Happy or Holy?

I just received a copy of Matthew Kelly’s new book, “The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity”.   Kelly dives deep in this quick read imploring us to become the best version of ourselves starting with Holy Moments. Holy Moments cause a ripple effect creating a better world for us all.  Today, after reading through the book, I’d like to share his  Transformation Prayer(page 102/3) so that we can start our week off with open hearts to do what we are called to do and to be the best version of ourselves.

Lord, 

Here I am.

I trust that you have an incredible plan for me. 

Transform me. Transform my life. 

Everything is on the table.

Take what you want to take and give what you want to give.

I make myself 100 percent available to you today. 

Transform me into the person you created me to be, so I can live the life you envisioned for me at the beginning of time. 

I hold nothing back. 

I am 100 percent available. 

Lead me, challenge me, encourage me, and open my eyes to all your possibilities. 

Show me what it is you want me to do, and I will do it. 

Amen. 

(cut and paste this to a file to print and keep it in your car)

Your Happiness Project

Kelly calls us to action in our own happiness projects. He says that life is one happiness project and that “bringing happiness to other people increases your chances of being happy, while seeking happiness for yourself decreases those chances. He urges us to  ” create Holy Moments which are moments during your days when you are being the person God created you to be, and you are doing what you believe God is calling you to do in that moment.” Holy Moments are selfless–setting aside what you feel like doing and “doing something what will bring the most good to the most people in that moment.”

This falls right in with what Joyce Meyer says all the time in her podcasts…

“If you want to get happy, get yourself off your mind!” Joyce Meyer

Gretchen Rubin

I’ve also been listening and reading Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project for over one year. Listening to Gretch and her sister, Elizabeth, makes me happy. I have been thinking lately though that most of this “project” is about making Gretchen happy, not so much about making other people in her life happy–except those of us who buy her books and listen to her podcasts! I wonder if her listener numbers would increase if she taught us more about giving happiness rather than getting happiness.

Holy Moments

Holy Moments, on the other hand, move us to create beauty outside of ourselves. One Holy Moment is like a single flower stem-beautiful by itself, then even more beautiful as you add more stems to create a bouquet. (You know how my mind works, right?) So the more Holy Moments you create, you are creating beauty and goodness–building upon each moment one moment at a time. And like this line from Keats below, it never passes into nothingness.

 

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.” 

                                                                                   John Keats, Endymion

We can have our own Happiness Projects by working to create Holy Moments. This may not be easy all the time, but I know we can work toward creating more beautiful moments during our days which will eventually add up to many Holy Moments. If we all do this, what a more beautiful world we are creating for future generations.  Here are some examples of Holy Moments—-

• Offer the least desirable tasks of your morning–emptying the dishwasher/washing pots & pans—as a prayer for someone who is suffering.  Holy Moment.
• Begin your day with a prayer of gratitude. Holy Moment.
• Eat a healthy meal. Holy Moment.
• Give someone one of Matthew Kelly’s books! Holy Moment
• Invite friends over for Sunday supper. Holy Moment.
• Pop in for Daily Mass. Holy Moment.
• Ask the new kid coming to your child’s school this fall over to meet a couple of other kids. Holy Moment.

After reading this book, I believe that holiness ultimately leads to happiness. It’s not always easy, but let’s take it one day at a time. We are in a world verging on hopelessness, but we don’t have to go there. Not with a chain reaction of Holy Moments.

See you.

ML