You Don't Even Know

Step #1: Lectio / Read

Beloved:
Come now, you who say,
“Today or tomorrow we shall go into such and such a town,
spend a year there doing business, and make a profit”–
you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow.
You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.
Instead you should say,
“If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.”
But now you are boasting in your arrogance.
All such boasting is evil.
So for one who knows the right thing to do
and does not do it, it is a sin.

​James 4:13-17

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Step #2: Meditatio / Meditate

​People much smarter than I am tell me that there are four ‘levels’ of happiness.

Everybody on this planet wants to be happy. Even when we make bad decisions – or worse, sinful decisions - all we’re looking for is to be happy.

They tell me that the first level is to find happiness in what we might call immediate gratification. You know, mmm…pie, ice cream, triple chocolate caramel fudge brownies, etc.

The next level of happiness is when you do sumpin’ good and then people say sumpin’ good. You have a great game or you perform really well in a concert or you do good on a test and people are all like, “Hey! Great job!” That’s all good stuff and it makes us happy.

Next, we’ve got the happiness derived from trying to leave our mark on the world. We can be happy trying to make the world a better place. When we feed someone who is hungry or volunteer to spend time with the lonely and isolated. When we build something that benefits those who have very little…all this causes us to be happy.

Now, maybe you’ve noticed by now that these are all good things. At the same time, these are all fleeting things. 

Yay. Pie. Now I’m happy. Uh oh…an hour later, I’m not happy anymore.

I aced that test! Now I’m happy. Uh oh…a week later, I’m not so happy any more.

I helped someone get groceries and made a difference in their life. Yesssss. Happiness. But soon after my happiness will fade.

We spend all sorts of effort, all sorts of energy seeking happiness. It’s a natural precondition for human existence. But it always, always, always fades away.

Scripture has some pretty serious words for us today, “You have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow.”

In other words, don’t let your happiness depend on things that are fleeting. Our happiness has gotta depend on the fourth level of happiness. Ultimate, perfect happiness. 

God.

I know it’s a sad thought, but maybe tomorrow has no pie in it. Maybe tomorrow has a failure in store – or maybe, just maybe it’s got a great big joy waiting for us…but as we’ve examined…even these will fizzle away. When we place our happiness in God. When we seek a relationship with God – through prayer, a little Scripture reading, through Mass and confession – when we allow God to be the cause of our happiness, life will be much, much sweeter.

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Step #3: Oratio / Pray

"You have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow.
You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.
Instead you should say,
'If the Lord wills it, we shall live to do this or that.'"

What’s something that makes you level one happy?

Level two?

​Level three?

What is one thing you can start doing to place your happiness in God? Again, for example, read the Bible every day, go to Mass weekly or maybe even daily over the summer, go to confession, start some daily prayer habit, etc.

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Step #4: Contemplatio / contemplation

You have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow.

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For the Rest of Your Day...

Throughout the day examine your mood. What sorts of things are making you happy or unhappy. How can you shift and become less concerned with levels one through three and more concerned with focusing on God alone? In other words how can you become detached from levels one through three and focused on God alone?

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Today's prayer was prepared by Fr. Bakkelund.