“Happy If and When?”
“This is the day that the LORD has made.
We will be glad and rejoice in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
Happinessisnowhere.
The story is told of a businessman who was driving between cities on a business call out in Arizona. He had car trouble. The engine was running really rough. However, he was able to cripple into a little town that had one garage. As the mechanic was trying to diagnose and cure his car’s illness, the businessman fell into a conversation with a thirty-something-looking Native American who was sitting whitling under the only shade tree in the area.
The businessman was a pretty keen judge of human beings. He very quickly realized that the Indian was very, very smart. Yet, there he sat in very old and disheveled clothes whittling on a piece of wood.
“You know,” said the businessman, “You strike me as a very intelligent and well-spoken man.”
The Indian nodded his thanks for the kind words.
The businessman continued, “I think you could really go places.”
The Indian smiled and said, “Oh?” in a way that invited a fuller explanation.
And now, the high-powered businessman began to get excited and wax eloquent. “You could go to work for me. I could start you off at a pretty good rate. I think you would move up the ladder in no time at all.”
“Yes, and then what?” replied the Indian.
The businessman was a bit puzzled. He hadn’t really thought very much about what happened after you had climbed the ladder. He was too busy climbing the ladder to think of much else. He paused, and a thoughtful frown furrowed his head. “Well, you would make a lot of money. You’d have a lot of nice stuff and invest some of your money in stocks and bonds and have a nice retirement.”
“And then?” the Indian asked.
The businessman looked out across the desert that stretched way beyond the lone shade tree. He felt more than a little lost in the conversation. He was in very uncharted territory.
“Well,” he finally said, “Then you could retire comfortably and be happy.”
At this point, the Indian broke into a broad smile and said, “But I’m happy right now, whittling and talking with you.”
I have no idea about the factuality of this story, but I have no doubt at all about the truth of it. And the truth of it is this: Happiness is here and now, or it is nowhere at all. Perhaps the verse that led off this post is part of a psalm that was written for a special festival day. But in reality, it works for any day.
The line that follows the verse from Psalm 118 contains the following jumble of letters: Happinessisnowhere. Obviously, this is a misprint. Actually, it is an intentional misprint. It can be read in two very different ways.
Happiness is nowhere.
Happiness is now here.
You choose!
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