Unimaginable

On the day I started to write this book at the end of June, my wife was surfing channels on television. The movie, “Christmas Joy,” was playing on one of the channels. It was highly unusual to see a Christmas program in June. But it reminded me the expressions of joy on the faces of children when they open their Christmas presents. These gifts are expressions of love for them. There are no strings attached to the gifts. The beloved gives them unconditionally and generously. Expression of love in the form of such a gift is clearly a source of joy to the receiver. And they include gifts of food, charitable deeds, kindness, help, and prayer.

Gifts to fulfill one’s desire

One of the favorite things that a grandfather does is to give ice cream to his grandchildren, especially when they have never tasted it. They express the joy of eating ice cream with beaming smiles and glowing eyes. I also love to give them chocolates for the first time. Spoiling is unconditional. It is usually selfless unless one points to the joy that grandparents partake in the joy of their grandchildren. At that age, the grandchildren may not understand love or selflessness. But they sense that it is an unconditional action. Such action brings them joy. The taste of ice cream and chocolates also helps to enhance their joy.

In spoiling the grandchildren, I must be cognizant of their desires. My youngest granddaughter likes sour stuff, e.g., lemons or grapefruits, while her older sister likes sweet stuff. So, I only give sour stuff to the youngest one, while sweets to the older. Fulfilling one’s desire is a primary source of joy. And the greater the desire, the more is the joy. For example, there is more joy in consuming food when one is hungry.

One time, as I was leaving a hamburger joint, I saw a person standing at the door begging for money. I invited him to come into the hamburger store to choose what he wanted and paid for the food. He was totally surprised by what I did. He did not expect the gift of food, nor be treated with dignity to choose what he wanted to eat. He was happy and appreciative. Joy comes from fulfillment of his desire for food and respect. What is our deepest desire? Does Christ satisfy it? “To a hungry man, Christ is very lovely when He has a loaf of bread in His hand.”

For what do we hunger? We, human beings, having the construct of body and soul, wants to live. Food, therefore, is a great desire. But our deepest desire is to live forever even though Satan tries to convince us that it is not possible. And God, in His great love for us, satisfies our desire by giving His Only Son so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life” (John 3:16) with Him in heaven. There is no greater joy or quality of life than living a life in the presence of someone who loves us. Many psalms from the Old Testament describe the joy of being in the presence of God. (Psa 95:1-2, 16:8-11, 32:11, 67:2-5, 96:11-13) Satan tells his favorite lie that no one can live forever because of cellular aging.6 He uses the fear of death to curtail our activities. Today, some people are still unwilling to eat at a restaurant because of fear of the Covid-19 virus.

Paul said that he longed to depart this life and be with Christ, which is better than to live. But he also said that life is Christ. (Phil 1:21-26) Indeed, joy of life whether on Earth or in Heaven comes from being in and with Christ. Here we sense the continuation of joy from earth into heaven and its permanency.