Pursuit of happiness, part I

I use a planner at work. One of those binders with paper in it where you're supposed to have your schedule filled out or something. I'm so not an organized person by nature, but I kind of have to force myself to be for my job. I don't really know why I'm explaining this, though; it has little to do with the point of this post (yes, there is a point coming along here eventually). So, anyway, my planner has an "inspirational" quote for each day. Here's the quote from a few days ago:

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." - Ayn Rand

This quote reminded me of something very important, and very profound: it reminded me that, a few years ago, I wasted at least five hours of my life reading The Fountainhead. Five precious hours that I will never get back. Aye.

I think this quote of hers is interesting, though, because it reflects a certain cultural attitude I've noticed (and even bought into at times) that being morally upright is equivalent to being happy. And, Rand asserts that this ideal of happiness is obtained through living only for the interest of self.

I can almost understand why Rand would hold this (flawed) philosophy: She came to the United States from a corrupt communist country that she found to be oppressive. In reaction to this, however, she went to the other extreme. Essentially, she asserted that each person is the god of his or her life, that altruism is false and dangerous, and that selfishness is a virtue. She also said that she was not a fan of religion and did not believe in a higher power.

The Fountainhead is one of the most popular books from the past century. In fact, Atlas Shrugged (also by Rand) and The Fountainhead ranked first and second place, respectively, on The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list (based on an online vote of "avid readers"), which was published in The New York Times in 1998. Thus, more than 50 years after her books were published, Rand's philosophy still ranks high.

The Fountainhead was published in the 1940s, but what about a recently published book that has already sold millions, was endorsed by Oprah, and happened to quote scripture that, it claimed, supported a very similar view of happiness and self-interest? And, even further, claimed that you can have anything you want -- anything your heart desires! -- if you simply think positive thoughts and ignore the not-so-happy stuff in life. Yes, I'm talking about The Secret. Clearly it isn't just literary snobs who buy into this type of philosophy.

But what about Christians? Surely Christians wouldn't fall for and promote this idea that the meaning of life is to pursue cultural mandates of happiness, and that to be in any condition other than happiness is bad or wrong. I mean, Jesus wept, right? Jesus didn't say that, in order to be (or at least appear) virtuous, "You must always put on a happy face!" Instead, he spoke of the beatitudes. And, from what I recall of my bible readings, he didn't tell us that we could always have whatever we desired (my will be done?).

So, surely those who follow the teachings of Jesus would not promote such philosophies of selfishness. I mean, it's not like there's a popular Christian book that's like the philosophy of The Secret or anything. That would just be absurd.

Oh, wait. Oops.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that it's noble to be miserable all the time, or anything like that. All of these books hold some semblance of truth: The Fountainhead shows how acts of "altruism" can sometimes be done for less-than-loving reasons, in which the person who is trying to help others is only doing so to feel better about himself, or because it gives him a sense of importance and feeling needed (Savior complex); and The Secret and Your Best Life Now are correct that a positive outlook can be beneficial, and that always expecting the worst is not the best attitude to have.

My problem with these books (and, in a broader sense, with the philosophy of happiness) is that they take small pieces of truth, mixed with delusions and appeals to self-interest, and contort it all into a provocative, but ultimately dangerous, conclusion. And this conclusion sounds so appealing, doesn't it? You mean to tell me that I can control everything that happens in my life so that I'll be endlessly happy? Woo-hoo!

I think the main issue is that our culture often fails to distinguish the difference between happiness and joy. I realize I'm not shedding any new light on this subject. I've heard many times that being happy and being joyful are not necessarily synonymous. And, Christians are called to be joyful. However, sometimes it's hard to grasp the difference between the two as I go about my day-to-day life. Sometimes it just seems like a matter of semantics.

So, what's the difference? And how does pursuing God's will fit into all of this?

To be continued . . . eventually (I'm sleepy).