The Beauty of Discovery and the Discovery of the Way of Happiness

Yesterday, I was reading a book about William Paley and Charles Darwin and I began to tear up. The scientific revolution is so beautiful to me. To me this era was a high point in human history. Deep in my being, I have come to believe that God has made discoverable all his secrets and the greatest dignity a person can experience is the dignity and joy of discovering God’s hidden but discoverable secrets. 

So too, the greatest of the greatest of these joys is to discover God’s way of happiness and yet it is the proclamation that we have discovered something so hidden from most that is so offensive. 

Jesus clearly intended to teach His followers that they are called to discover the way to happiness. Jesus teaches us, “Happy are the poor in spirit, happy and those that mourn etc.” In the Gospel of John, John records these incredible but true sayings of Jesus, “He who drinks of the water that I give will never thirst”. What an absolute promise. If we learn to drink from the wisdom and power of Jesus, we will never thirst. 

Never thirst. Jesus is promising that we will find resolution to every tangled mess of phycological angst and frustration. What I have learned is that of all the promises of Jesus, these promises of joy and peace are the most offensive to the post-modern mind. This postulate that solutions to how to live life can be found and learned and practiced consistently undermines the false premise that no one really knows any real answers. To many, this premise is seen as humility but in reality this pessimism is unbelief. Jesus has promised that we will never thirst. Jesus has taught a path to abiding joy and happiness. To claim that the believer cannot discover these hidden treasures is to call Jesus a liar. But the fact is we serve a God of love who has taught His secrets to babes who are simple enough to put the teachings of Jesus into practice to the same degree and simplicity which Jesus has taught. 

Of all the things I have learned in my life, this is it. God in Jesus has taught us how to be happy. This discovery is available to the follower of Jesus. He has not left us orphans, but He leads us into all truth.  He who seeks finds. When the Son of Man returns will He find faith on the earth. 

Amen