We Want to Have a Good Time
We hear it
said “I had a good time, I will have a good time or I want to have a
good time.” So what is a good time?
Good times
seem to be exemplified by vacations, holidays, parties, the use of drugs
or booze and other pleasures. The list is undoubtedly endless.
The craving or
desire of most humans for a good time seems to be rooted in their desire
for happiness.
Apparently
most people do not find a good time in the most of life’s present moment
situations. When good times occur they are usually very transient,
short-lived and without a lasting effect. If happiness is what is being
sought, it does not seem to be a permanent result of the good time. The
good time syndrome seems to be an endless cycle for most people.
So is it
possible that life is no more than the quest for a good time that ends
with death. Or, is there another alternative that most people miss in
their quest of the good time?
Two examples
of Saints who I think were continuously present to the good time are St.
Therese of Lisieux and Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection.
St. Therese
found continual happiness in the practice of her Little Way. “Therese
insisted that to be happy is an important way of showing our love for
God, for he loves happy souls, those who are perfectly attuned to him,
content with all he wills or permits. The happy soul has faith in the
loving providence of God, even in times of darkness and perplexity.”
Likewise,
Brother Lawrence had a similar experience. “Once he accepted the fact
that he might spend the rest of his life in his troubled state of
mind…he found himself changed all at once. And his soul, up to that time
in turmoil, now experienced a profound inner peace, as if it were in its
center and resting peace.”
A third
example of someone who had a quest for happiness and peace is the
Pilgrim in the story of the Way of a Pilgrim. The Pilgrim found peace
and happiness in the ever presence of the Lord through the use to the
Jesus Prayer.
In conclusion,
I propose this question should we be seeking a good time or the ever
presence of the Lord?
Written by Jim Cordie, 10/21/2007