Finding the Ever Elusive World of Happiness

Happiness has been the subject of much scrutiny and debate for centuries.  It seems like everyone under the sun has tackled this subject with little or no progress in curing this perennial malady of the human condition.  Either it has gone from one extreme to another or the Voice in the balance has been drowned out by the noise of the former.  However, it can be found, I tell you, it can!

We must begin our journey with Solomon and his attempt, in the book of Ecclesiastes, to find something that will bring him lasting happiness.  He tried pleasing himself with wine, gardens, parks, vineyards, silver, gold, treasures and a harem of women (Ecc. 2:4-9).  In his pursuit of happiness, he states that his “wisdom stayed” with him as he sought everything he could to find a happiness that would never run dry.

Happiness in the eternal and simple
His conclusion to the matter was that none of the things he pursued actually delivered on the promise of happiness because things are temporal in nature.  He was seeking a well that would never run dry and therefore an eternal source of something.  Something that could never be taken away, something that would never depreciate in value, something that was eternal.  That something, he concluded, was God.  It is sound mathematical practice to reduce a fraction to its lowest common denominator.  This reduces it to its most simple element of which it can no longer be divisible.  In the grand world of philosophy, so many systems leave these fractions in a 2/6 or 3/9 fraction; one-step away from a proper fraction and therefore, still divisible.  The purpose in seeking truth is to reduce it to its simplest form so that it is no longer divisible by any other factors.

Nevertheless, as life goes by, most do not consider themselves a Solomon and pursue happiness with wisdom to see what is worthwhile in life; most of us unknowingly venture forth with little perception of what we are actually doing and follow the same path that others have traveled in centuries past.  This is really too bad because those who have lived much longer than others of a younger generation should hold the highest honor in giving sound wisdom because they have traveled down every path that the younger generation is about to travel.  Unfortunately, many of our elders missed out on the opportunity to gain this insight when they were younger and therefore, the cycle repeats itself.

The incomplete conclusion of Stoicism
The recent resurgence of Stoic philosophy is one such path that has been traversed by many but is left wanting.  But before I delve into this, I must bring up several interesting derivative questions that I have often asked myself, “But if philosophies like this truly satisfy the hunger of the human heart for happiness, then what is God good for?  Is he only an ethereal doctor that has been relegated to bandaging up the wounds of his followers?  If other philosophies can do the same thing, then there is competition for a need of which others are just as qualified.  Moreover, if righteousness can only be attained through him, what is the difference between the goodness that ancient Greek philosophies produce in their followers versus the goodness of the followers of God?  Sometimes the non-Christians are much kinder than those that are not!

Now, let’s jump into the matter.  Stoicism contends that since we are unhappy due to our desires, we can find peace through apatheia, or apathy or better yet, a stoic inclination of the heart to alleviate our suffering by eliminating the passions.  Buddhism attempts to do the same by extinguishing our desires.  When we extinguish the desire for material possessions, sex, money or fame, we also eliminate by default the desire to genuinely love others or express happiness because the axe is set to swing at the root from which actions flow.  The problem, however, is not our desires but the clogged up filter through which our desires flow.  When we adhere to these practices, we are the culprit of the scarlet checkmark that assumes that 2/6 has been reduced to its simplest form.

The core issue
The departure between God and Stoicism lies in the existential trauma of the heart or, the festering wounds that hide from the view of others but are still active despite their secrecy.  On some level, I do not doubt that Stoicism can help in some small regards but the true test does not lie in the minute matters of a small external flesh wound that can be tended by the parental doctor but in the matters of the deep internal injuries that require a surgeon.

Let me illustrate.  Some time ago, I noticed on a daily basis that there was a small leak of radiator fluid of which I could not find where it was leaking.  I checked hoses, the radiator, the water pump and even underneath, hoping I might find some small clue but found nothing.  My conclusion was to buy a stop-leak formula that could be poured into the radiator.  Wherever the leak was, this would form a clot at the leak and remedy the problem.  And it did.  However, when you look at the remedy, this was superficial at best.  It did not fix the infrastructure through which the problem came about; it only applied a band-aid to keep the car running.  Although it is still running to this day, I was told that the clotting substance could jar loose at any time, verifying the need to fix the deeper internal problem that still exists.

The Christian’s problem with God
Why is it then that so many Christians have such deep internal injuries even after following God?  The answer is multi-faceted.  It is the tragic tale of so many that we follow his teachings like a law-abiding citizen afraid of being handcuffed, jailed and cut off from a relationship in which he has been viewed as a police officer all along rather than a good parent, prepared to love a child back into a relationship of fidelity.  We have also not permitted God to heal some of our wounds because we have forged an identity with it out of comfort and sheer avoidance of the pain that will emerge as a result.

And all too often, because others have made a claim on the rights of their wounds, they in turn, cannot offer the healing wisdom/prayers because God has not been given permission to doctor it up.  The lack of wholeness and fruitfulness on behalf of the church does not verify the non-existence of God no more than the hypocrisy of politicians or others in high-ranking positions that claim one thing but do another.  Rather, they indicate a God and his teachings that have been woefully misrepresented by the incomplete undertaking of the Christian to embrace the cleansing power of Christ to eradicate his/her own sin.

Christ himself battled this phenomenon when he said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Mt.5:17) The religious community composed of the Sadducees and Pharisees, the gallant protectors of the Law in Jesus’ time, concluded that this new teacher and his radical views were proved to be a perversion of the Scriptures.  However, Jesus changed nothing in the Law; he only gave a proper interpretation whereas the religious elite provided nothing more than a burdensome interpretation.

Happiness will only be found when we have united ourselves to the same purposes of God in allowing him to purge us of our sin, changing the infrastructure of our hearts, drawing us into a closer relationship with him and being renewed in the image of God in which we were originally made.  That is, in the Garden of Eden, the picture of perfect happiness and ultimate satisfaction.

**Free e-mail subscription**

**If this article has been a blessing to you, please take a moment and share with others. Thank you.**