The Humility of Happiness

Realization 2,892,701: I have been scared of happiness for a long time.

Anybody?

I'm not positive, but I think I've been infected with suspicion of the concept by our Christian culture. Peace and joy, it implies, are fine. Holy. Maintainable. Happiness is... well, worldly! Happiness seems to be based on transient things, might easily fade, might leave us horrendously disappointed--
Stop!
There-- the truth slips and shows itself: being disappointed.
If I'm disappointed, I reason, it must mean I did something wrong, and am therefore morally culpable. And being horrendously disappointed creates pain, pain we want to avoid. In our finite view of ourselves and human history we have no idea what might improve us. So we push the dual potential away and embrace mediocrity. Being neither happy nor sad is a much more emotionally-defensible position; it lowers the risk factor (generally considered to be a good thing by this wounded world).

But as C.S. Lewis said, pain and joy are inextricably linked. If we never rejoice, we'll never weep, but that is no good reason not to rejoice. Or, in this intensely personally-applicable instance, not to be happy.

Besides, who is trying to convince us that we'll end up miserable if we submit to the humility of happiness?! We have no positive proof that things will go badly. Tolkien named the sudden turning out right a Eucatastrophe. Patricia says in Joe Vs. the Volcano, "Nobody knows anything, Joe. We'll take this leap, and we'll see. We'll jump, and we'll see. That's life, right?" And David says of this God we serve, "He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their sorrows." ~Ps. 147:3 No promises that things won't have gone wrongly for a long time, or that we won't have to jump, or that we won't have broken hearts to mend. Only that all will be well. If the bad guy is winning, the story ain't over.

Not only that, but by way of a p.s., my brilliant friend Elisabeth did a little research and discovered that "Blessed" means "happy, fortunate, to be envied." Paul tells us in Eph. 1 that we are, in fact, blessed. Therefore if we have not happiness, we are missing an intrinsic part of our character.

So it turns out we have to trust Him. Again. Go figure. We jump, and we pray for a miracle, and we see. That's life. Why waste it in the common, colorless land of In-Between?