The Pursuit of Happiness
The American Dream.
It’s interesting to me to think of America in terms of a giant social experiment in joy. It’s built into our constitution. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. As if a bunch of philosophers got together and said, “let’s create a nation in which people are free to try [almost] everything to be happy.” That in mind, it’s no surprise our culture is the way it is. Our advertisements are filled with people wearing goofy smiles, driving new sports cars, playing with new gadgets, wearing new jewelry, etc. The message these ads communicate is, basically, “buy this and you will be happy.” Then there is the Oprah/Dr. Phil-isms of our thinking. It’s all about “think positive,” and “feel good about yourself,” and “let yourself go,” and “it doesn’t mater what you believe, as long as it makes you feel good” and blah blah blah… And there are the politicians, who say “are things not going your way? Are you not happy yet? It’s because my opponent is in office. Vote me in instead and THEN you will be happy.” And the thing is, people usually eat all this stuff up. The horrible thing about the American dream is that it’s a formula to happiness that takes an entire lifetime. It goes like this: Grow up in suburbs –> Get degree –> Get high paying job –> Get married –> Get house in suburbs –> Raise 2.5 kids –> Work a few more years –> Retire = Happiness. The problem is, by the time you get finished with it and realize that it doesn’t make you any happier than you started, and you’ve wasted your whole life.
Nothing new.
We could save ourselves the time by reading Ecclesiastes. King Solomon spent his life trying everything to be happy, and did a better job of it than most of us. He had wealth, women, power, the latest technology, etc. and his book opens with “Meaningless! Meaningless! It’s all meaningless!”
Sheep without a shepherd.
At a time when the suicide rates are peaking in this country, divorce is higher than it’s ever been, and most people are on some sort of medication for depression or anxiety, it seems that if people were going to realize that these things will not make them happy, they would’ve by now. I think it’s obvious that people, left to their own devices, will not turn from what is killing them. Sheep without a shepherd will often graze on grass and continue eating until their stomachs burst and they die. Jesus said we are like sheep without a shepherd, but that He came to be the good shepherd.
Perhaps the reason the world does not consider Jesus as a path to happiness is because He does not offer the drive-through happiness the world offers. The problem with drive-through happiness is that you eat your burger, then you get hungry again. Instead, Jesus gives joy, wich is capable of dwelling with suffering. Of course, this sounds lame to a lot of us, especially if we grew up in church and have heard it before. Sort of like a cop-out answer. The world says “have happiness all the time and never have any sadness again,” and the Church says, “that’s impossible, so join our side and have what we have, cause it’s the best you’re gonna get.”
Shepherd. [the good one]
Actually, Jesus says, “I’m planning on coming back, and I’ll bring a perfect world with me, so that you can live in happiness and never experience sadness again forever and ever because I’ll be there with you. In the mean time, why don’t you tell your friends about it so they can come to? I’ll make it easier by putting that perfect world inside of you so that you can access it whenever you please. Just keep focused on me and it’ll all go according to plan.”
There you go, America. Want happiness? Love Jesus and tell you friends to love Him too.
