Say, what is joy? That is an important thing to define when looking at promised blessings. If you think that joy is being happy all the time with no worries then you are going to be disappointed and probably fooled at the first sign of adversity, trouble, or sorrow.
A couple of things I know about the word:
Joy is not a never ending happiness. In order to experience true joy I have to understand true sorrow. That law of opposition really does apply to everything.
The world or the inhabitants of that big and spacious building tells me joy is physical pleasure. That is also false. Physical pleasure is temporary and fleeting and more often the pursuit of physical pleasure will lead to addiction and loss of freedom. Pretty much the absence of joy.
Sometimes it is the hope of joy more than the feeling itself that will help me get through a mist of darkness or temptation. See Sister Aburto’s talk for those who may suffer from depression and physically can’t feel happiness or joy.
Before you read this talk by Elder Christofferson I suggest you sit down and write a definition of what joy means to you. After you read the talk you can compare and see how well your definition fits with the blessing he speaks about. You will also be able to determine if you have ever experienced moments of joy and what the common factor is for those moments.
ck's days 