September 19th, 2019
“So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next.”
Philosopher Thomas Hobbes (re: Calvin and Hobbes!) was born on April 5, 1588 to a clergyman and his wife in Wiltshire, England and later went to Oxford for his education. Memorably, he called life “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Thomas Jefferson (you know his details) argued that the pursuit of happiness – and by logical extension its acquisition - was an inalienable right endowed by our Creator. Somewhere in between, the Serenity Prayer concludes with this hope: reasonable happiness in this life and supreme happiness with God in the next.
The Bible has widely divergent views on the subject. Job 5:7 tells us “man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.” Yet, Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Are you glass half full or half empty? What I know is that happiness is only experienced as a by-product of a life laid down and given away in love. When happiness becomes a goal, a pursuit, it will always be just out of reach.
“O heavenly Father, who has filled this world with beauty: Open our eyes to behold your gracious hand in all your works; that, rejoicing in your whole creation, we may learn to serve you with gladness; for the sake of him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (For Joy in God’s Creation – BCP p. 814)
