HAPPINESS IS A LAUGHING MATTER
The number one ingredient in the recipe for successful living is
happiness, but the road to achievement is filled with bumps and curves. In order to develop a positive social
environment, America’s youth must be taught the value of happiness. Not only
should they be taught, but they must witness the art of successful living. It is unrealistic to expect positive behavior
from America’s youth when they are completely surrounded by hate. The pulpits
have become hate machines, and political platforms have become instruction
books for hating. To turn the good book into a book of hate will one day be
considered a big mistake for the Christian Church.
I am reminded of the days when I was a college student searching for my
pursuit of happiness. I still wonder how
I was able to make passing grades while I was struggling with my own
sexuality. I knew I was not happy, and I
spent years besieged with guilt because my sexual desires were not in
accordance with my religious faith.
I will never forget the hours I spent on my knees begging the heavenly
father to deliver me from a gay man’s body. And those other days when I was mad
at God, and stormed at him for making me different. But I will never forget the day when I realized
that my deliverance was in my acceptance.
When I accepted myself as God had made me, it was the event that turned
a troubled life into a life with a purpose. It was then I recognized he had
given me a great gift in the form of an open mind. To be able to walk in
another man’s shoes and to see the world through the eyes of another was the
reason for my existence.
Finally my pursuit of happiness was complete. Today, I enjoy the same
happiness that Sister Simmons experienced when she shouted during the week-long
revival at the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church. I now experience the joy that
Brother Will Taylor experienced when he shouted in the middle of the road
because the joy of the Holy Spirit could not be contained until he reached the
church. Today, I experience the happiness that Brother Meyers experienced when
he preached so long and so hard that there was not a dry thread on his body,
but he continued until he fell on his knees and started barking like a dog. To
Brother Meyers, that was not a Billy Sunday Act, but a reality check when the
Holy Spirit actually descended from heaven and took up residence in a physical
body.
Happiness is the most valuable
ingredient in the art of successful living.
