Fr. Don's Daily Reflection
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
This I found so hard to believe. A study from somewhere claims that people are either born with a tendency to be happy or not. That conflicts so much with my observation, of myself and of others.
I do see change in mood, in spirit, for the better, over the years. In any number of areas. At Mass one evening were two college students who two years ago had been clear about their disaffection with the religion of their parents. Not only were they at Mass but they were among the group of five or six musicians fervently leading the music.
Or, Ted who was a chronic complainer; twenty years later he's now more like a cheerleader. To believe that we're born unhappy and will stay that way is too dreary and hopeless a way to live. It is a bit like believing that because it's a gray, dismal day we must feel and act the same way ourselves.
The study referred to, like so many, is someone's effort to simplify reality by reducing some phenomenon to one element. We need to resist that. Happiness has more components than some genetic ‘flaw’. Sure, we may have some conditioning factors that make us more or less ready to laugh, but that isn't all there is to it -- ever.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
