Is it OK to be truly happy living in a world where more than 9,500 innocent children starve to death each and every day?

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No compassionate person can be completely happy when others are compelled to suffer the pangs of hunger, let alone starve to death. Pascal believed Jesus is in agony until the end of the world but we are not expected to take on the problems of the entire human race. We should help to reduce misery whenever we can but we also have a duty to make others happy as Our Lord did at the marriage feast. He didn’t come to spread gloom and doom but to inspire us with joy and hope. Life shouldn’t be regarded as a burden but as an opportunity to follow His example in appreciating the beauty of nature, thanking God for all our blessings and fulfilling the vocation He has given us We are certainly not intended to be negative…
 
There is, indeed, a kind of happiness which is possible in this world of sorrow. But it is a difficult happiness to achieve. To put is simply, the secret to being happy is not to desire to be happy. “Whoever hates his life in this world will inherit eternal Life.”

I make no disguise of the fact that I am an extreme pessimist. I see mortal life as a bitter exile, a continual war, a shadow, etc. I see all our knowledge as ungrounded, and all human endeavours as futile vanities. Yet, I am also more or less completely happy.

Every human being has exactly the same amount of pain in their life- for the child who starves to death, it is a short but intense pain. For the person who lives to 90 it is a slow dull ache of boredom, failure and decline. But, on the bright side, it will all be forgotten, once Charon guides us across the Styx, and we drink of the river of Lethe, inebriated with the blessed nectar of oblivion, before entering into the Celestial Paradise with Christ, the Blessed Virgin, St. Francis, the Seraphim, the Houris and the Absolute Form of the Good, for companians. This is the real Life. Either that, or its universal peaceful non-being. Which would also be OK…

So, while it is bad the people die of starvation- pain in life are inevitable. They just vary their forms. There is no sense in being upset about the inevitable. At least, it doesn’t last forever. “Rather than the living, I salute the dead. Happier yet is he who has never been born.” And, if we don’t fear death, why fear suffering (apart from the temporary unpleasantness)?

If we recognise life for what it is- a three day conjuror’s show, or a sojourn of the soul’s in the tomb of the body, a cup of bitter medicine to drink- then death becomes a tremendous boon, and existence becomes a ‘piece of cake’.
 
Jesus knew we would always have the poor with us, for He told us so, and yet we are commanded…

[bibledrb]1 Thessalonians 5:16-18[/bibledrb]

We can still work to feed those in need and sacrificially give, but there will always be people who suffer. Sometimes it will be us, we are to find our joy in God. It is not always easy, but this is what we are called to do.
 
I think it is fine to be happy but I am not. I will not be truly happy till I stand before God
 
There was a man who, after having his financial assets badly damaged, arranged to go on a trip to Europe with his wife and four daughters. He was caught up in business and had the rest of his family take the trip ahead of him. The ferry collided with another ship on the Atlantic and quickly sunk, and his four daughters drowned. On his way to catch up with his wife after receiving the telegram, he was overlooking the waters near where his daughters had drowned, and penned the following words to a song:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
 
No offense Robert, but isn’t this the same question you keep asking but reworded?
 
I figured you meant generally happy as one is happy in this world, as opposed to the unknowable true happiness of Heaven, and so I voted Yes.

Why? Because God wants us to be happy; He wants us to be happy in Him. I can only think that He wants us to be so fully accepting of His will, actual or permitted, that we can be happy even when we ourselves are suffering. I think that refusing to be happy would be showing a huge lack of gratitude to God for the good things He has given to us.

On a personal note, there have been times when i have suffered, small amounts, or for short periods of time. Would I have wanted my problem to suck all the joy out of the lives of those I love? Am I not called to love everyone?

I think that those who are able to show forth their joy in God are those who are best able to acccomplish certain things for God–others are called to do different things.

I think the main problem is that we need to do more *personally *to help people. I am not diminishing the role of alms-giving at all, but sometimes I think we forget that we need to do other things *as well. *
 
No.
I cannot be truly happy knowing that innocent children are suffering and dying. I can donate, but this is not enough and it makes my heart ache. I can picture this in my mind, and it is horrible.

I can pray that each precious child is greeted by Jesus and Mary in heaven. That they are finally comforted and joyful as each child should be.

For this I can rejoice and give thanks.
 
I should add that what I wrote does not mean that I think that if one is happy In God one cannot also be sad about the evils of the world. I can not imagine a greater pain than that of a parent unable to feed their child and watching the child starve.

I guess I’m just saying that one shouldn’t allow the evil in the world to overcome one’s love for God and gratitude to Him for what He has given us.
 
I would say the question is largely meaningless as the definition of happiness changes with people, especially when coupled with a very meaningless adjective, “truly”.
 
I also voted yes, mostly for the reasons St Francis stated but also because I trust that God, who knows us better than we know ourselves and therefore knows what we truly need, allows certain things to happen for reasons I do not understand. I cannot explain why I have food on the table every day, multiple times per day, and someone else does not. I cannot feed everyone in the world, and the Lord does not expect me to precisely because it would be impossible and He does not ask the impossible of us. But I do what I can, given my state in life and the other responsibilities I have. As long as I know I truly can’t do more than I’m doing, I don’t know how God could be dissatisfied with my efforts…and if God is pleased with me, what reason do I have to be displeased with myself?

That said, it is absolutely not easy. However, allowing the world’s suffering to compromise my happiness and gratitude for the many blessings God has bestowed upon me would in my opinion be akin to saying to Him, “Even though you have blessed me, I won’t be happy until you bless everyone.” It just isn’t right to make such demands of the Lord.
 
I am truly greatful for all I have and very happy about that.

I am saddenned by the plight of others. That’s called empathy. I believe you can be “truly happy” and still be “truly empathetic.”

I wish I understood the point of the OP question, though. All I can think of is “How can God be good if He let’s bad things happen…”, which is one of my least favorite “trap” questions.

God did not create us to be truly UNhappy, so you have to believe that it is just to believe you are truly happy. We are not God’s people so we can live in misery. We are His people so we can move toward true love with Him and, if you feel true happiness on Earth, even to the imperfect degree our sinfull minds are capable of, then that cannot be bad.

Now, is it fair that I have clean water, a house, food, no threat of war, my children, a good income to splurge once in a while, a gift with music, am reasonable handsome and good mannered when there are so many suffering in the world? People may say that it is not fair. I don’t think God thinks it’s unfair, afterall, He allowed for such disparity. But it’s not up to us to decide what God thinks is fair or not. Love, be charitable, seek justice, pray and be truly happy.
 
Robert needs to define “truly happy” in the sense that he intends before we can vote accurately.
 
Empathy does not require both parties to be equally unhappy in order for the empathy to be genuine. And neurotic guilt that someone is less “happy” than I am is not something from God or of God.
 
I voted ‘Yes’.

The Saints in Heaven are truly happy, and they too are aware of the suffering that is happening here, but it does not negatively impact the Eternal Bliss that they experience from the Radiant Love of God.

So, yes, it is OK
 
So, because of difficulty in the lives of others, all should be miserable until a point in time? Perhaps when 9,000 are dying daily? 900?

We are asked to serve others and a byproduct of service is joy for the server.

Therefore making the relationship in your question an impossibility as people build up and shine the light of joy as they serve.
 
Qoeleth said:
There is, indeed, a kind of happiness which is possible in this world of sorrow. But it is a difficult happiness to achieve. To put is simply, the secret to being happy is not to desire to be happy. “Whoever hates his life in this world will inherit eternal Life.”

I make no disguise of the fact that I am an extreme pessimist. I see mortal life as a bitter exile, a continual war, a shadow, etc. I see all our knowledge as ungrounded, and all human endeavours as futile vanities. Yet, I am also more or less completely happy.

Every human being has exactly the same amount of pain in their life- for the child who starves to death, it is a short but intense pain. For the person who lives to 90 it is a slow dull ache of boredom, failure and decline. But, on the bright side, it will all be forgotten, once Charon guides us across the Styx, and we drink of the river of Lethe, inebriated with the blessed nectar of oblivion, before entering into the Celestial Paradise with Christ, the Blessed Virgin, St. Francis, the Seraphim, the Houris and the Absolute Form of the Good, for companians. This is the real Life. Either that, or its universal peaceful non-being. Which would also be OK…

So, while it is bad the people die of starvation- pain in life are inevitable. They just vary their forms. There is no sense in being upset about the inevitable. At least, it doesn’t last forever. “Rather than the living, I salute the dead. Happier yet is he who has never been born.” And, if we don’t fear death, why fear suffering (apart from the temporary unpleasantness)?

If we recognise life for what it is- a three day conjuror’s show, or a sojourn of the soul’s in the tomb of the body, a cup of bitter medicine to drink- then death becomes a tremendous boon, and existence becomes a ‘piece of cake’.
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:clapping: Excellent and eloquent!
 
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