Happiness Without Guilt

I had lunch with an old friend recently.   She is a person who is always busy, active, doing things, volunteering at church, gardening, etc. etc.   In our conversation,  she talked about how she makes her list every day of all the things she wants to accomplish.  I used to do that also;  I still do, occasionally.  What struck me was this one specific statement she made:  "I have to be accomplishing something or I feel guilty."

In a nutshell,  that statement summarizes exactly what I have been trying to overcome in my retirement years.   I have sometimes called that transition moving from doing to being.  My deep desire at this point in my life is to simply be without feeling guilty.  Or more specifically,  I want to master the art of being happy without the tendency to feel guilty for not doing something.

If I am honest, I would have to say that much of my life philosophy, and a great deal of my theology has always been based around what I understand to be the "Protestant work ethic."   This is a concept which is based on the notion that hard work is a necessary component of a person's calling and worldly success, and is a sign of personal salvation. [Wikipedia]  The origin of this notion can be traced back to John Calvin and Martin Luther.

In my preaching, you could often hear me saying such things as:
*As God's chosen people, it is our job to make a difference in the world.
*Good works are the fruit of our faith.
*Our purpose in life is to find and share our gifts and talents to the glory of God.
*Since we have received the gift of grace, we need to share it with others.

To truly live in grace (being saved), means we do not have to earn it.  It is already given.  Yet, somewhere along the way, it became deeply ingrained into the American/Christian/Protestant psyche that we are not entitled to happiness without earning it.

There is a different school of thought in my theological brew.  The real purpose of life is to grow in spirit;  to develop and mature as a human being, to know oneself and one's connection to God,  to heal,  to surrender, to release one's pain,  to be free.   To these ends, what one "does" or "accomplishes" externally is if little consequence.

Or so it seems to me, on this particular day.