I have been reading a very convicting book entitled, Sabbath, by Wayne Muller. In this book there is a chapter entitled, “Happiness”. Jesus taught his disciples many things – but most certainly, he wanted them to be happy. “Seek…, knock…, and ask… that your joy may be full”, “I come that you might have life and have it abundantly”, he told them. Finding happiness in life is universally perceived as an essential human endeavor. However, life should not just make us tired, but should make us happy.

     Our time is eaten away by overwork and speed. We are less available to be surprised by joy, a sunset, a kind word, an unplanned game with a child, a warm loaf of bread from the oven. So we pursue happiness on the run trying to make our lives more and more efficient, squeezing every task into tighter increments, hoping to “get” our happiness when we are able to fit it in.

     When our happiness fails to appear —when we are tired, weary, and spent— we turn to the marketplace for help. There we are offered things that look like happiness— a tantalizing substitute for happiness. We are offered the satisfaction of desire. At first this seems great. What could make us happier than acquiring what we want? But if we look at this more closely we quickly discover that it is a temporary and ultimately unsatisfying impulse. When we make $15,000 we want to make $30,000. When we have a small home we become dissatisfied and we want a bigger home. I hear people with large incomes who say they don’t make enough money. The mind never grows tired of generating wants and desires.

     The solution for this is Sabbath. The antidote for craving and wanting is rest. We invite a time in which we can rejoice in what we have been given, take delight in what we have, and see that it is good. We focus less on our lack, and more on our abundance. As we do this, our hunger for more than we need begins to fall away. When we take time to rest and reflect we discover that we can better distinguish our needs from our wants. Our happiness shifts from things and desires to appreciation and gratefulness for what is before us.

     Jesus said once, “I want you to have life and have it more abundantly”. Let us strive to use our Sabbaths to have and enjoy this abundant life.

Love,