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Happiness Amidst Life’s Suffering
“May the seed of happiness enter grey stormy places in which I lose sight of joy.
Awaken enthusiasm. Loosen whatever restrains my spirit.”
Author Unknown
Suzanne: Welcome
A promise is given from our Creator that we will be given wisdom, knowledge, and joy when we do ‘good works’ (Ecclesiastes 2:26). Two weeks after celebrating the joyful birth of Jesus, Sister Joan Chittister wrote about the nature of happiness in her January newsletter, The Monastic Way. Timely insights are shared in the darkness of winter amidst personal suffering. Sister Joan believes that ‘happiness’ is one of the great universal riddles of all time. Instead of asking, ‘Am I happy?’ she suggests that we will be missing the opportunity to explore the greatest spiritual self-development question of all time: “Am I spending my life on something meaningful enough to give joy to my existence?
The riddle opens a door to exploration as Sister Joan provides a story about a disciple having a conversation with her rabbi:
Disciple: What good work shall I do to be acceptable to God?
Rabbi: How should I know? Abraham practiced hospitality and God was with him. Elias loved to pray, and God was with him. David ruled a kingdom and God was with him. Judith led her people and God was with her, too.
Disciple: Well, then, is there some way I can find my own allotted work?
Rabbi: Yes. Search for the deepest inclination of your heart and follow it.
Sister Joan recognized a sacred gift being given by the rabbi, “It is when we immerse ourselves in something big enough or beautiful enough to consume us beyond the moment and forever, that we find the unreachable limits of human happiness.” As a seeker she does not hesitate to question herself, wondering whether her life’s mission is tapping into the best and most natural gifts that rest inside of her. This is a personal question, and she closes her reflection by saying, “Clearly happiness is doing something we can do well that gives joy to our own life and meaning to the lives around us.”
Kathy: Scripture reading adapted from 1 Corinthians 12:4-11
There are varieties of gifts, service, and activities but the same Spirit who empowers them all in everyone …To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good … to one the utterance of wisdom, to another the utterance of knowledge, to another faith, to another gifts of healing, to another the working of miracles … All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit.
Song
Be a Light by Thomas Rhett (lyrics), Keith Urban, Chris Tomlin, Hillary Scott Reba McEntire
https://youtu.be/Oqiw54l_x-8 2 minutes 30 seconds
Volunteer: Second Reading
The suffering in the world as well as our own can be debilitating. Theologian, humanitarian, and 1952 Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) wrote, “Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight … One thing I know, is the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.” Schweitzer suggests that if there is something that stirs your heart, and you can act with compassion, then you have served a good and progressive purpose.
In the tradition of Thomas Aquinas, theologian, philosopher, and writer Gilbert. K. Chesterton (1874-1936) described happiness as a mysterious connection between our own fulfillment and the well-being of others. Seekers take the time to delve into their inner selves to find their internal gifts and what they need to experience fulfillment. Happiness is found in the journey of discovering our soul’s light, where our problems become the very place to uncover wisdom and love. The sacredness of life is revealed, as Joan Chittister also said, “Happiness is the serene awareness that wherever we are is where we belong, whatever the storms in which we find ourselves.”
Sharon: Prayer of Intention:
I bow to the sacred in all creation.
May my spirit fill the world with beauty and wonder.
May my mind seek truth about my strengths with humility.
May my imagination overcome despair and suffering by recognizing possibilities.
May my heart be open to serve for the well-being of myself and others.
May my soul rejoice in the light that glimmers in the present moment.
— Adapted from Mary Lou Kownacki, Distributed by Pax Christi, USA
Closing Reflection
Sister Joan presents two crucial spiritual questions:
- • Am I spending my life on something meaningful enough to give joy to my existence?
- • Am I am doing something that taps into the most natural gifts in me?
Closing Song
More Light by Christopher Gundy 1 minute 39 seconds
References
Albert Schweitzer Biographical. The Nobel Prize. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1952/schweitzer/biographical/
Chittister, J. (2024, Jan. 10). What is happiness? Benetvision - January newsletter. https://joanchittister.org/content/newsletters/monastic-way/current-issue?mc_cid=c14289b861&mc_eid=b05786461a
The Society of G. K. Chesterton. https://www.chesterton.org/discover/
Songs:
Be a Light by Thomas Rhett (lyrics ) ft. Keith Urban, Chris Tomlin, Hillary
Scott & Reba McEntire
More Light by Christopher Gundy
“It is when we immerse ourselves in something big enough or beautiful enough to consume us beyond the moment and forever that we find the unreachable limits of human happiness.”
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