Are You Happy?

1 

Happy are those

    who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
    or sit in the seat of scoffers,
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

    Psalm 1: 1-3 NRSVue 

Are you happy? 

After leading a study group on the Psalms I decided to read the daily lectionary psalm, although I've fallen off that wagon lately. What I've discovered is that happiness is a recurring theme in the Psalter, something of a surprise even though I've known for a long time that the first word of this collection is "happy." Do a search and you'll discover that a lot of writers can't stick to happiness. They throw in joy and blessedness and whatever else they choose. It does seem that being being happy is intended to be "the way we roll", or at least walk, when God is our companion and moral compass, and when we turn away from wickedness. 

Yesterday the latest World Happiness Report was released and as you can see Canada did okay at number 15, although we dropped from lucky or happy 13 last year. There are only two countries on the list of the top 20 with populations over 30 million, Canada and the United Kingdom. Israel ranked 5th but the surveys were probably conducted before October 7, 2023. 

It's interesting that Nordic nations rank the highest, countries that former president Orange Menace admired even though he never connected the dots to their disturbing socialism (I say tongue in cheek.) It turns out that there has been a significant decline in happiness for young people in both Canada and the States.

                                                                   

                                                                            Children in Morocco 

This World Happiness Report would probably make an interesting one-off conversation for congregations. How do we perceive happiness individually and collectively? Does being part of a community of faith bring us happiness? As Easter approaches, do we feel that our resurrection hope in Christ create an upwelling of happiness? 

In a time when politics seems devoted to tapping into our discontent, pondering our happiness is important...don't get me started on wicked, "rage farming" politicians!

Here are the factors employed to measure happiness and the Top 20 ranking. There's a link to Pharrell as well. Get up and be happy!

World Happiness Report: What factors impact happiness?

SDSN lists six factors that can explain the different levels of happiness.

• Social Support- This is the best predictor of happiness. If people feel like they have at least one person they can reach out to when they're in need, they are more likely to feel secure.
• GDP per capita- This is how much a country produces divided by its population.
• A healthy life expectancy- The researchers look at the physical and mental health of a country's population.
• Freedom to make life choices- This plays a key role in how happy one feels.
• Generosity- This factor looks at how charitable a country's people are.
• Perception of Corruption- How corrupt are a country's government and business policies? This factor looks at both and researchers use what they find to estimate happiness levels.

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
6. Netherlands
7. Norway
8. Luxembourg
9. Switzerland
10. Australia
11. New Zealand
12. Costa Rica
13. Kuwait
14. Austria
15. Canada
16. Belgium
17. Ireland
18. Czechia
19. Lithuania
20. United Kingdom

https://youtu.be/ZbZSe6N_BXs