I’ve had the chance to read C.S. Lewis’s “Surprised by Joy” recently, which detailed the journey which Lewis took from Atheism to Theism. Part of this journey was his yearning for the “joy” he had experienced as a young man and tried to repeat, returning to a similar “pleasing” activity.

He soon understood the mechanism of diminishing returns that all “pleasures” have. This is something that we in this age have seemed to have forgotten. What was surprising was that he was able to extrapolate that these brief moments of “joy” were all linked, irregardless to the “pleasure” at hand. Our brief forays into “joy” in this world are a reminder that we don’t control this. They are an echo of a greater “joy” which is clearly outside of our own hands.

We desperately try to use “pleasure” as a pabulum, a filler in replacement to “joy”. This always seems to backfire on us, as it turns into selfishness, “sin” and self-destruction. Pleasures themselves are quickly forgotten, but true “joy” stays with us always.

“Joys” are what God gives to us. “Pleasure” is what we attempt to give to ourselves. By giving God a chance to work, we have opportunity to receive “true joy”. Seeing a recent prayer come to fruition is one such “joy”, and this came from showing Christian servitude and care.

This “joy” is mine forever. Seeing a God-worked change in another, in someone who others would call an “enemy” is mine.