‘How can I be happy when…?’

By M K George

Rome, July 16, 2022: There are moments when I feel happy for no reason. Just pure joy. A feeling of alignment with the best of the universe.

But, then I feel guilty.

It is as though someone within me is yelling, ‘How can you be happy when the whole world is groaning. Look at your own country. It is at the edge of a precipice. Sri Lanka your neighbor is shattered. Pakistan is ever on boil. Afghanistan has become again a slave nation. How can you forget Ukraine? The global grain shortage.

How can you not hear the cries of thousands of children dying at this very moment? Emergence of violence in Japan, a peace loving nation. In the richest of countries, US, inflation, mass shootings, controversies over abortion and the like. Democracy is dying all over the world. Back to your own home, your kith and kin are suffering!’

I fall into semi gloom.

To my consolation, the two living popes, Benedict and Francis, guide me with their wisdom. Both say happiness is my birth right. Addressing the youth in 2012, Pope Benedict said, “Our hearts are made for joy…A yearning for joy lurks within the heart of every man and woman. Far more than immediate and fleeting feelings of satisfaction, our hearts seek a perfect, full and lasting joy capable of giving ‘flavor’ to our existence.”

Pope Francis followed suit when he said in 2014, ‘…never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show.’

Pope Francis went on to list ten secrets to happiness: ‘live and let live,’ ‘give of yourself to others,’ ‘proceed calmly in life,’ ‘enjoy leisure,’ ‘take Sundays off,’ ‘create jobs for young people,’ ‘protect and respect nature,’ ‘don’t be so negative,’ ‘don’t proselytize; respect the beliefs of others,’ and ‘work for peace.’

Interestingly, Pope Francis challenged the apparent contradiction between holiness and happiness. He said, ‘I have often heard the phrase, “God desires our holiness more than our happiness.” I understand the sentiment, but I don’t necessarily agree and I’m fairly certain our Church doesn’t agree either.

I think this view is predicated on the notion that authentic happiness and holiness are mutually exclusive. If that were true, I would certainly think that choosing holiness was the better part. But I would suggest that this is an error. The truth is that holiness is actually the fruit of authentic happiness – it is difficult to have the former if you do not have the latter.’

Good news! I can be happy in the midst of the severest sufferings and tragedies because my joy, as Jesus said, does not depend on the exterior events. “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. (Jn 15, 10-15).

It is in genuine and selfless love that we find lasting joy. And genuine love resides in your heart waiting to be released.

Enduring joy and happiness are, as Pope Benedict said, ‘to be found in God. We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success, or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts.’

How do we speak to a generation, which may not vibe with the vocabulary of God and Holiness? Papa Francis’ list is more practical. Live the ten secrets; you are bound to achieve a joy that no one can snatch away.

C S Lewis once said, ‘We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.’

True joy and happiness lies elsewhere.

To come back to Pope Francis again, ‘to be happy is to let live that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple. It is the maturity to be able to say, ‘I made mistakes.’ It is to have the courage to say, “I am sorry”. It is to have the sensitivity to say, “I need you”. It is to have the ability to say, “I love you”. And of course, live a life of genuine love.

There is a Hasidic saying to the effect that there will be only two questions at the time of one’s final judgment: ‘Were you joyful? Did you share your joy?’

Let us make a project of happiness amid the tragedies of the world.

(Jesuit Father M K George is based in Rome.)