"The Secret To Living A Happy Life” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – July 26, 2015 Centenary United
Psalm 15; Ephesians 3:14-21 One day a young Swedish girl was walking through the woods and
admiring all the wild flowers that were everywhere.
Suddenly she came upon a marvelous Monarch butterfly that was
caught in a large spider web.
She knew that these lovely creatures do not live very long so she
carefully freed the butterfly.
It sat on her finger for awhile, completely exhausted from
struggling to free itself from the web, and then it flew off.
The butterfly did not fly very far before it circled back and
transformed itself into a form the little girl had never seen.
She was unacquainted with what fairies or angels look like, but
whatever this creature was she knew how to speak Swedish.
The creature said, "You were very kind to free me from the
spider's web. Is there any
thing my child that I can do for you?"
The little girl thought for a moment and then said, "Yes, there
is. I would like to be as
happy as I am right now for the rest of my life."
The creature whispered something into her ear, returned to being
a butterfly and disappeared into a meadow of wild flowers. As she grew into becoming a woman, her life radiated and exuded
happiness every day of her life.
Year after year, people everywhere marveled at how she always
carried herself with a smile and a song. She was always singing as she
did her chores. Most
people had heard about her strange encounter in the wooded meadow.
What had the angelic fairy revealed to her that was so
out of this world that it
caused her to live every day with such a joy for life?
The great mystery continued for years.
Everyone knew that eventually people face disappointment, sadness
and the betrayal from false friends.
How had she escaped? She had reached her 97th birthday and was still smiling even
though she was preparing to leave this world. Surrounded by family and
friends, each of them begged her to reveal the secret she had kept for
years. She felt that her
birthday was the time when she should share the secret of her wealth of
happiness, peace and joy. She said, The words that were
whispered into my ear were these:
'For the rest of your life everyone you meet whether they be
wealthy or poor, healthy or sick, friendly or sterile, all of them will
need what you have to give them.' The creature
had given the little girl a frame of reference that she could use to
define herself for the rest of her life.
She was given the understanding that happiness comes from simple
thoughtfulness expressed to everyone every day. In our lesson today, Paul is attempting to inspire the followers
of Jesus that lived in I pray that you may
have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with
people everywhere, may understand love's vast power. Love's energy is
beyond comprehension but it is a resource that will fill you with the
very nature of God. (Ephesians
3:17f) Is it really possible for people to be happy all the time?
According to Paul and the testimonies of a host of people, the
answer is "Yes!" This is
not to say that disappointing circumstances never present themselves in
our lives. What matters is
the response we give to each of them. Stories that capture the essence of one of life's powerful
lessons have always intrigued me.
Collecting a number of them was and is a hobby of mine.
Apparently, Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen did the same thing when
the two of them created a book entitled,
Chicken Soup for the Soul. Here is a story that
never made their book. When
the When he found one of his children reading a book, he made both of
them sit in front of the fireplace and tear out the pages one by one
until the book was burned.
He made his children take turns throwing each page into the fire until
the book was completely consumed. The boy became very bitter and hated
his father for the rest of his life.
The girl began to dream of one day having all the books that she
wanted. She began to use her imagination.
She reasoned that if she could not have books to read that she
would write them. She never
developed a hostile feeling toward her dad.
Her father's dislike for books was just his attitude about
something that he did not understand. He
meant well but his one failure did not diminish her respect for her
father. He worked harder
and longer than anyone she had ever known.
When she matured and left home to find her own way in life, she
established one of the first libraries in the West.
Soon a school was created for the homesteader families that had
lots of children. The
school was located in the building next to her library. Her brother,
however, struggled with people in authority for the rest of his life.
When we think of what the angelic fairy whispered into the young
girl's ear, she was never without something to do. She had been told
that people at every level of life needed her.
Her life was never boring. Her life's energy was always flowing
away from her as it took the form of thoughtfulness toward everyone she
met. Like the woman who harbored no ill-will toward her father for his
dislike of books, that was his attitude, not hers.
She dreamed of one day having all the books she wanted and that
desire transformed an empty building into a library. Today, we are honoring the countless remembrances of Stanley and
Clarissa Woolridge. Their
energy was always flowing toward others, consequently, their faces were
always smiling and their thoughts were focused on how they could be of
service. Their network of
friends and family needed both of them to be in their lives.
Most of us can recite numerous stories about them that capture
the essence of their being of service to others.
It is one thing to remain active in a church family and quite
another to invite the entire congregation to your home, have the worship
service there and then invite everyone to stay for lunch.
They did that on numerous occasions.
Their home was open to anyone and everyone. Once Dr. Leo Buscaglia, who was a well-known university professor
in the The driver's attitude was exactly the same as the one that
Stanley and Clarissa habitually used every day. There was always room
for more people. Perhaps
one day while Stanley and Clarissa were walking on one of the dirt roads
in Locker estate near They accepted those words as a sacred privilege, made those words visible in their lives and never looked back. Such a simple lesson and yet it is one that the world needs to experience coming from each other every day. Stanley and Clarissa were giants in our memories because of their thoughtfulness and generosity. All of us should feel equally privileged to take this simple lesson and make it visible in our lives. |