Ignorant Historian

I have a backlog of quotes…none of these are from yesterday’s Read-a-thon! Look for those over the next 2 weeks. I actually found the last 3 quotes in a stack of old papers.  They’re from before I officially started collecting quotes.

“What, you don’t think I want my wife to be happy?” – Taub
“Sure, as long as it makes you happy.” – Foreman, House episode “Black Hole”

“I’ve always believed that if you took one tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you’d be surprised by how well things can work out.” – Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, p. 138

“You’re in for it now, child. Your body will change, your thoughts will be jumbled, and any man will be able to do what he wants with you.” - about the onset of puberty, Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende, p. 45

“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.” – Last Lecture by Randy Pausch, p. 148

“He missed his venerable master, who had marked him forever with a thirst for knowledge as persistent as the drunk’s thirst for alcohol or the ambitious man’s thirst for power.” – Daughter of Fortune b y Isabel Allende, p. 178

“From where I stood, all my female friends were skinnier, or brighter, more talented and definitely happier than me.” – Amen, Amen, Amen by Abby Sher, p. 196

“Neither European nor Chinese patients admitted that the other race had anything to teach them.” – Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende, p. 181

“The heart wants what it wants.” – Woody Allen

“And this I believe: that hte free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.” – East of Eden by John Steinbeck, p. 171-172

“Eventually, I sold the original to the Hard Rock Cafe, not only because I needed a little money, but because I was afraid that, if I would die, it would be put on the street, like all stuff is put on the street when people die, in a black plastic bag.  Now it was safe.” – AJ’s neighbor, Nancy quoted in The Year of Living Biblically by AJ Jacobs, p. 325

Not sure why this is the first book review in 2 years on the Ignorant Historian?  Check out the reason here.

You knew this was coming right?  Though I read The Happiness Project after sharing my thoughts on our happiness idol, it contains some of the same thinking that’s so common to our culture but counter to a biblical worldview.

Though The Happiness Project follows a similar patern to The Year of Living Biblically (which I enjoyed) and Eat, Pray, Love (which I didn’t), it’s different, too.  Author Gretchen Rubin’s goal is happiness, but I felt like that goal was mis-stated or at least two-fold.  Most of her monthly goals dealt with self-improvement, not necessarily happiness (though obviously they can be related).

Interestingly enough, what I found least intersting about this book is the comments she included from her blog.  While I like to read blog comments (of course on my own blog *hint hint* but also on interesting subjects on other blogs), I don’t necessarily want to read them listed out in a book.  Perhaps they added to what she was saying, but I found whole blocks of comments without discussion from Rubin to be distracting and disruptive to the flow of the  book.

While Rubin’s endeavor for greater happiness was an understandable one, she was looking for happiness (or better yet, joy) in all the wrong places.  Nor can we truly change who we are on our own.  True, lasting joy and true, lasting change can only be found when we are in right relation to our Creator.

One of my favorite things about reading books and watching movies is analyzing the worldview presented (yes, I’m one of those people).  Most are easily placed in their time period based on this alone (though I always cheat and look at the publication date because it helps to interpret what the author/director is saying).

And increasingly I’ve noticed books and movies point to the fact that our culture idolizes happiness.  Elizabeth Gilbert admits as much in Committed that she forsook her first wedding vows simply because she was unhappy.  And most people would not fault her for it.

But God would.  I don’t mean to bash Elizabeth Gilbert; God is the judge and she has obviously not the only one at fault for our happiness idol.  In fact, I’m more than willing to admit that I fall on the “guilty” side in this matter: way too often my decisions (both immediate and long-term: what to do next, what to eat, where to live, etc.) are ruled by what I want simply because it’s what I want.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying we should don hairshirts or polar bear swim in the Atlantic.  The answer is not to avoid happiness and pleasure as has been a historical Christian misinterpretation.  Rather, the answer is to put happiness in it’s place.

Happiness is good and a blessing.  But it’s not more important than loving God and loving others.

Thanks for reading this…I know that I needed this reminder once again.

Photo by CarbonNYC

Did you catch the story a few weeks ago that happened on a beach in Italy? A couple of Roma (Gypsy) girls drowned, and while their bodies were still on the beach covered with beach towels, sunbathers continued enjoying the sun nearby as if nothing happened.

This story struck me for two reasons. First off, the fact that these were Roma girls means something. I heard a national talk show host talking about this story, and he glossed right over this fact, clearly not understanding the history behind it. Gypsies have been a despised people in Europe for hundreds of years, and have been subject to enslavement and ethnic cleansing. Because of the discrimination they face, they often are seen begging and often travel from place to place. Though I don’t know that the sunbathers knew that the girls who drowned were Roma, it certainly seems likely considering the reports say that they had been begging prior to getting into the water.

Secondly, the response of the Italian sunbathers to the death of those around them was a sharp reminder to me that I all too often take this attitude towards the spiritual death of those around me. Like those sunbathers, I have fun and pursue my own interests, not letting the thought that those around me are actually dying dampen my day of fun in the sun.

American Christianity is really good at this. We spend our money on Christian trinkets and read the latest self-help books with a Christian veneer trying to learn how to be happy. How easy it is to forget that my own happiness is not my reason for being here!

This story has spurred me on to try to be more purposeful in everything I do. May God open my eyes to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of those He has placed in my path, and may He give me what I need to address them.

In what is becoming light and fluffy week here at Tale of a Kansas Girl, I wanted to follow my friend Amy‘s lead in posting 30 things that make me happy. If you’re brave, in a bad mood, or simply a follower, you should join too!

30 Things that Makes Me Happy (in no particular order)

1. The freshness of the early morning air of summer.
2. Finding a card from a friend in my mailbox, or a sweet comment on Facebook or my blog.
3. Cheery colors and brown.
4. Diet Dr. Pepper.
5. Laughing so hard I cry.
6. Crying so hard I laugh.
7. Doing either of the above two with a good friend.
8. Watching the sun set over Kansas wheat at harvest time.
9. A good book while bundled up under the covers.
10. Writing and reading blogs.
11. A freshly cleaned room.
12. A fresh sheet of paper and colored pens to fill it up.
13. Reading my Bible and learning about our great Savior.
14. Watching children prefer one another over themselves.
15. Watching children “get it” after you taught it to them 20 times.
16. Receiving cards from children.
17. Running around the room with a child and pretending that I still am one.
18. Singing along to music at the top of my lungs while driving.
19. Being home.
20. Visiting a foreign country and getting a better understanding of my small place in this world.
21. Seeing someone grow in Christ.
22. Watching a good movie that makes me laugh AND cry.
23. Praising God after humbly going to Him in repentance.
24. Seeing needs providentially provided for.
25. The calm of the late night hours.
26. Flowers in a garden.
27. Cucumbers and strawberries.
28. Crying over something little, and remembering that even my emotions were created by God.
29. Playing or teaching a game to a child.
30. Laying on a warm beach.

So, what makes you happy?

I have nothing really to say and no particular reason to be happy, but here I am writing and smiling anyway. There are so many things for which to be thankful. I’m loving my classes which are sufficiently challenging and interesting. My team is winning which always feels good. I’m loving the time I spend with friends. I enjoy my jobs and my work with the children at church. I love that I’ll be getting to be involved with a care group there. God has blessed me in so many ways.

No wonder I’m smiling.