Perhaps you remember singing the children’s song: “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” including clapping your hands, stomping your feet and shouting “Hooray!” I have fond memories of camp retreats with a room full of youth singing loudly and happily with lots of enthusiasm. We were all happy to be there together with our friends having a good time.
As adults, those times of carefree and exuberant happiness seem farther apart. Whenever we do feel wildly happy, something seems to come along to undermine that happiness. It could be something major like someone dying or losing a job, or it could be something minor like burning dinner or someone cutting you off on the freeway. Whatever it is, we can decide to give away our happiness. How does that benefit us? We have made our happiness dependent upon other people’s behavior.
What if we discovered that happiness is an inside job? When we are happy, deeply and truly happy and joyful, that feeling comes from deep within our being. Our heart feels open, carefree and loving. We feel truly alive! At an even deeper level, we feel connected to Life itself, to the Power and Presence of Divine Love, Peace and Joy. We feel connected to the entire Universe and can sense the pulse of Life in every cell in our bodies, in every molecule vibrating in the trees blowing in the wind, and in the stars moving through the Milky Way Galaxy. At this level, happiness is unconditional.
When we commit to unconditional happiness, we learn to keep our hearts open. When something happens and we observe our hearts closing, our energy level can start to drop. To keep our hearts open, we relax and let go. We detach from whatever disturbed our inner joy. As we do, we discover the Blissful Joy of being centered in God. Infinite Love and Joy fill our heart and our whole being, full to overflowing and radiating out into the world. We can even bless whatever disturbed us in the first place. This is unconditional happiness. This is the ecstasy of true freedom and enlightenment.
Love and light,
Rev. Pam
