Happiness!!

I've been reading Fulton J Sheen for the Christmas season and want to share one of the readings from The Power of Love written in 1964.

"Happiness does not come to those who want to know all, or to possess all, or to enjoy all; rather it comes to those who set limitations upon the satisfaction of self. A man, for example, cannot get the whole world into his hands, but he can wash himself of the world. Our powers of dispossession are greater than our powers of possession; there is a limit to what we can gain, but there is no limit to what we can renounce. In the end, the man who wants nothing is the man who has everything, for there is nothing that he desires....
To deny self is to refuse indulgence to lower desires, to put a restraint upon ourselves, to act differently from the way the sensual in our nature would lead us. Self-denial is the test of love, whether it be human or divine....There may be pain in self-denial for a moment, but pain in the pursuit of the highest is certainly more joyful than ease in the neglect of duty. The agony in self-denial is momentary, but the joy that flows from it is lasting."

These words encourage me to find a way to have less possessions at the end of 2007 than I have at the beginning. It will be a challenge to my weak human nature to let go of things, but with God's help I will make the attempt. Trusting in his goodness, all things are possible.