The Pursuit Of Happiness
By Vincent Tarantola
There seems to be an insidious belief that only perfect people deserve to be loved and admired, while all those of us who haven't quite made it that far up the ladder are only worthy of scorn, of pity, or, at best, indifference. If you think about such an attitude, you will easily realize how pervasive it is and how destructive to the health and well-being of our entire society. For example, millions of young people, both girls and boys, are so permeated with such an unconscious emotional conviction that they starve themselves to death in the illusory hope of one day becoming perfect, so that they can be loved by others, especially since they do not really love themselves and feel that the only way to fulfill the emptiness is to get love from the outside.
Our whole society seems to be filled with this inner climate of perfectionism that even the famous pursuit of happiness that our forefathers said should be the central direction of our life seems to have taken on a distorted form. Is happiness to be wanted and protected by another human being? Is it to have fun and party all the time? Is it to be well fed and have two cars in the garage and at least two chickens in every pot? In other words, is the American Dream realistic or is it a false hope,
a wishful kind of striving for an impossible goal?
If to be happy is to be peaceful, then happiness must be
the natural byproduct of the absence of that which causes mental insecurity, and that depends solely on you. In the final analysis, happiness is to be one with God. But which God? The one that is in the heavens, so far away from the reach of man that no spaceship could possibly reach it, as one of the Star Trek movies discovered? Or is God an old man with a white beard throwing an occasional thunderbolt from Mt. Olympus? Or could God be the One that Christ spoke about when He walked among us as a man? If God is really the Divine Part of the self, of everything that exists, then the only happiness that is real and lasting can come by becoming one with this Godself, this Divine Potential that lies dormant and unawakened in every single one of us.
Perhaps the most famous words ever spoken, as well as the most misunderstood or glossed over, are these: "The Kingdom of God Is Within You." [Luke 17:21] It is understandable that the Church has kept this revelation of Christ a secret because it does not really understand it, nor does it know how such a Divine Being can be contacted and activated. This is not to fault the Church, for I am just learning how to do it after many years of arduous labor. But I do know that there is something in me and others that is Greater than the "I" that I am familiar with, and yet I also know that I am secretly afraid of this Father that lives in me and Who is watching over everything I do and think and feel. After all, how can I have any fun if there is some stern disciplinarian within me shaking a self-righteous finger at me every time I have some fun? If you think about it, this is the real separation of Church and State.
So, you see, it is a puzzlement, a confused situation. How can I reconcile doing the will of God, whatever that may be, with satisfying my own pursuit of happiness? As innocent as such a confusion may seem, it is one of the deepest contradictions in the human soul and one that often leads to giving up both pursuits and settling for what is easiest and most superficially satisfying, such as food or drink or sex or possessions. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with such strivings, it is important to know the truth, and that is that to be human is to be imperfect and that, therefore, no aspect of human life can possibly be perfect, or flawless, or complete, or a finished product, an end beyond which there is nothing. For that would be flat and boring.
Therefore, we need to re-define what happiness is and to realize that real happiness is the never-ending search for oneness, for reconnection with God, with the Divine or Real
Part of us, the one we left a long a time ago when we decided to leave home in search of greener pastures and discover the world by ourselves, just like the prodigal son did. You could call it the process of growth and selfhood, becoming an individual, a full man or woman.
Our role model in this noble quest is the man Jesus, Who left Paradise and came to earth to remind us of that which we have forgotten by taking it for granted that we were kicked
out of Paradise, as opposed to leaving voluntarily in order
to colonize the universe, so to speak, just like the pioneers colonized the West. It is in our genes this wanderlust, this desire to move, to go forward, to know the unknown -- even as another part of us is afraid of it and resists and often makes us stagnate. It is what makes being human so glorious and worthwhile, even if that other part of us only wants to stay home and be safe and watch TV with a bag of potato chips and
a cold beer.
Both of these aspects of ourselves are part of the glory
of being human, of being imperfect, and of striving toward a perfection that we will never achieve, just as God is perfect because He knows that this perfection always leaves room for improvement, for otherwise what would He do with His time?
Therefore, be happy about who you are, my imperfect brother or sister and accept the fact that this is the best you could have done under the present circumstances and then set out to find out in what specific area of your inner and outer life you can change, but for the better. The best role model for such improvement or growth is the Man who was born in a small town in the middle of this earth and who walked this planet just like one of us, in the full glory of His humanity, which is also your humanity. Let Him wash your feet and then do the same to another and hope that this other will do the same to a third, so that we eventually recognize, deep within ourselves, our oneness and feel the truth of these beautiful words of Christ: "All Of You Are Brothers." [Matthew 23:8]
Let us pay heed to the Christ in us, the Christ in all of us. Let us celebrate the birth of Love and Truth, for that is what Christ really means. The more you have the courage to say the truth to yourself, even if this truth is that you do not want to know the truth, the sooner you will learn to love. The love of truth and the truth of love are what God is all about, and all this is to be found within you, in your mind, in your heart, and in your body. Rejoice in who you are and turn inward to your beloved Father and say to Him: "Thank You for giving me life. Now tell me how best I can fulfill it and help others to do the same."