How to Practice Joy Through Delight and Celebration: Feasting, embodiment, and the joy God designed for us

What if joy is not something we stumble into, but something we intentionally practice? In this episode of Peachtree's Cultivate podcast, Justin Whitmel Earley joins Dr. Richard Kannwischer to explore joy as a form of holy delight, grounded in God’s love for creation and expressed through embodied practices like feasting, celebration, and shared life.

Drawing on Scripture, neuroscience, and theology, Justin helps us understand the difference between fleeting pleasure and lasting joy. From dopamine cycles to biblical rhythms of fasting and feasting, this conversation reframes joy as a gift God delights in giving and a discipline we are invited to cultivate. Together, they reflect on why food, friendship, celebration, and even sexuality play such a central role in the Christian vision of joy, not as indulgences to be feared, but as signs pointing toward God’s goodness.

In a culture shaped by cynicism, shame, and restraint divorced from delight, this episode invites us to recover a joyful, embodied faith that celebrates what God has made.