Deciding

“People are as happy as they decide to be.” So said Abe Lincoln. The words still twist our ears and squeeze our eyebrows together. We are so accustomed to the internal lift we derive from external circumstances, that we assume our happiness lies there. It’s the sunny day that makes us feel sunny. But the outside-in flow of happiness is an illusion. For the longest time we knew that the sun circled the earth. It was obvious. To some, it still is. So it is with the state of our tranquility: the motion of the world around us does not decide it. Like Mr. Lincoln infers, it is our ability to respond: our responsibility.

Still, for most of us, that seems like an impossible decision to fulfill. For the Christian, the decision to be happy is actually our response to the nudge of the Spirit of God to come aside for a quiet time with Him. The commitment to our fellowship with Christ is a decision to be happy.

A broad stone relief mural graced the front entrance of St Joseph’s Orphanage. It depicted the story of Jesus surrounded by children. Above the sculpture were the words, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” In the spirit of this passage, the nuns upheld a tradition of “chapel visits.” Anyone on the playground could take advantage of the privilege. I’d run up to the nun monitoring our play, and ask, ”Sister, can I make a visit.”

“May you make a visit?” She usually corrected.

“May I make a visit?”

The request was rarely denied. Though I knew God was everywhere, I knew Him to be in that room in a special way. There I sat in silence with the attentive Silent One until the tone of his peace retuned my noisy little heart. Then I scampered back to the playground fully enabled for fun.

 Our days are a lot more fun when He gets the best of our time. When our world rotates around Him, our souls are brighter. In His presence we come into the alignment that makes for peace, joy and contentment, even on the cloudiest of days.