The author Toni Morrison recently gave a commencement address to the students at Rutgers University, in which she made the following comment: “I have often wished that Jefferson had not used the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” [in the Declaration of Independence preamble]. I would rather he had written “life, liberty, and the pursuit of meaningfulness” or “integrity” or “truth.” I know that happiness has been the real, if covert, goal of your labors here. I know that it informs your choice of companions and the profession you will enter. But I urge you, please don’t settle for happiness. It’s not good enough. Personal success devoid of meaningfulness, free of a steady commitment to social justice, that’s more than a barren life; it’s a trivial one. It’s looking good instead of doing good.”

I wish people could hear those words from that commencement speech, for it offers an important challenge to us as people of faith. I am not well-informed about the thought processes that guided Jefferson, as he struggled to put into words the ideals of our fledgling nation. I know that he was well-read and influenced by the Enlightenment philosophy of his age (e.g., John Locke). I am sure that the idea of a full democracy, as opposed to a monarch-led, hierarchical system of government, opened the door to a range of individual freedoms that had scarcely been imagined (much less realized) in Western history up to that point in time. Morrison remarked that an earlier draft of the Declaration preamble had used the phrase “the pursuit of property,” but that it was later amended to “pursuit of happiness.” Both speak to ideals of self-determinism and individual liberty. But in the context of modern society, I am afraid that Jefferson’s word choice no longer bears positive fruit.

To pursue happiness is a task too easily defined from personal perspectives. By that I mean that we append onto Jefferson’s phrase (the pursuit of happiness) personal adjectives, so that suddenly our foundational document suggests that America exists to safeguard “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for me.” Suddenly the point of reference has shrunk from being national and communal in focus to being individualistic and personal in focus. This interpretative move is counter-productive, for there is no way a democracy can serve the common needs of a commonwealth if its founding principles are shaped solely by the desire to safeguard individual desires and wants. Imagine the chaos in a family if all decisions can be challenged because one person in the household isn’t having his or her total desires met. There are compromises inherent in our life together–whether that involves families deciding which particular television show will be watched that evening or city governments working out how to distribute tax revenues to provide services for the larger public.

I like the idea of our democracy being committed to safeguarding the right of each individual to pursue meaningfulness or integrity or truth. Those terms still bespeak a quality of personal choice, but the horizon toward which the individual aspires is always a communal, shared horizon. Meaningfulness for one person necessarily asks about the well-being of one’s neighbor, for how can something be truthful and “meaning-full” if the expression of it involves the denigration of someone else? How can my life be considered one marked by integrity if my decisions and actions are unjust and unkind toward another?

Aspirational language has been at the heart of the American historical experience, coupled with a commitment to the “self-evident” quality of doing what is right. Our faith would go farther and remind us that God, too, wills the best for us and calls us to aspire for the greater goods. (I Corinthians 12:31, “Strive for the greater gifts and I will show you a still more excellent way.”) The example of Christ and the Spirit of God calls us to pursue something deeper than happiness: we are called to seek joy, to work for justice, to trust in God’s gift of perfect peace. All of that involves something more than the contemporary definition of being happy. Which is a good thing. Really.

In deciding what we should pursue in this life, let us do so faithfully, mindful that we walk farthest when we walk together, and there are many, many things of greater value in this life than the mere experience of personal happiness.

The English language is a language of verbs. Other languages are full of nouns. Think of German, with its long, compound words to describe persons, places, and things. By contrast, English is a language built around verbs. For example, the current edition of the Oxford English Dictionary lists 645 different meanings for the verb “to run.” Think about the different ways we use that particular verb: run a race, a run on the bank, run an idea up the flagpole, run a fever, running on empty, runs in the family, iPod’s running apps, cars running on gas, getting a run in one’s stockings, and running a ship aground, to name a few.

Verbs, by definition, mostly deal with action and movement. They can be passive (e.g., being pushed on a swing) or active (e.g., competing in a marathon), yet quite often they communicate a sense of motion and vitality. Now here’s the tie-in for our church newsletter: Christian faith should be built more around verbs than nouns. Nouns are important, for they provide us with points of reference for our faith life – but what is the real use of a church building unless you enter and worship therein? What is the lasting value of a bible that is never read or a hymn that is never sung? Faith is something that animates us in our daily walk of life; it’s not just something we ponder abstractly or treat like an object on display in a museum somewhere.

When John Bell, the musician/theologian from the Iona Community, visited us last year, he commented that too much of our church art and music is focused on images of Jesus that are static and passive. We love the image of Jesus as the baby born in the manger, but babies are helpless and totally dependent on others. We are moved by the image of Jesus crucified on the cross, but the nails literally keep Christ fixed in one spot. And we are filled with awe at the image of Jesus as the Risen Lord, enthroned in heaven in all his glory; but that is also a distant, static portrayal of Christ. We need to remember how Jesus lived and moved and engaged others during his earthly ministry. We need to picture Jesus touching the wounded and outcast, embracing the grieving and vulnerable, laughing with his friends, eating with saints and sinners alike, and generally being on the move as much as possible.

During the upcoming summer months, what are the verbs you’ll be using as part of your life of faith? To be still in times of prayer and Sabbath-rest counts as an appropriate passive verb. To engage, serve, volunteer, and study all count as positive active verbs. Perhaps the options from Micah 6:8 are as good a trio of faith verbs as any when looking for guiding principles: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God. Build your faith around verbs, trusting in the Holy Spirit, who animates and enlivens and invigorates us each day to the glory of God.

In today’s skeptical society, the phrase “Nullius in verba” (loosely translated as “take no one’s word for anything”) seems like the active slogan of our age. We hear one television commentator describe something for us, and then a quick flip through the channels brings up another commentator’s totally different perspective. Politicians present competing budget proposals. Economists offer contradictory forecasts about how things are going. Military analysts talk about “enhanced techniques of interrogation,” which unfortunately sound far too similar to what used to be called “torture.” Is this a new by-product of the 21st century, Internet age?

In truth, you can go back 350 years and discover another time when “Nullius in verba” was taken as a word to the wise. A new book by Edward Dolnick (The Clockwork Universe) describes how bad things were in London, England back in the mid-17th century. Adults only lived to about age 30 and the plague of 1665 killed up to 6,000 people a week. Then in 1666 a huge fire burnt the city to the ground, even melting the bells of St. Paul’s Cathedral. People thought that the terrible voice of God was wreaking judgment across the land.

It was then that a group of scholars, led by Isaac Newton, formed the Royal Society, believing that behind God’s universe was a mathematical and logical order able to be glimpsed, if one pursued it scientifically. Hence “nullius in verba.” Ideas should be tested through experiments. Results must be able to be reproduced before being accepted as proof. This scholarly model would eventually blossom into the Enlightenment, the foundation of the political and cultural revolution that led to modern Western society.

“Take no one’s word for anything” is not a seed of truth able to bear fruit if it is taken to be a cynical rejection of everyone’s opinion (especially when it differs from your own). Its value comes when, like Isaac Newton, we commit ourselves go beyond superficial appearances and easy, accepted answers whenever we face important decisions in life. The New Testament regularly tells us to ask questions and work hard at discerning what is true and virtuous. Paul writes “Test everything; hold fast to what is good” (I Thess. 5:21) and I John 4 begins with the admonition “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”

Important decisions always require sincere, spiritual deliberation. Salesmen and telemarketers have a vested investment in quick decisions; God in Christ has a vested interest in helping us make righteous decisions. At important crossroads in life, pause for prayer and reflection. Ask the Lord to open the way forward, while closing off those options that are contrary to God’s will. Listen for the whispered leading of the Holy Spirit. Trust that the living Lord, like a good shepherd, has come that we may have life, and have it abundantly (Jn 10:10). In place of “Nullius in verba,” hold on to the phrase “Soli Deo Gloria” – To God Alone be the Glory.