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Richard Lawrence Cohen

Well put, Dilys. This is something I have had to work on every day of my life, and always will.

Jeff Hull

Of most men it may be truly said:

"You wouldn't know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
The things you think are precious
I can't understand"

(Donald Fagen/Walter Becker)

Herr Schmemann makes an important point, if obliquely: happiness is always and everywhere fleeting. Eternal happiness is not of this earth, so seeking it here is futile.

"Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every kind of enjoyment except that of the animal appetites: felicity is a more formal word, and is used more sparingly in the same general sense, but with elevated associations; blessedness is applied to the most refined enjoyment arising from the purest social, benevolent, and religious affections; bliss denotes still more exalted delight, and is applied more appropriately to the joy anticipated in heaven. [1913 Webster]"

How do you contrast happiness of Schmemann with "contentment"?

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

"Contentment: a state of mind in which one's desires are confined to his lot whatever it may be (1 Tim. 6:6; 2 Cor. 9:8). It is opposed to envy (James 3:16), avarice (Heb. 13:5), ambition (Prov. 13:10), anxiety (Matt. 6:25, 34), and repining (1 Cor. 10:10). It arises from the inward disposition, and is the offspring of humility, and of an intelligent consideration of the rectitude and benignity of divine providence (Ps. 96:1, 2; 145), the greatness of the divine promises (2 Pet. 1:4), and our own unworthiness (Gen. 32:10); as well as from the view the gospel opens up to us of rest and peace hereafter (Rom. 5:2)."

Am I falling over the semantic event horizon, or is Schmemann talking about a different kind of happiness than what Man usually strives for (and of course, never really achieves for any length of time)? That is, is he saying that what we seek is earthly contentment rather than the "true" or divine "happiness" we should be seeking?

I'm uneasy with the propostion that earthly Man can enjoy anything more than temporary glimpses of Happiness, based on my belief in the natural will to power, the constant striving, seeking, questioning nature of humans. Contentment I think can be in our grasp, since we can will ourselves into contentment, but happiness ... happiness is a blessing. Big question in my mind: is contentment a necessary precondition for the blessing of Happiness?

But then it is a Saturday morning, I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and I have not had my morning honey.

dilys

Maybe I'm feeling my way into a principle that says, with adequate virtuous alignment, what pleases and makes happy is worth pursuing. As Kingsley Amis says somewhere, Nice things are nice and nasty things are nasty.

Or as Byron Katie is fond of saying, Why would I want to spoil someone's fun, including my own?

There are wheels within wheels to be applied to refine these considerations, but the paragraphs obviously rang a deep note for me. It's one thing to refine the idea, but heading toward its anhedonic contrary is a danger signal IMO.

Contentment might be a frequent subset of happiness, or even a frequent precursor, but perhaps not on all occasions necessary to happiness.

Jim N.

Hi Jeff,

In the larger context of his private Journals, from whence the quote is taken, I would suspect that the good priest would disagree with your statement: "Eternal happiness is not of this earth, so seeking it here is futile." Its an eschatological misnomer.

dilys

So nice to hear directly from Jim N., who has retailed this wonderful material.

That's what I find so thrilling here, never elsewhere so straightforwardly stated; and have been unwilling to forego finally in this life. Without falling into the Earthly Utopia Means Search heresy, the eschatological chasm between earthly gruel and heavenly pie appears to be bridged in principle, where it matters. And in experience...it would be presumptuous to say that.

Having absolutely no interest in drumming up sectarian controversy, I intended to draw this to the attention of a private correspondent regarding the Eastern Orthodox catechumenate -- but here it is publicly.

"See? This is the 'oil of gladness' vision Orthodoxy quietly, steadily offers!" (Psalm 45:7; Hebrews 1:9)

Robert Godwin

Unhappiness is taking the easy way out--being satisfied with the low-hanging bitter fruit.

dan ramirez

I think I agree with Jeff as to the attainment of some idea of happiness. It is indeed a blessing when I feel right with the world. And if that's happiness then I'm cool with it.

I wonder what Billy Holiday thought about happiness?

I wonder to what extent, if any, the allusions to "happiness" might exist in the song "Bitter Fruit" as it might apply to Goodwins quote?

Just musing.

dilys

Thanks for tracking over from Richard's, [l']hombre!

Is this it? [http://www.bluerodeo.com/br/bitter.html]

"And I found out that I have a taste For the bitter fruit of life."

Me too. And the next question for everyone is whether that is a taste that is to his benefit to cultivate. Freud. Eros. Thanatos. Etc.

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