I listen with my eyes.
Mouth open, laughter escaping; floating in the air around me like a child blowing bubbles.
And I wonder where all this happiness comes from; what or who creates it and how one who doesn’t have it, can obtain it. I briefly contemplate if happiness can lie patiently within solemn souls, waiting to be shared in the right occasion.
And so I sit, wondering about this elusive thing.
Arms emphatically move, reenacting a story.
My thoughts have tuned my ears to silence and I see the scene unfold. My brother sprawls across the plush carpet next to the Lazy-Boy my sister sits in. Adjacent to the chair is a couch, one side occupied by another sister and the other side, my wife. My brother-in-law paces the floor, as if unsure about joining the loud group in the living room.
I see before me, a pile of omnipresent memories; a lifetime of shared moments.
The fun, happy memories sit atop this pile, but as I watch the smiles and the laughter, I can’t help but think about the foundation of memories, lying beneath.
The unspoken ones.
The sad ones, the ones we don’t like to think about. The ones that each family has. Disappointments and trials that come to any family.
Like a foundation.
“The foundation to what?” I think later as I lie in bed. “To happiness?”
The thought hasn’t left my side. All day today, it has nudged and stepped on my heel a couple times as I’ve tried to escape it’s puzzling presence.
The foundation to happiness lies within those unspoken memories?
As a family, we know each other’s life stories. We know the sad times. The times that weren’t so good. Yet, we accept each other, not for who we were, but for who we are.
And I can’t help but think about another family. The family of God’s children. Wouldn’t it be great, if just for a little while, this family of people also could overlook each other’s faults and just focus on the pleasant?
It’s a hard happiness to find.
Yet, I’m convinced in the forgetting and the forgiving, lies the key to true happiness.
-Duane Scott
yes and dont forget the loving too.. above all else.. love one another.. in there you find it easy to do all the rest we are to do.. like forgiving and overlooking faults of our family and our brothers in Christ.
Duane, that would truly be bringing the kingdom of God (that Jesus was talking about) to earth. This is something I think about often. How we let the little things get in the way of our love for each other. Our love for each other as family of God…That is the kind of kingdom Jesus started down here and one He plans to bring to fruition one day! Beautiful post Duane.
cool
Right on, brother.
It seems the only way that the family of God will stay united is to be divided. It’s really sad considering the great feast that Jesus has called the Body to…
Families are the most complicated of all our relationships here on earth. Because they do know us – and of course we hope they love us and want only the best things for us too – but sometimes – they do not understand us and can be hurtful and caustic. We know it is important to keep our own hearts right even in the midst of situations that come and go – and yet we also need to protect our hearts from people who would try to project their opinions onto us – or worse yet – make judgement calls that prove they are very small and don’t understand us at all. This is very sad. But this too – is family.
Amen Duane. We’re going through a merger at church and toes get stepped on pretty easy in the process. I needed this reminder and focus.