The other day I was watching one of my favorite TV shows, the Biggest Loser, when one of the trainers explained to a mother-daughter team of contestants that the daughter’s pain caused by the mother’s divorce and abandonment was necessary because the separation from the husband made the mother happy and that was what mattered. So, in other words, the pain and mess of the divorce, especially the psychological damage to the daughter, didn’t matter because the mother was happy.
I’m not singling out this trainer or mother, nor I am saying that people shouldn’t be happy. However, the message from society seems to largely be that personal happiness trumps any other consideration. And, by happiness, society isn’t talking about living the blessed life envisioned by Jesus in the beatitudes (beatus comes from the latin verb beo of which “make happy” is a possible translation). Rather, happiness to the world is about personal satisfaction and a life without inconvenience or hardship. It’s a radical individualism that cannot see beyond the needs of the self. This is a long way from true happiness which, according to Jesus, includes persecution, mourning, and poverty of spirit.
David Bennett
Jennifer
asimplesinner
Fr. J.
Chad Toney
Jorge Flores
Jonathan B
carmelbennett
nicenehobbit
Jason S
jaybird68
papaz
October 11, 2008 at 9:07 am
Amen.
October 11, 2008 at 2:42 pm
-the pain and mess of the divorce, especially the psychological damage to the daughter, didn’t matter because the mother was happy.-
That’s chapter three, verse nine in the Modernist Gospel. Use quotes next time!
:-)
October 28, 2008 at 5:40 am
How are you?, Give something for help the hungry people in Africa and India,
I added this blog about that subject:
on http://tinyurl.com/556poc