The Sum of Every Small Happiness

The sum of every small happiness we taste, added together across our lives, never surpasses the banal and trivial. Indeed, some of our greatest joys are found in the small things of life. But if we grasp them too tightly, and try to squeeze meaning and dignity out them in this morbid and cold world, utter failure awaits us. If our greatest joy is the colors of the sunrise, we have matured no further than the infant laughing at a rattle.

Only by connecting our small and private pleasures to an eternal pleasure and purpose do we escape meaninglessness. Only by delighting in the creator behind the sunrise does our pleasure become the fruition of maturity. Only by walking in step with His words do we realize the full potential of every smile.

In the Gospel Jesus blesses our little joys; he makes our happiness a sane happiness. But Christ also calls us to a greater happiness. We live between this greater eternal happiness and our worldly pleasure, and it is the cross that connects it all.