How to be Happy -a very short guide! The fact that a book could be written with the title ‘How to be Happy though Human’ shows how elusive personal happiness can be. Though written a considerable time ago, it has been followed by a small library of do-it-yourself books on how to be happy. These practical instruction manuals, frequently published in the United States, often depend on the clue of trying to cultivate a positive mindset come what may. And many worthwhile suggestions are offered: express your gratitude for the good things of life; avoid negative thoughts; stop comparing yourself with others; when faced with a problem find something positive in the situation. However, aims like these and many others perhaps are not always easy to achieve. This is especially true at the present time not only because of the worries surrounding the current global pandemic but because negative thinking has tended to invade and characterise society these days. Going back to the Victorian era, there was a marked spirit of optimism arising from successful industrial developments which gave the widespread impression of unstoppable progress. This may in part have been inherited from an earlier age for the eighteenth century was a time when scientific discovery, the invention of machinery and the emphasis on rational thought had greatly bolstered people’s confidence in the human endeavour. But all this was to change dramatically much later with the onset of two world wars causing devastation and tragic loss of life. Disillusion set in bringing the ideal of human progress seriously into question. Apart from these wider issues we are encouraged to think that individual happiness is not something to run after on its own expecting to find it that way. Rather than being an end in itself, it is (we are rightly encouraged to believe) a by-product of doing something else of, say, unselfish behaviour towards others. So we don’t find it; it finds us and often comes in surprising ways. Only the day after the devastating chemical explosion which rocked Beirut, a rescue-worker was ignoring his safety while looking for survivors in a badly- affected district. Searching though a crumbling block of apartments which was about to collapse he saved a life. For shortly afterwards a tearful and injured resident was reunited with her beloved Siamese cat. Although it was not a human he had saved on that occasion he had brought immeasurable comfort to the traumatised pet’s owner and doubtless received great satisfaction himself. Happiness often comes in ways we least expect. Even if nowadays the Christian faith has been relegated to the side-lines in many people’s thinking, informed believers are convinced that happiness is in fact closely linked to a person’s relationship to God and can be truly and fully experienced by that means and perhaps by that way alone. The Bible’s word for happiness is ‘blessed’. It is found especially in Jesus’ Beatitudes: ‘Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully!’ Matthew 5, v.6 - GNB). And one of the Psalms (34, v.8 -GNB) puts it this way: ‘Find out for yourself how good the Lord is! Happy is the person who finds safety with him! That is why we sing with the hymn adapted from Latin by the English Poet Laureate Robert Bridges: ‘Happy are they, they that love God/ Whose hearts have Christ confessed/ Who by His cross have found their life/And ‘neath His yoke their rest’. Happiness, contentment, satisfaction and peace of mind are found not in possessing things (as it is often thought) but in knowing a Person: a God of infinite power wisdom and love. In the light of this Jesus reassures us with a wonderful promise when He said: ...‘be concerned above everything else with God’s kingdom and with what he requires, and he will provide you with all these other things. So do not worry...’ ( Matthew 6, vv.3-4 -GNB.) How to Know Who We Are --some clues to a mystery In Lewis Carroll’s imaginative book, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, there is a scene where Alice meets a large blue caterpillar. She finds the creature sitting on a mushroom and smoking a large hookah pipe and she is immediately confronted by a most direct question. In a sleepy voice he addresses Alice and asks ‘Who are you?’ When she naturally hesitated in giving a reply to such a strange question, the caterpillar sternly challenged her by asking a second uncompromising one by saying, ‘Explain yourself’. Among the colourful characters and fanciful events in a book beloved by children and adults alike there are now and again inserted some philosophical issues of interest to any thoughtful reader. So in an otherwise topsy-turvy world where a caterpillar speaks and quizzes people, there is a moment when the serious question of human identity arises: who in fact are we? If only we could solve the mystery of personal identity we could answer some really significant questions, like who we really are; what may others rightly expect of us and where are we going in life. Of course throughout history various religions and philosophies have attempted to tackle the basic task of explaining human nature. They have tried and failed in one way or another. So we must look to the Christian faith and especially to the Bible for a more complete and satisfactory answer. Broadly speaking, the biblical evidence comes in three ways. First it tells us about our origins and where we come from. Second it informs us about our human condition and how we might find help. And, thirdly, it instructs us about our life beyond this one and what we may expect. Perhaps these three approaches to the great question can be put under three major headings or statements as follows: First, human beings are creatures made by God in own His image and after His likeness. This means several things. It emphasises the fact that we did not make ourselves but that our origin is in a God of infinite power and wisdom. It also suggests that, though different in many respects, we are like Him in important ways. This we know from experience through our own creative ability (which reflects God’s creativity) and our appreciation of the finer things of life such as: beauty, art, nature, which raises us above the level of merely existing to what makes living really enjoyable and fulfilling. And then as God’s creatures (or creations), we have infinite value and significance placed upon us by the One who caused us to come into being in the first place. That of course includes each and every one of us. The truth is that when we become aware of this basic feature of our very existence it gives us self-respect and personal confidence found nowhere else. Second, all human beings are sinners for whom Jesus Christ came and gave His life. We ourselves know that we are not as good as we want to be and that our mistakes, failures and sins seriously hinder us and let us down. Moreover, the problem of the human condition seems to have no solution. We are unable to save ourselves and furthermore we are warned by Scripture that sin separates us from God and prevents us enjoying the close relationship with Him which intimacy we are meant to have- and indeed need to have. But when we begin to admit that we are helpless to improve ourselves and throw ourselves upon God’s mercy, we are promised forgiveness and a completely new start. All this is possible because of Christ’s death in our place and His glorious resurrection victory over death which He extends to every believer. And the resulting peace of mind is the gracious gift contained in the Bible’s assurance: ‘God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us’ (Romans 5, v.8). Indeed, one of our great English poets, Alexander Pope, summarises so much when he wrote: ‘To err is human, to forgive, divine’. Third, mortals have been designed to live for ever. The apparent contradiction in this claim is that while the incontrovertible fact is that people expect to die one day, the promise of the Gospel is that death is not the end. This is because Jesus Christ who came alive after His crucifixion He will extend resurrection-life to all who put their trust in Him. This life is not all there is. ‘The dead will be raised...this mortal body (will) put on immortality...’’Death has been swallowed up in victory’’’ (I Corinthians 15, vv.52- 4). And so it follows that we should see fellow believers in that light, that is regard them as people destined to live beyond the grave. Our interpersonal relationships, far from being temporary or confined to this existence, are to be seen as extending beyond and into eternity. And what a difference that can makes as to how we treat others! For they like us are destined to liver for ever. If we imagined a vast identity parade taking place of people like us, not of course in order to spot a criminal but to look instead for the positive features to be found in each person standing in the line, the above clues provided by the Bible’s teaching would greatly change our perceptions of one another. What would we see? Among their outstanding features we should see people of unique value created by God; people of great dignity saved by Christ or certainly in need of the Saviour and people of eternal significance designed to live for ever in the life to come. It surely goes without saying that people like that deserve our respect, our consideration, our fellowship and indeed our love.