Happy, Happy. Joy, Joy.

For some reason this song comes to mind, and I need to share. :-)

Hello, boys and girls. This is your old pal, Stinky Weaselteats. This is a song about a whale. No! This is a song about being happy! That's right! It's the Happy Happy Joy Joy song!

[chorus]
Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy
Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy
Happy Happy Joy Joy Happy Happy Joy Joy
Happy Happy Joy Joy Joy!

I don't think you're happy enough! That's right! I'll teach you to be happy! I'll teach your grandmother to suck eggs! Now, boys and girls, let's try it again!

[chorus]

If'n you aint the grandaddy of all liars! The little critters of nature... They don't know that they're ugly! That's very funny, a fly marrying a bumblebee! I told you I'd shoot! But you didn't believe me! Why didn't you believe me?!

[chorus]

How about a couple of lists...

Legitimate reasons for dave to "quit 'yer bitchin'"

1. You have good friends and family that care about him.
2. You have meet several new cool people in the last couple of weeks.
3. You've reconnected with cool old friends recently.
4. You've got good jobs.
5. You're still a swell, smart guy (most days).
6. You've got food, water, shelter, and oxygen.

Irrational emotions to squelch

1. You have no ambition
2. Noone finds you attractive
3. You are fat. (and thus unloveable, undesirable, disposable)
4. You are a failure

Now it comforts me to know (rationally) that the above aren't true (except the fat thing, but not the emotions that follow). However the crappy feelings are still there.

Abert Ellis would tell me to rationally disprove these irrational feelings and excercise my ability to disprove them. He'd say that my worth has nothing to do with what people think of me. I'm worthwhile because I'm human. Not because of my beliefs, or actions, or intentions, but just for the virtue of existing. USA(Unconditional Self Acceptance) is what I need to realize.

Good lutheran theologians would remind me that I'm simultaneously saint and sinner, damned and saved. It is true that I'll always fall short of perfection, of justifcation by works. The Law will always condemn me. But we are dualists, and we need to always remember the good news. I am loved and blessed and forgiven, as a child of God, by the grace of God. Grace: unmerited, unearned, unconditional love. It is the foundation of lutheran theology. Jesus is God's word to us. A word from God that says, "I know you. I know you're broken. I know you are mired in sin and can't see the way out. I know all that and I still love you. I love you enough to send Jesus not to condemn you but to save you. So that you can live life abundantly."

The challenge is in not just knowing this but living it. Living in the knowledge you are loved changes your perspective. It makes all the bright things brighter and illuminates the dark times.

It is so easy to be human, to forget, to fall into depression, self-pity and all that other crap. I need to remember I'm loved when I'm hurting to say to myself, "David, you are a beloved child of God." Just like I was told at my baptism.

No one, No one can take that from me. And I need to always remember that, to live in God's grace, to live as my namesake, to remember that I am and always will be "beloved".