Christmas brings a feeling richer and deeper than happiness

Looking ahead to Christmas, Stu Crosson explains his vision of a quality so often associated with it but which so frequently eludes it - joy.

In our household with three young boys, the arrival of December signals the following: "Christmas is coming and Christmas is good fun!"

For the best part of 2000 years, the church has stated that a central aspect of Christmas is a thing called "joy", which may look similar to good fun, but is not the same.

One of my favourite Christmas carols is Joy to the World, but the tricky thing for many is that December and January are two of the most stressful and difficult months of the whole year.

Statistically, domestic violence, suicide and marriage break-up all increase at Christmas time.

Bank accounts get put under pressure, the in-laws arrive and sometimes Christmas just doesn't seem that joyful at all.

So what is this thing called "joy" and why is it somewhat elusive at this time of year?

Joy is something that is easier to experience than to describe in words.

You know it when you receive it, and let's be clear, it is received! Joy cannot be bought or even found; it is received as a gift.

Two things have happened recently in my life, which have brought me great joy:

1) The arrival of a little puppy called Meg.

2) Watching my son learn to ride his bike.

Our little dog is an expert at bestowing joy.

Her wagging tail and smiling eyes will melt the hardest heart. (It's fair to say the first few nights weren't joyful ones for our neighbours as she howled for her home in Central Otago, but she is now a model "citizen", apart from the odd attack of my spring onions and carrots!)

The reason behind little Meg's ability to bestow joy on our family, is the unconditional love that keeps pouring out of her.

Never dependent on our moods or circumstance, her tail keeps wagging.

The second experience of joy in my life emerged when my son learnt to ride his bike all the way from one end of Frasers Park to the other.

It is also hard to describe unless you are a father (or mother) who has watched your child struggle and fall and become sad and disillusioned . . . until finally one day, exhausted, they get it.

What joy is in your child's heart and your own, as they achieve something truly significant.

Joy is something much richer and deeper than happiness.

It is certainly more than mere fun.

Joy is a gift from God that transcends even pain and suffering.

It is possible to experience joy even in the midst of hardship and struggle.

When Jesus was born 2000 years ago, the angel Gabriel declared to the shepherds (who may well have had a dog called Meg), "Do not be afraid.

I bring you good news of great joy."

The basis for this joy included the two threads I have just alluded to: unconditional love and a father's desire to see his children succeed in what they do.

God in heaven loves you unconditionally and wants for you to succeed in your life.

He also knows that the only way for you to experience these two foundations of joy is through a relationship with his son, Jesus.

This was the incredible announcement of Christmas and is the foundation for our joy.

The fact that our lives may be marked by real pain and difficult circumstances does not take away our God-given capacity to experience true joy.

William Blake, in his poem "The Auguries of Innocence" said this:

Man was made for Joy & Woe;
And when this we rightly know
Thro' the World we safely go.
Joy & Woe are woven fine,
A Clothing for the Soul divine;
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

In an age when the immediate defines so much, I want to remind you that the basis for joy is much deeper than our emotions and experience of "the now".

It reaches into eternity.

It rests on the truth that our God loves us unconditionally and wants us to succeed in the things that matter.

The challenge for this Christmas is to work out what really matters.

The Rev Stu Crosson is vicar of St Matthews Anglican Church, Dunedin.