In spite of the struggle toward survival of the fittest, can joy reign? Aquinas offers a clear and blunt answer to this big question. He attributes the existence of the universe not only to joy but also to the inherent desire within joy to be shared with others.
Joy begs for sharing. Who wants to be joyful all alone? Isn’t joy naturally oriented to expansion, including others and sharing the joy? That is what Aquinas proposes. The greatest of joy, that of divinity itself, seeks to share the joy and not hoard it. Fear restricts; but Joy expands and seeks companions with whom to share itself. “Sheer Joy is God’s and this demands companionship.”
Furthermore, “God delights. God is always rejoicing and doing so with a single and simple delight. In fact, it is appropriate to say that love and joy are the only human emotions that we can attribute literally to God.” Aquinas is a long way from a punitive father God.
It follows that for Aquinas, Joy is at the heart of the universe—what else would follow from the teaching of the original goodness, or original blessing? After all, goodness renders us joyful. We seek its company, we want it around, and we smile in its presence.
Aquinas returns to this theme of the presence of joy on many occasions. For example, he says that “God is supremely joyful and therefore supremely conscious.” Is it true that joy and consciousness go together? Is it true that we are most alive when we are most joyful? Does joy do that to us? Aquinas attributes the consciousness of Divinity to the amount of joy that Divinity carries.
Is that when we see the world in all its brightness and splendor? Do consciousness and joy play off of each other? If so, maybe learning and education should begin with joy-making and consciousness expanding to bring alive our depths.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times, pp. 34f.
And Matthew Fox, Sheer Joy: Conversations on Creation Spirituality with Thomas Aquinas, pp. 100, 118.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video teaching, click HERE.
Banner Image: Laughing with the Leaves. Photo by Noémi Macavei-Katócz on Unsplash.
Queries for Contemplation
Is your joy large enough to embrace the sorrow and disappointment in life? How do we grow our joy?
Recommended Reading
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality
Matthew Fox renders Thomas Aquinas accessible by interviewing him and thus descholasticizing him. He also translated many of his works such as Biblical commentaries never before in English (or Italian or German of French). He gives Aquinas a forum so that he can be heard in our own time. He presents Thomas Aquinas entirely in his own words, but in a form designed to allow late 20th-century minds and hearts to hear him in a fresh way.
“The teaching of Aquinas comes through will a fullness and an insight that has never been present in English before and [with] a vital message for the world today.” ~ Fr. Bede Griffiths (Afterword).
Foreword by Rupert Sheldrake
4 thoughts on “More on Joy a la Thomas Aquinas”
Matthew, You ask today, “Is your joy large enough to embrace the sorrow and disappointment in life? How do we grow our joy?” To this I would say that just as I believe it is true, what Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi said, “There is more good than evil in the world, but not by much.” I believe that by focusing on the good, we ourselves are transformed into the good, for as it says in 2 Corinthians 3: 18: “By beholding we are changed.” And that too, is how I grow my joy. One other thing I would like to say about today’s meditation is, when you says, “Joy begs for sharing. Who wants to be joyful all alone? Isn’t joy naturally oriented to expansion, including others and sharing the joy? That is what Aquinas proposes.” And I agree whole-heartedly that joy needs to be shared. “Sheer Joy is God’s and this demands companionship.”
I appreciate today’s comments by Mathew, emphasizing that joy is a choice rather than a feeling, although positive feelings do arise as a result of choosing joy. Also when one does makes this choice, especially in the face of life’s disappointments and sorrows, one does experience a shift in conscious awareness. I think of those moments in my life, when this shift has occurred, where in the midst of this movement I find myself crying and laughing at the same time, or making a humorous comment that suddenly emerges from within words of sorrow. Most often all of this has unfolded within the companionship of another, whom has held a compassionate space for me and in offering this caring friendship of solidarity, of sharing in my disappointment and sorrows, I am en-couraged to move from the via negativa into the via positiva more easily.
It has often been said, that misery loves company… perhaps the deeper meaning and truth of this is… that this is where misery meets mercy and in that kiss of attentively being present to and in solidarity with another, aleviating ones pain and sorrow in and through the disappointments in life… joy begins to arise again within ones conscious awareness, as one is en-couraged to make the choice of shaking the dust off one’s feet… to begin yet again. Gratitude then follows… that of knowing that you are not alone in either the sorrows or the joys, the laughter or the tears. Khahil Gabran wrote of this experience beautifully in his prophetic, mystical poetry.
Jeanette, You speak today of both joy and sorrow, but perhaps a bit more about sorrow. Aquinas says that, “Sheer Joy is God’s and this demands companionship,” and you speak of how “within the companionship of another, whom has held a compassionate space for me and in offering this caring friendship of solidarity, of sharing in my disappointment and sorrows, I am en-couraged to move from the via negativa into the via positiva more easily.” And this movement brings us to joy!
Thank you Matthew for reminding us of God’s Living Spirit of Love~Wisdom~Truth~Beauty~ .Compassion~Joy~Creativity~Oneness within and around us in our daily relationships with one another, all creatures, nature, creation, and the Cosmos in the Sacred Process of the Eternal Present…. 🔥❤️🙏