A Puppet Show on Joy

Puppet Show

October 10, 2012

A lesson in Joy

Father Phil:  Boys and Girls, I want to introduce to you the famous Roary the Lion.  Here’s Roary!

Roary:  Roar!  Roar!  Hello boys and girls.  How are you today?  Roar!  I’ve got to clear my throat.  I must have swallowed a hair ball.  Roar!  Cough!  Okay what do you want, Big Daddy Phil.

Father Phil:  Roary, they don’t call me big daddy.  They call me Father Phil.  But now that you’re here, would you help teach us a lesson today?

Roary:  Okay, what do you want to teach?

Father Phil: I want you to teach these children about joy.

Roary:  Joy?  I once had a cousin named Joy.  How do you think she got the name Joy?

Father Phil:  Well, joy is something very wonderful and that’s why we want to learn about joy.

Roary:  Well, first do you think these children can help me spell joy?  It’s only three letters.  Give me a “J”.

All:  “J”

Roary:  Give me an “O.”

All: “O”

Roary: Give me a “Y.”

All:  “Y”

Roary:  And what does that spell?

All:  It spells joy.

Roary:  Yes, it spells joy.

Father Phil:  Roary, but we need to do more than spell joy; we need to understand what joy is.

Roary:  Well, first of all joy is a wonderful gift from God. 

Father Phil:  How do you know it is a gift?

Roary:  Have you ever seen a baby smile?

Father Phil:  Yes, I have seen lots of babies smile.  I love to see babies smiles.  It makes me very happy.

Roary:  Well, joy is a smiling baby.

Father Phil:  Is joy the same thing as happiness?

Roary:  It is like happiness but it is more than happiness.

Father Phil:  How is joy more than happiness?

Roary: Joy is a gift from God.  Happiness depends upon what happens.  Did you know that that you can have joy but also be sad?

Father Phil:  How can I have joy and still be sad?

Roary:  Well, when you fall scrape your knee, are you happy?

Father Phil:  Well, no.  I am sad to hurt my knee.

Roary:  But even when you hurt your knee and when you are sad, there are so many other good things in your life.  Like you have parents who love you.  A teacher will give you a Band Aid.  Your puppy will still be friendly to you.  The sun will still shine.   The trees will still be beautiful. 

Father Phil:  So just because one bad thing happens to me to make me sad; at the same time there is so much that is good and lovely and beautiful in this world, I can still have joy in my life because life is still very good.

Roary:  Bingo!  Joy means you know deep in your heart that life is still very good, even if sometimes you are sad about something bad that has happened to you.

Father Phil:  You know that I don’t know why a baby smiles.  A baby cannot talk and tell me why she is happy.

Roary:  Well, I think God made babies to know joy and so they smile just because they are alive.  And that’s how you know that joy is a gift from God.

Father Phil:  Thank you Roary for teaching us about joy.

Roary:  You’re welcome.  And boys and girls can you be thankful for the gift of joy?

Father Phil:  Now let me see a big joyful smile.

Roary:  Can you say, “Thank you God for the gift of Joy!”

All:  Thank you God for the gift of Joy.

Roary:  Bye, bye and have a very joyful day!

Father Phil: Bye, bye Roary and thank you for the lesson about joy.