Why is it, that our Declaration of Independence says human beings deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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Ferdinand Willis
5 years ago
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1 1 Why is it, that our Declaration of Independence says human beings deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (I m asking a spiritual question. Maybe metaphorical. But I m not asking a political question.) If you forgot high school civics, the Declaration of Independence claims that God made us to be alive, free and happy, and governments are supposed to protect our capacity to pursue happiness. Why? (I don t know if we would write it like that now.) When I was a girl, I remember being taught, you can t really make happiness a goal. There s that old saying, happiness is like a butterfly if you run after it, it s always just out of your grasp, but if you sit down quietly, it might come and land on your shoulder. Do you think we can pursue happiness? Or not? But the Psalmist says you and I can have happiness. 2 And it goes on to spell out how we can be happy. 1 Notes from a sermon given by the Rev. Dr. Paula Harris at St Luke s Episcopal Church, Madison, WI. 2 Psalm 1

2 2 This Psalm shows these two pathways to live - in a relatively straightforward retribution system. 3 godly people happy. wicked sinners scornful. these people are like chaff, blown away by the wind. What shall we do with that? I suppose you could personalize it. Or consider this. If you and I choose to spend this time, here in church, and some time, meditating on God s ways, and the snapshots we get of them in scripture then we will become wise. Deep. Deeply rooted. And the vicissitudes life throws at us, will not shake us, because we ve already decided we ve already decided, we ll be faithful to our spouse. we ve already decided, we ll do our best to teach our children and grandchildren our values we ve already decided, we ll work on forgiving people we ve already decided, we ll volunteer as we are able we ve already decided, we ll support the church financially Scripture says, in this way of life is happiness. 3 The Jewish Study BIble, Tanakh Translation, 1284.

3 3 Whereas, without that kind of center without the moral decisions we ve already made, then we re free to follow our own self-interest. If we re our own master, we re free to spend whatever we want, on our own pleasures. Every time an advertisement comes, our desires change. We re free to be with whoever we want. Whoever courts us, whoever flirts with us. We re free to do whatever we want. And the Psalmist describes this way of life as being so light, that we are blown this way and that, in the wind. So lightweight, that we cannot survive a court case. There is no gravitas, to a person like that. No moral weight. No depth. Now, don t misunderstand me. I am not contrasting a person who claims to be Christian with a person who claims to have no faith. For one thing, the Psalm is from the Hebrew Bible, so it s Jewish. And people with no faith can cultivate a moral compass, just like we can. When the time comes to die (and it will come for all of us.) A person is truly happy at the end of life, when they can say that they lived their values. They knew what they were, and they lived them. The Psalm offers us this picture, a metaphor of what it is like to be really happy.

4 4 We ll be like a perennial tree. It s the time of year when we put annuals in our gardens, flowers, tomatoes. But I m talking about a tree. We ll have deep roots. A tree which was been planted in a good location, near a stream. We ll be fruitful. In the right season. And because of the deep roots, and the good location we have access to water when we need it, and our leaves are green. Our needs are met. So. I live in the 21st century, just like you. I d like to be happy, but I like to test claims. I m sure if you re much of a reader you know that there s a field of study called happiness research. Forty years now. And interestingly enough, happiness research is done by psychologists and by economists. 4 Emotions and money. Some people would think that s the formula for happiness. The right emotions and enough money. But actually, that s not it. About half of people s happiness is genetic. 4

5 5 Some people in Minnesota studied twins who grew up separately, and learned half of happiness is genetic. 5 And if some big positive or negative event happens, winning the lottery, getting a big promotion, or a really interesting trip, that can be another 40% of happiness. But it doesn t last. That kind of big event happiness only lasts a few months. The new SUV. Boring. But the rest of our happiness, according to happiness studies, is totally in our control and has a big effect on whether or not people claim to be happy. Four things: It s family. I don t know a single person who got to the end of his life and said I spent too much time, with my family. It s faith. Values. It s community. And achievements at work. Americans like to work, and set goals and achieve them. Not money, exactly. Money has very little relationship with happiness. And you know, if a person is really poor and they get enough money to stop worrying about the grocery bill, and the rent, then money can make them happier, because they have less stress. But for the rest of us, more or less money has no long term affect on happiness. Giving can make someone happy. 5

6 6 The Bible has been saying these things. And now people study it. Happy are those, says the Psalmist whose delight is in the law of the Lord. It s not so much talking about a moral law, as a way of life. Making God and God s reign the focus, the center of your way of life. So it s interesting to me that happiness research has also shown that faith is a part of happiness. Meditate on God s law, or God s ways, God s rule. God s values. Did you know there s an institute here in Madison, studying healthy minds, and one of their central research topics is what happens when people meditate. 6 They are trying to increase the amount of happiness that is genetic. Inherited. 7 Of course anyone here who does practice centering prayer, or any form of meditation, knows what happens. (If you don t, then you can overhear it.) You become less anxious. You become calmer. If you are a person who lives with chronic pain, you have less pain if you meditate (neurologists have measured it) They did a study with people over at EPIC who work long hours, and monks and nuns who ve meditated 10,000 hours, and gave them pain, and the nuns and monks with meditation practices immediately stopped feeling pain afterwards. You feel less pain because your whole self (your mind, your nerves) is becoming measurably less reactive to the pain phenomena Ibid.

7 7 Over time in meditation, deep joy surprises you. Happiness. Happy are they whose delight is in the law of the Lord; and on his law they meditate, day and night. Maybe you could try meditation some time. Meditate on the law of the Lord. I don t find that very captivating. Law. We have laws in church. So I need to say, the English word is law but the original Hebrew word Torah means a lot more than that. Torah means all the teachings we have from God. Consider Bible stories, ponder the parables Jesus told, sing the songs, like the Psalm today, wonder about the characters. That s what there is to meditate on. And over time, those stories, those parables, teachings, they become a way of life. In the last few years I ve walked with a few different people who are considering forgiving someone. Someone who was divorcing. Someone who was shot, almost died.

8 8 Someone who was betrayed. These Christians would remember their hurt, and then they would ponder something. forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us love your enemies Jesus, during Holy Week. They had already decided, to forgive. And the rootedness in this principle, as well as the others they learned in faith, gave them depth, and wisdom, and ultimately, their rootedness in their values, made them happy. Link to our Facebook page to comment on sermon

Sermon Notes: Ash Wednesday. I still remember the first Ash Wednesday sermon I ever heard. (I know, funny, most sermons aren t that memorable.

Sermon Notes: Ash Wednesday. I still remember the first Ash Wednesday sermon I ever heard. (I know, funny, most sermons aren t that memorable. Sermon Notes: Ash Wednesday I still remember the first Ash Wednesday sermon I ever heard. (I know, funny, most sermons aren t that memorable.) 1 I remember my first Ash Wednesday. I grew up moving from