The Drama of Human Life

The Drama of Human Life

by Sr. Casino

​I feel sorry for the Christian man sitting next to me, but I know one thing - he is happier than I am.

​Woody Allen

​What is the relationship between happiness and apologetics?

• Faith provides the answer to life's questions​

• ​People can deny God's existence or your faith; they can't deny your happiness

​What are the worldly philosophical views of happiness?

Individualism​

Hedonism

​Minimalism

​Relativism

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​Our aim is to understand how our lives take the form of a story, and how our lives as stories helps us to find our place in the overarching story of the cosmos and achieve the happiness for which we long.

​What was the thesis of "The Search?"

What do we know about our stories?

• ​God is the Author of our lives

• ​A story is an ordered sequence of events, with beginning, middle, and an end where the protagonist purses a goal after progressive complications

In everything, we pursue a “good”

Good - something that brings to perfection one of our human capabilities​

"You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.​

​St. Augustine, Confessions I.1

​Aristotle (384-322 BC)

If there were not some overarching good, ​an Ultimate Good, we would have no reason to pursue any good whatsoever

​How do we acquire happiness according to Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas?

-Virtue​

Every human action that we perform, no matter how small, can be an act of virtue, and thus be an important part of our ever-deeper experience of happiness.