Observations/Reflections: On Joy as the Ultimate Antidote
Status: Dictated but Not Reviewed
Published: 12/11/08
Written: January 2008
Dictated By: Flint McGlaughlin

It occurred to me, today, as I was worshiping in a small church in the mountains in North Carolina, that the ultimate antidote for this deep futility I experience is in joy itself.

Joy is not the result of finding an antidote. Joy is the antidote.

The Scripture says that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. Over the years the meaning of this phrase and its many layers has materialized in my soul. But the older I get the more desperately I need it. All around me I see the results of evil. There is decay and desperation.

The horror of the human condition could overwhelm me. Yet, I see somehow that the answer to this dilemma is in joy itself.