The Third Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Joy. Joy is one of those tricky words because it has perfectly acceptable casual uses but also more technical uses. Happiness and joy are often considered synonyms and used as such with no difficulty. However, there is a deeper meaning to “joy” that connects us to…
As I was reading the Lectionary texts for this week I was struck by the Old Testament lesson. Exodus 32 begins with the story of the golden calf, where the people of God give up and turn to an idol. What struck me was how demoralizing that story is. I even wrote it down, “The…
This Sunday’s sermons about joy and happiness and what the difference, if any, is between them. I made the point, which I would be happy to have anyone challenge me on, that happiness is dependent on external circumstances and joy is internal and independent of external circumstances. I also did my best to draw a…