The intensity of grief can burn for a long time, and it can burn us out. Remember that prayer, contemplation, and remembering, rather than painful missing, are helpful remedies for those of us caught in fresh or even old grief in these days of waiting. These are just a few of those things which can get in the way of the experience and expression of joy, especially at this time of year. These are things which can keep us from joy. Joy is different from pleasure and happiness.
Pleasure is within our power, but joy never is.
Christmas is designed to give us pleasure. Eating, drinking, talking with one another-these are activities designed for pleasure. Happiness, too, covers a broad spectrum, from a steady state of contentment to special moments of delight and feeling good because as all is well with the world. But joy is different. The first is the ecstatic experience, like those described by William James as mystical experiences or by Abraham Maslow as peak experiences.