A lot of simple things can bring us happiness on one level or another, such as blowing bubbles. Yet, there is just one problem with that kind of happiness, as it just lasts a moment. We may want to hold onto a bubble, but the moment we reach out touch it, poof, it bursts. Or when we cannot reach the bubble in time, it bursts anyways when it hits the ground.
We can compare some of the happiness we reach for in life to the short time a bubble lasts. Sometime the happiness we try to grasp for in life is out of reach or we just can’t get to it in time. Or, there are times when we think we have happiness in the palm of our hand, and the bubble suddenly bursts, much to our surprise, and that happiness is gone.
What are some of the things people chase in their search of happiness, putting them above everything else? It could be money, food, pleasure, career advancement, material possessions, or being popular with friends or co-workers. It’s not that these things are bad in themselves. Many of these things bring us a lot of pleasure. They can be very positive and life-giving for us when not taken to the extreme. But if we make any of them our priority and see them as the key to happiness, then we’ll be disappointed.
Jesus knew that people often look for happiness and fulfillment in the wrong places. In the beatitudes, he even suggested that we might be happy or blessed if we were poor in spirit, mourning, merciful, hungry for righteousness, or persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Why would Jesus suggest that? We don’t usually look at those things as bringing us happiness.
When we’re poor in spirit, when we are dependent on God, it is easier for us to trust in God for what is important in life. When we are poor in spirit, we don’t rely on our wealth or possessions or the values of the secular world for happiness. When we’re poor in spirit, we can then turn everything over to God, making God the true foundation of our lives.
When we mourn, when we cry in the midst of our sadness and our struggles, we put our trust in God to comfort us and to ease our pain. In our mourning, in the trust we put in God, we have the opportunity to unite our sorrows to the sufferings that Christ endured in his passion and journey to the cross.
When we hunger for righteousness, we are better able to understand that there are many levels of hunger beyond our physical hunger for food. We hunger for justice, for meaning, and for a deeper personal relationship with God. As we recognize our physical hunger for food and the other hungers we have, we can then understand that the most basic hunger we have as human beings is a spiritual hunger to connect with God in our lives here on earth. Only God can satisfy this hunger that’s an essential part of our human condition.
When we’re merciful, when we show mercy to others, then we can truly appreciate the mercy God offers us as a freely given gift. God gives us this gift of mercy, waiting for us to respond, to accept it, and to pass this mercy on to others.
When we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, by strangers, by neighbors, or even by our family and friends, we realize what a true friend we have in Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ is a companion who never leaves us. He is always there for us in good times and bad times, in our persecutions and our joys.
All of us want to find happiness in life, isn't that true? But we shouldn't waste our time chasing bubbles for a happiness that doesn’t last, for a happiness that doesn’t matter in the long run. We should look to God. God is our true source of happiness.
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