After having yesterday completely obliterated my own previous assumptions about proselytism, it seems only fair to upend myself by returning to some of the questions that I asked on Saturday; and I will focus on the following one: Is it good enough simply to be an exemplar of your faith/happiness, or is the discussion necessary? After all, the three points that I made in yesterday’s blog entry would be to a certain extent moot if exemplifying your happiness were the point and matter that would necessitate another person’s also being happy. (I will for now stay on the idea of happiness rather than return my focus to faith, since mature discussions of faith are really born of transcending the idea of happiness once we have exhausted its utility, really a focus on a more complex truth.)
To see ourselves merely as exemplars is probably to ignore our nature as social creatures; in fact, it would be an extremely rare and perhaps suspect person whose happiness was circumscribed by the Self. Happiness is more directly than inversely proportional to our engagement with others, which, if it is to be true engagement, must include the opening of the heart, must include vulnerability in regards to happiness and unhappiness. Thus, happiness as mere example is impossible, and could even be the result of discussing the topic with the exemplar.
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