As I reflected upon this year's theme, "Joy in the Journey," it occurred to me that, with a few edits, it could read "Journey into Joy."
The writer in me liked this new juxtaposition of words. I liked the idea that we are taking deliberate steps with our ultimate destination, joy.
To understand joy, we must also understand misery. I've borrowed the following from the writings of an apostle of God. "We know that the earth was created as a way for us to progresss during our second estate (life on this earth) when we left our heavenly home. Our Father in Heaven is a just God who created a way for us to overcome the Fall, which took place after man was created. And our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, agreed to be born in the meridian of time as the only begotten Son of God, the Eternal Father, to redeem us from the effets of that fall. We were there and supported this plan.
"We also know that Satan, who was separated from God and permanently lost, would like to also see our separation become permanent. ... Satan's purpose is to make men miserable, and I submit that if not miseraable, then to be content with being merely happy. Satan is wily. He has blurred the lines between happiness and joy. He has falsified happiness to appear as something other than true joy in many ways."
What profound words. And what a responsibility on our part, to distinguish between being "merely happy" and experiencing true joy.
Joy for the day: a glimpse of the Father's plan for me, for all of us.
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