It has been said that there are two things to be true of every person: we all want to be happy and we're all going to die, said one pastor and evangelist.
Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., is leading his megachurch on a series of "happiness" sermons to start the new year on an optimistic foot.
But what makes the American people happy?
In Texas, mothers listed socializing, praying, sex and television at the top of their happiness list, according to ABC News. Parenting was ranked similarly with house work.
In recent years, research has found that churchgoers, pastors, married people and those in higher income households are most likely to be happy with their lives than others. And while a Gallup poll earlier this month found a full 84 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with their personal lives, happiness has gone down over the decades.
"Americans are less happy today than they were 30 years ago because they're working so hard at being happy," said Laurie in a recent sermon.
Many look toward the future for happiness, hoping "someday" they'll meet that perfect person, win the lottery or retire, Laurie said. That leaves the majority of Americans just enduring the present while waiting for something better to happen.
Happiness, in a general sense, is associated with things happening, Laurie defined.
"When things are going well, we are relatively happy people. When things are not going well, our happiness dissipates," he said as he listed accomplishments, accumulation and escape as part of the "things happening."
But those are all short-lived pleasures, as Laurie described.
Some of the major myths and misconceptions about happiness include the belief that money gives satisfaction – despite what polls have indicated – or that the best job in the world brings happiness.
"Having a fulfilling, meaningful life and being happy doesn't have to do with what we have," said Theyer Willis author of Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth and heir to the Georgia-Pacific Timber fortune, according to ABC. "It has to do with how we live our lives."
Sean Aiken, who is attempting to work 52 jobs in 52 weeks in a yearlong quest to find his bliss, found that it's not what you do that makes you happy.
"I have realized that you could have the best or worst job in the world, it is the people you work with that are going to make it a positive or negative work environment," Aiken told ABC.
So what's the source of happiness?
According to University of California Pscyhology professor Sonja Lyubomirsky, author of The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want, half of a person's happiness comes from genes; life's circumstances (where you live, how much money you make, how you look) accounts for only 10 percent; and 40 percent can be controlled by what you think, your outlook on life and the intentional activities you choose to engage in, she told ABC.
Harvest pastor Laurie, meanwhile, pointed to one of author C.S. Lewis' famed insights:
"That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."
"Our objective is to walk with God," said Laurie to his mega congregation, "not looking at the passing happiness ... but the joy that remains despite what you're going through – the joy that comes from a relationship with God."
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maranatha7593,
Well said!
HP: "When you see yourself as just another carbon-based life form, you tend to treat others as truly equal and don't spend your time looking for minor differences, such as sexual preferences."
Think, man. Nobody goes around looking for differences in sexual preferences. If sexual preferences had not been paraded on city streets in offensive ways, no one would have ever had reason to even think about it. Those who have done this know that they are offending people of faith. Not only do they not care, they seem to revel in it. If it had not been literally thrown in our face, we would be happy to live and let live.
As for your 'be happy' ditty: The burden of guilt and sin is an obstacle to happiness. When the Lord takes the burden of sin out of our lives, that leads to true peace, without which there can be no outward happiness.
HP: "Life is too darn short to waste time bickering over the institution that is supposed to bring you peace. Wouldn't your time be better spent doing something else?"
First, no 'institution' brings anyone peace - only a relationship with the Lord God Himself.
Second, if you decry 'bickering', why do you do it so often here, yourself? Since you obviously have no use for God or His people, why do you post arguments at a Christian site? Isn't this a waste of your time and energy?
Note, I've not said I mind your posting here - I don't. I just wonder what is your motivation for doing so.
Jn 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
to wilderness - why are people 'heavy laden'? well bec. self righteous christians always point to sin & that their 'labour', in the name of obidience & self-denial, will result in blessings & opportunities. people get worn out, burnt out, weighed down & put in 'religious bondage.'
by the way, I don't see pastors 'denying themselves'. they too seek these 'short-lived' pleasures. look at their luxury cars & houses. if they find happines in their relationship with god, they should give away all their material possessions & live in poverty & self denial.
"Harvey pastor, Greg Laurie, rightly points out that true and lasting happiness comes from a relationship with the Christian God.
Where does that leave the atheists and anti-Christians who post on this site? What keeps them happy, I wonder?"
Sorry to double post, but I didn't notice this question before I posted the last.
Only the Christian god will make someone happy? Only Christians are that arrogant! I guess 2/3 of the folks in the world go through life unhappy then? What an ignorant thing to say!
How can post-theological people find and maintain happiness? Well let's see... no original sin, so no guilt. No worries about qualifying for some nonexistent afterlife, so no anxiety. No agonizing over "doing god's will," just staying in the moment and trying to do the next right thing. No trying to decipher the meaning of the "morality" lessons in ancient documents, just live your life doing your best to alleviate human suffering (including your own) whenever and wherever you find it. Reveling in being connected to every living thing on the planet, knowing that we share 25% of our dna with a banana, and we should get over ourselves. When you see yourself as just another carbon-based life form, you tend to treat others as truly equal and don't spend your time looking for minor differences, such as sexual preferences.
There are many others, those are just a few Thank you for asking, and showing some concern for those of us who choose to decline the invitation of your lord and savior.
The amazing thing to me is that the nearly 24,000 sects and denominations of Christianity fight with each other all the time, differing on, what to outsiders like me, are extremely MINOR and insignificant issues. Life is too darn short to waste time bickering over the institution that is supposed to bring you peace. Wouldn't your time be better spent doing something else?
Be happy!
There is an old ZEN saying that goes:
I have lost my favorite teacup.
I can have lost my favorite teacup and be miserable or I can have lost my favorite teacup and be happy.
Either way, the teacup is gone!
If you want to be happy, be happy, you have that power. You don't need money, love, friends, God or a good marriage to be happy, just BE happy. You are alive, a member of the human race and posses all you need to deal with life, in the moment.
Be happy!
Jesus said in Mt 11:28-30: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Harvey pastor, Greg Laurie, rightly points out that true and lasting happiness comes from a relationship with the Christian God.
Where does that leave the atheists and anti-Christians who post on this site? What keeps them happy, I wonder?