Furthermore…

Last Sunday’s readings (Acts 8:5-8,14-17; Ps 66:1-3,4-5,6-7,16,20; 1Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21) touched quite a bit on joy. Is it just me, or is not pretty much  a missing element from our lives and society today? It doesn’t seem to be much mentioned anywhere, a sign that it’s not on the collective mind.  Are people embarrassed to be joyful, or even to be seeking joy today?  There’s no shortage of ecstatic smiles in the ads, but they seem to resemble more drug highs  or hyper-excitement than real joy. I’ve heard that joy exists abundantly within the cloisters; I suppose the people there aren’t embarrassed about it!  Our group wondered about some of this.