How Can I Be Happy? , livre ebook

Lion Hudson - Sarah Griffiths , Martin Robinson

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65 pages

English

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Alpha and similar courses work well with those already comfortable with talking about matters of faith and philosophy. Recent research however indicates that there are many for whom the questions need to start at a more fundamental level. This book tackles six basic issues: o Who am I? o If there is a God, what does he/she look like? o What happens after I die? o How can I be happy? o Why is there suffering in the world? o What is the spiritual realm? The book will be accompanied by a full course called Puzzling Questions, analogous to Alpha but starting further back. This title stands in the same relation to the PQ course as Questions of Life does to Alpha.

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Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Lion Hudson
Date de parution	23 avril 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9780857212979
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0400€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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HOW CAN I BE HAPPY?
(and other conundrums)
Paul Griffiths and Martin Robinson
Copyright 2012 by Paul Griffiths and Martin Robinson.
The right of Paul Griffiths and Martin Robinson to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in the UK in 2012 by Monarch Books (a publishing imprint of Lion Hudson plc) Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road, Oxford OX2 8DR, England Tel: +44 (0)1865 302750 Fax: +44 (0)1865 302757 Email: monarch@lionhudson.com www.lionhudson.com
ISBN 978 1 85424 932 6 (Print) ISBN 978 0 85721 296 2 (Kindle) ISBN 978 0 85721 297 9 (epub) ISBN 978 0 85721 298 6 (PDF)
Distributed by: UK: Marston Book Services, PO Box 269, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4YN USA: Kregel Publications, PO Box 2607, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49501
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version , copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan and Hodder & Stoughton Limited. All rights reserved. The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790. Scripture quotation marked JB is taken from The Jerusalem Bible , published and copyright 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday and Co. Inc., and used by permission of the publishers. Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation , copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotation marked TNIV is taken from the Holy Bible, Today s New International Version . Copyright 2004 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers. A member of the Hachette Livre UK Group. All rights reserved. TNIV is a registered trademark of International Bible Society.
British Library Cataloguing Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Background: Lion Hudson; Plane: Corbis
This book is dedicated to:
the curious mind,
the questioning soul,
the enquiring spirit,
and the searching heart.
Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Who am I?

2. What is God like?

3. What happens after I die?

4. How can I be happy?

5. Why is there suffering in the world?

6. What is the spiritual world and how does it impact my life?

Conclusion

Puzzling Questions: The course
Acknowledgments

The ability to ask questions is one of the greatest gifts of life. To have the opportunity to get agitated about some issue, to think about it and then to compose a question that is often reworked as others bump against it is a real pleasure.
For that reason, we want to thank all those who have helped shape our questions and challenged us with enquiries as we have written this book.
We are enormously grateful to our good friend Tony Collins at Monarch Books for his encouragement and insight in bringing How Can I Be Happy? to print.
We also want to thank Marc Owen, Sharon Lanfear, Kent Anderson, Sue Philips, Steve Jones, Julie Kite, Paul Knight, David Moss, Ashley Lovett, and the many others involved for provoking us to pursue greater clarity and for refusing to let us get away with too much ambiguity.
For us, life is far more of an adventure and far more fun when you get to travel through it in the company of others. To all those who have shared our journey in the past or are doing so now, we want to say thank you.
Introduction

This book is about puzzling questions! But not the questions that you might find if you took a Mensa test, bought a puzzle book, or were part of a pub quiz team. It is doubtful that any of these questions have ever been asked on Mastermind .
This is a book about life s puzzling spiritual questions. Some research was recently conducted on the questions being asked by those who were interested in spirituality. The people conducting the survey identified a number of questions that were frequently asked by those who were open to spiritual matters. They were questions that have often teased or tormented humankind.
In reflecting on the conclusions that these researchers put forward, along with the observations of mystics of long ago, we have added our own anecdotal evidence drawn from talking with countless numbers of people, and have identified six questions that people are being drawn to explore today.
These days, our friends, neighbours and colleagues are interested in questions about identity (Who am I?), God (If there is a God, what is he or she like?), destiny (What happens after I die?), happiness (How can I be happy?), suffering (Why is there suffering in the world?) and the spiritual world (What is the spiritual world and how does it impact my life?).
Social researcher David Hay has commented that there is enormous interest today in spiritual issues. He has also observed that many of us struggle to find a vocabulary to frame or express the questions that are often just below the surface of our lives but don t always find a natural outlet for conversation or discussion.
Therefore, rather than present a series of set answers, what we have attempted in the following pages is to navigate the various questions that people today would like to ask but don t always have the opportunity to ask. There is no set answer on offer, but rather an invitation to explore with us what these questions might look like. This book is more about enabling us to discover and express what the questions are than about being able to recite a formalized answer.
This book is part of a six-session course called Puzzling Questions, which aims to provide a safe place for people to consider, reflect on and talk about some of the questions they are carrying.
Over recent years there has been a subtle shift in why some people go to see their doctor. Not only do people go and talk to their GP about physical issues that they are aware of, but now individuals go with pastoral and spiritual issues that they are struggling with - things that are actually affecting their health. What we aim to do through Puzzling Questions (the course) is provide a place where individuals can gather together and talk with friends about the things that deeply concern them.
The authors have been shaped in their own perspectives by the life and teaching of Jesus, and it is on these points of reference that they draw throughout this book. These points of reference are there to provoke further questions, not to offer specific answers.

Happy exploring!
Chapter 1
Who am I?

Introduction
The media love a mystery, and one of the stories to hit the national press a few years ago featured a drama surrounding a middle-aged man who had been found wandering around a provincial town. The man had completely lost his memory and had absolutely no awareness of who he was or where he was from. Further intrigue was added when it was discovered that the man in question was a classically trained pianist. Despite the attempts of the media and those who lived in the locality where he was found, no one was able to identify this gentle stranger for some considerable time.
As medical research pushes its boundaries ever further, finding more and more strategies and solutions for many chronic conditions and acute illnesses, people are living longer. Inevitably this pushes up the incidence of dementia, as it occurs predominantly in older people. Those who have travelled along with a loved one living with dementia often say, when death eventually comes, Oh, I lost her ten years ago. When someone doesn t recognize us, can t remember a particular place or incident, gets angry because we never visit when we came only yesterday afternoon, sits placidly at the after-show party asking when the concert will be starting - we begin to feel they have been taken away from us; they are not the same any more. Our memory, our story, our relationships, and our sense of place all knit together to create what we think of as a person. So who am I really? If I lose my memory, will the people who love me feel that they have lost me?
Most of us will never have to face the problem of a total memory loss, but the question of our identity - who am I at a deeper level; who is the real me? - is something that we wrestle with throughout our lives.
Sometimes when people go through bitter trauma - injury, bereavement, betrayal, divorce, radical surgery, severe bullying - they can experience a conviction that they have lost themselves; they feel changed beyond recognition, damaged beyond repair. Rebuilding their lives involves a personal reinvention: things will never be the same again. It s a question of recalibrating identity - who am I now, after such a profound experience?
From a strictly biological perspective, I am mostly water with a smattering of minerals and a bundle of DNA. The sociologist would go beyond that to factor in my education, employment, race, gender, and family background. The supermarket where I buy groceries online has an electronic profile of all my favourite food and what I use to wash my clothes and my crockery. The Criminal Records Bureau knows if I have a conviction or caution against my name. The cosmetic surgeon thinks I am a challenge, and wants to try to make me look less like I am and more like the fashionable ideal.
But do any of them really know who I am? More