Episode 305: Unsentimental Advent, Part Three--Authentic Joy

Halfway through Advent, after weeks of being reminded, "We're not there yet--keep hoping, keep waiting, be ready, and repent," the church's surprising way of keeping time calls us to rejoice.  Joy is a tricky concept, as it turns out, because it's more than mere happiness, and yet it feels very much like an emotion.  At the same time, joy seems like something we can practice as a virtue or a discipline, which means it has to be something more than [or at least different from] a mere feeling that flutters with the fluctuations of our brain chemistry.  So how do we practice joy without that practice becoming something artificial, like faking a smile or pretending to be happy?  How can we learn from the ancient biblical texts as well as wise voices of later eras how to grow in authentic joy that can also admit to the realities of sadness, loss, and grief in life without ignorning them?  In a conversation than ranges fro George Whitefield to J.R.R. Tolkein to Pixar's Inside Out, pastors Erica, Sarah, and Steve explore the depth of real joy in our series on an unsentimental Advent, here on Crazy Faith Talk.