When we can differentiate between happiness and joy, we gain wisdom
August 30, 2026
George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 – 9 June 1924) was an English mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and his climbing partner Andrew “Sandy” Irvine were last seen ascending near Everest’s summit during the 1924 expedition, prompting speculation as to whether they reached it before they died.
Famously, when asked by a reporter why he wanted to climb Everest, Mallory purportedly replied, “Because it’s there.”
Claire is there, for a bit. Claire, a newborn, is a source of great joy to every member of the family. Claire unifies the family of very diverse adults, who have varied interests and some commonalities – football & gym for the boys and spirituality & fashion for the girls – and food is perhaps the other unifying factor, with each missing out on their real calling to be a food critic.
However, when Claire is around, all else becomes mundane. She is the centre of all attention and the world to them.
Like all sources of happiness, one day Claire will move to her own home, after the traditional 90 days at the grandparents’ home for rest, recuperation, and care a child needs (in fact, a village is needed to raise a child, as is said). And the same happens to parents when their children have to bid goodbye to form their own nuclear family units. It is Biblical: The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” (Gen 12:1)
Happiness is transient when the source is another person. Joy is different from happiness. It is purposeful with no dependencies.
God’s prophets and saints symbolise this pain-filled joy that is not to be partaken here and now. The prophets in the Old Testament had to call people to repentance before God’s wrath is unleashed on them. A thankless, joyless task. I don’t say it. Prophet Jeremiah did, complaining:
“7 You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So, the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long.” (Jer 20:7-8)
On the other hand, Peter did not think he was called to a “thankless, joyless” life. But a life where he would reign beside Jesus.
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:18-19)
Just imagine that “keys of the kingdom of heaven” – all for proclaiming “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16). Was Peter even listening when Jesus said, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” Or did Peter interpret what Jesus was saying to mean that God was now speaking to Peter directly?
It would stand to reason that Peter thought exactly that. When Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. What did Peter do? Was God speaking to him directly again? 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus lost it (in a loving sense) and singed Peter. 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Jeremiah, while ruing it, was carrying the cross. Peter, in his charged hubris of self-importance, was carrying images of being the Supreme Leader. If he says come, they will come. If he says go, they will go. Said with pride and not with the humility of the centurion.
8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Mt 8:8-9)
From an imagined princely status, momentarily, Peter became a stumbling block. Driven by unhindered motivations.
Jeremiah’s motivation was only one – doing the will of God – whatever the price to be paid. In fact, Jeremiah was not even in control of his motivations. 9 But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.” (Jer 20:7)
In the Book of Acts, Peter too becomes a Jeremiah. He became a rock. He built the Catholic Church. The gates of Hades have shaken it often but could not overcome it. Why? Because Jesus said so. The power of the Word of God. What the Word can do for us if we truly and unflinchingly embrace it. “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous. (Joshua 1:8)
Edmund Hillary and fellow mountaineer Tenzing Norgay were the first two people to reach the summit of the tallest peak on Earth, Mount Everest, in 1953. The gruelling expedition required extensive planning, and the climbers displayed remarkable self-control during the ascent. Hillary reportedly summarised the lesson of the adventure with this eloquent quotation: It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.
Jeremiah had a mountain of rebuke and physical harm he had to bear. Peter, after his transformation, likewise. They became a living sacrifice as Paul did – living his words for Christ. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom 12:1-2)
On what do we stake our happiness? What is transient? Or what is eternal?
- Mathew Anthony
