Western countries still celebrate Christmas and Easter. Traditionally, Advent before Christmas and Lent, before Easter, are times of preparation for those celebrations in the form of alms giving, prayer and reflection, and repentance for sin. There is also fasting. But eventually you get to an age where your doctor prescribes that you “avoid” more that is pleasurable than what your pastor guides you to “offer up.” Youngsters may give up candy for Lent, and learn self-control from their temporary offering. Oldsters give up sweets to live for another celebration, such as their next birthday.
On the Church calendar Easter comes after the vernal equinox, which is the arrival of Spring. All of my lifetime it’s been explained by those who know that things are dead in winter, just as your soul may be dead in sin. But there is Hope. Easter and Spring are the beginning of new life in our gardens and in our souls. I don’t know how that explanation plays in the southern hemisphere where the seasons are reversed. But North and South, East and West, the significance of the celebrations is to give happiness -- temporal confidence in new life and spiritual confidence in eternal life.
We learn something new every day. While searching for news about an old shipmate of mine, a past president of the IEEE Foundation, I learned that there is an “International Day of Happiness.” It is celebrated annually, sometime in the Spring. According to a website article from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (“IEEE”, pronounced “I” triple “E”), the world’s largest technical professional organization, that day recognizes the “fundamental need” to be happy. (IEEE.org; article on 03/18/2022.)
According to the item, “Happiness can be defined as a series of positive or pleasant emotional states ranging from contentment to intense joy – a feeling so great you can’t help but smile.” The article’s author (whose name was not given) declared, “Of course these things are happenstance, variable, and often out of our control.” I believe that broad qualification paraphrases a definition of the scientifically unverified “Fortuna” from The Prince.
However, life is full of surprises. And, Machiavelli aside, I doubt that Platonic, Mosaic or Christian philosophies disagree with the report on happiness that followed. True to scientific method, “looking for a more consistent way to achieve happiness” the scientist has to “look at what can be measured.” Without scientific measurement and controls, there can be no valid proof. And what do you know: “Research shows that giving to others increases our own happiness in a noticeable way.”
The article cites three separate reports to support its hypothesis. A study conducted in 2006 by the National Institutes of Health found that “ the act [of giving] activates special regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, releasing endorphins to create an overall positive feeling. . . . People who go out of their way to help others, donate to charities or dedicate their time, experience this joy and in turn will begin to associate giving as a source of happiness.” Another organization, The Loily Family School of Philanthropy, reported its finding that “volunteering and giving to charity resulted in increased psychological well-being and enriched social relationships [for] an all-around positive result.” And at the University of California a third study found that “those over 65 who volunteered for two or more organizations increased their life expectancy compared to their non-volunteering peers.”
The IEEE author concluded that this “evidence” showed the magnitude of generosity to correlate to the giver’s health and longevity. So, that’s worldly proof to go along with the spiritual reasons for giving. Not just for Lent and Spring, it’s a proven formula for the (real) long run. Materially and supernaturally, lending your ear, giving your time, and donating your material resources are good for health of body and soul. That’s my opinion.
Chip Williams is a Northsider.
