Bellingahm
Unitarian Fellowship
Challice
Circle Topic for August 2014
“HAPPINESS”
Adapted from First
Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington, Vermont, by Adam Bortz
Welcome and Gathering
Chalice Lighting and Opening Words
Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I,
not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose
which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just
one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. Source:
Groucho Marx
Check-in/Sharing: (3-4 minutes each- 30-40 minutes)
Opening Readings:
No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you
have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to
change. Source: Barbara
de Angelis
I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be
"happy." I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be
responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all, to matter and to count, to
stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all. Source:
Leo C. Rosten
If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts,
liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes. Source: Andrew
Carnegie
Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product. Source: Eleanor Roosevelt
Aristotle maintained
that Happiness (or a kind of flourishing) is the result of a moderate
temperament regarding human virtues (dignity, for instance is finding the
middle ground between arrogance or pomposity and self-deprecation), practical
knowledge about how to live, favorable circumstances (at least a minimum of
basic comforts), true friendships, and moral strength (follow through on what
you know to be right or wrong). In his
view, one must be good (ethical) in order to flourish in the kind of happiness
that is much more than a transient emotional state. He also thought true
happiness was pretty rare. And he believed that it was (is) the purpose of
human life.
- What does “happiness” mean to you?
- What makes you happy?
- Is happiness all it is cracked up to be?
- How do you share your happiness with others?
- What could be done to make the rest of the world share your
happiness, if you so desire?
Feedback
Thank the group. Ask what they liked in this session
and what changes they would hope for.
Closing:
Duty to Man has replaced Duty to God. It is the central
point of Humanism.
Source:
Rosalind Murray
The highest and best thing that man can conceive is a human life
nobly and beautifully lived – therefore his loyalties and energies should be
devoted to the arrangement of conditions which make this possible. The
sole issue is how to make this world a place conducive to the living of a noble
human life, and then to help people in every possible way to live such lives.
Source: Varieties of American
Religion by John Dietrich
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