Are you happy? Really happy?

Are you really happy?

A pastor friend recently said to me he could not say his life was essentially a happy one at the moment as far as how he would like it to be, but he was happy in the Grace of God.

I can say amen to that.

What is happiness is a question we might ponder when we are feeling desperately unhappy.

I have just started reading the confessions of St Augustine which is a truly remarkable work.

Below is a little snippet form this work.

The Confessions Book 10
Chapter 22. A Happy Life is to Rejoice in God, and for God.
32. Let it be far, O Lord,— let it be far from the heart of Your servant who confesses unto You; let it be far from me to think myself happy, be the joy what it may. For there is a joy which is not granted to the “wicked,” Isaiah 48:22 but to those who worship You thankfully, whose joy You Yourself art. And the happy life is this—to rejoice unto You, in You, and for You; this it is, and there is no other. But those who think there is another follow after another joy, and that not the true one. Their will, however, is not turned away from some shadow of joy.