Current Events Report: True Happiness (Siobhan)

~Current Events Report~

This is a current events report I wrote for an Omnibus V assignment. The theme is true happiness. 

        This article is titled ‘In the Thick of It.’ It is from WORLD magazine.  The article is about Joni Eareckson Tada, who has been a quadriplegic since she was a teenager.  

        Joni was devastated after her accident, and she implored her friends to help her end her life.  God changed her heart, and she says that she wrote her book, Joni, “"in the fight of my life. I'm in the thick of it, as they say, and honestly have no idea how long this struggle will continue or how and when it will be resolved." Later she commented: "I'm now enjoying many more good days than bad."  Joni was able to be content and truly happy, despite the agonizing pain she endured, and the shattering diagnosis of breast cancer.  

        One very moving section of the article reads: “One night she might awake at 2 a.m. in pain, unable to get comfortable. The next day she is sitting under a shady tree with the breeze blowing, overcome with the day's beauty: ‘This is what it means that hope never fails. Last night I was ready to throw in the towel and give it up. Today, it's a beautiful day.’”

        How did Joni remain faithful and content?  Today, we see people turning to many things in order to make themselves feel ‘happy.’  Yet depression and suicidal rates are very high in our nation, despite all of the pleasures America has to offer.  Where does Joni find this true happiness?  “Contentment ... has an internal quietness of heart that gladly submits to God in all circumstances.”  “He has chosen not to heal me, but to hold me. The more intense the pain, the closer His embrace.”  “Jesus went without comfort so that you might have it. He postponed joy so that you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so that you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow. He had no real fellowship so that fellowship might be yours, this moment. This alone is enough cause for great gratitude!”  Joni can be happy because she understands what it is to cling to God, the ultimate source of happiness.  True happiness does not result from fleeting earthly pleasures.  It results from trusting in God to work out His perfect plan in our life, which He promises will lead to eternal happiness with Him.  As Joni once said, “The weaker I am, the harder I must lean on God's grace; the harder I lean on him, the stronger I discover him to be, and the bolder my testimony to his grace."