by R. Herbert | Nov 3, 2014 | Positive Living
“Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is one of the most well-known phrases in the United States Declaration of Independence. It ranks the pursuit of happiness as an “unalienable right” which the Declaration affirms has been given to all human beings by their Creator.
The goal of human happiness is, of course, a totally worthy one with which few would disagree, but the words “pursuit of Happiness” can sometimes cause a misunderstanding. All too often we tend to think of happiness as a goal to be pursued, a thing to be chased, caught up with and captured; but there can be problems with this idea of pursuing happiness.
If we pursue happiness as a goal in itself, we never really find it. We have a whole book of the Bible – the Book of Ecclesiastes – reminding us of that truth. This is because happiness is not a commodity to be hunted and caught; it comes as a side-effect of what we do. We have only to read widely in literature to see that this has been something that wise men and women have understood for millennia – that rather than being an independent commodity we somehow gain, happiness is something we produce by what we do. Solomon found this (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26), and consider these few modern examples: Eleanor Roosevelt wrote “Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.” That is what Ralph Waldo Emerson meant when he wrote “Some pursue happiness – others create it.” And the current Dalai Lama has said: “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
But if that was all there is to happiness, everyone would do things that made them happy and everyone would be happy – which we know is far from the truth. Unfortunately, many people short-circuit the production of happiness in a particular way. Writer Freya Stark summarized this: “There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.” And remember that Jesus himself said, as he concluded the teaching of his disciples: “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (John 13:17 KJV).
There is an undeniable link between what we know and what we do. No matter what we do to try to produce happiness in our lives, our attempts will always be short-circuited if there is a gap between belief and practice, between our faith and our actions. Sometimes a little meditation on that fact is a far more effective way to get back to producing happiness in our lives than trying to chase happiness by seeking it some other way.
But a major lesson that we humans have learned through history is that we become happy as a result of what we do. So what particular actions make us happy? Once again we can look to Ecclesiastes to see that satisfying our every whim certainly does not produce happiness, and that chasing happiness is a “chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). But if we look again to the words of Christ “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them,” it is clear that “these things” are the things Jesus had taught his disciples – foremost of which are the principles of giving and serving. It is in this context that we should also remember Jesus’ words that “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It is no coincidence that the Greek word makarion – “blessed” also means “happy.” If we are doing these things we won’t have to pursue happiness because, invariably, happiness will come to us.
by R. Herbert | Oct 29, 2014 | Leadership
Here in the United States we approach a mid-term election which, although it will not elect a president, will doubtless affect the country in many ways. It may be instructive at such a time as this to consider the biblical instructions for choosing a leader found in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. Even in a land where separation of Church and State is strongly upheld, the principles underlying these instructions still make sense:
Vs. 15A: “be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses.” Today’s voting process might seem to negate this aspect entirely, but it serves as a reminder to every Bible-believing individual to not forget the responsibility of prayer – and participation – in elections.
Vs. 15B: “He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite.” Although this might be thought to mirror the “native born” requirement for the US President, the principle is broader and clearly indicates the importance of upholding the values and concerns of our own culture.
Vs. 16: “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people … to get more of them …” Although speaking of horses, the principle is clearly one of not accruing power for oneself, and not using the office of leader in order to further one’s own interests.
Vs. 17A: “He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.” This is a principle reminding us that leaders should not allow themselves to be distracted by concentration on their own pleasures, as well as the importance of personal moral responsibility.
Vs. 17B: “He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.” Accrual of personal wealth must not be involved in the conduct of leadership.
Vs. 18-19: When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, … It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees.” By far the longest instruction, modern day leaders need to know the law of the land and need to understand the concepts of moral law which should underlie it.
Vs. 20: “and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left…” This principle stresses the vital importance that leaders not only do not see themselves as above the law, but also that their directives do not favor their own agendas, their party or administration.
The instructions given for choosing rulers in Deuteronomy may seem antiquated and irrelevant to many, but their principles can all be easily applied today. Most of these principles have been flagrantly ignored or pushed aside by many leaders throughout political history, and the people who have suffered as a result have always been the people being ruled or led. Perhaps it will always be that way in this present world, but keeping in mind the value of these principles certainly cannot hurt in choosing our leaders – and in conducting our own lives also.
by R. Herbert | Oct 26, 2014 | Positive Living, Relationships
“When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them” (Job 29:24).
You probably know that studies have found that smiling is good for you. Carefully controlled psychological experiments have proven that we are happy because we smile just as much as we smile because we are happy. Smiling – even forced smiling – has been found to relieve stress, and a 2010 study published in Psychological Science even showed that smile intensity in photographs predicted longevity.
But did you know that at least one study has found that the single most effective thing a person can usually do to enhance his or her relationships with other people is … to smile more often? So in the title to this post I do not mean to be flippant in paraphrasing the biblical injunction “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, KJV). Letting our “light” shine is clearly more than just smiling, it involves our “good works” – the whole range of our behavior and interactions with others – yet if smiling is such an important component of our relationships with others, shouldn’t we indeed smile more often?
We may not be able to find biblical verses saying “Jesus smiled,” but in his classic work The Humor of Christ, Elton Trueblood lists thirty passages showing the humor of Jesus in the Synoptic Gospels. There are many other examples in the Bible of things being said with evident humor that suggest smiles were often present on the faces of God’s servants (for example, 1 Kings 18:27); and verses like “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy” (Psalm 126:2) had to involve smiling.
The point is, walking in God’s ways should produce smiles at least a portion of the time. This is particularly true because feelings of care and affection are frequently accompanied by smiles – if we are concerned and caring for others we will naturally smile even, sometimes, despite our own circumstances. In fact, just as experiments have found we can make ourselves happy by smiling, we can also make others happy by smiling at them. So there are at least two good reasons to be smiling, but it is something many Christians don’t do as often as we might expect. A surprising number of sincere believers live under a cloud of seriousness – at its worst it can be an expression of focusing on spiritual problems rather than the answers, though more often it’s just that we forget what an impact a smile can have.
So keep this in mind when you greet the world. As they say, if you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours. It’s not meant as pop-psychology advice to make you feel better, it’s meant as a small reminder that smiling is a part of letting our light shine. It certainly isn’t the most important part, but it may be the first thing that people notice about us and – as Job mentions in the scripture quoted above – it may be one of the things they firmly remember.
by R. Herbert | Oct 22, 2014 | Knowledge & Wisdom
Emergency services personnel are judged by how quickly they respond to emergencies, Presidents are judged on how quickly they respond to crises, companies are judged on how quickly they respond to customer service requests, and kids are often judged by their peers on how quickly they respond to computer game prompts. In the age of now, speed is king in many areas of life, and rapid responses are desired everywhere.
Unfortunately, fast reflexes and rapid responses are not always good things. They may look cool in action movies, but when it comes to character and personality traits in everyday life, rapid responses are often counterproductive and harmful. That’s something that is stressed time and again in the Book of Proverbs – the Bible’s book of distilled wisdom for everyday living. Notice these few examples from some different areas of life:
Proverbs 18:13 To answer before listening – that is folly and shame.
Proverbs 19:2b … one who acts hastily sins. (HCSB)
Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.
Proverbs 25:8 Don’t take a matter to court hastily. (HCSB)
Proverbs 29:20 Do you see someone who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool…
It can be a valuable study to look through the verses mentioning “haste” and “hurry” in Proverbs, but it’s not just that biblical book that decries hasty thoughts, words and deeds. Notice what the apostle James says in the New Testament: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (James 1:19-20 ).
Why is this – why does the Bible so often condemn rapid response behavior? The answer is simply because our first reactions are almost always our most human ones – the ones based in our own human nature; and as a result, our rapid responses can sometimes be rabid responses (Jeremiah 17:9, Matthew 15:19).
The right response often needs time for us to get over our primary emotional reaction – time to get our brain in gear and to remember the principles we have learned of God’s way of life. It’s only then, after we have taken the seconds, minutes or even hours we may need to arrive at an appropriate response, that we can be confident that our reaction is the right one – and in most of our interactions with others, a right response is better than a rapid response every time.
So take heart – even if you don’t have the super-fast response times of an action hero or a game console warrior – you may be better off with slower responses! In fact, it can often be a good decision to leave rapid responses to the professionals who need them in their work. In our own personal lives we need right responses so much more!
by R. Herbert | Oct 19, 2014 | Popular Culture
No matter what the news headlines and what is happening in the world at any given time, the most frequently uploaded type of content on the world’s social media is the “selfie” photo and information about the person and what he or she is doing at the present moment.
Now, the fact that most of us might want to record special occasions or stay in contact with loved ones might well account for a good number of selfie postings, but that’s only a part of it. Selfie production has become an obsession for many. We have become the “Me, my Selfie and I” generation – a selfie-absorbed generation.
But the problem with so much of the social media content we are producing – the artfully posed selfies, the tweets of facts such as “I just had my third cup of coffee today”– is not the delusion that other people really care or find this so interesting, but the fact that we are placing so much importance on what happens to us. It can be selfie-centered to a sad degree. You don’t need a degree in psychology to figure out that the more we feed the self, the less likely it is that the self will engage in unselfie-sh behavior.
Selfie-fixation is certainly the opposite of an outgoing and other-oriented attitude. As Christians we know that even Jesus himself said: “I can of mine own self do nothing … I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30 KJV), and we know that the will of God is that we focus our lives not on ourselves, but on God and others (Matthew 22:37-39). Focusing on others is hard to do when so much of our time is spent focusing our cameras and our thoughts on ourselves.
So am I saying we should never take selfies and try to selfie-righteously discourage others from doing so? No, of course not. But I am saying that we can at least use the selfie-fixation in the world around us as a reminder of what our lives should be about. If every time we see someone taking a selfie, or we see a selfie on our computer screen, we take a second to think “what can I do today for someone other than myself?” we may keep ourselves very busy, but we may move a little closer to perfecting the increasingly rare, and increasingly important, art of the “unselfie.”
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