Post-Holiday Depression

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes...
There are enough left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week--
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted--quite unsuccessfully--
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away...
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension...

- W.H. Auden, quoted by Jill Carattini in Life After Christmas

Why?

“Do you really want a solution or is the constant refrain ‘why’ a way of escaping the responsibility of the answer?”

When we cry out “Why?” in the midst of the unthinkable violence of our time, our predicament, I believe, is the same. There are some clues we already have--enough to bring correctives within our reach. But do we really want the truth?

- from 'Miltons in a Weary Land' by Ravi Zacharias

Cultivating Happiness

I remember reading something like this several years ago...

"Happiness is the goal of each and every man... even of those who hang themselves." (author's paraphrase)

How true.

This article explores "the idea that true happiness isn't the same as immediate happiness" and that true happiness is found in God.

A somewhat unrelated comment: I've been very blessed by the articles in A Slice of Infinity (RZIM) these past few days. I find that reading a short article for about 2 minutes in the middle of the day really helps turn my thoughts Godward, where they should be, and creates a hunger within me to spend more time contemplating God's timeless truths in the Scriptures.