I have often associated the state of bliss with a feeling of euphoria or deep contentment. A blissful moment is one where I would think, “I could just stay in this moment forever.”
Over the years, different things have triggered this feeling for me. It’s currently carnival time in my country and I can’t help but remember one such moment early in the morning chipping to an infectious rhythm behind a music truck for J’ouvert. The first orange streaks of sunrise washed over faces full of joy and bodies covered in paint moving in unison to the music. Time slowed. The celebrations in the street seemed a fitting compliment to the sunrise. Both seemed to overflow with a joy of just being alive. Pure energy. Pure vibes.
Another time I remember was at the beach with my three kids. We were just frolicking in the waves. We were all children and the ocean was our playground. We ducked waves and dived into the surf. We splashed each other and pinched each other’s toes pretending to be a crab or a fish. When a particularly big wave came we all screamed in mock fear or pretended to be Hulk and smash the wave. We were jubilant. We were alive.
For me, moments like these make life worth living. They somehow remind me that I don’t just exist, I live. I have always been in pursuit of a blissful life.
One online dictionary defines bliss like this: Bliss is a state of complete happiness or joy. Marriage is often associated with this joyous feeling: people who are married and still in love are described as living in wedded bliss. Another common association is heaven or paradise, as in eternal bliss.
Bliss is a state of complete joy… That is exactly what I’m after; complete joy! Yes, I have had and continue to have the blissful moments described above but I’m not satisfied with moments of bliss. I want a state of bliss; perpetual bliss if you will.
It is this quest that has led me inexorably to Christ. In the presence of God I find pure bliss. Sometimes people ask me incredulously why I’m not going to any parties or not having sex. I’m guessing that they don’t understand what could be worth giving up those blissful moments. And I totally know where they are coming from because I’ve been there, and had I not experienced what I’ve experienced, I would still be there. But having tasted the goodness of God… Oh my! I can’t get enough!
That’s why I have no interest in religion. It’s just not attractive to me. It has nothing to offer me. I’m not interested in looking righteous or avoiding some future hell. Religion is dead. But Jesus Christ offers life and life more abundantly than we’ve ever known. It’s like when He rose from the dead, the life force that rushed into His body exploded in the earth, overflowing to every heart that would receive it.
Every time I think of Jesus and reach out my heart to His, He floods my soul with peace and love and joy. He makes even the bad days better and the times playing with my kids or dancing and singing in worship to Him are ten times sweeter. I have found that bliss comes with doing what you were born to do. I was born to dance, born to play, born to love and be loved but most of all I was born to worship God. I’m a Christian hedonist pursuing eternal heavenly bliss.
Join me,
