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From the wooden plow to the tractor, from the rude hut to the skyscraper, from the bow and arrow to the latest form of nuclear weapon, people have been devising tools for the accomplishment of purposes, means for the attainment of ends. People know what these things are for, because they have made them with a definite end in view. No great intellectual leap is required for people to turn their questions from their products to themselves and ask: What am I for, what goal am I destined to achieve, what is the purpose of life?
Modern men and women do not feel that the giving of meaning to life, the achievement of a destiny, is something optional. An adult has a strong sense of the inner dynamism of his or her being, of the driving forces within urging action, of the gathering together of these acts into the spending of a life, of the identification of that life with himself or herself. Not just any way of living will carry this drive of human nature to its goal.
Living in harmony with God is our constant quest. We are not born possessing God but are born seekers of God. Men and women are not born happy, with all their desires satisfied. They must acquire happiness. We sometimes forget that worldly possessions such as wealth, family, honor, fame, position, power and influence do not offer eternal happiness. Not only can they be possessed with unhappiness, but also they can cause unhappiness by the care and burden they impose. When obtained they have an uncertain existence and they all must be left at death. These things are means, not ends. They are for humanity, not humanity for them.
 It seems that human happiness must be sought in something above humanity. God gives essential happiness, which other enjoyments can only enhance but not constitute. We could say that every human being wants to be loved. The deepest love is one of acceptance. Every person craves to be accepted for who he or she is. When I am not accepted, then something in me is broken. A baby who is not welcome is hurt at the roots of his or her existence. A student who is not accepted by his or her teacher will not learn. A worker who is not accepted by colleagues on the job will suffer. Life without acceptance is a life in which a most basic human need goes unfulfilled.
We are accepted by God as we are - as we are, and not as we should be. Scripture tells us "the place on which you stand is holy ground" (Ex 3:5). God knows my name: "See I have branded you on the palms of my hands" (Is 49:16). God can never look at his hand without seeing my name. Saint Augustine said, "A friend is someone who knows everything about you and still accepts you." Isn't that the dream of happiness we all share: that one day I may meet the person to whom I can really talk, who understands me and the words I utter, who can listen and hear and then really accept me? God is the fulfillment of this dream and happiness. He loves me with my ideals and disappointments, my sacrifices and joys. Our love for God is secondary. God's love for us is first: "This is the love I mean: not our love for God, but God's love for us" (1 John 4:10). This is the foundation. "We ourselves have known and put our faith in God's love towards ourselves" (1 John 4:16). This is the content of our faith - "God's love toward ourselves." 
As a child, one of my teachers once told my class: "When you're loved, you walk in love's reflection." That is how each of us is called to walk, with happiness, with God.
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