tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post7446860928716908263..comments2024-03-22T10:51:23.567-05:00Comments on Faith, Fiction, Friends: Have Faith, Be Happy?Glynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10802111972232088511noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-75891440464594900262010-10-23T16:36:47.223-05:002010-10-23T16:36:47.223-05:00Amen and amen, Glynn!Amen and amen, Glynn!lynnmosherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05150393635514942267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-56330641341839930152010-10-22T15:10:40.782-05:002010-10-22T15:10:40.782-05:00Yes Glynn! Well said.
My favourite "happy&...Yes Glynn! Well said.<br /><br />My favourite "happy" verses are the Beatitudes<br />(although some translate the word as "blessed").<br /><br />Our world would say "Happy are the rich, for they will be comfortable and have anything they desire." "Happy are the revelers, for they know how to party!"<br /><br />Jesus says, "Happy are the poor in spirit, they who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness . . ."<br /><br />We don't understand real happiness, because (as you so succinctly put it) "the point of the universe is not our individual happiness." We just automatically think it is all about US. When really, it is all about HIM!<br /><br />Thanks again.<br />I was blessed through you!little learnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09227913857172180379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-51093061401047629512010-10-22T10:31:02.764-05:002010-10-22T10:31:02.764-05:00"Too many things can overcome it..." Ai..."Too many things can overcome it..." Ain't that the truth! I am more enamored by the word faithful, as you remind us we are called. It has beauty, not because I am, but because I have the freedom to chose this. Because I have a God who is faithful to me. I think happiness will be forever in heaven, because that is where God will be. And all of my faith friends, too! ;) Thank you for being a part of encouraging us to keep faith fresh, Glynn - and adding this to the jam!Bonnie Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10331275947237285245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-37177916472749321382010-10-20T20:00:16.769-05:002010-10-20T20:00:16.769-05:00One day I realized that the root of happiness is s...One day I realized that the root of happiness is similar to happenstance. Happiness is based on what is happening (or not) in the moment. Then there's joy...different and more abiding.<br /><br />Thanks for this, Glynn.Deidrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09145504027833176749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-78070127299828449162010-10-20T16:36:08.242-05:002010-10-20T16:36:08.242-05:00Compelling read.
I'm less concerned with hap...Compelling read. <br /><br />I'm less concerned with happiness (do we even know what it means?) than having, as Meister Eckhart wrote, "the hope of loving or being loved" (that, I think, is very real). With the latter, all the rest is possible.<br /><br />Rumi, perhaps, said it best:<br />". . . If you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving / every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm / and we will be, we will be / so happy."Maureenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13290283101378474845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-89067039849652584372010-10-20T14:32:49.946-05:002010-10-20T14:32:49.946-05:00we have no "right" to happiness. And I b...we have no "right" to happiness. And I bristle whenever I hear that associated with God.David Ruperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04765017700988820676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-29981349588753592442010-10-20T13:52:20.103-05:002010-10-20T13:52:20.103-05:00Yikes. When people pin their decisions on God it i...Yikes. When people pin their decisions on God it is the worst kind of taking God's name in vain. (Maybe the only kind that really matters.)<br /><br />As for the pursuit of happiness... at least Jefferson changed it from the pursuit of property. Somehow we seem to have absorbed that commercialism anyway, though.Marcus Goodyearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07255781957722144278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-70059059634943806902010-10-20T12:21:42.764-05:002010-10-20T12:21:42.764-05:00Hope you don't mind me being honest, but heari...Hope you don't mind me being honest, but hearing "God wants me to be happy" makes me want to punch someone in the face. Not that I would, but it's ridiculous justification.<br /><br />Great post, Glynn.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-53347287260505579612010-10-20T09:41:51.330-05:002010-10-20T09:41:51.330-05:00well said ...well said ...S. Etolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01847206680320012887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-72504277637600315762010-10-20T09:02:33.600-05:002010-10-20T09:02:33.600-05:00This is a brave post. And a true one. I might say ...This is a brave post. And a true one. I might say that the scriptures do not promise happiness but do command faithfulness.<br /><br />But there are hints that faithfulness brings a deeper kind of happiness. Maybe joy, as someone noted above.Real Live Preacherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03757644935379896122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-24279856224083428012010-10-20T08:03:53.407-05:002010-10-20T08:03:53.407-05:00And I cannot be happiness when it is at the expens...And I cannot be happiness when it is at the expense of other's happiness too -- it is part of our interdependence -- to be my best, my best must also create joy for you.Louise Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522775693728655487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-1705149679187967342010-10-20T07:30:50.343-05:002010-10-20T07:30:50.343-05:00I tell people all the time something similar...
I...I tell people all the time something similar...<br /><br />I tell them that there is a difference between happiness and joy.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09739135186754291721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-57846661636706301962010-10-20T07:20:42.799-05:002010-10-20T07:20:42.799-05:00I like being happy...but happy doesn't cut it ...I like being happy...but happy doesn't cut it when times are tough. I rather have faith in a Father who loves us so. Good thoughts bro'Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07866639097998917122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-45995514739231742172010-10-20T07:20:35.883-05:002010-10-20T07:20:35.883-05:00Glynn -- I have missed you. :)
I used to teach my...Glynn -- I have missed you. :)<br /><br />I used to teach my students that happiness is a pretty transient feeling that "joy" was a better one -- so Jerry, you and I had the same thought... but Jerry's is much more poignant.<br /><br />I recently read a line from a book about a woman who had left the church for a while, and when she came back years later admits, "I forgot how joyous faith can be..."<br /><br />Happiness. Fleeting. Moments of your life... but...<br />Joy? Eternal.<br /><br />:)H. Gillhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16866823621648796335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5791261486111154318.post-19781008650184516972010-10-20T06:59:22.899-05:002010-10-20T06:59:22.899-05:00I really want to be happy...like everyone else. B...I really want to be happy...like everyone else. But it is fleeting as you say, often down from one moment to another. I wish what you said wasn't true at times. But in the end to be blessed is more on target. My brother when walking through the slow death of his wife to cancer exuded an undercurrent of joy. Joy is slightly off subject but as I observed him, happiness wasn't present but joy was.Jerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04874006676004790578noreply@blogger.com