(no subject)
I am totally jealous of my friend Rachel, who is just starting Stargate SG-1 season 2 this week, after finally getting to the point of being hooked. Because she is just beginning on that incredible journey, and as we (being Kayla and Jennifer and me) haven't told her what happens (not even "Meridian"), she is going to get to experience it all for the first time the way it's supposed to be.
I'm always jealous of people who read/watch my favorite stories for the very first time.
Went to Kim & Jeff's last night. We went to a park (the college group, that is) and played frisbee and swung on the swings and all sorts of stuff. I wanted to fly a kite and so bought one, but the wind wasn't strong enough. Then we went back to K&J's house where we watched Invader Zim and talked about stuff and ate pizza.
Have been thinking a lot about happiness. And how it's really a secondary thing. You know, we talk about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and it really seems that that's what we pursue most zealously, especially happiness. At Borders we have a whole section about finding happiness, about all the things we can do to be happier. It's called Self Help. The premise of the books is that with help, with programs, with activities and ideas, or maybe just by reading the book and meditating on its message, we can become happier. If we repair our relationships, tackle our shortcomings, deal with our emotional baggage, we will be happy.
Then you go over to the religion section. Doesn't matter if the books are in the Christian section or the Buddhist or Jewish or Metaphysics or Divination sections, they say the same sort of things. If we follow such and such a discipline, such and such a study, such and such a prayer life, such and such a spiritual discipline, we will be happy.
But when it really comes down to it, happiness is secondary. It is not out purpose. We were not made solely to be happy, to please ourselves and our appetites, whatever they may be. Because if we were at the center of things, I think we'd know it. I think we'd be lots happier than we are. Those books would work--completely, unequivocably. If our happiness and fulfillment could be found inside us, we'd have found it by now.
But we haven't.
If we are a chance thrown up by the universe, why are we so worried about happiness? If we arose to become something greater and better in the far future, then why do we seek elsewhere for happiness? But if we are made, created with a purpose, then wouldn't it stand to reason that happiness is not an end or a goal but a byproduct of said purpose?
God made us. He didn't need us, but he loves to create. And he made us, for his pleasure, for his glory. He designed us that way. We are his children, created in his likeness. He has a way he wants us to be, a purpose he has designed for us, and whether or not we are happy is not it. Instead, that happiness flows out of what we do toward that goal.
It's a heavy thought, but one I want to gnaw on for a good long time.
I'm always jealous of people who read/watch my favorite stories for the very first time.
Went to Kim & Jeff's last night. We went to a park (the college group, that is) and played frisbee and swung on the swings and all sorts of stuff. I wanted to fly a kite and so bought one, but the wind wasn't strong enough. Then we went back to K&J's house where we watched Invader Zim and talked about stuff and ate pizza.
Have been thinking a lot about happiness. And how it's really a secondary thing. You know, we talk about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and it really seems that that's what we pursue most zealously, especially happiness. At Borders we have a whole section about finding happiness, about all the things we can do to be happier. It's called Self Help. The premise of the books is that with help, with programs, with activities and ideas, or maybe just by reading the book and meditating on its message, we can become happier. If we repair our relationships, tackle our shortcomings, deal with our emotional baggage, we will be happy.
Then you go over to the religion section. Doesn't matter if the books are in the Christian section or the Buddhist or Jewish or Metaphysics or Divination sections, they say the same sort of things. If we follow such and such a discipline, such and such a study, such and such a prayer life, such and such a spiritual discipline, we will be happy.
But when it really comes down to it, happiness is secondary. It is not out purpose. We were not made solely to be happy, to please ourselves and our appetites, whatever they may be. Because if we were at the center of things, I think we'd know it. I think we'd be lots happier than we are. Those books would work--completely, unequivocably. If our happiness and fulfillment could be found inside us, we'd have found it by now.
But we haven't.
If we are a chance thrown up by the universe, why are we so worried about happiness? If we arose to become something greater and better in the far future, then why do we seek elsewhere for happiness? But if we are made, created with a purpose, then wouldn't it stand to reason that happiness is not an end or a goal but a byproduct of said purpose?
God made us. He didn't need us, but he loves to create. And he made us, for his pleasure, for his glory. He designed us that way. We are his children, created in his likeness. He has a way he wants us to be, a purpose he has designed for us, and whether or not we are happy is not it. Instead, that happiness flows out of what we do toward that goal.
It's a heavy thought, but one I want to gnaw on for a good long time.