The Pursuit of Happiness ((Really?))

There is something about the celebration of July 4^th that just feels so right, doesn’t it?

I read the Declaration of Independence recently. It sparked some curious thoughts. (punny right?)

The pursuit of happiness is one of our “unalienable rights” as Americans.  

As a fan of the Dec of Ind, I typically swell with pride at the reading of our “unalienable rights” which are "endowed by our Creator." We all like the rebellious part of our country’s history though, don’t we?

The phrase “the pursuit of happiness,” however, leaves the reader with a feeling of ambiguity because the writers don’t define happiness or what the pursuit of it looks like.  

Although, if happiness was freedom from the British government and the pursuit of it was forming up ranks against red-coats or dumping crates of tea in Boston harbor – I would have been hesitant to write such things on papers that contained my signature too.

I’m getting off subject – so this is my on-ramp back to the highway of making my point.

I recently heard a friend talk about moving away from where they currently live as their pursuit of happiness. 

The basic belief that they were communicating was that happiness is waiting for them in a different place, and moving to that place is the pursuit of it.  

They mentioned their idea of why they felt it was important for them to move and their plan to enjoy that happiness in the new area; similar to the way Polly and I felt before our recent move.

However, my feelings have changed quite a bit in the past few days of thinking and reading.

Stay with me. This is my point:

My conviction is that happiness is not somewhere hiding and waiting for us to come find it. 

I think that when we engage in a quest to find/achieve/pursue happiness – we find idols of affection that may satisfy a want or need momentarily but eventually become unsatisfying. 

Sometimes the idol creates an even bigger hole of discontentment because of disappointment.

As hallowed as we consider the Dec of Ind. to be with it's entitlements - 

Truthfully, happiness and the pursuit of it have not been endowed to us by our Creator.

While the sentiment of "our Creator" is quaint following the desired entitlements of our heroic colonists, the ideology is not indicative of a correct understanding of God's character in scripture. 

While our Creator does desire for us to be happy -

True happiness is the result of a person understanding the laughably-serious irony that our Creator is in fact pursuing us.  

When we make this adjustment to our perspective, I believe that a smile of contentment will slowly spread over our entire lives.