Being Happy in an Unhappy Worldનમૂનો

The Constitution of the United States guarantees its citizens the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But you don’t need a political science degree to know that Americans aren’t happy.

Americans are frantically pursuing an illusion of happiness. As a society, we’re miserable. It’s a mystery — but only to those who haven’t opened a Bible. We do not break God’s commandments; we break ourselves upon them.

Happiness is not haphazard. It doesn’t come our way by accident. People who think happiness is accidental, that it drops out of the sky like rain, forget that even rain is neither accidental nor arbitrary. It is given by the hand of God.

Likewise, happiness is not found in our pursuits of the treasures of the world; it is given by the hand of God.

We cannot quench the desire to be happy, and we will only find it by seeking it in the only place it can be found — through relationship with God. We were created for connection to Him and partnership with Him.

The greatest formula for happiness ever invented was spoken into existence by a Jewish rabbi who lived over two thousand years ago. It teaches not only the deepest of spiritual truths but also practical principles by which anyone can find happiness, health, success, and tranquility — peace of mind and peace of soul.

It is better known as Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which begins with a series of intriguing and astonishing statements about where happiness is to be found. These principles of happiness are widely known as the Beatitudes.

Why are so many of us leading lives of misery and despair? Because we are ignoring — or rejecting — the only reliable formula for happiness. Jesus’ principles of happiness are a cool, refreshing spring in a dry place. A rock of refuge in a weary land.

The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is right where you are. I invite you to join me, through this reading plan, on a journey in search of happiness in an unhappy world. We will explore the “Magna Carta of Happiness” and discover that happiness comes not from what you have but from what you are.