Happiness in Every Stitch

On Friday my wife and I went shopping in Belfast. There are two types of shopping as far as I am concerned, there is the type of shopping that involves looking for something in particular and buying it. And then there is the other type of shopping that involves looking for nothing in particular and spending quite a long time doing it.


On Friday we were doing the second type of shopping, my wife knows that I can only tolerate this second type of shopping for around an hour and after that I begin to get grumpy (or grumpier). So we set off around Victoria Square and Holister, most likely the darkest shop in the world and had a look around. Then we came to a shop that has just opened recently, White Stuff.


The shop itself is not really my style (if i have one) but my wife enjoys looking round the shop and so I did the loving husband thing and went in with her. Now the motto of the shop, something that is engraved on every hanger is the phrase "happiness in every stitch."


To me this perfectly summed up the consumer society that we live in. The society says that if we buy enough clothes, if we wear the right brand of clothes then we will be happy, if we eat the right food and drink the right drinks then that is how we will be truly happy. If only we have that pair of jeans, that shirt, then we will be truly happy. But the thing is that we know that's not the case, because we we get something the happiness and buzz we get off it lasts for a little while but then eventually it wears off and we are left no happier but just financially poorer.

Paul addresses this issue of happiness in his letter to the Philippians, he tells them:

"I rejoiced in the LORD greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for i have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

For Paul he had learned the secret of being truly happy, the secret of being truly content and it was not being well fed, it was not being clad in all the latest designer gear but was rather about trusting in Jesus Christ. This is how we can be truly happy and content, this is the only contentment that will last forever. Happiness does not come in every stitch but comes from knowing God, from having a right relationship with him through his Son.