PLEASURE IS NOT HAPPINESS by
D.R. Thomason Fashionable Amusements,
1831 I have seen all the things that
are done under the sun. All of them are meaningless,
a chasing after the wind. Ecclesiastes 1.14 Happiness is
the primary object of human pursuit. The desire for happiness urges
our weary steps in the pilgrimage of life. Have all the scenes
of gaiety and mirth, of beauty and splendour, by which the gaze
has been fixed and fascinated, supplied enjoyment, either equal
to the expectations, or worthy of the wishes of a rational and
immortal being? Both observation and experience
abundantly confirm the truth of the paradox, that pleasure
is not happiness. Every votary of pleasure knows
it. The varied forms of fascination by which he has been wooed, have
successively, in their very embrace, surprised him by the concession,
Happiness is not in me. The thousand images which imagination
creates, have not satisfied him, but have left in his soul a painful
vacuum and a distressing sense of longing. The moral constitution
of his mind precludes any other result of these worldly pursuits. He was designed for a higher
destiny and for nobler joys. He possesses a principle, whose
kindred elements are not found in worldly objects, neither in
honour nor splendour, refinement nor luxury, revelry nor mirth,
beauty nor fine taste. He seeks with restless desire
the unseen and spiritual felicities of the eternal world, and aspires
to the happiness which immortality alone can give. He will know
neither rest nor joy, until he shall have heaven for his home,
and sit for ever beneath the smiles of that gracious God,
who is at once the author of his existence, and the source
of his felicity. In order to escape from wearying
toils, painful afflictions, withering disappointments, and disquieting
apprehensions, we must quit the mirthful delusive scene. The giddy mazes of pleasure's
enchantment have long perplexed, its empty pageants have already
disgusted, its sickly joys have nauseated and cloyed the heart,
while the soul seeks an introduction to holier and happier joys. What, though the siren's song
Has long ravished its victim, And led him so wildly astray,
Yet may he not pause, reflect, and return? Yes, true religion
will secure peace, and safety, and hope. Thousands have proved
it, many a hapless voyager on life's wide ocean, who had long
pursued vain and perilous wanderings, borne onward by the fluctuating
tide of fashion, or sported with by the fickle winds of worldliness,
living a mad and fearful lifestyle in the wild storm of passion.
or floating thoughtless and mirthful with the current of pleasure,
to the distant vortex of damnation, has been rescued from peril and
misery, and has pursued a prosperous course to the distant land of
his heavenly home, repose, and felicity. From the blandishments
of ruinous dissipation, therefore, the votaries of pleasure are
invited to the genuine enjoyments of piety. Here alone will be
found repose, satisfaction, and enduring pleasure. Let the sublime
doctrines and virtuous precepts which the oracles of truth inculcate,
engage their attentive study and practical regard. The sentiments
here exhibited will present a striking contrast to the spirit, maxims,
and pursuits of the mirthful world. Contact with sacred truths
must be close and constant, that the mind may receive their complexion,
and frame its habits of thought and feeling on the sacred model. The Word of God must be believed,
it must, moreover, be reverenced and loved, in the same proportion
will the influence of worldly maxims and examples be weakened,
a taste for mirthful pleasures destroyed, and the bias of the
mind rendered serious and devout. The pleasures of a pious life
are indescribably exquisite, the elevated duties of piety,
its dignified motives, its purifying influence, the holy restraint
which it imposes on the passions, the tranquillity which it imparts
to the conscience, the bright and enduring prospects which
it offers to hope, the sovereign antidote which it supplies to
the afflictions of life, render the inspired declaration emphatically
true, Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.