Our purpose in life is much simpler: Be happy
I am going to tell you something that will probably make you sad: You are never going to be canonized, that is, declared a genuine saint and held up as a holy example forever.
The reasons are many. First, some of you come from the wrong religion, and no matter how hard you try, the Catholic Church will not recognize your holiness. The thought of the Catholic Church canonizing a Presbyterian, for instance, is startling at best.
Another reason you won't be declared a saint is that you don't save relics: personal items, such as clothing you once wore or even wisps of your hair or fingernail clippings.
The third reason is that you're too busy. Ordinary folks who actually work for a living just don't have a chance. You get angry with the boss and you grumble as you walk back to your desk. Pop! There goes the hoiness.
Finally, you have not rendered any miracles. Yes, fixing the dishwasher was close but not on a par with healing someone of warts, for instance. And you may think that living with your spouse requires the patience of a saint, but how does it stack up against having a vision of angels hovering over the backyard fence?
So, unless Presbyterians start canonizing people and the requirements are lowered to your level of holiness, you are out of luck.
But this is, oddly, a liberating thought. We will never be saints. Isn't that a relief? Now we don't have to chase after miracles. We can relax a bit and be ourselves.
If we have a bad thought, we can enjoy it, and we don't have to feel guilty because, hey, we're just ordinary people. If someone criticizes us, we can shrug it off and say, "What did you expect? I'm never going to be a saint." In other words, we can be happy.
Recently, I had the pleasure of hearing the Dalai Lama speak to about 75,000 people in a public park in Chicago. His holines, the Dalai Lama, is a Nobel Prize winner and the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists. His speech was the closing event of the Parliament of World Religions.
The Dalai Lama said many significant things during that session. But one thing has stuck in my mind. With a gentleness that stole the heart of the crowd, he said that the purpose of life is to be happy.
That is an amazing statement, remarkable in its simplicity and profound in its implications. The purpose of life is to be happy. Why hadn't I thought of that?
If you were to ask any priest or pastor what the purpose of life is, he or she would probably say it was to serve the Lord or care for others or make a daily sacrifice to the Almighty. But the Dalai Lama says the purpose of life is, simply, to be happy.
Pilgrims, this has nothing to do with eating, drinking and being merry. It has to do with fulfillment, of being filled with grand experiences, the sights and sounds of beauty, lofty thoughts, good friends and noble colleagues. Does this mean we can stop praying or meditating? No, because being alone with the divine brings us serenity. Does it mean that we don't have to be servants? No, because service for others is one of the most satisfying things we can do.
On the face of it, the Dalai Lama's prescription for life seems too simplistic. But on closer examination, we see it gets at the heart of the good life.
Here is the truth: You don't have to be a saint, but it is your spiritual destiny to be happy.
Clark D. Morphew
9-11-93
