HAPPINESS AND HEALTH: A MEANINGFUL LIFE

 “We are God’s handiwork, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared in order that we might journey through life doing them” (Eph 2:10).

I heard an academic lecture yesterday under the topic of happiness and health on the role religion plays in mental health.¹  To my dismay, none of the reasons given for why “being religious” supports mental health were the first two that came to my mind.

The first key factor is having a meaningful/purposeful life.  Studies show that this factor makes a major contribution to mental health.²  Having a sense of purpose creates an outward, teleological movement for life.  This happens when one seeks God.  Seeking and submitting to God involves living in the image of God, working for order in the midst of chaos, serving the created world and its inhabitants, living rightly before God (righteously).²  To the contrary, THE temptation of wanting to “be like God/gods” (Gen 3:5) achieves the opposite result.  The nature of humans to yield to the sin of self-rule is insulating and stultifying.  It feeds the inward focus of depression.  Setting aside that non-religious people may claim to have a foundation for a meaningful life – at the least the presenter should have noted that many religious beliefs and philosophies offer a purpose for life, even it is just living for ancestral honor, caring for one’s community, or finding a wise Dao (path) for living.

The second factor that came to mind, might be one the presenter did not know: having the Presence of God in one’s life through the Holy Spirit.  The Presence of God does not remove the chaos of life.  Christian theology is about participation: we are in Christ and Christ is in us.  Jesus holds our hands as we go through life’s chaos.  God’s presence helps with mental health.  I can testify to that.

Lord, we all were created with a purpose, to live in relationship with You.  May those who have missed life’s purpose find you.  May those who have our life and breath in You serve others in such a way that they are drawn to Jesus.  Help me to walk today in Your purposes.  Amen.
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1) Mental health involves many factors, including medical ones that I am not addressing here but which are real and call for medication and counseling.
2) For example, see: https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/purpose-in-life-less-stress-better-mental-health.
3) I am drawing on material from earlier posts on “Misreadings of Genesis 1-3” and the nature of sin and temptation.

WORSHIP, PEACE, AND A PURPOSEFUL LIFE

The peace we experience in life is dependent upon what we worship; and, we are always worshiping something.  The origin of the English word “worship” goes back to concept of attributing worth to something.  It is used to translate various biblical Hebrew and Greek words which have different meanings, but which perhaps ultimately capture the same disposition of the heart.  For example, the Hebrew word chavah is about bowing down to something.  It is sometimes found in parallel to the Hebrew kabad, which means “to honor.”  That to which we give honor and to which we figuratively bow down is that to which we attribute worth.  That is the problem.

Many of my students say they are lonely and anxious.  I do not minimize what they feel, and I do not want to oversimplify their situation.  I think, though, that those feelings may be symptomatic of a deeper issue.  Many of my students do not have, or cannot articulate, what would make life purposeful and meaningful for them.  Taking a step further for them, myself, and all of us, I believe that what we worship is directly related to where we seek to find meaning and peace.  All of us are constantly engaged in worshiping.

I know it is cliché to speak about the problem of striving for power, fame, wealth, etc., but what is commonplace is often true.  Innately, I need some sense of security, a sense of peace and rest; and I strive to find that in something about myself or in what I can do.  That is worship, attributing worth to myself and/or what I seek.  It is also idolatrous worship.  One biblical image for idolatry is seeking to find a secure footing in life on that which is ephemeral, fleeting, vaporous.  All but One is ephemeral.

Note this, Israel: Yahweh is our God, Yahweh alone.  You must love Yahweh your God with your whole inner being, and with all your vitality, and with all your strength. (Deut. 6:4-5)

When I worship (bow to, honor, serve, etc.) God, I rest my life on the One secure foundation.  The result is a purposeful and meaningful life accompanied by a sense of peace.

Lord, may I only worship you.  Amen