3rd Sunday of Advent 14.12.08 Order in the house
We all want to be happy. The US Declaration of Independence puts the pursuit of happiness down as a basic right.
C.S. Lewis says on the other hand that we have no right to be happy. If happiness comes it is a by-product of other things, such as doing our duty, but it is not a right as such. He is right.
It might sound very stodgy on our part and the Church is often accused of being a killjoy, yet we indeed want people to be happy. It’s just a matter of how one pursues it.
Right or not everyone does try to be happy, even if we are being faithful to our duty.
The wrong way to try to be happy is to disobey God. Look at Adam and Eve. The forbidden fruit. The oldest story in the world. The fruit looked good to eat, so they ate it. And regretted it very quickly.
Sin is snatching at something, trying to get happiness but it always brings grief. Sweet in the mouth but leads to stomach ache. Not everything that looks appealing is a sin, fortunately, but we do have to look beyond appearances.
Take the long view. Sights set on eternity. Not stop anywhere short of that.
The temptation is always there to lurch along from one short term pleasure to another. Many seem to do that. ‘Take each day as it comes’ can be a good philosophy but if there is no overall purpose it will mean we just do whatever presents itself, and will commit all sorts of excesses and sins. Like driving a car without a steering wheel.
But if we are regulated by God’s law we avoid excesses and keep the overall balance between everything.
This is the recipe for happiness. It might sound boring but we are like the tree by the water’s edge (cf Ps 1; Jer 15) whose leaves are green all year round.
And there is still a lot of room for spontaneity. (Then was I beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, Playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of his earth; and I found delight in the sons of men. (Prov 8,30-31)) If within the bounds we can do all sorts of creative and happy things. If we are in union with God we are truly happy, joyful. There is a general sense of wellbeing and we do a lot of good. Seek first the kingdom of God.
But the snatch and grab approach is a disaster – short term happiness but long term misery. Look at all the disorder in our world. It all comes from snatching and grabbing. Pursuing happiness down blind alleys.
Today we reflect on the reasons for our joy. In Advent time the main reason is that Christ is coming. His presence must increase our level of happiness, provided we are in union with Him.
We look to the long term. We see that in the short term nothing this world has to offer can make us perfectly happy. (Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world.
Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever. 1 Jn 2,15-17) They can keep us going for a while, and make life less tedious, but we see that these things are never going to be enough.
It is not just that life must end, and time runs out. That is one factor. But the problem lies deeper than that. Even if we lived for ever in this earthly life we would not possess the fulness of joy that is promised us in heaven.
Pleasurable things and experiences give short term happiness but only God can fill the void that is in us – purposely put there by Him.
We look at the long term. Leave the forbidden fruit on the tree and you win the whole garden!
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