Atheism and the Pursuit of Happiness - Sundays with John Ball

A Christian friend once said to me, concerning a mutual friend who had converted to a different religion, ‘the trouble is, he sees nothing beyond himself.’
In other words his religion was focused on himself . He was trapped within the prison of his self.
Self-centredness is a malady of the atomised anti-society of modern England. In a land where the necessities of life are bought and sold, or applied for from the bureaucracy, selfishness is inevitable.
Back in the fourteenth century the whole idea of self sufficiency and ‘independence’ was an absurdity. If we did not each give from our strength we would all die.
Although our friend professed a religion, Buddhism in this case, he was to all purposes an atheist, that is, an idolater of himself.
Like many other people, what concerned him was his happiness.
His own happiness was the project of that great commodity, ‘My Life’.
There are many people of many religions who are concerned about their happiness, whether in this life or the next. This is not an unreasonable concern considering the wretched trials that many people endure.  
But if you look only for your happiness you end up trapped in yourself, not a very nice place to be.
Everything revolves around you like the sun revolves around the earth.
Modern moralistic versions of the great monotheistic religions tend towards atheism. They encourage self examination and introspection, the aim of which is not to discover where they have strayed from the path of Righteousness, but where they have strayed from the path of Happiness .
When Jesus fulfilled the Law on our behalf he lifted from our shoulders the dead weight of condemnation, and with His resurrection He lifted us up to the heavens to look at God, not at ourselves.
By looking for happiness, all too often we fall into the jaws of hell.
We make ourselves the measure of all things.
Paradoxically happiness can only be achieved by forgetting about happiness, by seeking Who is beyond ourselves.