and hell. As part of life we experience pain and suffering, frustration and fear,
disappointment and setbacks. We grow through temptation and shunning evil.
We also experience the joy of heaven in moments of kindness, innocence and
love. We are counseled by the Lord not to go about “with a sad and sorrowful
countenance” but to be “joyful and cheerful.” (Heaven and Hell 358) Jesus often
encouraged His followers to “be of good cheer” and not to be afraid, because “I
have overcome the world.” (John 16:13)
We all have our own battles to fight in this world, with victories and losses
along the way, but the important thing to remember is that the Lord is always
fighting for us. Having faith in Him, and a connection with Him through
reading the Word, is what leads to true happiness.
We have the compelling examples in the beginning of Conjugial Love of
the imaginary heavens of some spirits – places of endless dining and pleasure,
prayer and idleness. These are “heavens” they were desperate to flee once
they experienced anything but happiness there. They learned that heaven is a
kingdom of uses – the delight of loving and serving the Lord and the neighbor
with no thought of reward.
The great promise of the “pursuit of happiness” is this: “Let anyone who
wishes to be happy for evermore know and believe that they are going to be
alive after death . . . [and] that the Word is the one and only teacher of how
a person should live in the world in order to be happy forevermore.” (Arcana
Coelestia 8939:3)
We also have the assurance: “Since the angels who are in heaven are in
goodness from the Lord, they desire nothing more than to perform useful
services. These bring delight to their life, and it is according to useful service
that they enjoy bliss and happiness.” (Ibid. 6073:2)
So the pursuit of happiness is really the active pursuit of heaven in our
lives. It is ultimately the product of our free choices, and the more we choose to
have the Lord in our lives the more He is able to lead us to heavenly happiness.
We delight in the blessings that hold within them the “ineffable” happiness to
come of the pursuit. It is not a sudden state we achieve in this world but the
work, the meaning, and the reward of a lifetime.
(BMH)
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