We Were Made For Joy

one

We were made for joy. Joy is the response to something experienced as good and it invites us to rest or delight in that good. With the first taste of hot black coffee in a warm mug on a cold morning I experience joy, I take delight in its goodness and rest in or savor it.

We are made to have real joy and pleasure (for this discussion they mean the same thing). God is so good that he designed us to have pleasure as a result of or as a by-product of doing good things: such as a job well done, a good conversation with a friend or sitting on the beach watching the sun set and the tide roll in.

In our fallen state we take this great set up by God and distort or pervert it and seek the pleasure but divorced from the good thing.

Take for example pizza. I love pizza. For the good of nutrition and health, I probably only need two pieces. But it tastes so good that I go on to eat 3,4 or 5 pieces. Then I’m overstuffed, miserable and it’s certainly not good for my health.

That’s our trouble – we seek the joy or pleasure apart from the good God intended. When we do this we end up ruining the good we want and get bored with the pleasure we experience. We need to learn to keep the two together and in the right order: Partake of a good and delight in the pleasure. Don’t seek pleasure apart from the good.

Gluttony refers to eating, drinking and drug use for the sake of

1.  Pleasure alone

2.  Or to escape the reality we find

a.  too hard,

b.  too painful,

c.   too boring

d.  or we think real joy is unattainable.

3.  Temperance helps us experience real joy.

two

It’s possible to be gluttonous by eating too much

1.  either because it’s unhealthy

2.  or because someone else is entitled to the food

3.  or by eating to alleviate stress, anxiety, fear, loneliness or boredom

We can also be gluttonous by being

1.  too picky,

2.  too attached to a certain kind of food

3.  too health minded

4.  too controlled by food

Any time we put our eating preferences above love of God and neighbor we are sinning through food and that is gluttony. 

C.S. Lewis points out, every time a person is grumpy, impatient, uncharitable, or self-concerned because of their stomach, it’s a case of gluttony.

Fasting conquers Gluttony:

·       Fasting uses the intellect and will to control our desires

·       This trains the desires in all areas to be subject to the intellect and will

·       “That we may become the free good person in full possession of himself” Pieper

Fasting

a.   Our Lady at Medjugorje has asked for a bread and water fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.

b.   Fasting is the way to harness our desires and direct them to God, who alone can satisfy all our desires 

                                         i.    I think we need a fast from our screens for a time each day…

three

Gluttony also refers to Drunkenness 

Alcohol is not evil, in fact the Bible says: Sirach 31:27 Wine is life for man if drunk in moderation. What is life worth without wine? It was created to make men happy. Drunk at the right time and the right amount, wine makes for a glad heart and a cheerful mind.

Drunkenness is to willfully, that is by your own choice, handicap your intellect and will.

The intellect and will is what make us in the image of God and these two powers make us capable of union with God. We can engage with God because the intellect is made for truth and God is pure truth. But to the extent that we make ourselves stupid by drunkenness, to the extent that we disable our intellect, to that extent we are preventing the possible full engagement with God.

Our will is made for goodness and God is pure goodness. But to the extent that we hinder our will, that we reduce our freedom chemically, to that extent we are deliberately making ourselves less capable of engaging with God.

Therefore, drunkenness is directly opposed to the fulfillment of the purpose of our life, union with God. That is what makes drunkenness a grave sin, and if done so knowingly and willingly it is a moral sin – destroys our relationship with God.

four

Drug use

Joy or Pleasure is meant to be a byproduct of attaining a real good. In a sense, joy and pleasure are designed to be a secondary side effect. It’s kind of like praise. If we make being praised our goal, we’ll be governed by vanity, but if we make excellence our goal, then there’s nothing wrong in enjoying other people’s appreciation and gratitude for the good things we do.

So too with emotional joy and pleasure. It’s supposed to be the result of knowing the truth, appreciating beauty, and living a life of virtue. But when we make emotional or mental pleasure the goal then we are tempted to manipulate the brain to feel good through drug use, like pot.

People use Weed to manipulate the emotions. But unlike alcohol, Pot is intrinsically immoral, even if legal because, Weed is not a good to be pursued. So what are you going for? Pleasure divorced from a good. Even worse it disconnects the Emotions from reality, usually because the world is overwhelming, painful or (displeasing).

This goes against the purpose of the Mind and Emotions. The emotions need to be nourished by reality in the form of goodness and beauty.  Weed Disconnects the emotions from reality – starving the emotions from what they need – reality in the form of goodness and beauty

The effect of Pot on the Passions

The emotions are the propulsion system to propel us toward good ad away from evil. Weed deadens the emotions and desires – cutting our propulsion system so that we are not motivated to do good or avoid evil.

five

Even when life gets hard or painful or boring and real joy seems impossible, don’t give up on real joy and turn to fake pleasures in the form of food, alcohol, weed or entertainment.

If you want to feel good

·       Then think about all the good you possess.

·       When you become aware of the good you possess

·       Then you will have joy

·       Joy and Happiness really do follow Gratitude

So don’t seek to escape life. Embrace the world and be happy.