God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself,
because it’s not there. There is no such thing.
CS Lewis
I read an article in the Journal of Medical Ethics titled “A Proposal to Classify Happiness as a Psychiatric Disorder.” The article was written by Richard P Bentall of the University of Liverpool in 1992. The author’s hypothesis was that happiness is an abnormality and should be classified as a schizophrenia-like illness. Now, the author was not saying that happiness is as damaging to the individual as a major psychological disorder. He proposed that happiness be classified as a “major affective disorder, pleasurable type.” In other words, it may be a disorder, but it is not recognized that it shows any negatively valued symptoms.
The author raised this hypothesis:
“…Happiness is statistically abnormal, consists of a discrete cluster of symptoms, is associated with a variety of cognitive abnormalities, and probably reflects abnormal functioning of the central nervous system…”
What does this all mean? We probably know what “statistically abnormal” means. I guess most of us are not happy. In determining whether or not happiness is a disorder, the author discusses the accepted means of determining abnormalities that are detrimental to the individual. He talks about happiness being identified as a disease. An identified psychological illness will demonstrate clusters of symptoms that psychologists look for in an individual’s behavior.
The author also explores biological reasons and the possible disruption of the central nervous system as a cause of happiness. Some type of stimulation that produces happiness or euphoria. However, this biological cause produces a disadvantage for the individual. For example, happiness has been linked to obesity, alcohol use, or impulsive behavior. Also, happiness can lead to manic behavior followed by depression. Any of these “disadvantages” could possibly lead to a shorter life.
Another possibility is that the behaviors that result in happiness are irrational. The author describes this as “…irrational if it is bizarre and socially unacceptable, reduces the individual’s expected utilities, or is not based on good reasons.” The author has difficulty identifying irrational behavior. What one person considers irrational may be quite normal for another, especially when talking about different cultures.
Probably none of the above will convince you that happiness is a psychological disorder similar to schizophrenia, but what if it is actually a statistical anomaly for humans? What if fallen humanity is unable to experience happiness? What if happiness, or what we consider happiness, is an allusion?
Let me ask you a series of questions. Is happiness temporary? In other words, can happiness be happiness if it is not permanent? Can we be happy one moment and not be happy the next? Is that true happiness? If we are happy one moment and not happy the next, then our happiness must depend on something that triggers the feeling of happiness. Is happiness the possession of something we desire? Is happiness the result of being healthy? Is happiness the result of good work? Is happiness being content with life? What happens when we don’t get what we want, or aren’t happy with life, or our health begins to decline? Are we then unhappy? So if we don’t get what we want, then we must be unhappy. If that’s the case, is humanity unhappy by default? If unhappiness is the norm, then happiness, especially lasting happiness, is abnormal. If true and lasting happiness is beyond the reach of humanity, then happiness as we understand it is a psychological disorder.
But don’t we all want to be happy? Who wants to be unhappy? If happiness is abnormal in the human state, then why do we seek happiness? It seems reasonable to state that happiness is not the normal state of a human being if we, as humans, must pursue it. We should not be happy people. Otherwise, happiness would be a state of normality. Unhappiness, on the other hand, would be a state that we experience when we stop being happy due to some internal or external stimulus.
I think our pursuit of happiness is another feeble attempt to hold on to something we can’t achieve on our own. Like true worship, salvation, and justification, we cling to the unattainable in a futile attempt to regain the position our race once held. We are fallen. In our fallen state, true happiness is unattainable because happiness is not ours. Happiness is from God.
As fallen creatures, we are not just people who commit an occasional sin. We are people who have completely fallen from the grace our race once enjoyed. We can only achieve a shadow of true happiness in short-lived shards. Even this happiness is only a glimpse of true happiness. It’s a bit pathetic isn’t it? But that is good, because it helps point us to the true happiness that is life in communion with God.
Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest theologians of all time, said this: “For God has created us for himself and our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” We were created to be in communion with God. Our desire from the beginning was to be our own God, and this broke our fellowship with God. Now we seek happiness on our own, but it is out of our reach.
Look at the two paragraphs below taken from Augustine’s Confessions:
“How sweet it was for me to get rid of those fruitless joys that I once feared to lose… You took them away from me, you who are the true and sovereign joy. You took them away from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, although not of flesh and blood, you who eclipse all light, but are more hidden than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, although not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves… Oh Lord, my God, my Light, my Wealth and My Salvation.”
“I searched for pleasures, sublimities, truths, and so I fell headlong into sorrows, confusions, errors. Thanks to You, my joy and my glory and my confidence, my God, thanks to You for Your gifts; but preserve because thus You will keep me, and the things you gave me will be enlarged and perfected, and I myself will be with you, since you gave me even being.”
You can feel Augustine’s passion for God and his recognition that God was everything to him. Once we realize that all things are from God, only then can we let go of this world and its temporary pleasures, its self-worship, its false hopes.
I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul:
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.