Happiness

I just read an essay from the August 23 issue of The Dallas Morning News (Points section) that my mother-in-law had left lying around our living room. In it, Tim Kreider, a cartoonist, writes about how happiness seems to be best apprehended in retrospect. Here is a quote: “… during the time I was actually focused on drawing, I wasn’t conscious of feeling ‘happy,’ or of feeling anything at all. I was in the closest approximation to happiness that we can consistently achieve by any kind of deliberate effort: the condition of absorption. My senses were so integrated that, on those occasions when I had to re-draw something entirely, I often found that I would spontaneously recall the same measure of music or line of dialog I’d been listening to when I’d drawn it the first time; the memory had become inextricably encoded in the line. It is this state that rock-climbers and pinball players and libertines are all seeking: an absorption in the immediate so intense and complete that the idiot chatter of your brains shuts up for once and you temporarily lose yourself, to your relief. I suspect there is something inherently misguided and self-defeating and hopeless about any deliberate campaign to achieve happiness. Perhaps the reason we so often experience happiness only in hindsight, and that chasing it is such a fool’s errand, is that happiness isn’t a goal in itself but is only an aftereffect.”

I have always believed that “the pursuit of happiness” enshrined in our Declaration of Independence is a false pursuit. Happiness is indeed a byproduct of living in the manner that God intended for you to live: doing what you’re called to do, being who you’re called to be, and, above all, directing your attention off of yourself and onto God and your neighbor. Mr. Kreider approaches the subject from a secular standpoint and gets most of the way there, but I would refine his thoughts by adding that, when you live for God and His Kingdom, you will truly be happy. However, living a life of praise and gratitude brings our past happiness to the present and enables us to enjoy the riches of God’s goodness now. When I have a thankful heart, I am truly happy, just as I am when I am absorbed in my work of administration (or lost in creating a prayer letter, or whatever).

By the way, I love the line about “idiot chatter.” Mr. Kreider nailed that right on the head. Idle hands lead to foolish thinking, at least for me.

Asperger's Syndrome

I attended a DANISH meeting with my wife last night. (DANISH stands for Dallas Aspergers Network for Information, Support, and Help. We meet on the fourth Thursday evening of the month, and we have an email chat room of sorts.) You never know from month to month what the composition of a meeting is going to be. The early meetings we attended were mostly parents of children with Asperger’s Syndrome. Lately, Asperger’s adults have predominated. Their perspective is unusual and gives us insight into what Theresa may be like as an adult.
Our daughter, Theresa, was diagnosed with Asperger’s in April 2008, forcing us to return to the U.S. from Cameroon the following July. We are home in Dallas on a two-year furlough trying to understand and help our daughter as well as raise our support level up to what we need to return to Cameroon. My wife and I serve there with Wycliffe Bible Translators. My particular role is as office manager for the Cameroon Branch of SIL International. (Wycliffe and SIL are partner organizations whose goal is to translate the Word of God into the heart languages of all the world’s people. For more info, please consult our web site.)

Psychologists are unsure of what causes people to be born with Autistic Spectrum Disorders like Asperger’s Syndrome, but genetic and environmental factors are both suspected. I lean toward genetics because I see traces of Asperger’s both in my life and in my wife’s life. I won’t speak for her, but I’ll probably be getting back to this in future blogs. I love learning new things about myself, and the discovery of Asperger’s in my daughter has given me insight into my own behaviors, both childhood and current.

I’m concerned at the moment with a fire raging in the foothills above La Cañada, California. My friend, Will Duquette, posted some photos of the fire on his blog. I don’t suspect he’ll be burned out, but his all-wood house is vulnerable. Prayers for the folks of La Cañada and La Crescenta are welcome.

Books I'm reading

Just to start things off, I thought I would list a small collection of books that I am currently somewhere in the middle of. I'm an eclectic reader, and I usually read several books from different genres at one time so that, if one genre bores me, I just jump to another. Here they are:

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Inventing America - Garry Wills
Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals - Tony Attwood
The Explosive Child - Ross W. Greene
The Dad in the Mirror - Patrick Morley & David Delk
A Poke in the Ribs - Jack Popjes
(and I've probably left one or two out...)

I'm not reading any magazines at the moment, although my two favorites are Smithsonian and Books & Culture (published by Christianity Today, which I also read from time to time)

OK, why the above selection of books? The first is a classic, and I try to get a classic in now and then. (This is my first Steinbeck novel.) The next one is more along the lines of political theory, and it's tough sledding. The next three have to do with my oldest daughter and how to best parent her. The last is a collection of inspiring essays by a member of Wycliffe Canada. Of all of these books, I'm enjoying Grapes of Wrath and The Explosive Child the most.

Welcome to my blog!

Well, I have finally taken the plunge and started my own blog. I have no idea where this will lead, but I suppose that most blogs start off the same way. I hope that whoever reads this is intriqued, blessed, or otherwise entertained. Feedback is most welcome!