It starts almost as soon as we are born. Someone holds something in front of us. Something shiny, something noisy and our eyes start to track with the moving object. Wait a few days, a couple of weeks, and that same object causes us to not only track with our eyes, but to reach out — to stretch our arm and to try to grasp with little starfish-like hands. Wait a few more days and the reach, the grasp will be more sure, direct, and successful. It’s as though there is an understanding that we should reach and grasp the things that are before us.

We learn the lesson well; perhaps we learn the lesson too well.

As we grow and mature, the things we reach for, the things that we grasp are different. Instead of being shiny or noisy — okay sometimes they are still shiny and/or noisy — they are bigger, seemingly more significant items. We reach for friendships, education, lasting relationships, possessions like houses and cars, success, busy-ness, and hopefully somewhere in there, we reach for meaning.

But what about joy?

How many of us intentionally, purposefully reach for joy?

I think the struggle in reaching for joy is that we don’t really understand the concept of joy. Joy is not happiness — although it may show itself in happiness. I love this definition from http://www.alleydog.com, “Joy is an emotion comprised of feelings of happiness, contentment, and harmony. It differs from general happiness in that it is not caused by a particular event but come(s) from within the individual…”

I love that phrase… “joy is an emotion comprised of feelings of happiness, contentment, and harmony.” As I look around me, I see people who get the whole “happiness” idea. We seem to experience happiness in different ways, at different times, in different places. The things that we don’t seem to have very much of are contentment and harmony.

During the past year, we’ve lived in a bubble of unexpected isolation. Some of us have managed, because of jobs or family proximity, to not be completely isolated. Even so, most of us have experienced a level of aloneness that is not our norm. Apparently pandemics do that to people.

It’s been hard, hasn’t it?

In fact, it’s been harder for some then others.

While we’ve not been completely isolated because of our work situations, we’ve struggled in some small ways. We’ve had to cancel two vacation trips — one to Niagara Falls for our Anniversary and a trip to New Mexico for Christmas. Both were planned for a long time and due to the pandemic, neither one of them happened. We are not alone. Many people have had to change long held plans due to circumstances beyond their control.

People who we started the year with are no longer here and many around us are grieving their loss; perhaps you are one who is grieving.

Then there is the political situation in our country which has resulted in lost friendships, isolation, and even more division. I don’t say this to make a political statement, it very simply seems to me to be a reality, a heart breaking reality.

Jobs have been lost; homes are gone and businesses have closed.

So much has changed… it’s painful, it’s hard, and it hurts — deep, down inside.

Have we failed to reach for joy? Could that be part of the struggle that so many of us have been facing? We’ve forgotten that true joy is made up of happiness, contentment, and harmony.

During this year, we’ve learned to experience happiness in virtual meetings and Face Time. Sometimes just seeing someone’s face can make all the difference. We’ve discovered contentment while taking bike rides and car rides. We’ve experienced harmony as we’ve sung along with group performances of beloved songs on You Tube.

I think the challenge of reaching for JOY is the aspect of contentment.

CONTENTMENT isn’t an easy thing to find is it? As I sat in our home, worked on my computer, texted with friends, walked into our empty, cold, and quiet church, ordered my groceries online, picked them up with “contactless delivery,” had pizza delivered to the front patio table without talking to the delivery person, attended trainings online, etc., I realized that I lack contentment.

I’m content and thankful for what I have, where we are, what we do. But I’m not always content with my own company. So, in reaching for joy, I’ve attempted to spend more time talking with and listening to God. I believe that to become content with who I am, I must find my identity in Him. That is where contentment starts — knowing who He has called me to be and then allowing Him to help shape me into that person.

Reaching for joy isn’t just looking for the next happy moment. It’s finding contentment within myself and knowing that God is helping me become who He wants me to be.

Yesterday was Christmas. It was quiet at our house — we celebrated Christmas with our local kids on Thursday. This was literally our first Christmas with just the two of us. We’ve always had family with us on Christmas day, but not this year. We had a lot of family phone calls and we got a video of our Grand dog being a grump, but in true pandemic fashion, it was all electronic.

And that’s okay.

We chose to reach for joy. Quietly. Peacefully. With contentment.

As we look forward to 2021, we will continue to reach for joy. It will start with contentment — contentment within; harmony with those around us; and happiness as we find and experience it. In all of these things, we will reach for joy.

Join us; reach for joy.