FreeDigitalPhotos.netThe Pursuit of Happiness
by S Edwards
The current movie staring Will Smith is an excellent example of one man’s struggle to find work and raise his son, alone, amidst the cut throat ‘survival’ of city life. It highlights some of the problems associated with homelessness and poverty, and similarly, highlights, the joy of seeing work and perseverance rewarded. It is also a touching story of a child’s trust in his father, in that that against all odds, and amidst degradation, betrayal and hopelessness, good overcomes all that is bad, when we resist the temptation of ‘despair’.
To pick ourselves up, and start over, in the face of adversity, is no mean feat. We carry the baggage of a thousand disappointments, all mixed and tainted, with memories and a shame we would rather forget. In our puny effort to rise above, we stumble quite often, at the reminder of a ‘failure’, when our hope was spoiled, and our efforts scoffed at.
But, I’ve noticed, pursuing happiness, takes many twists, when our mind is focused on anything other than the journey home from where we left all those millions of years ago, and whilst happiness to some is the road to wealth or fame, for those in the serious pursuit of happiness, the need for such ‘excess’ diminishes, in relation to that desire to sit in that garden with our father, before the fall.
We notice, there is a structure, an invisible spiders web, that keeps us enchained to a life, that is not our own. Every person, relative and friend we meet, disguises the spirit of ‘something’ to keep us there. Sometimes, we ‘martyr’ ourselves. We make friends with that force, that spirit, that holds dominion over our lives. In the wrong pursuit of happiness we can waste a life believing we are serving the true God.
Happiness is a serious business, and whilst every man should have a job, shelter and food, the pursuit of true happiness can never be fulfilled when we pursue any other goal, than the one we are truly called to follow first.
Almost everyone on the planet, searches for fulfilment. An unreachable ‘goal’ at times, will always be duplicated when attained, by a false happiness, temporary lived. It will always be a sign that we have taken the wrong road. Silently, the most wealthiest and seemingly happiest of people have bitter and disappointed lives.
Similarly, religion, whether reverent or of the ‘happy clappy’ type, will never suffice. In our silent moments, the truth, outshines its falseness.
Everyone is entitled to pursue a job and income, but The Pursuit of Happiness, is a film that could inspire many to achieve the wrong type of goal. But similarly, it is an inspirational film of one man’s courage not to fall into total despair.
Happiness for the child in this film, is being in the presence of his father. Sleeping on a toilet floor, or a hostel for homeless men, he does not complain. The loss of his one and only toy, distresses him briefly. In chidlike innocence he trusts that everything will be Okay, based on the love and courage of his father and his belief in him.
The current movie staring Will Smith is an excellent example of one man’s struggle to find work and raise his son, alone, amidst the cut throat ‘survival’ of city life. It highlights some of the problems associated with homelessness and poverty, and similarly, highlights, the joy of seeing work and perseverance rewarded. It is also a touching story of a child’s trust in his father, in that that against all odds, and amidst degradation, betrayal and hopelessness, good overcomes all that is bad, when we resist the temptation of ‘despair’.
To pick ourselves up, and start over, in the face of adversity, is no mean feat. We carry the baggage of a thousand disappointments, all mixed and tainted, with memories and a shame we would rather forget. In our puny effort to rise above, we stumble quite often, at the reminder of a ‘failure’, when our hope was spoiled, and our efforts scoffed at.
But, I’ve noticed, pursuing happiness, takes many twists, when our mind is focused on anything other than the journey home from where we left all those millions of years ago, and whilst happiness to some is the road to wealth or fame, for those in the serious pursuit of happiness, the need for such ‘excess’ diminishes, in relation to that desire to sit in that garden with our father, before the fall.
We notice, there is a structure, an invisible spiders web, that keeps us enchained to a life, that is not our own. Every person, relative and friend we meet, disguises the spirit of ‘something’ to keep us there. Sometimes, we ‘martyr’ ourselves. We make friends with that force, that spirit, that holds dominion over our lives. In the wrong pursuit of happiness we can waste a life believing we are serving the true God.
Happiness is a serious business, and whilst every man should have a job, shelter and food, the pursuit of true happiness can never be fulfilled when we pursue any other goal, than the one we are truly called to follow first.
Almost everyone on the planet, searches for fulfilment. An unreachable ‘goal’ at times, will always be duplicated when attained, by a false happiness, temporary lived. It will always be a sign that we have taken the wrong road. Silently, the most wealthiest and seemingly happiest of people have bitter and disappointed lives.
Similarly, religion, whether reverent or of the ‘happy clappy’ type, will never suffice. In our silent moments, the truth, outshines its falseness.
Everyone is entitled to pursue a job and income, but The Pursuit of Happiness, is a film that could inspire many to achieve the wrong type of goal. But similarly, it is an inspirational film of one man’s courage not to fall into total despair.
Happiness for the child in this film, is being in the presence of his father. Sleeping on a toilet floor, or a hostel for homeless men, he does not complain. The loss of his one and only toy, distresses him briefly. In chidlike innocence he trusts that everything will be Okay, based on the love and courage of his father and his belief in him.
Surely this is the true pursuit of happiness. Who could ask for anything more than this .......
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