The State of Joy What is pure joy? Is it that fleeting feeling of happiness? Or is it the deep satisfaction that comes with knowing God? In Pilgrims Progress, Josh Bunyan follows the pilgrimage of Christian. When Christian commences his pilgrimage to the Celestial City, a heavy burden lies on his back and it is not until he runs to the cross that his burden dissolves. Many characters led Christian on his way, but many were a determent to him. In Christian’s story, my character is Joy. Joy has a miraculous meaning, a soothing spirit, and a passionate purpose. Being happy is nothing compared to being joyful. Webster defines joy as “a very glad feeling.” But The Holman Bible Dictionary defines joy as, “the happy state that results from knowing
Faithful is just a guy who, like Christian, escapes his past life and pursues a life that is down the straight and narrow path of Christianity. A Righteous man, ridiculed, tortured, and finally burnt at the stake for his faith, Faithful lives up to his name and is the martyr of The Pilgrim's Progress—the one who suffers and dies for what he believes in. Before Christian meets Faithful on the road from the Palace Beautiful, Christian seems to be the only real pilgrim on the journey to the Celestial City. The others pilgrims he has met on his journey (Formalist and Hypocrisy, Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, Mr. Pliable) have either abandoned the journey for its extreme struggles or for being shown the hollowness of their faith. But Faithful is different unlike his friends he did not have a hollow faith so when he faced the trials and tribulations he did not deal with them because of his strong faith in the Lord.
What brings you true joy? Is it family and friends, a religion, or some material item? In the short story, “The Life You Save May Be Your Own,” Flannery O’Connor gives examples of what can bring Tom Shiftlet joy, but what he chooses instead. A tramp, Shiftlet, wonders to the Crater house in search of a job. Mrs. Crater knows she needs her farm fixed up, so she allows Shiftlet to sleep in the car and will feed him if he fixes things at the house. Mrs. Crater tries to pawn her daughter, Lucynell, off on Shiftlet. Shiftlet is offered the car he fixed, a place to live, and $17.50 just to marry Lucynell. Shiftlet finally agrees and accepts the bribe. On their honeymoon, Shiftlet leaves Lucynell at a diner and moves
Zadie Smith uses more anecdotes that appeal to feelings. “The top of my head flew away. We danced and danced. We gave ourselves up to joy” (148). She describes that while she was at the night club she had a moment of joy. And that she freely gave herself to be free and enjoy herself. “I ‘have’ pleasure, it is a feeling I want to experience and own. A beach holiday is a pleasure. A new dress is a pleasure. But on that dance floor I was joy, or some small piece of
Because she believes in the inexistence of god and meaning of life, Joy exhibits characteristic traits of awareness and fortitude, viewing herself as “nothing” as described when Joy said, “I don’t have illusions. I’m one of those people who see through to nothing” emphasizing her nihilistic belief (673). In the following scene, she demonstrates her confidence in her enlightenment when she said, “‘We are all damned...but some of us have taken off our blindfolds and see that there’s nothing to see. It’s a kind of salvation,” presenting where her fortitude derives from
A person’s happiness can have an impact on others. People can get agitated because a group or individual is at peace or sons and daughter can be happy as a result of witnessing their parents being content. Delightment is capable of encouraging expansion of one’s knowledge. For instance, if one realizes their potential in achieving greatness in a certain subject, the satisfaction could lead to desiring to draw in more knowledge, knowing the greatness that individual can achieve. Someone who is depressed doesn’t have the motivation to achieve something positive. There are people that misinterpret or have a negative pleasure and peace of mind. That’s the incredible potential happiness
As Philosophy presents, happiness is the “highest good of a rational nature” and the “state of perfection achieved by the concentration of all goods within it” (page 27, 41). This definition, along with the notion that the supreme cannot be taken away from people, noticeably exhibits that happiness cannot be awarded by earthly gifts from Fortune and is the intrinsic good that lacks nothing outside itself and could achieve everything on its own. True and perfect happiness can only be achieved by the possession of the supreme good in which all goods are possessed. Meanwhile, God is happiness itself because God is the supreme goods as happiness and there cannot be two highest goods which differ from each
People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through
unfounded joy and a faith in the absence of hope, he is intent on winning the spiritual battle, even if
Joy is a feeling of great pleasure or happiness. It can be brought through any positive deed. This emotion can be portrayed through characters found in literature. The author, James Hurst, from The Scarlet Ibis represents the feeling of joy through the characters found in this story. In the story, The Scarlet Ibis, Hurst uses diction and figurative language to prove that joy is something that can be brought by faith and determination as it can be rewarding at the end.
“It’s so hard to forget pain, but it’s even harder to remember sweetness. We have no scar to show for happiness. We learn so little from peace. (- Chuck Palahniuk) There are times in which people feel ecstatic or overjoyed for some reason. We may ask them why but their answer would probably be “because I’m happy”. People might not think about it but we might ask ourselves, what does it mean to be happy. In Macbeth his happiness was to have the throne of his cousin while in Federigo’s Falcon it was to have the woman he loved by his side. In the video, The Science of Happiness, gratitude is what makes us as humans truly happy.
Grace Abounding and Pilgrims Progress are very similar in reading and as we go through this Christian journey. You have two Christians faced with struggles; one running to escape his sin and the other prosecuted for proclaiming his faith. The struggles they endure are just as real as the ones we face today. The Pilgrims Progress is a story of a Christian fleeing from his city and family as he comes upon the sins of the world. Sin is a struggle that we all go through in life. As the Christian comes upon worldly things, he struggles with sin and its legality. The Christian wants to do what is right, but his morals conflict with what is true. He leans on God’s grace and mercy to help get him through the gate and on the path of righteous, but the
And in so doing, we also are running from the only possible way to gain that Joy: The reason and faith that have the power to guide us.
Everyone has their own way to find happiness. As it is a feeling, each of us has our own range and different definitions about this term. We know that there are many joyful things
When first asked, I believed that happiness was simply fulfilling a desire, but through topics discussed in class, I now realize that there is so much more to happiness. The road to happiness includes using virtues to receive gifts from God and from others. From the Beatitudes, we can learn to use what Jesus has taught us, to gain happiness in our everyday lives. We are taught that when we believe in God, mourn, be gentle, seek righteousness, show mercy,
Father Himes mentions that there is a difference in being happy and feeling joy. I find that it does not take very much for me to be happy in life, however it is the special moments in life that bring me joy. I am usually joyful when I am going through challenge that specifically makes me have to incorporate all my strengths. I am not talking about challenges like getting a flat tire on the freeway or dealing with plumbing issues. I am talking specifically when