Joy is to Survive

I knew when I had this phrase tattooed that I was opening a door to uncomfortable questions about its meaning.  I probably should have nailed down a succinct explanation before having it permanently etched into my wrist, but I figure I'll have it forever so I have time to figure it out.  The first time I heard it was in a song called "It Must Be Wonderful" by some obscure Christian punk band named Outer Circle. 

Our walk's a narrow road
And there's a whole lot more to go
Hope yours is filled with sunshine
Right now that's not my world
It's not my place, and that's alright
Abundant life to many
Joy is to survive

The phrase really struck a chord with me even though I didn't understand it at the time.  I started writing it everywhere, planning what my tattoo would eventually look like.  As time went on I never could commit to a design I thought I'd be comfortable with permanently so I kind of pushed it to the back of my mind.  When I decided to embark on this 'healing journey' a year ago, I once again remembered the lyric.  Something about it still spoke to me and this time I explored it to figure out why.

Survival I know.  That's the world I'm comfortable in.  The New Oxford American Dictionary defines survival as "the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, ordeal, or difficult circumstances."  All survival requires is that you continue to exist.  Barring extraordinary physiological considerations, survival is easy.  But living life rather than merely surviving it requires joy.

Joy is trickier to define.  I don't think the "happiness" or "delight" that the dictionary describes is truly what joy is about.  Pure joy is deeper than that, it requires a foundation of peace and fulfillment that has nothing to do with outside circumstances.  You can be happy or feel delight without experiencing joy. Joy is a gift; a gift that I believe is not available in my life without Christ.  It begins with the assurance we have through our faith in Christ of eternal survival.  The contentment that the promise of salvation brings is what makes joy possible.  The promise of joy gives me hope.  Hope that I can endure, and that survival will be worthwhile.  Joy is to survive.  Succinct, no, but an explanation nonetheless.

There are times when the quest for joy is full of excited anticipation.  Right now it seems so distant that it may never be acheivable.  Sometimes we have to focus on survival for a season.  Absent survival, joy is not only impossible, it is meaningless.  Survival is unlike joy in that it is a choice we make, and it's not always an easy one.  Making the choice doesn't guarantee that we will survive in what we consider to be intact or whole.  And what nobody ever tells you about survival is that you don't get to choose the part of you that survives.