Friday, January 18, 2019

The Sacrament of Happy

The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded WorldThe Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World by Lisa Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you love Lisa Harper, you'll love this book.
A simple read that will touch your heart, make you smile, tug at your heart & make you see that Happiness is so much bigger than we first think.

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Imagine hearing your physician tell you that chips and queso contain more nutritional benefits than kale and quinoa. 

In her new book, The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World, Lisa Harper unveils a similarly extravagant, unexpected surprise, declaring that happiness is a gift from God that we can unashamedly enjoy. 

Wearing the twin hats of both seminarian and belly-laughing adoptive mom, Harper builds upon solid theological scaffolding for happiness in a warm, vignette style. She dismantles the old-school idea that joy, not happiness, is the truly spiritual emotion of the Christian family and asserts that Christ-followers are actually called to happiness . . . to such a deep conviction in the unmitigated goodness of our Creator-Redeemer that we are free to feel and express genuine joy, fulfillment and contentment, regardless of personal and global tumult. 

Harper’s personal story includes such happiness killers as sexual abuse, the death of loved ones, and heartbreaking failed adoptions. Yet she writes on themes like: 

“The lost sacrament of laughter” 
“Happiness is not the absence of sadness” 
“Tuning out the Pharisees who try to mute your happiness in the context of spiritual maturity” 


This book goes well beneath most people’s surface understanding of happiness, gently guiding readers closer to the heart of God . . . with naturally a few genuine guffaws to enjoy along the way.

7 comments:

Angela said...

I've never read any of Lisa Harper's books, but I stumbled across her Instagram page one day and I thought she was delightful!

Bri Runde said...

This sounds like a great book to add to my list for 2019!! Thanks for sharing!

Rachel @Waves of Fiction said...

I think attitude has much to do with happiness, and it sounds like this author's sentiments echo that. Glad to hear you enjoyed the read despite some of the darker experiences. :)

Sakuranko said...

Oh very interesting darling
xx

Amy Aed said...

I hadn't heard of this book until now, but it looks great. I would definitely like to check it out.

Have a good week! :)

Amy x Wandering Everywhere

Cris A Santos said...

Love this post and I love this quote the most “Tuning out the Pharisees who try to mute your happiness in the context of spiritual maturity” I totally agree with it xoxo Cris
http://www.photosbycris.com.au/?p=6040

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