The Honor Code concludes with what might seem like a rather absurd suggestion—that we ought to be joyful in the face of difficulty.  But it is important to understand that what we are called to is not to enjoy difficulties, but to be joyful in the face of them.  And there is a big difference.

Enjoying difficulty itself reflects disordered affections—it is like taking pleasure in pain.  Nobody in their right mind likes to drop a brick on their toe.  That is not what the Honor Code is talking about.  But neither does it call us to be joyful by avoiding difficulty.  Rather, joy in the face of difficulty comes from seeing the good, not in the hardship itself, but in how facing it and persevering through it will make us better.

Frederick Douglass knew this better than most.  The former slave and eventual leader of the abolitionist movement, put it plainly: “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” 

When you face a difficulty—schoolwork you find too challenging; a friendship that has been fractured; a circumstance that makes you sad; discipline that is hard for you to bear—running from the difficulty or pretending like it is not challenging or unpleasant only prevents you from making progress.  It will deprive you of the opportunity to become a stronger student, a better friend, a more resilient and virtuous person.

Instead, look difficulty in the face, and you might just find yourself joyful in seeing the good that will come of it.