Oh Happy Day!

Day 8 - Yesterday I finished reading Grethen Rubin’s The Happiness Project on the same day Pastor Wendell Estep of Columbia’s First Baptist Church began a study of The Sermon on the Mount, beginning with the Beatitudes and a discussion on happiness. I found it amazing that God put this sermon in front of me as I began this one –year project concentrating on happiness.

As Dr. Estep explained, “The Sermon on the Mount, found in the Book of Matthew, is the Christian Constitution. The Beatitudes are the preamble. Together they tell us what is expected of us as Christians.”

Yesterday we began discussing the Beatitudes, consisting of a number of paradoxes, nine times beginning with the words “blessed” or “happy.”

Rubin’s The Happiness Project is what prompted my Man Project. This was not a book I found difficult to put down. In fact, it was hard for me to pick it up. I did not enjoy its daily reading, so it is funny that it spurred my project. I would recommend this book for any woman. Rubin’s concept and outline should be read by everyone, but the bulk of the book talks about her specific project, many of which obviously concentrate on her being a woman. I just could not connect, making this a boring read. I find her blog much better because there I can examine her concept without the extra clutter.

So let’s talk about happiness…

This weekend we began clearing out Daddy Bill’s retirement home apartment and soon we will move on to their home. It really got me thinking about how meaningless material items really are. It is great having nice things to pass down to your family, like expensive furniture, family heirlooms, and antique guns, but think of all the other chinsy crap people accumulate over their lives (not to say Daddy Bill did). It’s not like we can take this stuff with us when we move on to the next life. Most of it just gets tossed or given to Goodwill.

Having nice items can make you happy. For example, I feel joy when I pick up my iPad and feel its formed structure in my hands. The decorations in my man cave and my bow ties give me happiness. I call this momentary and temporary happiness. They attribute to my mood in the moment and because life is a series of moments, they contribute to my overall happiness.

They are not, however, happiness itself. There is a deeper happiness, a happiness in one’s soul produced by a life or world perspective. “A joy self contained and completely independent of life changes,” explains Dr Estep. It is the happiness that has nothing to do with circumstances and itself makes life worth living. This happiness is not determined by what happens to you, but what happens within you.

Rubin suggests singing in the morning, but whom are you singing to? In Acts 16:28, Paul and Silas were so full of joy that they were “singing hymns to God” in prison “and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

“Will focusing on spiritual maters make you happier?” Rubin writes. “According to the research, yes. Studies show that spiritual people are relatively happier; they’re more mentally and physically healthy, deal better with stress, have better marriages, and live longer.”

Yeah, you live longer. Forever. Perhaps this is the single most evident reason those of faith are happier. I cannot imagine living a life knowing that one-day it would all just end into silence and nothingness.

Last week a friend told me a story about his father. They attend a conservative upstate South Carolina church where attendees don’t raise their hands or clap. Occasionally when the Spirit filled his father and he felt moved while the choir sang, he simply stood up for a few seconds and then set back down.

I’ve been thinking about that story for days because too few of us stand up for our faith. We don’t have to dance in the aisles or shout from the rooftops. We just need to stand up. When we do, we will be happier and we will help those around us become much happier too.

PS – This isn’t the FBC of Columbia choir, but yesterday they blew doors off the church with a rendition of this song. I share this song because awesome choir music is something that makes me very happy.