Yearning

Plantinga starts his first chapter with an example from one of my favorite books, A Separate Peace by John Knowles. Amidst a time of war, Gene Forrester and his best friend Phinneus find peace at their New England Boarding school. On those summer mornings the main character, Gene, accounts waking up feeling joyful and almost in tears at the wondrousness of what those days could hold. We all in a way long for this. There is something very profound about the lives God has given us to live. There is a magnificent creation surrounding us, people to meet, engage, and love, and work to be done bettering the kingdom. Much happiness can be found in these things. Joy that has made me wish time would stop right in its tracks.

I recall various times in the past year of my life where I felt like life was "perfect". I was happy to get out of bed every morning, nothing could drag down the lasting joy within me. I wish we all felt like that all the time. There are as I now see it, sevral things which led me to a joyful state.

Right relationships was perhaps the most key. I loved and was loved by all the people I most regularly saw and cared about, one sided relationships lead to turmoil and a troubled mind. I've tried hard to avoid such relationships of this nature.

The next was that I was doing work which I thought was beneficial to me, the world, and glorified God. This is the type of Job I want to have some day. One that meets those criterea and will therefore contribute to my Joy.
Another important thing in my life was that I was actively engaging Gods creation. I have always loved nature and feel closest to God when in it. I know that for me to reach my potential in enjoying the Joy of my salvation I need to be outside; hunting, fishing, smelling, hearing, and enjoying what Gods wondrous hands have wrought, being thankful for the very weather he has provided.

I've always liked the quote, "Life isn't what happens to you, but how you respond to it." Most of our bad moods are internal, a positive outlook is always important to have and self pity won't get you anywhere. When I haven't felt sorry for myself and have been unselfish, I have been more joyful and this is the fourth and last thing that I now see as an ingredient for my Joy. One of my favorite songs is "Question" by The Moody Blues. The line that strikes me is, "when you stop and think about it, you won't believe it's true, that all the love you've been giving has all been meant for you." We all need to stop and think about our relationships, are we just pretending to love other people for our enjoyment? It takes a long time to think about, but if we are, there's something seriously wrong.

These most joyful times in my life were when I was spending every moment I could with my friends. and we all strived to make eachother happy. If you don't like to please other people, it's hard to be a good friend. I was happy in this state of friendship which is very similar to that in A Separate Peace. We all long for that Joy bursting out of us, and it's imortant to find what we need to do to find that and then do it. I thought the most striking statement in Plantingas first chapter is that we don't get Joy from earthly things but rather throught them. Plantinga suggests that all happiness is just the projection of God in our world. I like to think that God did put good things in our life to give us happiness through. I'm Joyful for the gifts God has given me in my life.