Happiness

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote in his 2005 book, "To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility." His perspective on happiness follows:

Happiness is the ability to say: I lived for certain values and acted on them.  I was part of a family, embracing it and being embraced by it.  I was part of a community, honoring its traditions, sharing its griefs and joys, ready to help others, knowing that they were ready to help me.  I did not only ask what I could take; I asked what I could contribute.  

To know that you made a difference, that in this all-too-brief span of years you lifted someone’s spirits, relieved someone’s poverty or loneliness, or brought a moment of grace or justice to the world that would not have happened had it not been for you: these are as close as we get to the meaningfulness of a life, and they are matters of everyday rather than heroic virtue. Machiavelli famously said that it is better to be feared than to be loved.  He was wrong.

So, are we happy?  Many of us will say "no," and that's a tragedy.  Nevertheless, Rabbi Sacks has given us a blueprint that could very have been written by Jesus.  Both Jews give us the map to what we all seek: happiness.

Deacon David Pierce