Joy just is. It’s not in the lights or the stars, in getting or giving presents; nor is it in gathering with friends and family, although one might, or might not, be aware of joy in any of these experiences. Experiences come and go; joy is a spiritual quality that is unchanging. It manifests through awareness of it.

We are so used to thinking of our lives and our well-being as something we have, or something we do that it can seem impossible to discover the presence of joy; active and available right now, regardless of the circumstances.

If it’s raining or snowing or sunny – that is what is. Thoughts about it – whether we like it or not, whether it is in line with our plans or against it, will determine our experience of the weather. It’s the same with everything. There is what Is – and what Is, is always the same: it’s the everywhere, activity of good. The eternal “what Is” is always available and present, yet most often veiled by our thoughts.

What Is, is here for anyone to become aware of. All it requires is putting aside our thoughts of what we think it should or should not be; what we want and what we don’t want. In old hymns such as “Joy to the World,” the words “Lord” and “King” refer to what Is: the supreme source of existence.

What Is, is what we are too. Everything and everyone are expressions of what Is – regardless of whether they know it or not. Joy is one of the qualities of what Is, and we are joyful to the extent we are aware that we are expressions of what Is.

As we grow with this understanding what Is is expressed as who we are. This is joy expressed as joyfulness. “Joy to the world.”