Over the past week I've felt that transcendent sense of insignificance that always brings me back to authentic happiness in my faith in a God that is sovereign and beneficent. It is quite the strange design that we tend to take our benefits for granted until they are threatened or lost, and are offered the opportunity for deep gratitude and contentment in the face of suffering. Surely there are many that don't see it that way: a trial is a trial and nothing good is found there. However, I'm reminded today about how authentic happiness is possible
because of adversity and the process of enduring/overcoming. In this family photo, I'm feeling pretty happy. Was not the case 10 years prior when I was still in the thick of ambivalent attachment to this institution so strongly associated with my accident. But this time, sharing my alma mater with my family and friends, I was arguably the happiest I had ever been there. After graduating, I was thinking I'd have a "rest of your life pass" on major adversity, but that has not been the case. In fact, as I've gotten older and build a family of my own, it only seems I have even more at risk. So what a wonderful thing to feel and know that Life does not dictate my state of happiness. It's internally determined with the help of a God that sustains and strengthens me. Since most of us do not know the length of our days, it is wise to greet each moment with full engagement.
