Article December 21, 1974 Issue

The Happy Times

JOYCE D. WETHE

Almost everyone can look back in his experience and recall what, to him, were happy times. These recollections help to happify the present too. But if the memory of past joys tends to consistently upstage one's present contentment, one might well ask himself, "Am I progressing spiritually, or are my backward glances immobilizing my forward thrust?"

Ideally, one should think of each day as the happiest day of his life. Why? Because nothing can compare to present joy, present opportunity, even the possible growth obtainable from present challenges. Should anyone trade these for an album-oriented existence or dream-castling? Many a precious hour has been shorn of its potential by mental drifting. If we think we have known better times, we can spiritually and scientifically assess the present. Are we not this day in a better position to benefit from experience and to express more wisdom than we were in the past? With the advantage of this fact we can progress more intelligently and lean less on outward conditions for our good.

It has been wisely said that circumstances do not make happiness but happiness makes circumstances. Personal circumstances alone never offer a solid foundation. True happiness need not be a far-off, external goal. This spiritual grace really belongs to each of us as God's child. Regardless of our situation, when we start with happiness and express it as a quality inseparable from being, we can expect the human picture to begin conforming to harmony. Only God can give us joy; and when joy is seen as coming from God, harmonious conditions are recognized as the outcome, not the source, of joy.

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