Pursuing Blessings

It sometimes seems as though anger, fear and discontent have become the norm in our country. Seemingly everywhere are folks who are looking for someone to blame for just about everything imaginable, from personal issues to the current state of the world. Then there’s the complaining about a multitude of issues: the economy, our rights and even mildly hot weather in the middle of August, for example. And what comes along with all of it is the worry which seems to be pervasive.

 

I often consider all of this in light of the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

 

Many seem to hold liberty as the most important amongst these three, but witnessing some people who are on a near-daily basis worked up and spouting what amounts to hate about chasing what they perceive to be liberty, I wonder what has happened to the pursuit of happiness. What good is freedom if we’re miserable all of the time? What kind of life is worth living if there’s no time for the appreciation of the beauty around us? Shouldn’t a joyful, hopeful outlook be important too? Of faith, hope and love, love is the greatest, but let's not forget that hope also is meant to endure.

I believe Jesus had a plan for us to seek blessings and happiness for ourselves and for others. In perhaps his most famous sermon, Jesus includes the Beatitudes or “declarations of blessedness.” The Beatitudes contain blessings for us when we at our best being pure, merciful and promoting peace and when times are tough during mourning, poverty of spirit and even persecution. I believe Jesus intended for us to pursue a state of blessedness (which by definition means blissfully happy or content) during good times and bad. Personal happiness is a choice. Admittedly sometimes it's easy to choose happiness and sometimes it's not, but as Abraham Lincoln is famously quoted as saying, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

Even though there certainly are many situations and circumstances which could be better, I often think how nice it would be if all of us stepped back and took a collective deep breath as a nation and considered the goodness which still exists, rather than everything that’s wrong. I do believe we need to remain vigilant in helping right the wrong which does exist and that there is a certain amount of discontent with the status quo which is necessary to make things better and move forward, but that doesn't mean we have to shout angry, hateful words all of the time. It doesn't mean we have to be disrespectful to our friends and neighbors or elected officials. 

 

Sometimes I think of something my dad would say now and then, and I wish the whole country could hear his calm voice saying, “Just simmer down.”

For followers of Jesus it's time to tone down anger and rhetoric and channel discontent in positive action. Without adding love-based action as an element to our views about society, then all we're doing is setting ourselves and everyone around us up for frustration and unhappiness. Let's count our blessings every day and work hard to be a blessing to others.