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March 8, 2016Man is a searching being; he is always looking for something. Actually, from the very beginning of his existence, man has being searching for just one thing: happiness. All his desires, aspirations and dreams are shouting out: “I wish to be happy.” Even we both—I, who write this letters and you, dear reader—are seeking to be happy. Who doesn’t desire this?
But, do we really know how? Do we know where to find happiness? Do we even know what happiness looks like? If you are able to articulate the answer, you don’t have to finish reading this article; if not this is for you.
Despite a bunch of attempts to answer this question, there have been basically three interesting topics: goodness, truth, and beauty. There is the world of the businessman, of the economist, and all of those things concerning what is good and useful for our lives. There is the complex universe of philosophy and the sciences, trying always to end up with the truth, or we might say “The Truth.” And finally, there is the huge space reserved for art, music and literature, which express the human desire for the perfect and everlasting beauty.
More than four thousand years have passed away; yet, there is no definitive answer. It gets worse; we got tired of searching so much, and now, our society states that this triumvirate is completely relative; nowadays, everything is beautiful, good and true, which means that nothing really is it; nowadays, man no longer seeks . . . but still he thirsts.
Parallel to this history, there’s been another path to which the seeking man’s feet have led him. It started just two thousand years ago; and till now, none of those that have walked it to the full, have been disappointed. Not only that, people that have met these men have been refreshed by their happiness—a happiness pure and unexplainable.
You might wonder why I say unexplainable. It is due to the reason that they do not enjoy all material goods—they’re poor; they do not live the beauty of marriage—they’re chaste; they do not choose their own truth—they’re obedient. Still, they are happy. Why, why and a thousand times, why?
The answer I’ll try to provide here isn’t in a book. These words come from my heart.
The very answer is God. He alone is complete and everlasting beautiful, true and good. He only is Beauty to be loved, Truth to be chosen, and Good to be possessed. Only He can fill your heart forever, because He is Love.
The men I described above are known as religious. They do not possess anything but God. They give their hearts to that God. They offer their lives to that very God. And thus does the one who now writes try to live. And This is my experience of religious life.
Br. Elias studies humanities at the Legion of Christ Novitiate and College of Humanities in Cheshire.
Photo credit: rscj-anz.org