What Would Happen If I Was Happy

-- The Rev. Coleen Lynch For some unknown reason, humans tend to be their own worst enemies. Christians are not exempt from this plight. Lent is a time of conversion, change and transformation. It does not, and need not, be a time of morose navel-gazing and compulsive self-finger pointing. Change is natural to creation. Seasons change without gut wrenching recriminations and desperate pleas to the Creator as to why. Yet we humans, the proverbial apple of the Creator’s divine eye, seem to fear the very process that will ultimately make us less miserable and more content, even happy. The Gospel of John presents remarkable stories of ordinary humans groping to understand Jesus beyond his literal words. When they do so, life is different and better for eternity. John’s Gospel gives us wonderful examples in people like Nicodemus (John 3: 1-17), like the woman at the well (John 4:5-42), like the man born blind (John 9: 1-41) – through their conversation with Jesus, he leads them beyond the literal into a deeper understanding and personal relationship with him. If we but spend time with scripture and pray for the Lord’s guidance and insight, we will receive knowledge and wisdom and insight about ourselves and about Him. We will learn how to manage the reality of our daily struggles and anxieties by entrusting them to the Lord. We will be freed of hopeless and helpless thoughts that paralyze our actions and replace them with new found energy that will encourage us to seek the healing we need in our own lives. Choose one of these Lenten stories from John. Read it, pray it, chat with the Lord about it. What is Jesus wanting you to learn about Him? What is Jesus wanting you to learn about yourself and your relationships with others? What is Jesus giving YOU that will make you happy and fulfilled in a way you never thought possible? God bless you.