of the Christian.” He observes that Jesus freely
expressed his tears and anger, but “there was something that
He hid from all men when He went up a mountain to pray…
There was some one thing that was too great for God to show
us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes
fancied that it was His mirth.” So secretive because it is so
precious a fruit of the Spirit that he vouches that his disciples will
have it in its fullness. Malcolm Muggeridge would testify thus
after his conversion: “I can say that I never knew what joy was
like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until
I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to
Jesus.”
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