ITEMS OF INTEREST September 17, 2007 Issue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

with contributions from Ellen T. Charry, Marti Davis

ONE REASON Christians are suspicious of the pursuit of happiness is that today it is understood in hedonic terms. It is seen as the search for good feelings—often achieved in an impulsive manner. But there is another ancient understanding of happiness: happiness is the ability to live a virtuous life that promotes well-being and the judgment that one is indeed flourishing rather than languishing....

We become happy not by pursuing fleeting moments of pleasure, but by being the self that God created us to be....

All our interactions with other creatures have a moral dimension because our actions affect them. By attending to the effects we have on things and on each other we can learn to use ourselves more lovingly for the well-being of the things and people we touch. We are always forming each other and ourselves, for good or for ill, through everyday choices and interactions. Learning to use ourselves well is the foundation not only of judging our life to be going well, but also of feeling happy....

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