The article soon lost me in its scientific and medical
explanations about happiness as a genetic trait and complex chemical functions
of the brain. I couldn’t make sense of
the terms and I don’t fully understand or trust all the genetic arguments about
our inheriting happiness genes from our ancestors who set out to conquer the
New World.
But, I think I know what happiness is. I know when I am happy. And I know when I am not. I am not always
sure why I feel happy or why I don’t.
I clearly know when my wife is happy. We have a saying around our house, that “when
momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
I am not sure where we found that nugget of truth, but we immediately recognized
its relevance. When my wife is happy, I tend to be happy. Maybe it works the
other way. We clearly affect each other.
Sometimes I can bring her down. Sometimes she can bring me up. But the
happiness of one clearly affects the happiness of the other. Fortunately I
married someone who is almost always happy.
The article did have some interesting stats, like most news
magazine articles do. In spite of our Declaration of Independence, and more
than two centuries of pursuing happiness, Americans are apparently not all that
happy compared to the rest of the world. Here are some interesting global observations:
“When it comes to work-life balance and life satisfaction,
Canadians score significantly higher than Americans while making considerably
less.” “Panama reports the highest
levels of happiness, although almost a third of the population lives below the
poverty line.” “China’s economic boom in recent decades has corresponded with a
decline in its citizen’s life-satisfaction rate.” “Debt-laden Ireland faces a
gloomy future, yet its population is among the cheeriest on the planet,
reporting high levels of well-being and contentedness.” (Time magazine, July
15, 2013)
The Bible doesn’t speak much about happiness. It speaks much
more about joy and contentment, which are closely related. I expect they go together to some degree, but
joy and contentment are deeper and more lasting than happiness.
Jesus gave us hints about happiness that seem contradictory
on the surface. When he gave us the Beatitudes, he used a word that is best
translated “happy” “Happy are the poor
in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Happy are those who mourn for
they shall be comforted. Happy are those
who …”
Perhaps Jesus’ Beatitudes help us more than all the
scientific, medical and genetic research.
Happiness is more than the euphoria of victory and success. These fade quickly. Real happiness is deeper and more lasting
than we may have ever imagined. It is available
to all of us who mourn and are poor in spirit. We don’t have to be dominating
conquerors to achieve happiness. It is available
to the meek, to the peace makers and to those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness.
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