We had just taxied out onto the tar- mac at the Austin, Texas airport. I had settled in with a book that Craig Gilliam, our Director for The Center for Pastoral Effectiveness, had given me and asked that I read and give him my assessment. It was going to be a short flight to Houston, change planes, and then on home to Baton Rouge by 8:00 that evening. The title of the book is How We Choose to be Happy. It is a study written to “show you how to harness the power of your intentions, ‘recast’ stress and problems, live authentically – and ulti- mately join the ranks of the extremely happy.” Craig promised me it was not just another exercise in psychological fluff, but has some very basic and practi- cal approaches to the seemingly elusive state of happiness. There are nine principles on which the study rests. I had just begun reading the first principle, “Intention,” when the pilot came on the intercom and told us that a “ground stop” had just been placed on the airport in Houston because of weath- er and we were going to have to sit on the tarmac there in Austin and wait for a further update. That would come in 30 minutes. Immediately the groans started among the passengers of the completely full plane. I thought to myself, “Well, this is certainly timely for me. I can either choose to be happy by intending to be happy, or I can choose to groan and moan with the others.” So, I continued to read, thinking we would be in the air in about thirty minutes. FIVE HOURS LATER we were still on the ground in Austin, having had updates every 30 minutes or every hour telling us the airport in Houston was STILL closed! By now I had had the opportunity to practice what I was read- ing – and it was working! Either I could choose to be happy, intend it into being, or I could choose to be upset, angry, furi- ous, or even explosive! Years ago I was moved by Victor Frankl’s masterpiece, Man’s Search for Meaning. Frankl, a victim of Nazi Germany’s concentration camps wrote, “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others giv- ing away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in numbers but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circum- stances, to choose one’s own way.” Ironically, I had talked with Kay, who was visiting our children and grand- daughter in Reno, Nevada while I was in Austin, and she had just read Man’s Search for Meaning while she was in Reno. Our daughter-in-law had just read it and had recommended Kay read it as well. Kay knew how much this book had spoken to me years ago and now she had garnered its helpful insights as well. Talk about timing! I was amazed as I sat in the plane on the Austin tarmac. I finally made it home to Baton Rouge at 2:00 that next morning. It was a long and wearying night, but intending to be happy through it all was a major factor in keeping me positive as I pro- gressed through the evening. It is an understanding of our place in life that is devoutly to be wished for our entire world! We could easily slip into the blaming role that all our problems and disappointments are everyone else’s fault. Many are perilously close to living in an angry and fear-driven mentality. Our declining 401K’s, our tree-demol- ished houses, our flooded churches, our out-of-work children, the frustration with the political elections (and especially the political smear tactics!), the anger with the local church and the frustration with the pastor or the lay-leadership, and the fact that things are just not working for me right now. All are driving our lives. We can do as Victor Frankl suggested and choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances, or we can have that side of life taken away from us and live in anger, frustration and fear. The choice is ours! Hear the author of the first letter of Peter: “What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now! God is keep- ing careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all – life healed and whole. I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold that God will have on display as evidence of his victory. “You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him – with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing you’ll get what you’re looking forward to; total sal- vation.” (I Peter 1: 3-9, “The Message”) With that assurance, I can certainly CHOOSE to be HAPPY! In Christ’s love, Bill Hutchinson 2 NOVEMBER 7, 2008 Louisiana Conference Now! Louisiana Conference Now! Louisiana Conference NOW! is the newspaper of the Louisiana Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church and is published twice a month. Subscriptions are $20 for one year, $30 for two years. (Please make checks payable to Louisiana Annual Conference.) Send subscriptions, news and information to: Editor 527 North Boulevard Baton Rouge, LA 70802 E-mail: lanow@bellsouth.net (888) 239-5286 ext. 227 (225) 346-1646, (225) 383-2652 fax You can find the Louisiana Annual Conference on the Internet at http://www.la-umc.org William W. Hutchinson Don Cottrill Betty Backstrom Resident Bishop Provost Editor ON THE JOURNEY “Choosing to be Happy” Bishop William W. Hutchinson Bishop William W. Hutchinson, second from left, admires Beliko Tournovo United Methodist Church in Bulgaria. Hutchinson dedicated the church in September while he was in Europe for the meeting of the executive committee of the World Methodist Council. The funds used to build the church were raised by the La. Conference.