The Only Antidote for Human Misery
In one of my recent daily walks, I spent those moments reflecting on God’s initial provisions to our first parents, when they still enjoyed their abode in the Garden of Eden. The Almighty had planted for them a great variety of trees, the fruit of which they were entitled to enjoy in abundance, with the exception of only one.
As we all know, they chose instead to experiment with what was clearly forbidden. Through that act of defiance, sin entered the world, causing turmoil and misery which every generation after them has had to endure.
Although God provided the remedy for human autonomy and rebellion, a sad situation still persists, affecting every segment of the earth’s population since creation. In His great love, however, God has continued to surround His human creatures with good and permissible things for their enjoyment. Nevertheless, the human proclivity continues to lead many to ignore those divine gifts in favor of other, contemporary forbidden fruits which cannot satisfy, but only bring additional distress!
The inevitable result of those choices is that humans are lonely and dissatisfied when, otherwise, they could be partakers of the “fullness of joy” and some of the divine “pleasures forevermore” which need not be limited only to eternity in heaven. Thus, people will grumble unnecessarily and out of proportion since they lack a fully justified reason. Many will blame God for their misfortunes when they alone are responsible for the bad choices they’ve made, while continuing to insist on having their own way. Misled by varied philosophical arguments, many “assume that human life is something that we make up as we go along,” as British writer, Harry Blamires, pointed out.
Some people will even refuse to accept many of God’s tangible gifts, in favor of their own preferences, many of which are injurious to one’s well-being, and often lethal. God surrounds us with people and opportunities, with daily concrete blessings and the promise of future rewards. Yet, many descend into a miserable existence just because they focus on the wrong objects, away from divine provisions and present grace.
Although life daily hurls its indignities upon earth dwellers, the only remedy left is what God Himself had prescribed: a sincere return to Him, repentantly, with a grateful heart for what He continues to grant abundantly, in spite of human complaints and rejections. He designed a clear blueprint for life on earth which transcends mediocrity, except for those who insist on operating in the world with unoccupied, vacant souls!
St. Augustine took some time to recognize what he later verbalized in his Confessions to God, after his conversion: “Thou movest us to delight in praising Thee, for Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee.” And centuries later, Blaise Pascal echoed the same sentiments when he inquired: “If man was not made for God, why is it that he is only happy in God? If man was made for God, why is he so opposed to God?” And Pascal further concluded that “our true happiness is to be found in him, and that our fundamental source of misery is to be cut off from him.”
You need not postpone your happiness until all conditions are favorable, for that might never happen. You can be happy now, any time, anywhere. You just must choose to be so, regardless of circumstances, but with a heart of genuine repentance and faith toward the God of Heaven, and His Son Jesus Christ, the only redeemer of humanity!
