Happiness Is

Happiness.
What is it? Why is it so central to man’s being? Why is its pursuit central to man’s activity on earth? Does God have anything to say about happiness? Does God have anything to do with man’s happiness? Can we bring about our own happiness? Can we destroy our own happiness? Would anyone deliberately set out to be unhappy? Would unhappiness ever be our goal in life?
Happiness drives people – the search for it, that is. People don’t do this because they have nothing else to do. It is because happiness is at the very core of the meaning for his or her life. Happy is what we are meant to be. Why is there so much unhappiness when happiness should mark our days? Why is man so unsure of what true happiness is? Why does man look in all the wrong places for happiness? Why does man dismiss God as relevant when God is the source of all happiness?
God is the source of all happiness. How does God “give” us happiness? How do we stay happy if we find happiness in God? What, exactly, is happiness?
You’ve heard the beatitudes: how happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of God; happy the meek, they shall have the earth for their heritage; happy those who mourn, they shall be comforted; happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right, they shall be satisfied; happy the merciful, they shall have mercy shown them; happy the pure in heart, they shall see God; happy the peacemakers, they shall be called sons of God; happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.
Happy they, happy those, happy the… Happy is he or she who… These statements of Jesus tell where to look for happiness. They give us the secret to happiness that endures, that lasts, that survives whatever life brings us. They produce a state of heart and mind, or rather, they come from a state of heart and mind that is at peace, is whole and not fractured, is certain in its identity, knows who it is, and rejoices in it.
They also come from a heart and mind and spirit that is hopeful, that knows a direction in life that is complete, and where nothing else is needed. No frantic search is on for something missing, no sense of emptiness fills the soul that nothing seems able to fill, no thrashing around for theories on how to be happy is undertaken.
Here in these short eight statements is the key to our happiness, each and every one of us, each and every person on earth, each and every person who ever lived. What do they mean? How do we unlock them? How do we obtain what they promise? How do we know they are true, and that we are not seeking in vain?
The key to happiness is simple: we need to know that we were made to be happy, and when we aren’t happy that fact alone is telling us that something is wrong. When we aren’t happy (and I mean by happiness that we have peace and joy in our hearts and a sense that life is wonderful and rich and worthwhile) then we have to stop and take stock, to stop and ask the question, “Why do I not have peace and joy in my heart; why do I not think life is wonderful and rich and worthwhile?” The very state of our lives can lead us into an inquiry that has answers, answers that can immeasurably advance our state of happiness.
We get a clue as to what contributes to happiness when we identify those things that contribute to unhappiness. Here are some things that make us unhappy: break up in important relationships; the loss of a good job; the loss of security; the loss of a loved one; the loss of direction in life. When we look at the opposites of these, we can see what contributes to happiness in life: the stability of important relationships; having employment that uses our talents; the feeling that all is okay and free of threats that create insecurity; having loved ones close at hand; and having a sense that my direction in life is good and worthwhile and from which I obtain peace of heart.
Life with God adds another key understanding to the quest for happiness when one comes to know the nature of God. God is good; God is whole; God is love; God loves; God is filled with joy by nature; God is giving; God is sharing of his happiness. Happiness originates in God and his creation of man in his image has imprinted on the soul of man not only the capacity for happiness but also the innate need for happiness. Man cannot stand to be unhappy; it is against his nature. Long-term unhappiness in man produces mental and emotional problems that compound the unhappiness. Man was born for happiness and wholeness and well-being. And when this doesn’t happen man strives to regain what he instinctively knows he should be.
So, happiness is linked to God in a very direct way: man’s true happiness mirrors the happiness that is in God by his nature. Happiness is not something that God has to act at as though he didn’t have it. God cannot be unhappy, even though God can be angry at offences against goodness and love. God’s happiness is so deep he created man to share in it, and he created man with the capacity and need for happiness imprinted in his very being.
Can man be happy if he is separated from God? Yes, he can, because happiness is part of his nature. Man can be happy separated from God but in a limited way. The person separated from God can be happy in the sense that his or her material and emotional needs are met, and where he or she has found their calling in life fulfilled by work. But his or her spiritual needs can never be fully met because this is linked to relationship with God.
And what are his spiritual needs? Man is also created for God, to be in union with God, and to be forever in the presence of God. Man needs God because God fulfills man in ways that nothing else in life can fulfill. So even if man achieves a degree of happiness when he is separated from God, he can never achieve the fullness of his humanity separated from God because this fullness comes from God alone, and is the fruit of relationship with God. God alone can give this fullness to man, and he gives it through relationship with him.
How can this be? Is it true? How can we test this claim to see if it is true, if it makes sense? The statement is that man’s fullness as a human being comes from God, and comes only as a product of relationship with him. Let us look at this statement, this claim, this proclamation, through three points of view to see if it makes sense.
The first point of view is from our own experience of life. When we have been the unhappiest in life what was it that brought it to an end? Let’s take, for example, the case where a person has chosen the wrong work to do for his or her career? Let’s suppose the person’s nature is to be calm and deliberate, and is happiest when things proceed at a pace where he or she can remain calm and reason things out in an orderly fashion.