Learning Joy from a Toy

Learning Joy from a Toy

Joy is what everybody longs for. Most of us have sought it through selfishness, lust and greed. And we have discovered that these ways are fleeting, shallow and leaves us empty in the end.

So how do we find joy?

Let Woody show you.

Woody is one of the main characters in the animated trilogy Toy Story. Woody always knew who he was and his purpose. So what are they?

1. He belong to Andy
2. He is a toy made for the enjoyment of others.
3. He is happy when he is giving happiness to children.

Woody does not live for himself. He always reminds his fellow toys that he and they belong to Andy. And then shows the bottom of his boots with “Andy” marked on it.

Like Woody we who are baptized have been marked. Baptism seals a Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. St Paul says: “And that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.” 1 Cor 6: 19-20. We do not belong to ourselves, Christ owns us.

It is hard for us to stomach all this "belonging to Christ" talk. In a society where “freedom” and “independence” is the ultimate good, God has become a threat. “It’s my way or the highway” is the modern culture’s motto. Has our way lead us to the joy we are looking for? Or is it just a long highway of loneliness and misery?

The media has done a great job sowing the seeds of discontent by constantly reminding us of what we “don’t have” instead of what “we can give.” So we are in the vicious “If-I-Only-Have-This-I-Will-Be-Happy” cycle. Wake up call, you will never have everything you want in this world. They are found in heaven.

God created us to love. Love is our joy.

The self is given to be given away.

The toys in Toy Story are most joyful when they were played with. The last thing they wanted was to be left in the trunk, useless. Most of us have shut ourselves in the trunk of our own selfishness. We have chosen to live in a dark, lonely and miserable place. And we delude ourselves it is a happy place.

We are most ourselves when we forget ourselves. Getting lost in love (agape) is where we will find our true identity and meaning.

Be a give-joy and not a killjoy.