Happiness & The Bible: Personal Faith/Life Question

[futurtheologian]

Hello. I am new to this forum and have a personal question which I would like to be answered through the Bible and Sacred Scripture. I have become much more involved with my faith in the past year as a college student, and have begun to read texts (Catholic, Classical & Medieval Philosophy/Theology) in my quest for knowledge and truth. I am also starting to discern a possible vocation.

Let me begin by stating that this is an odd question, and this may not even constitute as an official question but any thoughts and Biblical passages which come to mind would be greatly appreciated.

My main question revolves around the concept of happiness. Does the Bible ever say that a follower of Christ must always be happy? First, I should state that I am quite content with life and my faith; I am not particularly depressed (got over that period in my life already) but I do not believe that one should live in a state of bliss or total happiness with everything that is occurring the world today. Total happiness should only be equated with Christ in my opinion; everything else is in a state of finitude, implying imperfection and possible sin. For instance, how can I truly be happy if there exists in the world abortion, serious poverty, and an obsession with wealth/power? I guess it can be equated with having a restless heart in some respect. Obviously, the world is imperfect in our state of free will; maybe this is a bit of an existential crisis.

I am not advocating for the antithesis of happiness, which I would probably equate with depression. Yet, I find that in my (relatively) young life, I have always been an outcast and very serious; I have a very mature attitude (not that I am perfect in any respect). When in public this attitude seriously radiates to strangers, and I find that people are a bit startled or scared when they see me (I don’t look like a total outcast, typical looking person, wear average clothes which err on the side of dressy and conservative, etc.) since I usually look like I am in a deep state of thought (according to others). I don’t smile much and usually have a serious looking face I guess; probably appear at least five to ten years older than I am. Even when in class, many of my peers avoid me and will sit a seat away from me. People sometimes don’t even notice that I am in class. Yet, when people actually get to know me, they often have positive reactions and consider me to be quite wise, honest, and a “good soul” or state that I have a “big heart.” Some of my friends/family say that I am quite intimidating to strangers since I very focused on my studies and I am just different in the way I speak/dress/my demeanor from the typical youth of this generation.

I guess my question, how do you respond to this as a Catholic? I am not one to accept modernity and would rather talk about theology/philosophy than culture and media (trust me, this negates most friendships in this day and age). But if people are visibly impacted just by your appearance in a (probable) negative manner, what do you do? I don’t want to do this to anyone, and try not to attract attention to myself; I am a peaceful individual who is quiet and lives a moderate life. My philosophy is to ignore fame and wealth and live a simple life in my faith as a Catholic. Does the Bible say anything about the way people react to me (interaction)? Anything from Augustine, Aquinas, maybe Bonaventure?

Let me state that I am content and happy with life, especially my faith (although as everyone is I am a sinner and I acknowledge that in my daily life) but people just perceive me to be totally different and often look at me funny. Some friends and family have confirmed these thoughts.

I did not really know where to ask this, so I figured this forum filled with similar minded individuals would be of greatest assistance. Any thoughts would be sincerely appreciated.I don’t like to ask such questions, and strive for personal introspection, but I have no one to speak with anymore who can give decent advice on such a subject. Cannot believe that I am using the internet but I believe that this is a true Catholic forum.

May God Bless you all. Have a beautiful day.

 

[colmcille1]

Hi futurtheologian,
May I start by commending you on your courage. It must have been a painful decision to ask advice on a public forum. On that score, I have found the vast majority of those with whom I have corresponded to be very helpful and kind. I have learnt academically as well as personally.
I can empathise with your post to a degree. At one stage in my life, I was an extremely serious young man. I had a stone-like expression and rarely smiled. It certainly affected my relationships with others.
I cannot p(name removed by moderator)oint an exact event or time when I began to change (the old memory isn’t as good as it used to be!) but, for me, I do know that introspection was a poor substitute for friendship. So I made an effort (and still do) to make friends. The time and energy spent in doing this was time away from my endless navel-gazing. And, over time, it worked.
As you say, none of us is perfect and your mature and thoughtful post indicates that you have a lot to contribute in any sphere of activity.
The lesson I have learned re introspection is that it confines us to “living in our heads”, as it were. We are judge, jury and executioner of our lives; when what we ought to be doing is interacting with our peers and growing from that interaction.
In conclusion, I think you will be fine. I think your deep interest in this world is indicative of a lively and sensitive heart and you are certainly to be applauded for your Faith.
God Bless, my courageous friend,
Colmcille1.

 

[futurtheologian]

So in effect, maybe in Platonic terms, it is like one can live in the intelligible and must strive for such a life but that is an idealized version of life since the visible or aesthetic must also lived for true progress on the intelligible to occur. In the abstract, what you are saying, which has been a sweeping suspicion of mine, living in the aesthetic should be valued as living in the intelligible in search of transcendent knowledge; but the intelligible should be valued over a greater degree. One must strive to live in both states as through the divided line theory in The Republic of Plato. I am not a Platonist but after reading some Platonic works it is quite scary how similar some thoughts are to the Christian faith. I wonder, truly ponder, how the atheist would respond to that…

Well that is how I understood you argument, which I totally appreciate; I have the “stone like” look also I guess! I have started to “break” a bit I guess but I just notice this more and more as I think about it.

Any responses as from the Bible? Don’t like to rely on Plato and Socrates in entirety for obvious Catholic reasons.

Thanks! May God Bless you all!

 

[JohnDamian]

St Augustine, Enchiridion : “Neither should we say the will is not free, because it so wills to be happy that it cannot will to be miserable”.

Also; On the Trinity, Bk XIII Augustine shows that it is certain that all will happiness because of their natural inclination towards it.

Bl. Duns Scotus, Ordinatio II “Conscience is the habit of making proper practical conclusions.”

Dionysius the Areopagite (Judge and Convert); The Divine Names “Good requires that everything about the act be right”.

Henry of Ghent (Leading Augustinian between Aquinas and Scotus) Quodlibet IV “Just as one can react to intense delight in three ways, namely, humanely, superhumanly, and inhumanly, so one can react to inordinately sad situations in a human way when one bears such terrible things in fitting fashion, and the acquited or infused moral virtue serves this purpose; but it does not do away with sorrow.”

Happiness is clearly not the vocation of all Catholics; for else would we have so many confessors and matyrs?