The Difference Between Happiness and Joy

The real difference between happiness and joy is that one is grounded in this world, the other in eternity. Happiness cannot encompass suffering and evil. Joy can. 

Happiness depends on the present. Joy leaps into the future and triumphantly creates a new present out of it.”

Elise Boulding
Quaker Scholar of Peace
Photo credit: Jon Watts

Take a moment to locate your joy. How is your joy leaping into the future to triumphantly create a new present?

How do you live your life to affirm the sacredness of the everyday?

How do you turn daily habits into opportunities for connection to Spirit? How have you noticed the sacred appear in the mundane?

This week’s messages are guest edited by Jon Watts, Quaker songwriter, videographer, and founder of Thee Quaker Project (the organization that publishes the Daily Quaker Message). Find out more about Jon.

Author

  • Elise Boulding

    Elise M. Boulding (July 6, 1920 – June 24, 2010) was a Norwegian-born American Quaker sociologist, activist, and author. She was a major contributor to creating the academic discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies.

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