When I was 16, I had a turquoise blue 1956 Chevy Belair. It was jacked-up in the back, with big, wide tires in the rear and had a glass-pack muffler that made it louder than a standard muffler. It had bench seats, a very large steering wheel and some additional gauges I had added. It had a 265 V8 engine and was my most prized possession. I installed an 8-track player (which was the popular format in 1972 for music players) and four speakers; two in the side doors and two under the rear window. I had a collection of 8-track tapes of the most popular rock music of the time.
Driving home from my job at 2am in that ’56 Chevy with the speakers blaring “I’m Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band” by the Moody Blues was pure joy.
It is funny that a car and a rudimentary stereo system could provide so much happiness, but when you are 16, it can. It represents a certain freedom and independence, along with owning something you worked for and bought, and that all added up to a real joy. The fact that I can remember that experience all these decades later is a testament to the level of joy that it produced.
That particular type of joy was hard to duplicate until my son was born. That was a different kind of joy though; not a feeling of freedom or abandon, but the joy of being much older than when most people have their first child and still experiencing that joy. It is a joy that every parent understands.
As people get older, they have fewer opportunities to experience the kind of joy that driving a first car might bring. They do get the chance to repeat the joy of the birth of their children if they are lucky enough to be grandparents. That is a gift to people who have grown older.
In the Bible, in the Book of James, we are told to “count it all joy” during the good times and bad. It is accepting Jesus that brings joy that transcends all other types of joy. I even started a website on March 1, 2010 called “NewsofJoy.com.” Every year, I pay to renew the domain names (NewofJoy.net also) and update the site regularly. That has been more than 15 years of maintaining a website that declares the “Good News of Jesus Christ.” The whole purpose was to let other people know that this is life’s greatest joy.
Still, I don’t begrudge people, especially people of my generation, for seeking out something that will bring them joy. Why wouldn’t they? If a car will take them back to the joy of that first car or something that is part of a hobby brings them joy or a vacation to an exotic locale, a prized watch or a boat or a house, it may be good for them on several levels. Jesus would top any of these lists, but if someone already knows Jesus, and they understand that joy, then also enjoying one of these other things that isn’t worshipped, is okay.
In Psalm 30, it says: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.”
Many people, as they get older, may rely on one of “life’s simple pleasures” to find joy. And if they are able to, then this may be a good joy to have; finding joy in a sunset or quiet morning, a cup of coffee and a favorite bagel at the start of the day, a ride on a bike or a boat trip out on the lake, a day at the beach or the perfect pizza.
For me, it is living for Christ with a distant second being those drives in a ’56 Chevy with the Moody Blues coming through four speakers. Count it all joy.
