I wouldn’t say that I’m a happy person. Am I joyful? Yes. Am I in awe of what God’s doing in the world? Certainly! Am I Lost in the wonderful mystery of God? Veritably so. Am I happy? No, I wouldn’t say that I am, at least not perpetually as the protagonists of REM’s “Shiny Happy People,” seem to be.
For starters, what is it? In searching the scriptures, Jesus doesn’t seem to mention happiness. Some translate the “Blessed” in the beatitudes (Matthew 5 and Luke 6) as “Happy,” such as “Happy are the poor in spirit,” and “Happy are those who mourn,” but as you can see from the latter example, this translation is a bit problematic. Jesus did say, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink . . .can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?” If Bobby McFerrin is as great an artist as I think he is, “Don’t worry, be happy,” is a natural conclusion.
With that said, there are many faithful whom I would consider to be happy people. They are also giving, generous, full of kindness and hospitality, and in my experience, there is a direct correlation between selflessness and happiness. Conversely, some of the angriest people also seem selfish, self-preserving, close-minded, and antagonistic. I think dividing the world in half (black and white, right and left, in or out . . .) is a false dichotomy, but for the sake of the argument, there are those who live according to scarcity and there are those who live into abundance. Those working from a foundation of scarcity live according to the principle that there isn’t enough, that I have to protect what I have, my ideology is right, and success means having more than the next guy. It is what St. Paul would call, “slavery to sin and death.” Scarcity makes us fearful and combative. It leaves us inwardly turned, which is what St. Augustine called sin. Living abundantly is liberating. Those who live into abundance trust that there is enough, from which generosity naturally flows. Those who live into abundance entertain ideas of “the other” because wisdom is greater than my personal formation. It is a manifestation of the angels’ “Do not be afraid,” and Jesus’ “Do not worry.”
Religion, specifically faith, is certainly a path toward happiness (or abundant living as I would call it), but unfortunately it is not exclusively so. At times religion brings out the worst in us, when we go to blows over whether babies or only believers can be baptized, or whether communion is transubstantiation or consubstantiation. It is such a pointed commentary on the human condition, is it not; that the two sacraments God gave the church, baptism and Holy Communion, are the very two things that have ripped the church apart? I could be wrong, but living abundantly means that God’s grace holds me even when I am sincerely wrong.