“The way of ruthless trust [in God] is not an abstraction but a concrete, visible, and formidable reality. It gives definition to our lives, reveals what is life-giving within us, shapes the decisions we make and the words we speak, prods our consciousness, nurtures our spirit, impacts our interaction with others, sustains our will-to-meaning in life, and gives flesh and bone to our way of being in the world.”

- Brennan Manning Ruthless Trust

The mathematics of happiness.

Family/Friends + Money + Cool stuff + Fun hobbies + Good job + Comfort + whatever = Contentment
This is the standard equation for life.  It is an addition problem that equals happiness as long as all of our pieces are in place.  If one is removed, we either compensate by adding another or placing more weight on an existing piece.  If too many end up missing, we do not consider ourselves to be happy.

Over the past 2 1/2 years, the left side of our equation has been slowly whittled down.  With our move to Hawaii, we lost our family, most of our possessions, and our comfort zone.  Through that, life was simplified, and we began to realize happiness did not consist in possessions or one's family name.  But God was not finished.  With our latest move, that left side has once again lost more of its "crucial" pieces.  Gone are our good jobs, friends, money and fun hobbies. However, those many pieces have been replaced by one large piece.  No longer is it an addition problem but rather a simplified, balanced equation: God = contentment.

We have the least amount of (worldly) security, enjoyable hobbies, and possessions to date, but we are experiencing the most contentment of our entire lives.  It seems to me that anything we try to add to the left side of the equation, other than pursuing God and trusting him, only clutters our perspective and moves us farther away from being balanced.
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1 comment:

  1. Megan HandshueNovember 7, 2011 at 8:23 PM

    So true! "Delight yourselves in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalms 37:4. How easy we lose sight of this and go back to adding on that left side.

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