A recent survey of the British people has revealed some rather surprising facts about our happiness - or lack of it. Although we accumulate enough gizmos and gadgets to make our lives comfortable, one of the most sought after and prized commodities is in fact the H word. Earlier this year Geoff Mulgan who formerly led the Prime Minister’s Policy Unity wrote an article in which he exposed the problem: Behind our affluence, his conclusion was that we suffer from “a quiet crisis of unhappiness.”
Stereotypically British people do pessimism very well but something else is at work. Britain is a nation in search of its soul: Our growing distress over spiralling ASBOs and compulsive disorders are merely symptoms of this. Perhaps so also is our fixation with reality programmes and the runaway success of shows such as Top Model and X Factor. At the heart of this craving for 15 minutes of fame is a desperate need for recognition and for respect. If people look up to us then we have a sense of self-worth. This is a media-driven obsession, fuelled by wannabees with a confusing combination of low self-esteem, ego and often a lack of purpose.Happiness – the state of well-being – can be an indicator of the health of a nation. Therefore our thirst for happiness is entirely consistent with what it means to be human. Christian faith calls this hope. And what makes us happy or hopeful must therefore continue to be a matter of keen interest to a society in search of meaning and meaningful existence. So the recent survey on faith and religion, commissioned by the Evangelical Alliance and Premier Christian Radio, showing that people who go to church regularly, pray and read their Bibles are some of the nation’s happiest people, should be of interest not to just to Christians but to everyone concerned with the pursuit of happiness and what the facts have to say about this. The findings are not just the analysis of Christian devotees. When Robert Winston was asked how it was possible for people to move from pessimism to happiness his answer was quite simple: prayer.
After 150 years of the secular experiment, religion remains firmly on the agenda. Indeed, the same survey shows that the majority of people are quite clear that Christian values contribute to our well-being with 71% saying they should be taught in our schools. Perhaps in the recent debates about God, creation and science the real harm to society isn’t locking God out of the classroom, it’s locking God out of our culture. And if the Labour peer and columnist, Roy Hattersley, is right in claiming that ‘Faith breeds better Charity’, then this makes perfect sense of the survey about faith and happiness.
Hope is the meaning of Easter. This is not to say that Christian hope is based on abstract notions about heaven on earth. Rather it is the message of hope within despair. Hope is not otherworldly: it works in the here and now: In tragedy and in triumph. Crucifixion, shame and resurrection stand side by side in this great epic. The story of Easter is an account of God’s ability to triumph on our behalf even in the face of death. It is supremely the great Story of forgiveness seen so sharply in the case of Gee Walker, a committed Christian, who forgave the racist killers of her son Anthony. Easter is another way in which God reminds us that he has our welfare at heart. So much so that he offered up Jesus who not only showed us hope in the face of death but that our happiness is still on God’s agenda.
Joel Edwards
Evangelical Alliance UK
