Happiness is not in catering to desire, but in putting desire away. Happiness is not in seeking pleasure, but in recognizing and thankfully enjoying the myriad of pleasures that God showers bountifully on us every moment: in His love, in His Word, in His Purpose, in His marvelous Creation: from the infinitely small to the infinitely great -- all infinitely beautiful. Happiness is not in getting, but in giving: not in being served, but in serving (though truly there is happiness in being served -- if the service is of need beyond our own capacity to fill, and if the service is in love). Christ tells us where happiness is: in pureness of heart, in meekness, in mercifulness, in hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Don't look for it anywhere else. It isn't there. It must be created within ourselves. Its source is of God.

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