Towards a "Green" Happiness

I should probably begin this blog with a confession. 

This weekend (October 12th and 13th), I am focusing on “green” or environmental happiness, as part of my proclamation series on becoming happier persons.  Now, in preparing for this sermon series, I dived into all of the contemporary literature on happiness, including the many empirical surveys conducted by various researchers.  Although there is not perfect agreement among all of the researchers, there is a broad consensus that the following components are essential for authentic, lasting happiness:

Ø  Personal Growth

Ø  Positive Attitudes

Ø  Strong Inter-Personal Relationships

Ø  A Sense of Gratitude

Ø  A Strong Sense of Meaning and a Commitment to Something Greater than Ourselves  (For Christians, this component is fulfilled through our faith and commitment to following Jesus.)

Ø  Serving Others & Working to Heal Brokenness in the World.

For the most part, I have focused this series of proclamations around these six, empirically-verified components of happiness.  Please note that “green happiness” is not part of the consensus list of core components. 

            So, why did “green happiness” not make the list of essential components?  Could it be that enjoying nature and working to care for the environment is not important for happiness? 

I don’t think so; I believe that having a healthy relationship with Creation all around us is an essential ingredient for a life of flourishing and happiness.  Instead, I think this omission is primarily because psychologists and other researchers have not yet really studied the role that the environment plays in our happiness.  A significant exception might be Catherine O’Brien, an Associate Professor of Education at Cape Breton University in Canada.  Dr. O’Brien has developed a very interesting concept of “sustainable happiness.”  (See her website at:  http://sustainablehappiness.ca/ )  As psychologists, sociologists, and others continue their research into what give us happiness, I believe that more and more will begin adding a “green” component.

So, here’s my confession:  Even though it is not yet recognized as one of the essential components of a happy and flourishing life, I decided to include a message on “enjoying nature and working to care for it” as part of this series on becoming happier persons.  I decided to add it for three reasons:

First, I believe God intended for there to be a “green” component to human happiness.  The scriptural text for this weekend is Genesis 2: 4b-9.  The Bible contains two distinct creation stories in the first two chapters of Genesis.  Even though Biblical scholars tell us that this story is chronologically older, it is less familiar that the other creation story in which God creates the world in six days (see Genesis 1).  Instead, in this story, God “formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,” (verse 7).  The name of this first person was Adam; his wife, Eve, was created a few verses later.

We can imagine that when God created Adam, God was so excited about this first human person and that God immediately loved Adam.  God wanted to give Adam a gift, to show God’s love and excitement.  Think of it as God’s “baby shower” for Adam.  So God next created a gift for Adam.  Here’s how Genesis describes that gift in verse 8, “And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”  In the Genesis story, the Garden of Eden represents all of God’s good Creation.  In other words, God gave us all of Creation, but not to dominate and abuse as we like.  No. Instead, God created all of Creation in order for us to enjoy and to flourish.  God intended for the enjoyment of Creation to be one of the essential components of happiness.

A second reason for this particular sermon is my own practical experience.  Ever since I was a little boy, playing in my Grandfather’s woodland, I have found that time with nature is an essential component for my happiness.  For me, nature is a core ingredient for happiness.  This engagement with nature does not always have to be some rugged, “mountain-man” immersion into the wild.  By engagement with nature, I also mean spending time with pets, or caring for a house plant, or simply sitting by the window and drinking in the beauty of a winter’s snow storm.  All of these possibilities are avenues for including the enjoyment of Creation as an essential component of happiness.

Finally, the third reason, for this particular message is simply my local congregation’s decision earlier this year to become a green, sustainable church.  When the Administrative Council made this commitment, it was with the understanding that we would have to “live into” this new way of “being church.”  I added this sermon because I believe that “living into” this new commitment should certainly be something that we do when we worship, as well as when we conduct our financial and administrative business.

So, this weekend, I am going to invite all of us to reflect on how “enjoying nature and working to care for it” contributes something important and unique to our genuine happiness and flourishing.  If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, I invite you to join us this weekend, to see how this message works out, as we explore becoming happier persons.  Meriden United Methodist Church is located at the corner of Dawson and Main Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  We have two worship services each weekend:

Ø  Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on Saturday evenings.

Ø  Our classic service starts on at 10 am on Sunday mornings.

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all!

Serving Makes Us Happy

Remember the last time that you helped someone else?  Was it caring for a sick friend or helping a neighbor with yard work or volunteering for an organization or helping a stranger who was lost.  Almost all of us have helped someone or some deserving organization at some point in our lives. 

            Why do we do that?  Why do we help others?

            There are many reasons why we sometimes help others: 

Ø  We may feel obligated to help others out of a sense of debt or duty. 

Ø  We hope to gain recognition and impress our family, friends, peers, or boss. 

Ø  It looks good on our resume for admission to school or to get a new job.  

Ø  We volunteer because all of our friends are volunteering and the event looks like it would be fun to do together.

Many times, Christians help others for religious reasons:

Ø  We want to show others how strong our faith is and how committed we are.

Ø  We feel a need to make up for sins and previous mistakes.

Ø  We want to earn “brownie points with God” in order to receive mercy and grace from God in the future.  (In other words, we want to bribe God by helping others and doing good works.)

Ø  We hope that helping others will convince God to prevent bad things from happening to us in the future.  (This is sort of like trying to buy an insurance policy with God.)

This weekend at Meriden UMC, we will continue our series on “Becoming a Happier Persons,” and I will be preaching on how serving and helping others can lead to an authentic happiness.  My message will be based upon the Epistle of James 2: 14-24, 26. 

In this passage, James claims that all of the reasons listed above for helping others are wrong.  For James, we do not help others because of what we hope to gain.  Rather, we help and serve others, out of our faith in Jesus Christ.  That is, helping and serving others are the fruits of our Christian faith.  In essence, we can’t help but help because helping is who we are—and, what we do—as disciples of Christ.  Or, as James expresses it:  “For just as a human body without breathing is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” (v. 26~my paraphrase) 

Our help and service grows out of our Christian faith.  They are in response to God’s love already given to us.  No matter who we have been or what we have done, we know that God restores us to our true identity through our faith in Christ.  It is easy to forget the order of how God works.  Most of us believe that we are inadequate failures, when we compare who we are with who we have always expected ourselves to become.  Sometimes we think that we must help and serve others in order for God to love and restore us.  But, this approach puts the proverbial “cart before the horse.”  God doesn’t work this way.

In his Epistle, James reminds us that God actually works in the opposite direction.  Despite our fractured brokenness, God is always ready to love and restore us, when we turn in faith to God.  When we are reconciled and restored, we help and serve others in response to God’s love already bestowed upon us.  But, a parishioner reminded me this week that it is very tempting to keep trying to put that cart in front of the horse, and try to earn God’s love.  Or, as she put it, “There is such a huge difference between intellectually hearing the Gospel and internalizing it in your heart and actions.”

So, Christians help and serve others because it is in our faith-DNA—not in order to influence God or others.  Interestingly, researchers studying what creates authentic happiness have discovered something similar.  While we have known for some time that one of the keys to living a happy and flourishing life is to help and serve others, newer studies have shown that if you only help and serve others as a means to guarantee your own happiness, then you probably won’t be happy. 

This is actually true of all the components that lead to happiness.  The more you try to be happy, the more elusive happiness becomes.  As the psychologist Todd B. Kashdan observes in an article, “In sum, the more you value happiness, try to be happy, organize your life around trying to become happy, the less happy you end up.”[1]  So, helping and serving others only makes us happy when we focus on giving to others, rather than focusing on making ourselves happy.  Our happiness emerges as a by-product from serving others because—just as in Christian discipleship—serving others is in the DNA of the truly happy and flourishing person.

If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, I invite you to join us this weekend, as we continue our exploration of becoming happier persons.  Meriden United Methodist Church is located at the corner of Dawson and Main Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  We have two worship services each weekend:

Ø  Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on Saturday evenings.

Ø  Our classic service starts on at 10 am on Sunday mornings.

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

 

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[1] Todd B. Kashdan, “The Problem with Happiness,” the Huffington Post, posted online on 30 September 2010, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-kashdan/whats-wrong-with-happines_b_740518.html, accessed 3 October 2013.

Happiness and Healthy Relationships

            This weekend (September 28th & 29th), we will continue our sermon series on happiness by exploring healthy relationships.  We know from the empirical studies conducted by psychologists and other researches that healthy relationships are a key component for true and lasting happiness.

            The scriptural foundation for our exploration of happiness is 1 Corinthians 13, which Christians have nicknamed “the great love chapter.”  Among the many important insights on relationships in this chapter is this observation in verse 4:  “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful of arrogant or rude.”  Many people are already familiar with this scripture by the Apostle Paul because it is frequently read at weddings, and it does offer very wise advice for newlyweds. 

Yet, when Paul wrote this chapter, he was not thinking of marriage, specifically.  Instead, he was thinking of relationships between individuals in general.  So, the advice in 1 Corinthians 13 is pertinent for all sorts of different relationships, including our relationships with friends, parents, children, other family members, neighbors, significant others, etc.  This week, we will use the “great love chapter” as our guide toward understanding how to build healthy relationships that contribute to happiness.

If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, I invite you to join us this weekend, as we continue our exploration of becoming happier persons.  Meriden United Methodist Church is located at the corner of Dawson and Main Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  We have two worship services each weekend:

Ø  Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on Saturday evenings.

Ø  Our classic service starts on at 10 am on Sunday mornings.

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

A Common Myth About Happiness

            We live in a culture which glorifies consumption as the key to obtaining happiness.  In our daily lives, we are bombarded with messages encouraging us to consume in order to be happy.  These messages come in various forms, through print and media commercials that tell us that we will be happy if we just buy a particular product or service.  This message also reaches us through television shows, movies, and books that glamorize wealth and consumption as the key to a happy lifestyle. 

            Despite the prevalence of this message that consumption is the key to happiness, many empirical studies suggest that having more and more possessions actually does not lead to greater happiness—at least not after a basic threshold of life necessities has been met.  Rather than consumption, we know that it is personal growth, positive attitudes, strong relationships, a sense of gratitude, a strong sense of meaning, serving others, and working to make the world a better place, which lead to greater happiness.

            Still, this false myth that consumption is the key to obtaining happiness permeates our society.  Embedded within this false myth is an unholy trinity of doctrines: 

1.  “I consume, therefore I am.”

                        2.  “The more I consume, the happier I will be.”

                        3.  “What I consume is who I am.”

It is impossible to escape continual exposure to this myth within our popular culture.  Yet, there is an alternative path from a Christian perspective.  This alternative Christian perspective coheres much closer with the empirical findings of psychologists, neuro-scientists, geneticists, and others.

            This weekend, my message will be based upon Luke 18: 18-30, the story of the rich, young ruler.  In this story, the rich ruler asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  This, I suppose, is the core question concerning ultimate happiness.  In essence, the rich leader asks what is the key to happiness and bliss forever and ever to infinity—and beyond!?! 

            After establishing that the rich leader strives to lead an ethical life by following all of the Jewish laws, Jesus tells him, “There is still one thing lacking.  Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 

Luke explains that after this statement by Jesus, the rich leader “became sad; for he was very rich.”  At this point, most likely, the leader got up and left the discussion.  Saddened by the leader’s decision to choose his earthly wealth over eternal happiness and bliss, Jesus observes, with hyperbole, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

The crux of this story about the rich, young ruler is where we place our faith.  In the story, the ruler trusts that his material wealth will provide him with more happiness than anything else.  This is similar to the false myth prevalent in our culture, which tells us that consumption of more and more things will bring us the greatest happiness.  This outcome deeply saddens Jesus because he knows that in actuality true and lasting happiness comes by placing our faith in God and striving to be a faithful disciple.

From Christ’s perspective, happiness in this present life is rooted in faithful discipleship which includes personal spiritual growth, strong relationships within the family and a community of faith, gratitude for the blessings that we receive from God, serving others and striving to make the world a better place.  In addition, the Christian life provides a spiritual meaning which is greater than simply we, ourselves.  In short, the lifestyle of a Christian provides those factors, which empirical studies suggests are the key to authentic happiness—in the here and now. Further, faithful discipleship holds the promise of everlasting happiness in the far future.

My message this weekend (September 21 & 22) will explore more deeply this false myth that consumption is the key to happiness.  More significantly, it will explore the alternative, counter-cultural Christian understanding of happiness as played out in the story of the rich, young leader.

If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, I invite you to join us this weekend, as we continue our exploration of becoming happier persons.  Meriden United Methodist Church is located at the corner of Dawson and Main Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  We have two worship services each weekend:

Ø  Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on Saturday evenings.

Ø  Our classic service starts on at 10 am on Sunday mornings.

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

Spiritual Happiness

            During the early autumn, I will be preaching a sermon series around the question, “Would You Like to Be a Happier Person?”  Personal happiness has been an important, trending topic for the past few years.  Over a three-month period earlier this year, Amazon.com added over 1,000 new books to their already vast sales inventory on happiness.  Research into personal happiness has increased dramatically by psychologists, as well as neuroscientists who are studying those areas of the brain that become active when we experience joy and happiness.

            In this sermon series, I will explore the keys to true and lasting happiness from the perspective of Christian faith.  In my own personal experience, my Christian faith has been foundational for happiness and flourishing.   My faith gives me comfort in times of trouble, opportunities to serve and make the world a better place, and meaning when confronting life’s major questions.  We know that human persons are multi-dimensional, including intellectual,  physical, social, psychological, and spiritual dimensions.  

            This Sunday, September 15th, we will be exploring the spiritual dimensions of authentic happiness.  In order to live a good and happy life, we must maintain a healthy spiritual life.  Our foundational scripture for the service will be 1 Kings 19: 11-13, which is from the story of the prophet Elijah.  In this story, Elijah has fled out into the wilderness and is living in a cave.  Depressed to the point of being suicidal and all alone, Elijah prays that God will come and speak to him.  Elijah looks for God’s Presence in a fierce wind, an earthquake, and a fire.  Yet, God is in none of these natural events.  Finally, God speaks to Elijah through a “still, small voice,” and Elijah is comforted and rejuvenated.

            Taking some lessons from the story of Elijah, my message will explore the spiritual dimensions of authentic happiness.  I will describe what it means to “be spiritual,” and look at different, individual forms of spirituality.  One of the most difficult challenges for many persons is finding time to nurture and develop our spiritual lives.  I will suggest some strategies for finding time for daily prayer and spiritual growth—and, I will suggest a few spiritual practices which may be helpful for spiritual growth and nurture.  My hope is that this message will help everyone strengthen their spiritual health—and become happier persons.

If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, I invite you to join us this weekend, as we explore the keys to spiritual fulfillment and happiness.  Meriden United Methodist Church is located at the corner of Dawson and Main Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  We have two worship services each weekend:

Ø  Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on Saturday evenings.

Ø  Our classic service starts on at 10 am on Sunday mornings.

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

Are You a Boiling Frog?

There is a common saying that goes like this:  “If you do something that you truly love, then you’ll never work a single day in your life.”  Surely, this conventional wisdom is an exaggeration.  While it is true that many of us are employed in occupations that we love and there are magical days in which we genuinely love what we do and cannot imagine doing anything else.  Yet, at the same time, there are aspects of every occupation—or, periods of time—in which we genuinely hate or dread or despise what we have to do.  There is no magic to what we do.

            Sometimes it’s not what we do at work, but rather the context in which we work that turns our days of toil into tortured drudgery.  During my time as pastor at Meriden United Methodist Church, various members have shared some of their struggles on the job, which take the magic out of labor:

Ø  Having to do more and more because of budget cuts and downsizing.

Ø  Difficult conflicts with bosses or co-workers

Ø  Company or institutional politics

Ø  Being asked to do things that are unethical—or, at least, marginally ethical.

Ø  Working in an atmosphere that discourages or is hostile to Christian faith

There can be other challenges as well.  For instance, sometimes we work with a constant fear that we are about to be fired because we have a boss who seems to personally dislike us.  Or, we fear that our employer is on the brink of a downsizing that will result in the elimination of our job.  Some persons have shared with me that they only stay in their current position because they, or a family member, desperately need the health insurance.

Sometimes, the greatest challenge of work is actually one of time management:  How do we balance the demands of our job with the needs of our family; our church; our community; our friends; and other interests that we have?

Despite all of the problems and challenges that we face at work, most of us get more out of our work than just a paycheck.  For many of us, our work provides opportunities to contribute to the common good of society.  Through our jobs, many of us can help others who have needs or problems.  Our jobs can be a means of ministry and service to our community, our society, and the world.  We gain satisfaction and affirmation from knowing that we did a job well.  And, for many of us, our self-identity is significantly related to our work.  Who we are, at least partially, is defined by what we do.  So, work can be good.

Historically, the Christian faith has seen our work as a calling from God; as a means for serving God and other persons through the use of special talents and gifts that God has specifically given to each one of us.  On Labor Day Sunday this week, I will focus on this Christian understanding of work as a “calling” from God.  I will talk about how many of our jobs are a response to God’s call, in which we use our gifts and talents to serve others. 

 

But, I will also explore some of the harder aspects of this claim.  For instance, what should we do when our work is not a “calling” from God, but simply a job to provide income and/or health insurance for our families?  What if we started off seeing our career, or a particular position, as a “calling,” but gradually over time, the various challenges and problems at work make us uncertain that we really are fulfilling a “calling?”  I call this the "boiling frog" syndrome.  What should we do when we have become a boiling frog at work.  Finally, how do we balance the demands of work with the other demands of our lives?

I invite you to come on Sunday, as we explore the world of work and Christian faith.   

If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, please consider attending Meriden United Methodist Church.  Meriden UMC is located at the corner of Dawson and Main.  Our worship service starts on Sundays at 10 am.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

The Creative Christian

            All of us would like to be considered creative persons.  In my message this week, I will explore the concepts of creativity and vision from a Christian perspective. 

My scriptural foundation is Joel 2: 28-32.  This is a very interesting text, especially because the Apostle Peter uses it as his scriptural text, when he preaches the first Christian sermon at Pentecost.  Peter employs this text to demonstrate that the apostles and other followers of Christ are not drunk, but rather filled with the Holy Spirit.  See Acts 2: 14-41.

Based upon the prophet Joel and the Apostle Peter, I will suggest that creativity and vision are special gifts that God gives us through the Holy Spirit.  In our individual lives, in our everyday joys and struggles, God gives Christ’s disciples these twin gifts of creativity and vision.  I also believe that God gives these gifts to congregations.  And, God expects us to use these gifts for our individual flourishing and for faithful discipleship, both as individuals and as the community of faith.

Joel 2: 28 says, “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”

But, what does it mean to prophesy or dream as God intends us to do?  How do we develop and utilize these twin gifts of creativity and vision?

In my message this weekend, we will look at some secular ideas about what creativity and vision are—and, how we can develop them.  For instance, the National Geographic photographer Dewitt Jones has spent a great deal of time exploring creativity.  We will look at some of his ideas.  But, we will also explore creativity and vision from the perspective of Christian faith.  How does God call us to be creative and visionary? 

Finally, in my message I will explore different things we sometimes do to undermine and destroy our creativity and vision—both as individuals and as communities of faith.  For example, one way churches sometimes undermine creativity and vision in their midst is with the seven deadly words:  “We’ve never done it that way before.”

I invite you to come on Sunday and learn more about how you can be a more creative and visionary person—and how we can be a creative and visionary community of faith.

If you live in the Meriden-area and do not have a regular church home, please consider attending Meriden United Methodist Church.  Meriden UMC is located at the corner of Dawson and Main.  Our worship service starts on Sundays at 10 am.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.