I was just thinking... And humming...

That "the joy of the Lord is [my] strength." (Nehemiah 8:10)

This is cool for a couple of reasons. Well, for many reasons, but I'm not going to elaborate on the many reasons, just one or two.

First, the concept that joy is strength is phenomenal. We're--well, at least, I have been, for the last five years--told things like, "Pain is weakness leaving the body," and "That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger." I won't expound tonight on why I think it's interesting that the US Marine Corps is propagandizing a Nietzsche paraphrase.

But--joy as strength? Well, why not? Isn’t joy a better constant--and a more fulfilling source of strength--than suffering?

Here’s the thing. I really, really don’t think that my Father put me on this earth to live out my life in suffering. I do agree that suffering can forge a person into someone who is stronger than they were. I think we call that "pruning", right? But a plant doesn’t live to get pruned: it’s just a process, not the constant. And I don’t think that the suffering of a human being is his purpose, either.

So, why not joy as his purpose? As that which gives his life meaning, just as a plant’s flowers or fruit are its purpose (and, if one were to listen very closely, I imagine that a rosebush would tell you that the most joyous part of its existence is in the roses, not the shears), and give it meaning?

Doesn’t a person’s purpose give him strength?

The other thing--actually, I thought of this first--that’s cool about God’s joy being my strength (not just His! Yay!) is that God, by His nature, is infinite. Infinitely ginormous, infinitely miniscule (as an aside, I used to use that bit of logic whenever anyone brought up the Holy Spirit as a unit of measure)... Infinitely joyful. Which means my strength can never be exhausted.

And I find that amazing.