|
 Waiting
in line at a cafeteria, my attention was captured by a question
which a young lady directed to her male escort. "What
standard do you have for determining right and wrong?" His
answer came quickly and with confidence: "If it makes me
happy it is right!" He seemed very pleased with his
philosophical insight, and would no doubt have been shocked to
know that to me and to several other listeners he had revealed
his immaturity. I had mental pictures of a five years old
"spoiled brat", who had not yet learned that the world
is greater than his own little circle.
What
if "it" makes others unhappy? Is my pleasure to
come at your expense, or before the well being and happiness of
society in general? On such a basis "right" is as
cheap as the most selfish man's desires. There would be as many
"rights" as there are people, or no standard
of right whatsoever. Those whose lives are governed by such a
concept are saved from the slavery of complete anarchy by the
very ones they prey upon, i.e., by those with more noble ideals.
Sometimes
parents, from their superior position of experience and
knowledge, must make their children temporarily
"unhappy," in order that they might enjoy a greater
and more enduring happiness than the child had thought possible.
Is it not possible that there is a Superior One, the Heavenly
Father, who
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knows what will produce the greatest
happiness for His creatures?
A
Christian does not presume to know more about himself, nor his
surroundings, than his Creator. Nor does he childishly equate
"happiness" with a pleasant physiological sensation.
He is not insensitive to beauty and temporal pleasure, but his
acceptance of eternal goals enables him to make a more mature
evaluation of earthly treasures. A man who deeply loves his wife
and family cannot be "happy" in a cheap flirtation he
knows will take from him his greater love and joy.
Happiness
is not chased and caught. It is developed and nurtured within
— a part of us that we allow to mature, thru faith, to hope,
to love of God.
------------------------
In
August we ran a note about the financial needs of Ray Parmenter,
who faced open-heart surgery. The surgery was apparently
successful and Ray is slowly regaining strength. He writes he
has baptized one since resuming his preaching work in
Cottonwood, AZ. Plain Talk readers responded generously to Ray's
needs, and Dan and I rejoice with Ray for you all.
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