The Command of Joy

Over the last little while I have started going to a ladies group called Coffee Break. My previous notion of it being an Old Ladies' Club have left; I quite enjoy my time spent with women of all ages, taking advantage of free child care, getting out of the house, and discussing and studying a book.
The book we have been reading and discussing is called "The Life You've Always Wanted," by John Ortberg; so far it is proving to be a refreshing and challenging read. This week's chapter is written about the practice of celebration and living a joy-filled life; it has given me much to think about. Joy is "the serious business of heaven" according to C.S. Lewis. It is "God's basic character." It is, as Karl Barth states, "'a defiant nevertheless' set at a full stop against bitterness and resentment." It is a command and nonoptional way of living.
The chapter argues that joy is at the heart of God Himself. He writes:
"because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again;" and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown up people are not strong enough to exalt in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning "Do it again" to the sun and every evening "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them."
In an exercise in contrast, Ortberg goes on to imagine the opening of the book of Genesis if God approached work with lack of joy and in the way that we so often do:
"In the beginning it was nine o'clock, so God had to go to work. He filled out a requisition to separate light from darkness. He considered making stars to beautify the night and planets to fill the skies, but thought it sounded like too much work; and besides, thought God, "that's just not my job." So he decided to knock off early and call it a day. And he looked at what he had done and He said, "It'll have to do... And God made a pigeon to fly in the air, and a carp to swim in the waters, and a cat to creep upon dry ground. And God thought about making millions of other species of all sizes and shapes and colours, but He couldn't drum up any enthusiasm for any other animal - in fact, he wasn't too crazy about the cat. So God looked at all He had done, and God said "It'll have to do. And at the end of the week, God was seriously burned out. So he breathed a big sigh of relief, and said, "Thank Me, it's Friday."