Bill Teague’s lpc e-pistle

Published by Bill on Feb 01, 2008

What Money Can't Buy

One thing money can't buy is happiness.  Or so say the researchers.  Arthur Brooks is a professor of business and government policy at Syracuse University and his latest book, Gross National Happiness, looks at what makes people happy.  It turns out that money is not very high on the list.

In an interview in the current edition of World Magazine (subscription required for full review), Brooks offers some insights into his research.

First off, his definition of happiness is modest.  Christians accustomed to distinguishing between happiness and joy might want more, but the definition measured in the surveys was, "how we feel when we consider both the nice and not-so-nice things in our lives and decide overall we have a happy (or not happy) life."

The researchers discovered three things that make people happy:  "meaning in their lives, control over their environment, and success in creating value in the world."  Brooks says that people who are serious about healthy values in their lives, families, and communities are much happier than others.  "The data," he says, "(shows) that these values come from eight categories: faith, family, personal liberty, private morality, non-materialism, opportunity, work, and service to others."

Brooks says the researchers discovered, for instance:

• That those who attend a house of worship at least once a week are nearly twice as likely to be happy as those who don't.
• That those who give generously and regularly to others are happier than those who do not.
• That 63% of Mexican adults describe themselves as happy while only 35% of adults in France describe themselves as happy.  The per capita income in France is five times higher than in Mexico. 

(If you're interested in more data, here's an interesting site that I came across (click on "nation ranks" under finding report and then "level" under rank of nations).  You'll notice that on this scale, our friends in Guatemala are a bit happier than those of us in the U.S. despite the fact that our per capita income is 20 times greater. You'll also notice that Zimbabwe is the second most unhappy place on the planet - please pray continually!)

Brooks concludes his interview with World by saying, "…happiness comes from an exercise of our good values, including a focus on service to others.  Proper values are what bring a happy, well ordered life.  These things also bring prosperity.  But to try to get personal happiness from material affluence is like trying to build a tall skyscraper starting with the top floor." 

Of course, we know that there is a happiness that comes from something deeper than deciding that, overall, the nice things in our lives outweigh the not-so-nice things in our lives.  We Presbyterians have long confessed that our "chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." Jesus himself talked about happiness in the Sermon on the Mount.  There's not a word about money in what he said, though he would have something to say about money a little later in the day. 

So, all things considered, are you happy?  If not, Jesus has some advice for you (and me).

Published by Bill on May 16, 2008

The World He So Loved

We love because God first loved us.  We love the world and share our love in word and deed because God first loved the world and gave his love to the world in the gift of the Beloved Son.  Our world needs God's love and the world won't know God's love unless the church is willing to share it.  Pray in particular for:

Zimbabwe.  Ted Wright tells us that Robert Mugabe's partisans aim "to intimidate rural voters so as to overcome their (party's) deficit in the first round of presidential voting.  Some of the pastors are standing in the fire.  We must pray for them and that nation every day."  Pray for pastors and church members who are "standing in the fire."

Myanmar. You've read the stories and have seen the reports of the plight of the cyclone victims and the brutal injustice of another despotic regime.  As God may prompt you in your prayers, ways to respond include Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (you'll notice that through our giving to One Great Hour of Sharing, we have already made a first response) and World Vision  (our partner in the 30-Hour Famine), always an excellent resource for meeting needs.

Lebanon.  As the country seems to be tumbling into the chaos of another civil war, pray especially for the Christian minority and the witness of the church.  Our denomination has had an important presence in Lebanon and continues to do ministry there.

An Inconvenienced Man

Don't move unless you absolutely have to.  Whether it is across town, across state or across the country, moving is no fun.  That's not to say that Becky and I are not absolutely thrilled to be in Langhorne and at LPC. We are. It is simply to say that moving itself is no fun.  And we're still not done with it.  I'm not talking about the boxes of things who haven't found a good parking place or the pictures patiently waiting their turn to be hung on a new wall.  All that will come in due time. 

I'm talking about having to deal with moving agencies and utilities, banks and state bureaucracies, the post office and insurance companies.  Let's see, the phone company is on its third try and we still don't have a phone.  The other day it took eight and a half minutes of pushing buttons and choosing options to be put on hold to wait for a human being I could talk with about botched order number two (would I be connected quicker if I chose marca dos para español?). Continue Reading »

Published by Bill on May 09, 2008

"Owned Faith" – Lacrosse and the Cosmos

Here's an LPC tradition that I'm sure to maintain:  every year as the confirmation class enters its homestretch, the students in the class schedule a half-hour appointment for an interview with the pastor at the same time that their parents will be talking with the youth director.  This past week Barb and I spent five wonderful hours in conversation with the ten students and sets of parents of this year's confirmation class.  I think I got the better half of the deal, but Barb might contest the point. Continue Reading »

Published by Bill on May 04, 2008

Why Houses Matter

This past Monday Becky and I paid the bank an exorbitant amount of money for two keys to a house here in Langhorne.  Then on Tuesday we traveled the length of the turnpike to oversee the packing of all our worldly goods in anticipation of tomorrow's reunion with them in here in Langhorne.

The car rolled to a stop at the curb in front our house in Beaver and the place looked just like it looked three months ago, except that the lawn had waken from its winter slumber and was stretching its new green blades towards the warm sun.  Our next door neighbors were in their yard and glad to see us and to catch us up on all the news from up and down the street.  We let ourselves into the house and as we crossed the threshold into that familiar space we stepped back into a place where all the joys of 90 days at Langhorne Presbyterian Church had yet to be met. Continue Reading »

Published by Bill on Apr 25, 2008

Loose Rivets Sink Ships (and churches)

CNN is reporting a new study that says the Titanic sank due to weak rivets.

Turns out that there was a world-wide rivet shortage in 1910-1912 and so instead of using number 4 steel rivets as they should have, the builders of the Titanic settled for number 3 iron rivets.  When the unsinkable ocean liner hit the iceberg that gashed a hole in her side causing water to flood the hull compartments, the seams with the weak rivets were ripped apart allowing more water to flow in and sink the ship. 

I don't know how you make a rivet, whether you stamp or forge it, but I know they were and are made by the millions and still hold ships and airplanes and all sorts of things together.  A rivet is not a very glamorous thing and hardly compares in interest with a brass bell, a masthead or the captain's table of a ship.  But it wasn't for lack of a brass bell, a masthead or the captain's table that the Titanic went down.  It was when one then another and then a hundred and a thousand rivets couldn't take the pressure any longer and gave up trying to hold together the massive steel plates of the ship's hull that the Titanic sank. 

It's like that in the church. Pastors and elders need to pray for God's wisdom and great skill in guiding the church into those places where Christ will send it.  But the best pastor and the finest elders can't keep us from brushing up against an iceberg now and again.  In fact, it's into the treacherous ice fields where lifeboats are adrift that Christ sends his church. Continue Reading »

Published by Bill on Apr 18, 2008

Your Form 1040 Prayer Guide

If you haven’t already filed your income tax return for 2007, you’ll be working on it over the weekend.  For many of us a Form 1040 represents nothing particularly happy – the time it takes to complete it and then the sense that all that money could be going to a better cause.  But this year, I’m challenging you to use your form 1040 and its attachments as a prayer guide.  (1040A and EZ filers can modify this guide for their use, as well.)

So grab a copy of your tax return and take it to the Lord in prayer. Here are your instructions:
Continue Reading »

Published by Bill on Apr 11, 2008

Wearing out my welcome

Our latest stop on our homeless sojourn (but see below!) is at the home of one of LPC’s many gracious families.  Becky and I invaded their house on Wednesday and they’ve been so hospitable in providing such poor wayfaring strangers a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in for.  But I’m afraid I’m already jeopardizing my welcome. 

Ryan is the 14-year old son and he has lots of homework.  He was doing homework when we showed up on Wednesday evening and he was doing homework last night when we got back from Faith Acts.  Ryan’s homework got me to thinking about a study they’d done on homework a few years ago. Time Magazine, the Washington Post, Slate, and Newsday were among the many who reported on it at the time. Continue Reading »

Published by Bill on Apr 04, 2008

1. A call to prayer for Zimbabwe

2. Grace and the first pitch

A call to prayer for Zimbabwe

Several years ago, God called the people of LPC into a missional partnership with the people of the Presbyterian Church in Masvingo, Zimbabwe.  Our Mission Committee and others continue to struggle with the best ways to share our resources and blessings with our brothers and sisters 7,000 members away.  The logistics are sometimes daunting.  But there are no visas, inoculations, airfare or tariffs required to pray for one another.

Tomorrow the people of Zimbabwe go to the polls in the first round of presidential elections (if no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, a runoff election will be held later).  84 year-old Robert Mugabe has been president of Zimbabwe since the country won its independence 28 years ago.  His rule has become increasing corrupt and oppressive and many question the possibility of fair elections as he runs for another six-year term.  Here is more information on Zimbabwe, its economy, and its elections (from the BBC – here and here - and Human Rights Watch).

Any who are able are invited to gather tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. to join in a half hour time of prayer for Zimbabwe, its elections and the people of Masvingo Church.  We’ll gather in the chapel for prayer and any men can then join their Bible study group at 7:30.  

Grace and the first pitch

The Phillies begin their 2008 campaign on Monday with a home opener on a day that looks to be gray and dreary.  Hopefully it’s not a sign for how the season will unfold.  There’s been a lot of speculation on the team’s prospects in the new season and there is optimism in the air.  Will they hit as well as they did in 2007?  Can they edge out the Mets and the Braves for another divisional title?  Of course nobody knows. Continue Reading »