Becoming numb to suffering will not make us happy. The part in us that feels suffering is the same part that feels joy.
Joy seems to be a part of an unconditional wish to live, not holding back because life may not meet our preferences and expectations. Joy seems to be a function of the willingness to accept the whole, and to show up to meet with whatever is there. It has a kind of invincibility that attachment to any particular outcome would deny us... From such a position, we can make a greater commitment to life. Not only pleasant life, or comfortable life, or our idea of life, but all life. Joy seems more closely related to aliveness than to happiness.
I wish more Christian authors wrote like this. Dr Remens' book is void of complicated terminology or a guilt complex I relate to most of the Christian genre. This book simply explores pain, loneliness, healing, joy, all through anecdotes of personal experiences which have been shared across humanity. I know that joy is a fruit of the Spirit, and true joy is known by those who know God. Joy seems to have alluded me the past few years; however, with this knew picture of joy, I know I have experienced God's joy amidst suffering and pain. I am alive. Each difficult season we have walked through has served to make us more alive. It is our choice to walk in this aliveness - in joy, knowing pain - or to shut down in bitterness and anger. I choose life.
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