Happy Places 

   “As for me, my happiness is to be near God, and I have made the Lord God my refuge.”  (Psalm 73: 28) 

   I was always a fan of Peter Pan.  The concept of being like a child forever was enticing and seemed like a lot of fun.  And, according to the story, all it took was to think of one’s happy place.

   Of course it doesn’t work like that in real life, even in our most happy of places reality intrudes and robs us of the child-like thrills we would like to enjoy.  Try as we may, happy places are hard to find and even harder to stay in.  But there is one happy place that will never disappoint: to be with God.

   The happiest of all my happy places is with my Lord.  When I am with Him I shut out the evil and hatred of the world and bask in His truth and love.  I can put the world on hold, reject the insanity, and calmly, lovingly enjoy my time with God.

   However, when I sit before the Crucifix looking at my Lord nailed to that horrible cross, my happiness turns to sadness and sorrow.  My sins, both past and present, are what nailed Him to the tree, it was for my sins that He suffered and died.  And yet there is happiness there as well; the Son of God loves me so much that He would sacrifice everything to offer me redemption and salvation.  How could that not be a happy thought?

   There is a lot of unhappiness in the world and that makes it even more important to remember the happy places and thoughts.  Whenever the chaos has gotten even worse, when it seems evil is winning, my happy thought is, “God is in control, all will be well.”  Nothing else truly matters, and there is nothing else that could make me happier.