March 13, 2024

“The noblest art is that of making others happy.”

–P.T. Barnum

Dear Ones,

This week I’m thinking about happiness–probably because I promised you a sermon addressing happiness and transformation, drawing on the legacy of American Universalism. I’m pretty sure that Phineas Taylor Barnum (whose legacy is complicated) will be mentioned on Sunday, and there might be some familiar music from a movie of a few years back, but I’m not sure what else. 

Although we’re not accustomed to regarding happiness as one of the highest virtues (love, truth, justice, anyone?), I wonder about Barnum’s “noblest art” and whether it might be useful guidance toward the good life, especially when oriented outward. And I realize that making others happy is probably inseparable from one’s own happiness in some way. And, of course, happiness is notoriously difficult to define clearly or enact definitively. Or is it? I’m still thinking about it…

Meanwhile, what makes you happy? How do you know that you contribute to the happiness of others? What place does happiness have in your life and your commitments? 

Yours in happiness and contemplation,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org