Happiness can seem as fleeting as this
bluebird, which only stayed a moment or two this week to drink warm water I’d
just poured into the frozen birdbath. I only had time to snap a shot or two to use for this watercolor sketch before he took flight into leaden skies,
hardly discernible from some of his less colorful counterparts.
The etymology of the word happy goes back to the fourteenth
century when one of its first connotations was that of luck. In fact, according to this source, “From Greek to Irish, a great majority of the
European words for "happy" at first meant ‘lucky.’”
Luck has nothing to do with those who call on the name of the Lord. For we
don’t put our trust in time or chance, but we put our trust in a God “. . . who
does not change like shifting shadows”(James 1:17)
and revealed in His son that he is “. . . the same
yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8) Our futures don’t depend on the roll of a dice, but he tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the
plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm
you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
So, here's a tip. If you’re
searching for the bluebird of happiness, you might as well stop. You’ll never find it, for it
will continue to be just beyond your fingertips. Instead, surrender to the God
who cares about every detail of your life. In that surrender, you’ll find deep joy
which is unaffected by changing circumstances or that elusive thing called luck.
So, I don't believe in the bluebird of
happiness, but I do experience joy when I see the winged wonder, sialia sialis, for
truly "every good and perfect gift is from above . . ." (James 1:17). Who
needs luck?