What if the secret to joy isn’t found on your best day, but on your worst? 

In this conversation with psychologist and theologian Richard Beck, we talk about the surprising shape of joy.

Richard will reveal why the usual ways we chase happiness—success, recognition, self-esteem—leave us empty, and how real joy shows up in unexpected places like a prison cell. Instead of playing endless “hero games” of comparison and achievement, joy grows when we remember that we matter, that we belong, and that life itself is a gift. 

Through it all, he will show how joy is less a fleeting feeling and more a meaning-making practice that carries us through suffering.

Speaker bio: 

Richard Beck (PhD) is the Senior Fellow of the Landon Saunders Center for Joy and Human Flourishing at Abilene Christian University. Richard has published numerous books concerning the integration of faith and psychology, most recently The Shape of Joy: The Transformative Power of Moving Beyond Yourself.