What we’re wanting to do here is to shake up both over-familiarity (for those who have been reading the Bible for a long time) that can sometimes cause the Bible to feel stale, as well as to think more deeply about what some of the ancient words and metaphors really mean, and what they might look and sound like in our present day context.
Joy indeed. Joy – or happiness – is a funny thing. We tend to think that when we have enough good things in our lives (when we have the stuff we need or want, when we have the relationships we need or want) then we’ll be happy. But it doesn’t typically work that way...