Book Review: Living the Blessed Life
"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." - C.S. Lewis
It’s remarkable that, despite our countless differences, every human being desires happiness. We all have that in common. Aristotle taught that happiness was the ultimate end or purpose of human life. The Baltimore Catechism beautifully answers the question of why God made us: “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.” We know we were made for happiness and that our happiness ultimately comes from a loving union with God, our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. If we are made for this kind of happiness, our search for it is no trivial matter. So how do we find it?
In her new book, “Living the Blessed Life: Seven Keys to Trusting God and Embracing Joy,” Melissa Overmyer offers a delightful, simple, seven-week guide to deepening our relationship with God and thus finding the happiness we all seek. Weaving in personal stories of finding happiness in the wake of various hardships and even tragedies, she demonstrates how to find happiness and joy by growing closer to God, regardless of the waves that rock our boats.
While it has an undeniably cheerful cover design, complete with a bright orange Gerbera daisy and mood-boosting yellow background, this book is not overly saccharine. Nor is it about training ourselves to see the world through rose-colored lenses. Rather, it’s about adopting simple daily practices or habits that produce authentic joy — the kind that comes only from a strong relationship with God — even amidst the inevitable big and small sufferings we will experience in this life.
At the outset of the book, we learn that the kind of happiness we are really all after is blessedness, from the Greek word makários. Overmyer borrows her excellent definition of this central word from a professor turned Trappist monk:
To be makários means to be drawn into God’s way of being — to desire what God desires and to find joy even in self-emptying love, not necessarily to be in a “state of psychological euphoria.” It is marked by a deep, spiritual joy that comes from living in God’s presence.
Since it is blessedness we are really after 一 something much deeper and more enduring than temporal happiness, worldly success, or fleeting pleasures 一 Overmyer roots her sage advice in Scripture (especially the wisdom literature of the Bible) and Church tradition (namely, the timeless advice of the Church Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, and other saints). Clearly, you’re in good hands as you read this book!
If you’re organized and/or like to journal to process your thoughts, Overmyer’s book is all the better. She orders her chapters using the easy-to-remember acronym “BLESSED,” and concludes each chapter with a prayer prompt and blank pages for journaling as you adopt these habits for happiness.
Using the acronym BLESSED, Overmyer focuses on Beauty (basking in the beauty of God’s creation outdoors in nature), Laughter, Encounter (with God through Scripture, prayer and the sacraments), Song (praising God at all times), Silence (Adoration, fasting, and detachment from worldly things), Engage (a call to engage and share your happiness with your neighbor), and Distinct (a reminder that to be Catholic is to be set apart for a sacred purpose!).
Summer would be a great time to dive into this delightful read. By adopting the habits for happiness Overmyer recommends, you just might experience more of the joy God intended for each of us, in this life, as well as in the life to come!
Katherine is a mother of four and lives in Virginia with her family. She contributed a chapter about Our Lady Undoer of Knots to “Crowned with Grace: A Collection of Marian Titles and Devotions.” She holds a Bachelor of Arts in politics from Ave Maria University. Prior to her current role as homemaker and home educator, she served as communications director for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation and for former Congressman Keith Rothfus. She also worked in communications at Heritage Action for America. She is passionate about living out her Catholic faith and fostering a culture that protects children’s innocence and joy.