Longing for Joy
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Can we still have joy in a world of pain and anxiety?
The troubles around us and in our lives lead many of us into a joyless experience where despair and hopelessness are the norm. Yet something within us still longs for a joy that transcends our challenges and gives us meaning and satisfaction.
Alastair Sterne says that our inner longings for joy actually point us to a God of joy who gives us both the capacity for joy and the realities of joyful experience. Sterne explores pathways to joy and why we often experience the absence of joy. He then offers theologically grounded and research-based practices for becoming people of joyful presence. Even if we are not temperamentally happy enthusiasts, we can gradually cultivate the deep abiding joy that we were created for and that enriches the world around us.
"In this book of joy, Alastair effortlessly—and frequently — dances between theology and culture, persuader and artist, poet and pragmatist to make this point clear: joy is available for all who seek."
"If you want joy, cultivate joy. Through rich storytelling and wise teaching, Alastair Sterne is an excellent guide to those cozy rooms, fireside parlors, and old summertime porches in that beautiful place you may have forgotten—the House of Joy."
"In his book Longing for Joy, Sterne invites us to encounter a joy that is as robust as it is mysterious, as whimsical as it is accessible, as human as it is divine. With writing that is informed, playful, and full of heart, Sterne weaves together theological thought and personal encounter, creating a hopeful tapestry of aliveness that does not eschew suffering but welcomes it in to feast at joy's table. I can imagine no better guide to joy than this."
"Alastair writes with the familiar tone of a friend who eagerly invites us to discover what he already has: joy is different from and so much better than anything we thought it to be. Through masterful storytelling, sage-like insights, and a genuine humility, Alastair has reintroduced me to joy and the face of a happy God who laughs. I am so grateful for that. We need this book and its inspiring manifesto, perhaps now more than ever."
Introduction: An Invitation
Part I: Longing for Joy
1. Presence
2. Cultivation
3. Absence
4. Joylessness
5. Longing
6. The Lady
Part II: The Story of Joy
7. The Father
8. The Son
9. Crucified
10. Resurrected
11. The Spirit
Part III: The Possibility of Joy
12. A Possibility
13. Home
14. Storytelling
15. Wisdom
16. People
17. Emotion
18. Serve
19. Creation
20. Suffering
21. Gratitudes
22. Time
Epilogue: An Ever-Widening Circle of Joy
Gratitudes
Notes