If only I could move to a new town and make a new start,
then I would be happy. If only I could change jobs, buy a new
home, find the right man, get through college, have enough to
retire, then I would be happy. If only I had this...if only I could find
that.... Looking for happiness in all the wrong places.
Will Rogers said that now and then he grew tired of the same
old surroundings. Then he would wish for a new place to live and
work. He said he would pick some city that sounded attractive.
Before he moved, however, he would subscribe to the leading
newspaper in his proposed new home and read that newspaper
for thirty days. Rogers declared that he would always decide not
to move. The news from where he planned to live was no better
than the news where he was. (1)
Will Rogers was right. Happiness rarely comes from a
change of locations, or a change of mates, or a change of
situations of any kind. It is amazing how many people go through
life looking for happiness in all the wrong places.
Take this woman at the well. She was a scarlet woman. Five
times she had walked down the aisle to be married. Now she was
living with a man without benefit of matrimony. Is that the kind of
life she would chosen for herself? It's doubtful. She was clearly
searching. Searching for love, acceptance, security, happiness.
Somehow she was searching in all the wrong places. People do
that.
PEOPLE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS IN THE ACCUMULATION
OF THINGS.
Clare Booth Luce was one of the most remarkable women of
our time. She had everything most people could yearn for. There
is an interesting story about when she was appointed United
States Ambassador to Italy. She located in that historic land a
beautiful seventeenth-century Italian villa. She established her
residence there. Soon after moving in, however, she began to
notice that she was deteriorating physically. She was tired. She
lost weight. She had little energy. In general her physical
condition got worse and worse.
Of course, she sought medical aid. After a period of intense
testing it was found that she was suffering from arsenic poisoning.
But from what source? Every one on her staff was given further
security checks. It was soon established that each had impeccable
credentials and could surely be trusted. None of her staff were
trying to poison her. Where was the poisoning coming from?
Finally they found the cause. On the ceiling of her bedroom
were beautiful designs of roses ornately done in bas relief. They
had been painted with a paint that contained arsenic lead. A fine
dust fell from these roses. Completely unaware of what was going
on Mrs. Luce was being slowly poisoned in her bed by this fine
dust falling from the ornate roses on the ceiling.One does not
expect to be poisoned by one's idyllic dream home, of course.
Neither can one hope that such a home will of itself bring
happiness. Some of the loneliest places on this planet are the
magnificent homes of the rich and famous. We all know that, but
still we dream. If only we could move to a new house...buy a new
car...If only I had some new clothes....Some people search for
happiness in the accumulation of material possessions. (2)
OTHERS SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS IN BELONGING TO
EXCLUSIVE GROUPS.
We have all heard of the Ivy League colleges. Perhaps some
of us were fortunate enough to have attended one of these superb
schools. It so happens that the so-called Ivy League colleges have
little or no ivy on their walls anymore. Why not? They found that
the ivy was destroying the mortar of their buildings. The pride of
tradition is too expensive if it is bought at the expense of the
needs of today and tomorrow. (3) All over the world, however, we
see people clinging to traditions at the expense of today and
tomorrow. Tradition gives us our identity, tells us who we are.
Tradition sets us apart. "How is it that you a Jew would ask a drink
of me, a woman of Samaria?" asks the woman at the well.
"Why are you being so nice to me? You're a member of a
sorority. I'm working my way through school." "Why are you trying
to come in here? This is a private club. No Jews allowed."
"What's that old clunker doing in this parking lot? Can't you see all
the BMWs and Volvos?" There are some people for whom
happiness is belonging to an exclusive group that separates them
from others.
Of course, we all want to belong. We all want to be accepted.
There is an amusing story about business superstar, Lee Iacocca.
Iacocca's real name is not "Lee" but "Lido." Can you imagine the
disadvantage a name like Lido Iacocca might be for a man selling
cars in the Southern part of the United States where there are
very few persons, traditionally, from ethnic backgrounds? Iacocca
understood the problem. So when he was working in the South he
changed his name to Lee. He did more than that. When he
appeared before sales groups, he jokingly turned his name
around. He said he had a strange first name, Iacocca. But he had
a fine old Southern last name, Lee. Who in the South could be
prejudiced against someone with the same last name as the great
Confederate general, Robert E. Lee? Iacocca was immediately
accepted (4)
We all want to belong. Nothing wrong with that. Unless we
get our kicks using our group affiliation to look down on others.
Some look for happiness in the things they own and the groups
they belong to.
SOME OTHERS LOOK FOR HAPPINESS IN THE THINGS
THEY ACCOMPLISH.
Some people have an inordinate drive to succeed. Country
singer Dolly Parton is like that. Dolly comes from a poor Sevier
County, Tennessee family of 19 children. A fan in her TV
audience once asked her why she became so successful when so
many from similar circumstances did not. Dolly answered, "I never
stopped trying and I never tried stopping." She was asked another
time what would have happened if she had not had musical talent.
She answered that she simply would have fought her way to the
top of some other field. People who know her say she was not
exaggerating.
Some of you remember the name John Havlicek, or "Hondo"
as he was called. Havlicek played in more basketball games when
he was with the Boston Celtics than any other player in
professional history. And he went full speed in every game. It is
estimated that running about 6 miles per game, Hono ran the
equivalent distance from Houston to San Francisco and then back
past St. Louis in his career. How did he develop such stamina?
When Havlicek was a boy in Ohio his friends had bicycles
but he did not. When they rode their bikes, he ran to stay up with
them. It was a lot of trouble, but he developed remarkable ability
to keep running. Later that ability paid off. Our society honors such
commitment with fantastic rewards. We appreciate persons who
have a drive to succeed--as long as they do not succeed at the
expense of others.
In the cartoon series, CALVIN AND HOBBES, cartoonist Bill
Watterson makes Calvin an exaggeration of what parents see in
their kids and kids in their parents. Hobbes is a stuffed tiger to
whom Calvin's imagination is always giving life.
Calvin and Hobbes are sitting under a tree. Calvin asks
Hobbes, "What do you think is the secret of happiness? Is it
money, power, or fame?" Calvin adds, "I'D choose money. If you
have money, you can BUY power and fame. That way you'd have
it all and be REALLY happy. Happiness is being famous for your
financial ability to indulge in every kind of excess."
Hobbes replies, "I suppose that's ONE way to define it."
Calvin adds, "The part I think I'd like best is crushing people
who get in my way."(5)
For some people, that is what it is all about. They are wrong.
Happiness is not too be found in the things we accumulate, the
groups we belong to, or even the things we accomplish. All we
have to do to know this is true is to look at the lives of those who
have all these things.
THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE OF TRUE HAPPINESS. THAT
IS TO CENTER OUR LIVES IN GOD.
Jesus said to the woman at the well, "Every one who drinks
of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I
shall give will never thirst..." (RSV) And that's true.
THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD ARE GOD'S
PEOPLE.
That is where we find our identity. We are His children. That
is where we discover security. He will never fail us. That is where
we find love. No one loves us like God loves us!
There is an apocryphal story about a young man named
Philo.According to the story, Philo was the only son of Pontius
Pilate, the Roman official who ordered Christ's crucifixion. Even
before Philo was born, Pilate had great ambitions for him. Pilate
wanted a son who would one day be a great respected military
leader, a son who would make him proud. When Philo was born,
however, Pilate's pride was dashed. Philo was born sick, weak
and permanently crippled. Throughout the years Philo was
growing up, he was the object of his father's hatred and bitterness.
"You're not the son I wanted," was Pilate's constant reminder to
his broken son.
As soon as he was old enough to leave home, Philo left the
palace of his father and wandered alone in the countryside. There
he heard of a Galilean who went about preaching love, healing the
sick and lame, and feeding the hungry. Philo sought out Jesus.
Jesus healed him, not only physically but spiritually and
emotionally. Philo was even able to forgive his father for making
him feel like a failure as a son for all those years.
From then on, Philo followed Jesus wherever He went, and it
is said that on the day God's only Son Jesus was crucified, Pilate's
only son Philo was at the foot of the cross, weeping over the death
of his Lord and Friend. Philo, like millions of persons since found
his happiness in Christ. (6)
St. Thomas Aquinas told of a man who heard about a very
special ox and determined to have it for his own. He traveled all
over the world. He spent his entire fortune. He gave his whole life
to the search for this ox. At last, just moments before he died, he
realized he had been riding on that very special ox all the time.
You are searching for happiness, perhaps? Look no farther.
Look no farther than you own heart. Open your heart to God
through His Son, Jesus Christ. He will give you living water. You
need never thirst again.
----------------------------
1. Eric Ritz
2. James E. Carter, A SOURCEBOOK FOR STEWARDSHIP SERMONS (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1972).
3. David W. Richardson
4. Norman King, THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES (New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1987)
5. Bill Watterson, YUKON HO!, 1989, Universal Press Syndicate. Cited by Norm Lawson.
6. Ron Lee Davis, HEALING LIFE'S HURTS (Dallas: Word, 1986).
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