Priest in the Revolution

Abstract

I have been talking with U.S. university students for thirty years, both in Nicaragua and the United States. I feel as though I know them very well, but most of all, I love them and want them to be happy. The distinguished Greek philosopher Aristotle, in the era before Christ, in the first book ever written about ethics, said that the end of ethics is happiness. That is to say, an ethically sound life produces a happy life as its consequence. Jesus of Nazareth said one day, “It is better to give than to receive.” He didn’t say it was bad to receive, not at all, since receiving is something very good: receiving appreciation, understanding, affection, a Christmas present—all of that is very good. What Jesus said is that it is better—it produces more happiness—to give than to receive. In the act of giving to others—be it help, understanding, affection, solidarity—we always find more happiness than in simply receiving. The great Indian poet and mystic Rabindrananth Tagore wrote, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.” After reflecting on these three affirmations of three very wise people, we must be very intelligent, to choose very well our life path in order to construct in our own existence a great, authentic, and profound happiness.