Sabbath 17: Tripp's post, Meeegan's post.
This week, we enter a new section in Muller's text, this one titled "Happiness."
His main point in the chapter, as I see it, is to draw a distinction between the gratification of desire and the state of happiness. Gratification fades. Gratification, in fact, can become an insatiable monster. Happiness, Wayne says, is more about being enjoying what you have than about the acquisition of more or better things.
Jesus taught his disciples (and teaches us) that God's desire for us is that we live in happiness and peace. Muller says, "finding happiness in life is universally perceived as an essential human endeavor." He references several other philosophers and religious leaders who have similar messages.
Side note: I'd always understood Thomas Jefferson's famous phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to mean, not the chase of happiness, but the occupation of happiness... meaning that it is a right of humanity to choose one's life work, rather than having it determined by someone else, and to do something that you find happiness in.
I've been gently disagreeing with Muller for much of the book, when he tries to draw distinctions between "work" as a draining activity and "rest" as an energizing activity. A good bit of what I do that could be called work is actually energizing for me. Not all, of course. Some of it is exhausting.
Muller says that when we look for happiness in a market-driven world (my words, not his) that we tend to look to consume, to buy our happiness. But this is a trap--to consume is merely to gratify desire. In an echo, or a deliberate recall of his last section, he says that happiness only grows in the soil of time.
So, he says, as the sabbath exercise, be grateful this week. Recognize the blessed nature of your life. Count your blessings, name them one by one...
Okay, can do. It's a simple exercise, almost cliche if you're not careful, but one with rich rewards. Give it a shot for a day if you've never tried it. If thanking God for the things that bless you is too hard, try it this way: I'm grateful for this food. I'm grateful for a roof over my head. I'm grateful for my friends...
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4 comments:
Given your gentle disagreement with the book and my inclination towards nose-popping, what would you think of taking on two chapters at a time for the rest of our collective perusal of this book?
The chapters are so short I think it would not pose a reading burden. But we'd wind up with two exercises per week.
Let me know your thoughts. I'll turn Tripp onto this thread for discussion when he gets back from his current travels.
I think we could handle two chapters without difficulty. However, I'm loving the shared thing we're doing, and I don't want it to end anytime soon.
I guess I can see it both ways.
Hmm...good question. I lean toward the way we have been doing it. I like the conversation...and the attention we give to each of these small chapters. I would likely give two chapters less of my attention.
Great, let's stick to one chapter per week, then. I didn't want to prolong the gentle disagreement if it were annoying Cristopher, but I agree that one chapter at a time will get more attention and the useful parts will sink in better.
Thanks, both of you!
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