Supplement to the post below RE April 16
I wonder what creates more “problems” for us as we view the past: what actually happened, or how we choose to think about it. Apart from the interpretive layer we place over top of the events of the past, there isn’t much energy in them. But when we add a sense of “injustice” or “ought not to be” or “I can’t believe this happened to me” or “where is God” or "how can my life continue", all of a sudden the issue is invested with great importance.
I wonder if we generate the means of emotional friction by the weight we attach to such things.
So maybe it’s not so much the stuff that’s happened to us as it is the way we’ve chosen to think about it. And maybe that’s true for a lot more than just pain. Even success is open to interpretation. Some look at it in a way that makes them grateful to God (they credit Him for some role in their success), while some look it as proof that they don’t need God (they see only that their success depended on themselves).
Two lives exactly the same could be cause for two very different conclusions about God, life and the lot we’ve been given.
posted by CSW @ 6:16 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I do believe that it is how we process our environment more than our environment that affects or levels of happiness. Happiness is not something that happens to you on the outside it is something that you do on the inside. It is in essence a way of perception. Much like optimism and pessimism are mental points of view I believe being content or discontent can also be strongly affected by how you percieve and respond to the world around you.
If this is true, than it implies a certain level of ownership our own state of happiness, and it also gives us a powerful tool for achievement happiness: choice. Is it possible to shift your interpretation of the world around you and achieve a greater level of happiness that way?
To a degree I suppose that is possible. There can of course be cases where neurochemistry come into play and make it physically impossible for somebody to be content. In general though I do think we can change how we interpret things for the better.
As you pointed out this comes into play in other areas of our lives. Some series of events can be chalked up to conincidence by some and to others they are an affirmation of their faith. What we see this in this world depends to a great degree on what bias you approach it from.
I heard an interesting dialogue on New Orleans and Katrina. Some said that it was a judgement of God on a sinful and depraved city. IT was an act of God that the city was washed out when the 'breakwater' gave away. But others said it was the mercy of God... The fact the the breakwater broke after the hurricane passed. If it had broken in the middle of the storm the whole city would have been washed away and thousands more would have perished. Our past is processed through differing voices [some good some bad]. If Jesus has something to say to me about my life today do you think he might have something to say to me about those past difficult moments that I have framed [with pre-suppositions or more accurately past/post-suppositions] without his input? What was He saying to us in the midst of those traumatic moments [or not so traumatic] when we were so lost in the moment we could not hear what he was trying to say?
"Scattered thoughts"
You've indicated that happiness is a choice and questions if it is possible to shift our interpretation to achieve a greater level of happiness.
The concept that "God is love and wants to give you a wonderful life" is often viewed through the world and our humanness. When God says that He came to give us abundant life, I do not believe that he was referring to a cushy life. When he says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart", I think that it is easy to forget the first half - "Delight yourself in the Lord". If we do this, then our desires will change to align with His.
I have found in my experience that adversity and pain should ultimately be viewed through the filter that "God is love" - not nice (reference first blog). There are many references that one could refer to, that discuss the concept of adversity being discipline (Lam. 3, Hebrews 13) and a method to challenge and grow in our faith (James 1).
Perhaps this is just a filter for pain that makes it more acceptable.
I think it takes diligence & conscious effort to view pain and adversity through this "bias" as Josh has put it. I think that our human nature is to view "injustice" and ask Why do bad things happen to good people?
My friend has turned this question around though, to ask Why do good things happen to bad people? (The presumption being that bad things happen to "good people" to further our faith and to become stronger individuals.)
His thoughts are that maybe good things happen to bad people because God sees how bad they could really get if good things didn't happen.
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