A Touch of Aquinas

From an article in the July 24, 2007 Christian Century written by Ellen Chary and entitled "Happy Pursuits" is this quotation from Thomas Aquinas:

God is good;
The cosmos is God’s creation;
The creation is unified because each part belongs to and contributes to the whole and is in turn promoted, sustained, and perfected by the rest; …
As we become the very best creatures that we can become, we are not only obedient to God’s destiny for us, but we are also celebrating our own goodness in God; …
[F]eeling good is the result of doing good in ordinary and common choices of daily life; …
[The] key to happiness is the ability to love well even in face of tragedies of life.

I was most taken by the final two statements.

Too often in our culture, feeling good is the result of extraordinary events or external sensations - things outside of our normal experience. Instead, said Aquinas, we feel good when we make good choices in the common situations of our lives.

Again, our happiness is something we seek from others or from things external to us. Aquinas disputes that and asserts that our ability to love - to show our love to others - even in the face of the tragic circumstances of life.

This is deep wisdom - the kind that takes us many years of living to be able to appreciate.