What Is a Happy Heretic?
MAY 2005 Happy. What does that mean? Happy. We all say it, quite often actually, and we all nod our heads in agreement, knowing exactly what the word means. But what does it mean? Ask a thesaurus and youll be inundated: enjoying, peaceful, at ease, beatific, blissful, thankful, gratified, grateful, breezy, of good cheer, in high spirits, in good spirits, in good humor, carefree, light-hearted, happy-go-lucky, cheerful, cheery, blithe, rejoicing, content, satisfied, comfortable, delighted, ecstatic, harmonious, melodious, smiling, loving it, tickled, jubilant, exhilarated, merry, pleased, perky, chirpy, chipper, glad, satisfiedwell, you get the point. So what does it mean? Its all a matter of context. We can safely say that it means the absence of pain and suffering. But it must also include a measure of pleasurable feelings, and those can spring from any source. For example, a lottery winner would certainly be happy. But a racist burning a cross on a lawn could also be said to be happy
