Happy?! Glad?! Joyful?! Blessed?!

Finish this line for me if you can...

It might seem crazy what I’m about to say; Sunshine she’s here, you can take a ___________? break

I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space; With the air, like I don’t care baby by the ___________ ? way

Because I’m ________________? happy; Clap along if you feel like a room without a ___________? roof

Because I’m happy; Clap along if you feel like happiness is the _____________? truth

Because I’m happy; Clap along if you know what happiness is to _____________? you

“Happy” was a megahit for popstar and producer Pharrell Williams earlier this year. You may have danced to the tune at a wedding reception or while making your morning omelet. It’s been a whirlwind of success for Williams over the past year culminating in the video for “Happy” inspiring at least 1,500 fan-created YouTube videos. People from London, the Philippines, Iceland, Armenia and Congo are singing and dancing to “Happy.” Even in Syria, yes, Syria, remember Syria where an estimated 2.8 million citizens have been forced out of their home towns by war, to live as refugees in camps in the northern Iraq; Syrian refugees mostly children and youth adults posted their own version of “Happy.”

What?! You have no home, resources, jobs, schools, you have been forced out of your country by war, and you are still “happy?” Despite their evidently unhappy conditions, the refugees dance among their tents with as much joy as any of those who made the other videos, giving a special poignancy to the celebratory lyrics of the song. “Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof?” Hmm...

Could it be that happiness is more than an emotion? I think we are talking about gladness, joy; this is a POWER. This is the stuff of blessedness. This is the stuff of the saints. Jesus offers us a powerful lesson on blessedness in the Beatitudes. If you have been in church for any length of time, you have heard these passages offered in services such as this one today or you may even have them stitched on a pillow on the couch. It is a passage that begins three chapters of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. If you want to know Jesus’ agenda, read the Beatitudes.

In the tradition of the Beatitudes, as described by Mary Earle & Sylvia Maddox writing in ALIVE NOW, “life is known and received as a blessing and as a gift. We come from the Hoy One, whose essence is infinite goodness. Out of that goodness, all has come forth. In our daily lives, we are surrounded by that goodness. In our deepest soul, that goodness dwells within us, inseparably knitting us to the God we know in Jesus. The blessing we receive of goodness in God is an eternal reality known by those we name as saints today. Blessedness is not a matter of quantifiable possession or material wealth. This is the blessing of our very being, of our true identity as sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus.”

When we exist in blessing – in that power of God for goodness – there is a growing gladness for God’s presence in all that surrounds us – in nature, in church, in family, in people. Because God is blessing us “we bless God by becoming increasingly aware of God’s mercies and goodness to us, receiving that mercy and goodness, and allowing our lives to be transformed into active blessing of others and of creation. We become more generous and more compassionate, as people and as communities, especially as a community of faith known as Christ’s body, the church. A life of faith is lived seeking God’s direction, humbly inviting God to guide and correct us as seek to be compassionate, truthful and kind people.