I wonder if schools still teach the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, not just their text but historical context. One of the most cherished phrases from the Declaration is this:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
It seems to me that Life and Liberty are under considerable attack in the USA today and that the misrepresentation of ‘pursuit of happiness’ is advanced on quite a different track than was intended by our country’s founders. And no doubt, much of our thinking on that subject has been likewise affected.
Columnist Bradley Abramson observes, “What our Founding Fathers meant by “the pursuit of happiness” was the pursuit of virtue, not the pursuit of pleasure.” Consider the contextual thoughts of the historical writers:
Thomas Jefferson – “The order of nature [is] that individual happiness shall be inseparable from the practice of virtue” and “[w]ithout virtue, happiness cannot be.”
George Washington – “There is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists . . . an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness” and “[h]uman happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected.”
Benjamin Franklin – “virtue and happiness are mother and daughter” and “without virtue man can have no happiness in this world.”
John Adams – “The happiness of man, as well as his dignity, consists in virtue.”
Abramson again: “To our Founding Fathers, then, happiness was the result of living a morally excellent life. To them, the “pursuit of happiness” was the pursuit—in a very real, ethical, and religious sense—of living virtuously.”
What does this mean for you and me? If we truly were interested in our best interest and our highest joy, we would do best to look toward the pursuit of virtue in our lives, rather than merely our pursuit of lesser ‘pleasure’. For the pursuit of virtue brings about our most happiness.
And what if we choose to not believe this basic principle?
We’d be stuck with trying to live a two-fold life, one track pursuing worldly self pleasure and the other pursuing God. Are you tired of trying to life two lives constantly out of balance with each other? Let’s choose today to believe God at His Word. Pursuing virtue brings these dichotomous lives together, to love God and find happiness. Enjoy God fully and find His the greatest happiness in His love.
Enjoy a great life pursuing the one who first pursued you!
