Dear friends of our Lord at St. Timothy,

Having become depressed recently over my severely damaged pension fund, my truck’s transmission’s self-destruction part-way home from my last trip to Ontario, and the Northampton County agency for elderly welfare (mother-care) that now demands a signed, written contract between mother and child (signed preferably ‘in utero’) before advancing her any money for food, taxes, repairs, etc., I noted a healing study in a colleague’s church newsletter (Salem Lutheran Church, Pr. Paul Braden with whom I played on the Easton High School Band). If I may quote:

“In 2004 a group of five professors surveyed some 4,000 Americans, asking what they did the previous day, and then asking them to rate three of those events based on feelings such as pain, happiness, stress and sadness. The point was to calculate how much of time people spent in an unhappy state. The results were published in an article: ‘Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion.’ Among the various insights was one that I want to highlight: The activity or event that produced happiness in by far the most people surveyed was what the professors labeled: ‘engaging in leisure and spiritual activities.’ This category includes a number of activities such as visiting a friend, listening to music, reading a book, sitting in a café, and… attending church. It seems that when we spend time on our favorite of these activities, we tend to be happier, and not so stressed or depressed.

One of the professors adds this interesting comment: ‘These are the things you choose to do, rather than have to do.’ And unfortunately, the evidence is overwhelming that most of us choose to do other, less rewarding things instead—watch TV, for example—which the professors call ‘neutral downtime’ as opposed to ‘engaging leisure and spiritual activities.’

The stewardship of God’s gifts is all about making the best choices: How will I spend my time? On what will I spend the money that I have? What is most important to me in life? Believe it or not, the professors’ study indicates that how we answer these questions goes a lot further in determining our happiness than even age, health, marital status, or level of income.

As you pray about your stewardship decisions this fall, keep in mind the crucial importance:

• of giving of your self and your time and your resources for the sake of others, and
• attending worship with your St. Timothy family, your “fellow travelers on the road of life.”

Baptized, together in mission with you,