The opening soul-training exercise in this book is holy leisure—doing nothing, for God’s sake. The narrative this practice reinforces is, “You are not in control, you did nothing to be here, God does not need you to run the universe, so be at peace, relax.” The closing soul-training exercise for this book is celebration. Celebration is the natural concluding exercise of this book because we celebrate all that God has done and will do for us. We celebrate because we know that no matter how much suffering there is in this life, there is far more joy that awaits us in the next.

The central theme of this book is this: you have a soul, it has deep needs, and Jesus fulfills those needs. This book is a celebration of who we are, so it is fitting that we end with the future of what God will do for us and allow that future to enter into our present. We do this through the practice of celebration. This is not celebration for the sake of celebration, but a celebration of what Jesus has done for and in and through us.

“Celebration is at the heart of the way of Christ,” writes Richard J. Foster. And Dallas Willard liked to say, “God is the most joyous being in the universe,” which always shocked people to hear. But the Trinity is not grim. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are alive and filled with joy. Celebration is a way we participate in the life of the Trinity. We are called into a “jubilee of the Spirit.” Celebration, as a discipline for the spiritual life, makes us joyful and strong.

Celebration is something we love to do—there are countless holidays and birthdays and special occasions, such as engagements and baby showers, weddings and retirement parties. While those can all be wonderful, the kind of celebration I am encouraging you to engage in this week is an intentional act of celebrating the goodness of God. Celebration is actually a discipline. And it is something our souls long for. Not the wild parties where people get intoxicated on a substance in order to feel good, but a joyful gathering where people celebrate the goodness of God.

Celebration, writes Adele Calhoun, is “a way of engaging in actions that orient the spirit, the transcendent dimension within us, to worship, praise and thanksgiving,” as well as “delighting in all the attentions and never-changing presence of the Trinity.” These are needs of the soul. Our souls are made for delight, which is why we seek pleasure so often. But the delight that our soul finds most nourishing is delighting in the Lord. This does not mean that our celebration has to be of a religious nature. We can sing and dance, we can have fun and laugh, and we can feast with our friends, as ways of celebrating. What matters is the object of our celebration. It is not just an excuse to have fun.

We celebrate the God who celebrates us. God, we are told in the Bible, sings over us:

God rejoiced at your birth, and said it was very good. And God rejoices over you every single moment of your life.

The joy that awaits us in the new creation is beyond what we can ever imagine. But the discipline of celebration is a kind of preparation. It is a foretaste of the glory divine. So, how do we engage in the practice of celebration? The following are ways I have found helpful:

• Invite friends over for a “thanksgiving” meal—not the usual Thanksgiving holiday in November, but a gathering to give thanks for great things God has done and is doing.

• Host a dance party. My friends Matt and Catherine host a dance party in their home as a way to allow people to gather and dance and not feel self-conscious. They even have a mirror ball!

• Relish a good comedy movie or stand-up comedy routine—assuming you can find one that fits your taste and sense of decency.

• Make a routine family event special. Every month or two our family gathers for a special brunch in which we prepare everyone’s favorite foods.

• Take advantage of existing holidays and festivals: Christmas, Easter, All Saints’ Day, May Day, etc. Make them real celebrations of God, and not merely an excuse to throw a party.

We celebrate because our souls love it. We celebrate because God commands it: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). We celebrate because our God is the most joyous being in the universe. And we celebrate as a way to remind us that when Christ, who is our life, appears, we will also appear with him in glory.