Seen The Pursuit of Happiness yet? I have. Meredith and I went to see it before Christmas and we both enjoyed it quite a bit. Will Smith breaks out of playing himself in roles this time around. While he has a couple smooth and funny lines, he takes a serious role which is a nice change for him. I really enjoy his roles where he isn't chummy and womanizing because I think he's a great actor and it shows in this movie. By the way, his son also co-stars as his son in the movie.

While the story of the movie is quite inspirational and heart-warming, there is a clip that stood out for me above the rest. At the beginning of the movie, there is an examination of the Jefferson's famous phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The narrator notes that while life and liberty are given to all Americans, happiness requires constant pursuit. How wise (or fortunate) of Mr. Jefferson to understand happiness is not something that is held onto in our lives.

We are never always happy. When we read about happiness in the Bible, it is always talked about as a moment or single experience. It never refers to a period of considerable length. Happiness is confined to a moment and has little effect on those following. This could explain why when we watch TV, play video games and surf the net we are left feeling rather unfulfilled.

But what makes us fulfilled? We are fulfilled when we learn and grow. It happens when we spend time building a relationship. It happens we have hope in our future. This fulfillment that we know is joy. While happiness comes and goes, joy goes on because joy has hope for the future.