SENTINEL WATCH July 15, 2002 ISSUE

Is it OK to be happy?

By J. Thomas Black

IN this spiritual journey millions of us are on, I've recently heard people wonder out loud if it's OK to be happy even in these tumultuous times. To be cheerful, glad—something like a little child. To skip a bit, instead of walk. To whistle or hum to ourselves. To have a feeling that things are going to work out, that the bad stuff is not going to prevail. Is that OK?

Or, on the other hand, do you and I have a moral obligation to be melancholy? Maybe sad or heavy. Considering the world's circumstances, is that being more thoughtful of others and being more honest with ourselves?