155: Angela Williams Gorrell and Miroslav Volf: On Joy and Sorrow (Best of NSE)

May 9 2024 • 48 mins

What is joy? Is it equatable with happiness, or pleasure, or both? Is it to be found in a career, or a romantic partner, or a religion? And if we were to manage it, would our lives forever be free from sorrow, pain, and suffering?

In this episode, two guests discuss joy, describing both what it is and, perhaps more importantly, what it is not. Author and professor Angela Williams Gorrell, who was teaching a class on joy at Yale when she lost three people that she loved in a four-week span, describes her personal experience of finding joy amidst loss. And Yale theologian Miroslav Volf, himself no stranger to suffering growing up in a war torn country, explains the connection between joy and sorrow.

Show Notes:

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Resources mentioned this episode

The Gravity of Joy by Angela Williams Gorrell

The Epidemic of Despair

PDF of Lee’s Interview Notes - Angela Williams Gorrell

Transcription Link

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