A new quarter at school means new classes, one of which is Hellenistic Philosophy -a course studying the philosophy of the ancient Greek Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. As with most philosophies, things quickly boil down to the question of what the ultimate goal or point of life is. Epicurus thought obtaining happiness through pleasure was the end all be all of life. As such, he advocated a certain type of hedonism in which one simultaneously aims at satisfying the 'natural-necessary' desires while also eliminating 'empty desires' and avoiding pains.
There is a lot to be said about Epicurean hedonism and the other philosophies of the time but what I find fascinating is that though the means of achieving the ultimate goal of life varies from thinker to thinker, they all seem to agree that a sort of 'happiness' is what human beings seek.
I just began reading John Piper's Desiring God which looks quite promising so far. He quotes from the writings of Blaise Pascal saying "There once was in man a true happiness of which now remain to him only the mark and empty trace, which he in vain tries to fill from all his surroundings, seeking from things absent the help he does not obtain in things present. But these are all inadequate, because the infinite abyss can only be filled by an infinite and immutable object, that is to say, only by God Himself ". Basically, we have a God shaped hole in our lives and trying to fill it with good food, good conversation, or good music is not going to bring the happiness that we are seeking, sorry Epicurus.
Piper argues that "The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever". He coins the term 'Christian hedonism' to describe this idea and I must say I find it compelling. The Christian hedonism vs. Epicurean hedonism comparison is an interesting one: While Epicureans tried to manage simple pleasures to achieve their goal of happiness, Christian hedonism advocates enjoyment or happiness as a means to the end goal of life -glorifying God- rather than as an end in itself. The concept may seem bizarre at first but it makes perfect sense.
I see so many people wandering from hobby to hobby, relationship to relationship, city to city thinking that the next thing, or person, or place is going to fill that void in their life.. hoping that it will take away that sadness, that emptiness. What if we all just said, 'You know what, today I am going to just enjoy God!' I believe that we would not only find that our thirst for happiness was satisfied like never before, but that we would be fulfilling the true purpose of our lives -to Glorify the true living God. If you think earthly pleasures are going to make you happy you will find that they always fall short. For only God Himself will never disappoint, never fail to meet expectations, and never leave you feeling dissatisfied.
God wants us to be happy. It is not surprising that fulfilling our purpose in life is done by finding joy in Him. Praise the Lord for that! So being that we can all agree that happiness is a good thing I leave you with this advice:
in the words of Paul the Apostle,
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say Rejoice -Phillipians 4:4
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