I recently taught a Sunday school lesson on the Beatitudes. I think I may be plagiarizing, but I no longer have a copy of the book, and I don’t remember the author’s name. So know that credit for the following concept goes to whoever the guy is who wrote this Presbyterian book on the Beatitudes. Sorry dude.
The author says that often people who struggle economically find their joy in the allness of life. He says that allness isn’t even a real word, he made it up. But maybe it should be.
Am I’m making life too complicated? Maybe it isn’t about the house or the car or the college tuition or the next vacation or the number of years ‘til retirement. Maybe it isn’t about being included in the important meeting at work or having everyone in the world like you or being President of the Board. Perhaps it is about being in the moment – being fully satisfied with what you are given today; right now.
Matthew 18:3 says to approach life in a childlike way.
When I worked at the Cary YMCA, there was a kid in our programs named Theara. She had Downs Syndrome and came to the Y after-school and during the summer most days for years and years. Now, Theara could get frustrated and definitely told you what was on her mind. One day we were walking to Bond Park about a mile down the greenway from the Y. She got tired, sat down, and refused to go any further. It was hot, and she let us know that we, in her opinion, had mucked up her day with this ridiculous trek.
I sort of liked the fact that you never had to guess where you stood with Theara. If she was happy, you knew it. If she wasn’t, you also knew it.
But what I most admired about Theara was that she was full. She was full of love, and joy. She delighted in a camp skit, song or cheer. She loved theme days where you had the opportunity to dress up in costume. She loved running into me in the hallway, walking up to greet me with a high-five and a joke or some little tidbit about her day. She would get so excited about the smallest things.
She wasn’t waiting around for happiness to find her. She found happiness in almost every aspect of life, with the exception of hot walks to Bond Park.
The Beatitudes encourage us to be meek, merciful, peacemakers, pure in heart and several other things that I’m not very good at. Who in the heck even wants to be meek? Is that a good thing?
Perhaps what Christ was saying was to take the talents you’ve been given and maximize them. Or maybe, that the things society says are important, like leadership and clout, are not the things He finds important. He made this world and wants us to enjoy it no matter who we are or what we’ve been given.
The author says that happiness replaces pain but that joy embraces it. He explains that joy takes conquest of all the stuff of life, both good and bad, while happiness depends largely on circumstances.
I, for one, too often seek happiness instead of living with joy. And when you do that, happiness is sometimes evasive. Joy isn’t fickle. It doesn’t leave us even when things aren’t going our way.
I think Theara has it right. She has contentment with who she is and where she is. Maybe I should spend more times with kids – I might learn something about living.
