Category: Uncategorized

Over the last few weeks and months we have heard ever-increasing news of N1H1. The swine flu has captured much of the news reports that come on daily. And many government offices have been pumping information and hype about a flu that has killed people and will potentially kill more. And now that the vaccine is out we see a great deal of panic from people. People are willing to wait in line for 5 hours in the cold and rain and snow for a vaccine, that as yet seems to be unproven. We have heard on the news that no adverse side effects have been reported, so we are using a vaccine that is still in trial basis. And is so because of the public hysteria that has been created by the government hype.

A lot of time was spent talking about the “pandemic” and how many people were being hospitalized from the flu that you think a virulent strain of the bubonic plague had been released. Less than 500 people have died from the swine flu in Canada in the two years since it was discovered and we consistently have more than 1200 people who die yearly from regular influenza. And there is no mass panic for that flu, and there are no reports of a flu pandemic being plastered over the news. And yet around the world people get the flu,and many people die. And it is the same with the swine flu.

I don’t understand all the hype that this has been getting. And now governments are trying to play it down, telling people that there is no need to panic, cause it isn’t that much to worry about. Well maybe if they hadn’t hyped it so much to begin with, we wouldn’t have to be playing it down now. I personally don’t intend to get vaccinated. I have had the flu many times, and even though it is unpleasant, I have had no serious results from it. And like most of the people who have gotten swine flu, I will most likely recover and go on living, just like I have done each time I have gotten the flu before. Maybe next time we get a flu variant we will learn from the last few times and not panic people with a lot of useless hype. I’m not holding my breath for that to happen though.

Most of us have heard people talking about what would make them happy. Or heard the saying “The pursuit of happiness”. We spend much of our time focusing on and chasing something that seems to elude most of us, and we look upon the lives of others who seem to attain happiness, at least on an outward look at their lives, with envy. “Must be nice to …” has left most of our lips more than once. And yet if we were to ask most people happiness really seems to elude them, regardless of how their lives appear.

So why do we pursue so hard something that continues to elude most of us? And how do we know when we can be happy? I’ll be happy when I get that new job.” or “I’ll be happy when I get that raise.” or that new car, or new house, or I get married.” We seem to chase after something that we can’t ever seem to catch. We continue to go after the proverbial carrot, and never get to take a bite. We get that job, or house or get married, or that raise and it yet it never seems to make us happy. We buy that new car, and for a short time we may be happy, but then the next new model comes out or something happens, the car breaks down, and we again look for the next thing that will make us happy. Many couples even look to their mate to make them happy. And get very dissatisfied when it doesn’t happen. Our lives are spent and in the end our happiness level never seems to have been attained or filled.

Unfortunately this is because the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of an illusion. We continue to focus on something outside ourselves to make us happy and never become happy. Amy Lowell says
“Happiness: We rarely feel it.
I would buy it, beg it, steal it,
Pay in coins of dripping blood
For this one transcendent good.”

Many of us would say the same thing. We beg, buy, borrow and steal all trying to achieve something we can never have. And everything we see around us is geared to promote this pursuit. It is what drives our economy. If we weren’t unhappy we wouldn’t spend money on half of the things we spend money on. “Keeping up with the Jones’ ” is all a pursuit of happiness, hoping to achieve the same level of happiness as we see in someone else. And yet the very happiness we see in others is often the same illusion we are pursuing. Life and advertising and relationships keep taunting us with the carrot of happiness. New housing developments being built will tell you that your life will be better, you will be happier, your wife will be wifier if your buy one of their houses. All to keep us dissatisfied.

At times we see people with absolutely nothing, and yet they are extremely happy. And in the same regard some people with everything are happy. There seems to be no correlation between what we have and our level of happiness. What is the real question is your level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Aristotle said “Happiness belongs to the self-sufficient”. Brother David Steindl-Rast states very eloquently when he said “Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more.” The question of happiness is not in our possessions or anything external it is within ourselves. John Maxwell’s wife said it best when she was asked if John made her happy. “I used to spend my time thinking I would be happy when John came home, only to be disappointed when this didn’t happen. It was only when I realized that John could only add to my happiness that I truly became happy.”

So the question to you is are you happy? Most of us would say no. The better question is are you content? For only when we are content with what we have and who we are will we ever be “happy”. Only then can we quit chasing the carrot being held out in front of us, and only then can the pursuit stop. For many of us this means we can finally stop being tired out. We can stop running after something we can never catch. It is up to each of us on a personal level. For only we can determine to be satisfied. No one can do it for us, and no amount of things can make us satisfied. Only we can determine our level of satisfaction, and only then can we be happy. It is exactly how a friend of mine states, “Content or Discontent. Which tent do you live in.” It truly is your decision.

To forgive or not to forgive. That is the question that confronts each of us on a regular basis. When someone hurts us we face this choice, and sometimes we can make the wrong one. When we choose to not forgive we do damage mostly to ourselves. Medical science has linked several diseases including cancer to unforgiveness and bitterness. Unforgiveness ties us to the situation and never lets us get past it. It hinders us from ever developing new relationships as we constantly bring up the past and relive it. It stops us from having peace in our lives and forces us to endure the pain of the situation and again. And yet we choose often to not forgive. Our hurt demands justice and we feel like if we let it go justice will never be brought to the person who hurt us, and they will never pay for what they did.

And yet we can never cause people to pay for the damage they caused. As we relive the situation the wound gets deeper and festers. The pain continues and the wound gets worse. A spiritual gangrene sets in and we lose part of our soul. We turn off and turn against people and become bitter. As a result the person who hurt us can never repay, because the debt can never be repaid. The interest on the wound can’t be paid for let alone the original wound. At least not to our satisfaction.

Those who have lost a loved one to violent crimes who see justice served in the courts still don’t have true felt justice in their hearts. The loss can never be filled and the pain can never be taken away. Not even the death penalty can make things right.

Over and over again we hear news of people attacking others for no reason. One in recent history is Columbine high school. Two boys went on a rampage killing a lot of innocent people. All to get back at those who had bullied them and mistreated them. More recently a man in Germany walked into an elementary school killing several students and teachers. At Christmas a man shot and killed his family, just this last week a man stabbed and killed two of his younger sisters and wounded another. Unforgiveness has the potential to damage others as well as ourselves. It is a powerful emotion and one that can never be satisfied on our own. Any wonder why God asked us to forgive those who wrong us.

Forgiveness allows us to move past the hurt and get on with the healing process. Although it is never easy, and sometimes painful, it is necessary. Forgiveness is often misunderstood. People often think that it means you have to forget what happened and go back to things being the same, and that isn’t the case. If someone destroys the relationship, forgiveness doesn’t require you to go back to that relationship. It just requires you to release ownership of making that person pay for what they did. A wife whose husband beats her up is a prime example. It would be stupid for her to go back, until the husband has proven sufficiently that he has changed, and sometimes that means never, but it doesn’t absolve her of the need to forgive. Forgiveness doesn’t require that we trust those who have hurt us either. Trust must be rebuilt and is a different issue altogether.

Forgiveness releases the responsibility for justice from yourself and allows God to take over. He is the only true and just judge and the only one who can make sure justice is served anyway. Forgiveness is a choice and not a feeling. It is a conscious decision to release the hurt and allow the healing to begin and allow God to bring justice however He decides to. It means we are completely absolved from the whole process. Which means if God doesn’t bring justice as we would like it, we cannot decide to pick it up again. Forgiveness means we release the issue totally and we can begin to work through the process of healing and trusting again.

Forgiveness is often misunderstood and frequently ignored. And yet you can usually spot the people who forgive. Some people come by it naturally. Things seem to just role off them like water off a ducks back. They seem to be happy and their lives seem fuller and they are often healthier. Which is why God said to forgive. It was for our personal benefit and not for the person we choose to forgive. It doesn’t benefit them at all. Often they didn’t realize they offended us in the first place and whether we forgive them or not makes no difference in their lives at all. So it is for our benefit. More importantly God put a condition on our forgiveness. He states that He will not forgive us if we don’t forgive others. And if we want to be forgiven we have to forgive. And we all know the things in our lives that we need forgiven. Such an important choice that we need to give proper thought and consideration to.