Unresolved Joy

Student Ministries Pastoral Letter | September 2025

A little over a month ago, a friend asked me to read C.S. Lewis’s space trilogy. He said, “I just finished it, and I need you to read it so we can talk about it.” Honestly, I had never heard of it, but Emma and I have an hour in the car every morning, and I thought she might enjoy listening to it with me.

We’re a book and a half into the trilogy, and it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. The books are good—like really good. Nerdy, yes—but good. The genre is something like spiritual science-fiction (spi-fi?). Highly recommend!

But, genius as they are, it’s not the imaginative narrative, the skillful writing, or the theological themes themselves that have made this such a memorable experience. Rather, it’s the memory of sharing it all with my daughter. For the rest of our lives, every time we think about these books, we will remember not just the story, but that we experienced it together.

Six times in the New Testament (two times each from Jesus, Paul, and John), we see the phrase, “make my joy complete.” It’s an expression we don’t really use today, so it’s easy to miss its importance. In every case, the Scriptures are communicating something very similar to what my buddy felt when he read the books but didn’t have anyone to talk to about them. His joy was real and significant, but incomplete, unresolved, until shared with someone else.

What’s something you’re enjoying that you could share with your child? Better yet, how might you make their joy complete by joining in something that they love? Let’s look for opportunities to practice the ministry of incarnation – being fully with those we love, choosing shared experiences over solo hobbies.

For me that means less Madden and more Animal Crossing; less Lencioni and more Tolkien; less The Office and more The Chosen. When our lives are full of things that we can’t share with those we love, we don’t leave much room for the kind of joy we were created to experience. As always, I’m praying this for you – please pray the same for me.

For the kingdom,

Ryan Carson