The April issue of Money Magazine reports that money doesn’t make you happy. Once a person rises above the poverty level, money is not the answer. They report that any attempt to be happy by surrounding yourself with things is only temporary. They suggest writing in a notebook at the close of each day those activities that you have pleasant memories about. After only a few days, you will see a pattern emerging. You will have a detailed list of activities that make you feel good. With that list, you can plan your day more carefully, and be sure to not overlook those times as they come along.
That makes sense to me. I always knew it, but it is refreshing to see a publication take a stand against materialism, especially since their whole focus is on building wealth. However, there is a difference. Materialism meets a need for instant gratification. Building wealth which will be passed on to your grandchildren is deferred. Besides, your grandchildren will be glad you did.
Happiness can be elusive. I think the greatest temptation is to always be anticipating the next event. We are waiting for the weekend; a new job; a marriage; an inheritance; Summer; the list is endless. What are you waiting for? Are you happy now, or is it always just out of reach?
Another thing I have noticed is that happiness is either there or it isn’t. Some people walk around with a spirit of sadness, anger, or hopelessness. Others, in the exact circumstance, have a spirit of joy. We know the importance of brain chemistry. Perhaps their brains are different.
Christians have a future hope. Sometimes they have been accused of ignoring the needs of this world because of their anticipation of the next. Jesus, however, focused on the needs around him.
What about other belief systems? Do they have hope? If not, how do they avoid despair? A hedonist lives for pleasure. Does that mean that when the pleasure stops, the happiness stops? “Ok, I’m 80 years old now. I can’t drive my sports car, my wife is dead, and all my friends have passed away. It’s time to commit suicide.” A humanist lives to better the human condition. Is there happiness in that? What if the humanistic projects you are investing your time and talent in collapse? Eastern philosophies seek the god within. Islam hopes for the day when the entire world will be united under their faith. (Somehow, I think if that really happened they would still fight each other.)
What gives you hope? When you drift off to sleep at night, are you filled with despair, or with hope? Do you have fear, or peace?
That makes sense to me. I always knew it, but it is refreshing to see a publication take a stand against materialism, especially since their whole focus is on building wealth. However, there is a difference. Materialism meets a need for instant gratification. Building wealth which will be passed on to your grandchildren is deferred. Besides, your grandchildren will be glad you did.
Happiness can be elusive. I think the greatest temptation is to always be anticipating the next event. We are waiting for the weekend; a new job; a marriage; an inheritance; Summer; the list is endless. What are you waiting for? Are you happy now, or is it always just out of reach?
Another thing I have noticed is that happiness is either there or it isn’t. Some people walk around with a spirit of sadness, anger, or hopelessness. Others, in the exact circumstance, have a spirit of joy. We know the importance of brain chemistry. Perhaps their brains are different.
Christians have a future hope. Sometimes they have been accused of ignoring the needs of this world because of their anticipation of the next. Jesus, however, focused on the needs around him.
What about other belief systems? Do they have hope? If not, how do they avoid despair? A hedonist lives for pleasure. Does that mean that when the pleasure stops, the happiness stops? “Ok, I’m 80 years old now. I can’t drive my sports car, my wife is dead, and all my friends have passed away. It’s time to commit suicide.” A humanist lives to better the human condition. Is there happiness in that? What if the humanistic projects you are investing your time and talent in collapse? Eastern philosophies seek the god within. Islam hopes for the day when the entire world will be united under their faith. (Somehow, I think if that really happened they would still fight each other.)
What gives you hope? When you drift off to sleep at night, are you filled with despair, or with hope? Do you have fear, or peace?
4 comments:
RW
How can anyone have any lasting hope in a world (with a history) where religiously minded individuals, with their god behind them, use their beliefs to hate, kill, steal and rape?
Bosnia, Croatia, Sudan, Mississippi, Cambodia, Lebanon...
Cortes, Pizzarro, Charlemagne, Pol Pot, Muhammed, Suleiman...
Our past has taught us that our future is filled with selfishness and material wealth as the measurement of success.
This is your 'future' hope?
If Jesus is the Son of God, surely he did not intend to have his followers live in hope of sacrificing themselves just to gain a future hope. See Hebrews 11:30-40 "None of them received what they had been promised." What a rip off.
bg
Hi Brad
Actually, in context, they died not receiving what had been promised because they were still on this earth, and the reward was after death. God forbid that our reward should be in this cruel world. For now, Phil. 1 tells us we have been given the privilege not only of believing, but of suffering. My point is that apart from the hope we have as Christians, there is no lasting hope. Despair follows us and eventually conquers if we have any other focus.
I agree with what you said about human tendency to look ahead instead of realizing that life is in the present. As a Christian, I do have a future hope in eternity with God, but I also believe that I have been put on the earth for a reason, and that is a responsibility not to be taken lightly. I believe that it is wrong to pollute the earth and ignore those suffering from hunger and injustice just because this life is temporary.
I find that much of my joy comes from doing what I can for others while I am on earth. Human life is so temporary- we are here and then we aren't. I am constantly amazed, however, by human tendency to forget that we are mortal and that this life is temporary. So many figures in history lived their lives completely focused on the here and now, and I often wonder what their dying thought was, how they justified their actions. Yet, while I try to remain aware of my own human frailty, I often find myself slipping into a self-focused pattern of life once again.
Not all done in God's name would God claim! Nor does He let us recreate Him in order to mold Him
around our own world view and self gratification.
Hope is lost when God's truth and person are misused and mis represented by humans who in themselves have no hope. Lin
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