“The Pursuit of Happiness” is one of our God Given Rights and is included in the Preamble of the Constitution of our United States. This subject has been a favorite one of preachers, philosophers, politicians, and poet since long before our Nation was established. Scientist have avoided the subject because it deals with human emotions and sentiments, which do not lend themselves to measurement or objective evaluations.
My thoughts go to this subject because we are approaching the time of the year for us to celebrate the forming of the greatest nation on earth – these United States of America. Independence Day should be recognized for the freedoms that our forefathers sought in establishing our nation. This Independence has been tested by many of our youngest and brightest having to go to foreign lands to defend our rights. As we just memorialized the many who paid the supreme sacrifice by giving their lives in defense of freedom proved “Freedom is Not Free!”
A University of Michigan’s Institute of Social Research found no relationship between happiness and money, or happiness and educational level. I’m sure that our educational system would not like for us to emphasize that a high school dropout with money to pay his bills is as happy as a college graduate under similar circumstances.
The major factor influencing happiness is expectation. Those who get more in life than they expected tend to be happier than those who achieve less than expected. Those who seem to have everything are not necessarily happier. After a while, they get used to abundance and getting more has no substantial effect. It has been said that J. Paul Getty, who at the time was the world’s richest man, when asked what would bring him the most happiness, replied, “One more dollar!”
Good health does not guarantee happiness, and poor health does not rule it out! When I think of the happy handicapped, I think of Teresa, who came to live with us as a foster sister, Although born with a severe handicap, she was happier than most people I know.
Those with strong religious feelings, but voice no strong religious actions, are no happier than those without such feelings. Among those with religious belief, those who practice their faith frequently are happier than those who do not practice their faith. When deep religious activities are replaced with other pursuits, the happiness level goes down quickly!
There was a time in America’s history when Christianity and happiness were incompatible. The Puritans regarded their religion as too serious to include the lighter side of life. Preachers refrained from telling humorous stories in the pulpit, as that was considered sacrilegious. Devout congregants lived in the shadow of gloom. Like this comic strip character, they carried their own rain clouds around them. They were taught to feel guilty when they laughed. An elderly gentleman described to his aged friends as never happier “than he was when he was miserable”. The idea prevailed that suffering must come before one deserved happiness and that would never happen here on earth!
In that generation, when working hours were long and life was hard, millions looked to the afterlife for their happiness. Heaven would supply what they were deprived of here on earth. Today’s world would lead us to conclude that we demand instant gratification. We do not want to wait for a post-mortem reward. We want our cake and eat it too – happiness here and now, no matter what the cost!
The same study by the University of Michigan found that the quality of life in a community can not be measured alone by the size of its library, the symphony orchestra, the number of schools, the employment level, the per capita income, and/or the number of boat ramps and bait shops. The quality of life also involved the number of churches and their effectiveness as measured by community involvement, the spirit of the people as reflected in their willingness to give for the common good, and the prevailing standards of morality.
There is no risk-proof society nor is there a perfect prescription for human happiness. We often are searching for happiness “in all the wrong places”! The best prescription that has ever been devised is centered in the basic principles contained in God’s Word – goodness, love, sharing, and caring. No better route has been found than outlined in the Beatitudes – “The Happy Ones,” proclaimed by Jesus from the mountain top. Living for Jesus Christ will not automatically produce happiness in one’s life, but learning how to live for Jesus will promise happiness here and now as well as in the hereafter.
