A theology of joy requires the ability to see beyond the present moment. This sense of being seen by God becomes the tipping point for a theology of joy. It reminds us that we are creative agents within the long story that God is telling.
Alice Walker’s novel Possessing the Secret of Joy bears this out in its dramatic conclusion. As Tashi Johnson goes to the firing squad, punishment for fighting the edicts of history, her sisters unfurl a banner before the soldiers can stop them. “Resistance is the secret of joy,” it says in huge block letters. “There is a roar as if the world cracked open and I flew inside,” says Tashi upon seeing the banner. “I am no more. And [am] satisfied.”