Category Archives: Joy

Chasing after the wind

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

  For most people happiness is about money and status. Even though life teaches us otherwise, most of us never stop chasing them. There’s nothing new about this. One of the most poignant expressions of it was penned three thousand … Continue reading →

Posted in Futility, Joy, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Strong on pleasure but weak on joy

Posted on November 24, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

We live in a society that is strong on pleasure but weak on joy. We are blessed with so many opportunities for entertainment and personal fulfilment. No previous generation was so protected from want and disease. We are more highly … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, God, Joy, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

What tides of grace flowed from that attic bedroom.

Posted on February 19, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

William Barclay tells the story of a servant-girl whose personal search for meaning in life resulted in a profound experience of the presence of God. But the demands of serving in a large house gave little freedom to do much … Continue reading →

Posted in Faithfulness, God in us, God's pleasure, Joy, Life, Life's journey | Leave a comment

‘Look to him and be radiant.’

Posted on January 26, 2017 by vincentsmithauthor

Most of us believe that joy comes because of improving our environment, but life constantly teaches us that it doesn’t. It may bring momentary happiness, but our common experience is that it’s only temporary. The pleasure of a new car, … Continue reading →

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What seems to be tragic may actually become an occasion for joy

Posted on March 29, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

Joe Wagner once attended an auction where a little girl’s champion lamb went up for sale. As the bids came in, the little girl, standing beside the lamb, began to cry. The higher the bids rose, the more she cried. … Continue reading →

Posted in Joy, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble, Troubles | Leave a comment

‘You could never know how wonderful everything is.’

Posted on March 23, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

For fifty one years Bob Edens was blind. He felt his way through five decades of darkness until one day a skilled surgeon performed a complicated operation and, for the first time, Bob Edens had sight. He found it overwhelming. … Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciation, Joy, Life, Life's journey, Life's lessons, Sight, thankfulness | Tagged , | Leave a comment

‘With joy in my heart’

Posted on January 27, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

Alec Guinness described how, one day while walking through London, he felt an irresistible urge to enter a church. He said, ‘With joy in my heart, and in a state of almost sexual excitement, I knelt; caught my breath, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Faith, Joy, Life's journey | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The true joy in life

Posted on August 27, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Most people equate joy with pleasure. George Bernard Shaw, however, said ‘the true joy in life, is being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap … Continue reading →

Posted in Fulfilment, Joy, Purpose in life | Tagged , | Leave a comment

I believe in the sun even when it does not shine

Posted on March 12, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

A few years ago I visited the site of the Dachau Concentration Camp – a place that was the scene of so much evil. There are now three chapels there, one Jewish, one Catholic and one Protestant – each of … Continue reading →

Posted in Faith, God, God in us, God with us, Goodness, Hope, hope and love, Joy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

When you get a glimpse of heaven

Posted on March 10, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Lord Kenneth Clark, who created the famous TV series Civilization, said that once, while visiting a beautiful old church, he had an overwhelming religious experience. ‘My whole being,’ he said, ‘was irradiated by a kind of heavenly joy far more … Continue reading →

Posted in Heaven, Joy, Rejecting God, Spiritual blessing | Tagged , | Leave a comment