Gratitude Comes Before Joy [Reflections for Advent Week 3]

The theme for the third week of Advent is Joy. One thing that I’ve thought about this year is the relationship between gratitude and joy. I started off thinking that we are grateful as a result of joy. For example, I have a great family that brings me joy, and because of that, I am grateful. Or my boss just praised me for doing a great job on a recent project which brings me joy, and as a result I feel grateful.

But it seems I may have been mistaken.

Researcher and author Brene Brown says that...