REORGANISING
OUR LIVES
It is a shocking reality that the greatest cause of death in
young people under 25 in the developed world is not the abuse of drugs or
alcohol or misadventure, but suicide. Young adults living in the countries with
the highest standards of living and with the greatest educational
opportunities, in theory, should have the most to live for. Yet, in a
generation that is sometimes described as the most socially connected ever, the
feeling of isolation appears like a pandemic. Many contemporary young people
are not OK. The reasons for this poor state of mental health, the increase in
suicide (or “self-delivery”, as suicide is now sometimes called) and attempted
suicide, are many and complex.
Happiness has become an industry that is selling all of us a
lie. I don’t mind people being happy – but the idea that everything we do is
part of the pursuit of happiness seems to me a really dangerous idea and has
led to a contemporary disease which is fear of sadness. Wholeness is what we
ought to be striving for and part of that is sadness, disappointment,
frustration, failure; all of those things which make us who we are. I’d like to
take the word ‘happiness’ and to replace it with the word ‘wholeness’.
Parents tell me: “I don’t care what my kids do, as long as
they’re happy.” Although it may be just a casual throwaway line, it is a
symptom of a deeper anxiety. Why are we setting our children up for such
failure? Why don’t Christian parents say: “I want my children to be faithful,
hopeful, loving, honest and good?” Living those virtues will not always lead to
happiness – but it will bring something more valuable and precious. Joy. Joy is
one the great themes in the teaching of Pope Francis. Christian joy is not the
same as happiness. Christian joy celebrates that we know where we have come
from, why we are here and where we are going.
It is not looking for the easy side of life, but rather
confronting the inevitable tough moments in our lives, and embracing suffering
as an inescapable reality of the human condition. It seeks to be resilient in
the face of adversity by embodying Jesus’ call to love God and our neighbour as
we love ourselves. And it tells us that we are not meant to live isolated lives
like “rocks and islands”, as the Simon and Garfunkel song has it. There was a
good reason why Jesus sent the disciples out in twos. Living Christian joy is
not easy or straightforward. But setting out on this path might be the way to
be more than OK. So let’s help reorganise our lives not around happiness
but the Joy of Christian Life.
Periods
of sadness, depression and doubts can enter the life of even the most devout
Christian. We see many examples of this in the Bible. Job wished he had never
been born (Job 3:11). David prayed to be taken away to a place where he would
not have to deal with reality (Psalm 55:6-8). Elijah, even after defeating 450
prophets of Baal with fire called down from heaven (1 Kings 18:16-46), fled
into the desert and asked God to take his life (1 Kings 19:3-5).
So how can we overcome these periods of joylessness? We can
see how these same people overcame their bouts of depression. Job said that, if
we pray and remember our blessings, God will restore us to joy and
righteousness (Job 33:26). David wrote that the study of God's Word can bring
us joy (Psalm 19:8). David also realized that he needed to praise God even in
the midst of despair (Psalm 42:5).
In Elijah's case,
God let him rest for a time and then sent a man, Elisha, to
help him (1 Kings 19:19-21).
We also need friends that we can share our hurts and pains
with (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). It is helpful to share our feelings with a fellow
Christian. We may be surprised to find that he or she has struggled with some
of the same things that we are going through.
Most importantly, it is certain that dwelling on ourselves,
our problems, our hurts, and especially our pasts will never produce true
spiritual joy. Joy is not found in materialism, it is not found in
psychotherapy, and it most certainly is not found in obsession with ourselves. It
is found in Jesus. We belong to the Lord and we “glory in Christ Jesus, and
put no confidence in our flesh” (Philippians 3:3). To know Christ is to come to
have a true sense of ourselves, and true spiritual insight, making it
impossible to glory in ourselves, in our wisdom, strength, riches, or goodness,
but in Jesus—in His wisdom and strength, in His riches and goodness, and in His
person only. If we remain in Him, immerse ourselves in His Word, and seek to
know Him more intimately, our “joy will be full” (John 15:1-11).
Indeed, the harder we try to be joyful through our own
efforts, the more miserable we can become. Rest in the Lord's arms (Matthew
11:28-30) and seek His face through prayer and the Bible. “May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
Blessed
John Henry Newman always insisted that the Christian vocation was one of light
and joy. “Gloom is no Christian
temper;
repentance is not real which has no love in it; penance is not acceptable which
is not sweetened by
faith and
cheerfulness. We must live in sunshine, even when we sorrow; we must live in
God’s presence; we must not shut ourselves up in our own hearts, even when we
are looking up our past sins.” “Left to itself, human nature tends to death and
utter apostasy from God.
Character
cannot be developed in ease and comfort. Only through experiences of
trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition
inspired, and success achieved. You gain strength, experience, and
confidence by every experience where you really look at fear in the face.
You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel gets
sent through the hottest furnace. A REAL WINNER is not one who never
fails, but one who NEVER QUITS! In life, remember that you pass this way
only once! Let's live life to the fullest and give it our best.
Henri Nouwen suggests that people will
answer this very differently: “For some, it is when they are enjoying the full
light of popularity; for others, when they have been totally forgotten; for
some, when they have reached the peak of their strength; for others, when they
feel powerless and weak; for
some, it is when their creativity is in
full bloom; for others, when they have lost all confidence in their potential.”
For Jesus, it wasn’t immediately after
his miracles when the crowds stood in awe, and it wasn’t after he had just
walked on water, and it wasn’t when his popularity reached the point where the
people wanted to make him king, that he felt he had accomplished his purpose in
life and that people had begun to be touched in their souls by his spirit. No,
not all that.
When did Jesus have nothing further to
achieve? When he was nailed
to the cross, robbed of all human dignity, he knew that he had matured enough,
and said: ‘It is fulfilled’ (John
19:30).
On the Cross, faithful to the end, to his God,
to his word, to the love he preached and to his own integrity, he stopped
living and began dying. That was when his spirit began to permeate the world.
He had reached his deepest centre. His life was fulfilled.
It
is important that the first thing we do when we open our eyes is to be grateful
and to acknowledge our purpose so that we may align our motivations and our
actions with God’s will. And when we do that, we are able to structure the day
ahead in a positive and meaningful way. Evidence from psychology research suggests that positive
emotions such as joy, gratitude, and interest, lead to a positive tone that
tends to be long-lasting; and so why not start the day with positivity? Why not
start the day inviting Jesus into our lives? Making time in the morning to pray
gives us not only to get a head start on our day but also the opportunity to
reflect on God’s calling in our lives, our purpose. We get to discern what
God’s will is for us that day. The better we are aligned with God’s will, the
clearer our pursuits in life will be. “A
man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).
The
Gospel of Mark tells us that our Lord Jesus got up very early in the morning,
while it was still dark, to go off to a lonely place to pray (Mark 1:35). That
time of prayer was followed by a very productive day when he went preaching
throughout Galilee, casting out demons, and healing the sick. Jesus shows us
that no matter how long, busy, and tiresome our day will be, it is important
that our daily activities start off with prayer, even if it means waking up
very early.
So, let’s look into our lives and reorganise!
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