The Aroma of Happiness

The Aroma of Happiness

Martha Meister Keily

"The house was filled with fragrance of the ointment." John 12:3

The odor of a home tells much about the people who live there. Step inside one door and you are greeted with the incense of baking cookies or baby talcum. Step inside another and your mind is soon dulled by the stuffy smell of clothes worn too long or dirt too long neglected. Enter a third and you may recognize the musty stink of stale beer and dead cigarette butts.

Henry Drummond said, "Half the world is on the wrong scent in pursuit of happiness. They think it consists in having and getting, and in being served by others. It consists in giving and serving others."

Happiness, like the odor of a home, is not deliberately manufactured, but evolves and rises out of day-by-day living. As Emerson said, "Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself."

Today stop searching for happiness and start looking for ways to give your possessions to others.

SCRIPTURE: "When he finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and sat down again. He asked, "Do you understand what I have just done for you? "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and you are right, because that is what I am. If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other's feet. I did this as an example so that you should do a I have done for you. I tell you the truth, a servant is not greater then his master. A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you will be HAPPY if you do them. John 13: 12-17

PRAY: O Lord, I pray not for happiness, but for the courage to give myself away. It is easy for me to speak of giving instead of giving, but I find it difficult to let go. Break my grip, O Lord. Amen.

Devotions for Women at Home, Martha Meister Kiely, page 62; Abingdon Press, ISBN #0-687-10679-6