Detours

We had some GREAT talks in church today. Both talked about happiness. Sherry said that if you asked 20 people what they wanted out of life, 19 would say "Happiness". Happiness was thought to be so essential that the founding fathers put "pursuit of happiness" up there with other unalienable rights of life and liberty.

She talked about her son who went on a mission to Africa. For P-day one week, they were cleaning the cages at the zoo. At the end of the day, they hauled the garbage to the dump. As they turned the corner, in the middle of the dump they saw a whole colony of people living in the dump. Kids had not a stitch of clothing. Parents were digging through the garbage looking for anything to salvage. As the truck from the zoo pulled into view, the kids started yelling, "Zoo truck. Zoo Truck." They were hoping to find some food that the animals had not eaten.

Sherry said that experience was life changing for her son.

She also shared this story: Brigadier General Robinson Risner ("Robbie") spent seven years as a POW at the "Hanoi Hilton," as prisoners of war called their North Viet Nam compound. There he discovered the power of hope. He spent four and a half years of that time in isolation. He endured ten months of total darkness. Those months were the longest of his life. When they boarded up his little seven-by-seven foot cell, shutting out the light, he wondered if he was going to make it. He had already been under intense physical and mental duress after years of confinement. And now, not a glimmer of light shone into his cell -- or into his soul.

Robbie spent hours a day exercising and praying. But at times he felt he could nothing but scream. Not wanting to give his captors the satisfaction of knowing they'd broken him, he stuffed clothing into his mouth to muffle the noise as he screamed at the top of his lungs.

One day Robbie got down on the floor and crawled under his bunk. He located a vent that let in outside air. As he pressed against the vent, he saw a faint glimmer of light reflected on the inside wall of the opening. Robbie put his eye next to the cement wall and discovered a minute crack in the construction. It allowed him to glimpse outside, but was so small that all he could see was one blade of grass. A single blade of grass and a faint ray of light. But when he stared at the sight, he felt a surge of joy, excitement and gratitude like he hadn't known in years. "It represented life, growth, and freedom," he later said, "and I knew God had not forgotten me." It was that tiny glimmer of hope that sustained Robbie through an unbearable ordeal.

Some of the quotes Vern Budge used were:

Anywhere is paradise. It is up to you.

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour.