Jim Cogley: Reflections Tues 12 March – Mon 18 March 2024
Tue 12th March – Happiness
While beginning to write some postings on the subject of happiness I feel that the term is misleading and we need to define what we mean by the word. The word suggests that happiness depends on something happening, some external event, achievement or encounter that is always quite elusive because it always seems to be in the future. Perhaps it would be more useful to think of happiness in terms of peace, contentment, fulfillment and satisfaction. We could even include a few more like meaning and purpose. ‘When will I ever be happy?’ so many ask and the word immediately sets us off in the wrong direction – into the future. So, we think of when we land the perfect job or meet that special someone or reach that particular goal then we will be happy. Yet in the words of Shakespeare we find, that ‘all things are with more spirit chased than enjoyed.’ No sooner have we reached one goal than another beckons, once again dangling the elusive carrot of happiness in front of our eyes.
Wed 13th March – A State of Being
We may also think of happiness as the most sought after and highly prized emotional state. As we journey through life we certainly get fleeting and even intoxicating moments of what we seem to be looking for, but our emotions are constantly changing and so feelings of happiness are never constant. We then spend so much time trying to regain what we have lost that we can make ourselves miserable. There’s something about happiness that goes deeper than external events or pleasurable feelings. It has to be a state of being that is related to knowing what is important in life and being committed to it. Also, it has to be related to so feeling at home with myself, and at home in my body, that I no longer compare and so don’t want to be better than anybody else. Happiness therefore is not just a feeling I embody but a way of being and a mode of service.
Thurs 14th March – Wanting and Having
During my teaching days I noticed, again and again, that the students that seemed the happiest were the ones who had the least reason to be, and the ones who had every reason to be were in fact the least. Usually, it was those with obvious physical handicaps that could not be hidden who seemed to accept themselves the most and often made jokes about their difficulties. In contrast it seemed that the best-looking students were spending too much time looking in the mirror and despairing over some spot or blemish and comparing themselves with others. Here it seemed obvious that there was a direct correlation between happiness and self-acceptance. The image often came to mind of an unusual looking jigsaw piece that had its place but needed to be placed with acceptance before it could have a sense of belonging and form part of the overall picture. ‘Wanting what you had and not just having what you wanted’ is an oft used quote in relation to happiness that makes a lot of sense.
Fri 15th March – Obstacles to Happiness
It seems important to understand that happiness comes and goes. A fleeting pleasure never equates to a long-term joy. The question is how do we prolong that state we deem happiness? As mentioned earlier there is a direct correlation between happiness and our degree of self-acceptance. Self-rejection and rejection of any part of ourselves is a sure formula for misery. Especially any rejection of the wounded child part of our makeup will allow us only occasional glimpses of that which we seek. The tendency to compare ourselves with others, and to think of them as always being happy, we call envy, and inevitably this leads to a form of despair. Similarly, to harbour any ill-will or resentment creates a prison where our spirit feels trapped. A healthy degree of reflection is a necessary component for happiness while too much introspection can destroy it. Where the focus of our lives is too inward all we find is a black hole that nothing or no one can fill. A useful analogy for finding the balance is to consider the size of a car rear view mirror for looking backwards in relation to the size of the windscreen for looking forwards.
Sat 16th March – More obstacles to Happiness
The image shown is of a climber ascending quite a tall peak. Before embarking on the ascent he has to accept the challenge of the climb, be prepared to leave behind the familiar, and off-load everything that would weigh him down and impede his progress. The ground level can represent our comfort zone, that space in which we feel most safe and secure. Every challenge to climb up, or step out of, that zone involves a confrontation with fear and when we succumb to this we retreat thereby making our comfort zone even smaller. However, when we manage to overcome our fear, exercise courage and step forward in faith we extend that zone and reclaim our life. The fear we encounter usually has its roots in our past, it makes us believe that we are most secure in the present, and it robs us of hope for the future. It equally deprives us of the happiness that comes with the satisfaction of having conquered our fear and reclaimed a part of our lives.
Sun 17th March – St Patrick’s Day
A shamrock image made of different woods
This is the day when so many in the world claim to be Irish and lots of others want to be. 1600 years ago, St Patrick preached about the Blessed Trinity using the shamrock. From my own collection of wood pieces this is my version and it actually has 21 combinations of threes using three different woods. If St Patrick lived in challenging times, so are we in one of the most defining and difficult times in our history where, as a nation, we are seriously in danger of losing our faith. Like never before we need reconversion and something of Patrick’s resilience and greatness of soul
There is something very appealing about the story of St Patrick. He was born into a comfortable Christian family in Britain. His father was a bishop so if he had been from Ireland his surname would surely have been Mac an tEaspaig. That was long before the days of celibacy which didn’t come into force until 1140.
Most of us are familiar with the basics of his story, how he was captured by Niall of the Nine Hostages at 16 and sold as a slave to a sheep farmer in Meath. So, his early years were spent in captivity looking after sheep on Mount Slemish. Winters at the time seem to have been much tougher than we have had in recent centuries so you can just imagine the cold and hardship he must have endured. Yet it was during that time of loneliness and deprivation that he learned to pray. It was an experience that could so easily have destroyed him and yet by God’s providence great good came from it both for Patrick and countless others. It was what he went through that awakened the magnificence of his soul. Had his life gone as he would have planned and if he had a normal easy childhood, history would have been very different.
As we know he eventually escaped back to Britain and was reunited with his family. Then following the drumbeat of destiny, he then trained to be a priest and later was made a bishop.
I hate to hear anyone disparaging dreams saying that they are a load of rubbish. Dreams have always been very much part of our Christian tradition. In fact, there would be no Christian tradition without dreams. It was through a dream that Patrick heard the voice of the Irish calling him to walk among them once more This he believed to be the voice of God calling him on what was to be his life’s work. It is to his eternal credit that he didn’t take what would have been the easy option and stay where he was. Instead, he was like an old dog who was ready for the hard road and return to the land of his captivity.
Herein lies a spiritual principle, that we generally get an invitation to live life twice. In our earlier years we forge ahead and we try to dismiss or leave behind much of what we didn’t like. Out of sight out of mind, or so we think. However, as we journey onwards, we are usually confronted with all that we have tried to block out and, like Patrick, it takes courage to face whatever it was that we found so painful and perhaps never spoke about at the time.
We know that Patrick’s missionary work was phenomenal in its output. In Ireland he encountered a flourishing spiritual tradition that had already existed for thousands of years. In its essence this was very close to Christianity. The Celts saw divinity all around them, in rivers and hills, in sea and sky and in every kind of animal. The foundation for what he was to build had already been laid and so he was able to build on what was there already. Where the Celts worshipped at sacred wells he built churches. While they worshipped many gods he pointed them to the one God who was in everything and through whom everything was made.
It is that ancient Celtic reverence for the spirit in all things that we have largely lost over the past few hundred years. It is also something that we need to regain if our church and faith are to be reborn and come alive after centuries of relating to church more than being in relationship with Christ, of more rules and regulations than spirituality and relating more to the God of fear than the God of Love
The faith preached by Patrick was a positive life-giving faith that dispelled fears and brought something new and hopeful into people’s lives. It gave them vision and a life without vision is like a night without stars. It was also a challenging faith that was to inspire sacrifice and service in those who embraced it. You could say that Patrick was a driven man, driven by a desire to share his faith with others and it was this legacy that has inspired so many thousands of Irish missionaries ever since.
Today the reality is that the God of secularism and consumerism is taking over from the God of Patrick, and Ireland is in grave danger of abandoning the faith that he brought. But at what cost? Without faith nothing has meaning, life is without purpose and even moral values have no foundation. With faith everything holds together and without faith everything falls apart. To build something solid we need bricks and mortar. In our society we have the bricks but the mortar is scarce, so is it any wonder that without the essential ingredient that acts as the glue at so many levels we stand in danger of falling apart?
Mon 18th March – Cultural obstacles to Happiness
Our culture has some very loud messages in relation to what constitutes happiness. The world of advertising is always bombarding us with what we are supposed to need. It might be the newest phone, a healthcare product, or the latest gizmo. We may well have bought into the belief that the big house, or the new car, or the healthy bank balance will do it for us. Yet acquiring possessions also comes at a cost where the success, money and expensive possessions begin to own us. Where these things are connected to our happiness there is always the fear of losing them. Likewise, where we allow them to become part of how we define ourselves we find that we always need more of them. This is where the gospel teaching is always about freeing us from all these attachments. It invites us to change the ‘me’ to ‘we’ in our lives and instead of hoarding to give freely of what we have so freely received. It reminds us that we are just custodians of what we have and are entrusted with the task of being responsible stewards. While culture teaches addition as the path to happiness, spirituality teaches the way of subtraction.