Brother David Steindl-Rast, in his book, “The Way of Silence: Engaging the Sacred in Everyday Life,” writes about the connection between the joy Jesus speaks to in today’s verse and gratefulness. Brother David makes the case that most of us go through life missing its true splendor because “We plod along half-blind, half-deaf, with all our senses throttled, and numbed by habituation. How much joy is lost on us? How many surprises do we miss? It is as if Easter eggs had been hidden under every bush, and we were too lazy to look for them.” Joy goes beyond happiness because joy is not dependent on what happens. Joy springs from gratitude, which is the key to living life in its fullness. Here is a little exercise Brother David offers to help connect us to understanding gratefulness in a way that will lead to experiencing “complete” joy. Tomorrow morning, before you open your eyes, reflect on the reality that, at this very instant, there are millions of blind people in the world. Linger on that thought for a few moments. Now open your eyes. You are most likely initially grateful that you can still see. Brother David says, “As soon as we stop taking our eyesight for granted, gifts spring into our eyes which we did not even recognize as gifts before. To recognize a gift as gift is the first step towards gratefulness.” Since gratefulness is the key to joy, we hold the key to joy, the key to what we most desire, in our own hands.