Happiness Hacks?
Knowing the source of lasting happiness
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, the final seven days of Jesus’ ministry on earth. We know the story of his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, His bogus “trial,” His searing torture, His agonizing crucifixion, and then, of course, His glorious resurrection.
Even though Christians know how this week ends and how important His every step and His word was (and is) to our salvation and eternal life, the events leading up to the resurrection are incredibly painful. Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, displayed them in gory detail.
With all the gloom and doom going on around the world, I want to take a little different direction today. I hope you won’t think it’s sacrilegious.
Every headline, substack, and almost every email I see these days tells a story or screams about some atrocity, some war scene, some COVID-jab disaster or death, or one more step in America's downward spiral.
I searched my Bible for the word “happiness.” I often use openbible.info to find specific verses for my Sunday Substack. My heart fell on this one:
Psalm 118:24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (ESV)
So then I typed, “Any good news out there?” into my search engine. To my surprise, several sites came up:
Wow. Who knew? And that was without really digging. A smorgasbord of happiness to look through every day!
And then I found this:
In 2012, The General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed March 20 as the International Day of Happiness, recognizing the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world.
The World Happiness Report for 2024 has been newly released. Based on each country’s self-assessment, six factors are taken into consideration: social support, income, health, freedom, generosity, and the absence of corruption.
The top 5 countries are:
1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Sweden
5. Israel
Out of the 39 countries that participated, Australia ranked #10, Canada #15, the US came in at #23. When sorted for age, the Happiness Ranking among those below the age of 30 placed Canada’s ranking at #58 and the US at #62 out of 143 countries.
Not great.
For the seventh year in a row, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world, holding that position since 2018. An article on GoodNewsNetwork.org helped make a major announcement:
According to Finns themselves, Finnish happiness is not a state secret or great mystery; instead, it is a learnable set of skills. From a walk in the forest or a dip in the sea after sauna to a meal made of freshly foraged local ingredients, these are the daily hacks of Finnish happiness.
To celebrate being the happiest country in the world, Finland’s official tourism department is seeking applicants from around the globe to attend a happiness hack-a-thon: a five-day, all-inclusive experience taking place in June 2024 in Helsinki, the happiest capital in the world.
Step 1 is completing the social media challenge on Instagram or TikTok. Post a video of what your happiness hack is and why you should be chosen as the winner.
Step 2 is filling in the sign-up contact form so they can contact you if you win.
This week, we will solemnly go through the memorable steps of Jesus’ final days by reading the story again. We contemplate His sacrifice for our sins and celebrate His victory over death by His resurrection. As you read other spiritually-based posts, be grateful for the things in your life.
And when you’re filled with happiness, perhaps you’ll want to share your “happiness hack” about Jesus with the world.
Maybe it will lead you to a trip to Helsinki this summer.
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I love the cold and winter, no wonder Finland is a happy place! :)
Beautiful! In the midst of darkness there is always light…light finds a way. Blessings to you & your family this Holy Week & Easter Season 🙏