Blaise Pascal, a 17th-century French mathematician and Christian philosopher gave us keen insight into the deepest longing of humanity when he said the following:

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves (Pensées, #425).

No matter the way we go about achieving it, the basis of every one of our actions is the desire to increase our happiness, whether that is pleasing others (because it increases our happiness) or causing harm to ourselves (we believe the harm will ultimately make us happier). But while it is true that we all want to be happy, the question we must honestly answer is, Do we ever really find it?

Kingdom | Counterintuitive Blessing | Matthew 5:1-16