To Be

To Be

To be or not to be, that is the question—

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing, end them. To die: to sleep;

Hamlet--Act 3, Scene 1

The popular interpretation of the speech holds that it is a debate on suicide. Hamlet rather impersonally considers the attractions of death ("not to be"), which he likens to a sleep, over life ("to be"), whose pain seems unavoidable. But in the end he notes that the fear of possible suffering in the afterlife "that we know not of" (as opposed to the known evil that is life) tends to stop human beings from actively ending their existence.

The simplest summary of Hamlet’s speech might read "Life is so wretched that suicide would be preferable---except that we’re too afraid of what might come after death."

What we really need to seek, is happiness not just life.

Life and happiness is a choice. We choose to be happy or not.

We can choose to live or die spiritually as well as physically.

The same goes for being happy spiritually we choose TO BE or NOT TO BE. THAT IS THE QUESTION BELOVED.

1. We all want to be happy.

Right? we want to go through life with a feeling of accomplishment that brings happiness. Happiness can be a short lived experience in life or not. Kind of like a kid buying a happy meal at McDonalds. Kids love happy meals don’t they?, It doesn’t matter where we were my kids all knew when we were close to a McDonalds. And the request was always the same, Dad I want a Happy Meal. And it never failed we would standing in line the kids pulling on my shirt saying “when is my happy meal coming, when is my happy meal coming.” They were so full of joy at the prospect of getting a happy meal. And then finally it would appear and we would sit down to eat. The kids would be so over joyed they would want to skip over the food in the meal and go right to the toy. They loved those cheap little toys, and they always had a toy box full of them. But their happiness would last about as long as their fascination with the toy. And that wasn’t very long. They would go off and play never wanting to eat all of the food in that Happy Meal. Then it would be time to go home, and they never wanted to go home. Right?, When it was time to go home their happiness was over. Well we are kind of like that, we make ourselves happy by buying things cars, houses, toys new tools new cookware new clothes new shoes but our happiness doesn’t last. We have all heard the expression money and possessions do not buy happiness. All of our lives we try to do things so that we will be happy. However, to our dismay we find out that these things do no bring happiness, instead we find ourselves surrounded by things that have no real meaning in our lives. People think that happiness can only be achieved when material and momentary conditions are met. People grow up thinking that all they need is a good job the perfect home, the perfect spouse, the perfect kids, the perfect church, the perfect car, the perfect education, when really all they need is Jesus.

Yes those material things are nice but they are not absolutes. Is there something in your life that makes you happy? Or better yet, is there something missing in your life, that keeps you from being happy?

True happiness starts with the mind. Our Lord and Savior told us everything we need to make ourselves happy. All we need to be really happy is found in the Beattitudes.

Matthew 5:1-12

1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.