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Gospel: Luke 12: 13-21
Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.”
He replied to him,
“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?”
Then he said to the crowd,
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Arthur Brooks is a Catholic professor at Harvard, who teaches an elective on happiness. This is currently the most popular class on campus with a waiting list of over 400 students!
Brooks claims that all of his students are right-brained, intelligent, high-achievers who have a world of possibilities before them, yet many struggle with feeling unhappy or depressed… and they want to better understand why.
While there can be many factors underlying these feelings, Brooks says that one trap any human being can fall into – not just students at Harvard – is what he calls the “arrival fallacy.”
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The “arrival fallacy” is the belief that achieving a long-term goal will make us happy. Yet when we do, the feeling is short-lived.
Consider Scottie Scheffler.
Scheffler is currently the best golfer in the world. (I’m jealous). But after winning his last major golf tournament, Scheffler admitted that the happiness he felt from all of his worldly success was short lived.
Sometimes the euphoria of winning only lasted a matter of minutes.
“You get there,” he said to reporters after raising his trophy and receiving a seven-figure payout, “you get to No. 1 in the world, and you’re like, ‘What’s the point?’ … Does it fill the deepest wants and desires of my heart?”
“Absolutely not.”
Standing on top of the world, Scheffler speaks prophetically: we need more than worldly success or “larger barns” to be happy.
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In today’s Gospel, a man feels miffed by his older brother. Their father has died and now the man wants his share of the family wealth.
“Teacher,” he says to Jesus, “tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” According to the Book of Deuteronomy, the eldest son was poised to receive double the inheritance of any younger brother, leaving this man feeling cheated.
Doesn’t he sound a lot like Martha, whom we encountered in the Gospel a few weeks ago?
Martha and her sister, Mary, hosted the Lord for a meal. But after working in the kitchen for some time by herself, Martha stormed into the living room, interrupted Jesus, accused her sister of causing all of her anxiety, then commanded Jesus, “Tell her to help me!”
Both Martha and this disgruntled younger brother believe they have the solution to their unhappiness – either more wealth or a helping hand from their sibling. They just need Jesus to issue the verdict.
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Peering into this disgruntled brother’s heart, Jesus offers him a parable, instead. A rich man’s land produced a bountiful harvest. So, he asked himself, “What shall I do, for I do not have enough space to store my harvest?”
“And he said, ‘This is what I shall do. I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.’ There I shall store all my grain and other goods, and I shall say to myself, ‘Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”
But I’m left wondering, be merry with whom?
This man never considers anyone other than himself. Foolishly, he believes he’ll be content, not with people, but with things. Then God demands his life that very night.
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If the disgruntled younger brother is not careful, then he can become the man in the parable – selfish, greedy, entirely alone.
The fact that he’s arguing with his older brother over a family inheritance implies that he already has enough to survive; if they were poor, then there would’ve been nothing to argue about!
But money is always about more than money. In this case, money aggravates an already fragile relationship between brothers.
Thus, what both men should be concerned about more than their father’s estate is reconciliation. If they cannot learn the art of forgiveness, then neither will live in peace; the anger and resentment will simmer, slowly burning away any peace in their hearts.
Secondly, they – and we – should be weary of the “arrival fallacy.”
While there is an undeniable sense of satisfaction that comes from achieving our worldly goals – even our share of an inheritance – lasting happiness is not the fruit of raising a trophy or building larger barns.
According to Arthur Brooks, the path to happiness is a bit more complex. In fact, he identifies six different behaviors that happy people practice, which the man in the parable does not:
Happy people ask deep questions. They fall in love. They look upward. They’re spiritual or philosophical. They find a calling in their work. They seek beauty in nature, art, and music. And they’re not afraid of suffering.
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Do these ideas of happiness resonate with me?
Like Scottie Scheffler, have I come to see there’s more to life than winning?
Or, do I find myself building larger barns in an effort to make myself happy?
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“Be rich in what matters to God,” Jesus says.
Ask the bigger questions.
Share life’s blessings with others.
Fall in love.
Then we’ll be happy.
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Image credits: (1) Maria Moor, Medium (2) Parsippany United Methodist Church (3) Medium