Questions about Level 4

Because there is a part of us that desires perfect Love, perfect Truth, perfect Justice, perfect Beauty, and perfect Unity. When we try to be perfect, we are trying to fulfill this desire. The problem, of course, is that we cannot be perfect because human beings are finite. But philosophers sometimes point to the fact that humans always try to be perfect as proof that God must exist. If we desire perfection, but cannot ever be perfect, then what is motivating the desire?

The very essence of God is Love – and that’s what love does. Love cares. Another reason why God cares is because you are beautiful. He made you in His own image. He created you to be able to love and forgive, just as He loves and forgives. So when He sees you, He sees a huge potential for love and goodness. Yes, God sees your sins, but He sees them in the context of who you really are – a creature capable of great love and goodness. Why would He not care about you?

Here is our advice: God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to show us how to get to Level 4. And since Jesus knew that we would need the touch of other human beings on earth to help us, He founded a Church with disciples to guide and instruct us. If you follow Jesus’ teachings and seek wisdom and guidance from His Church, He will help you to believe in and know His unconditional forgiveness and love for you. Meditation on the Scriptures or on other holy and inspirational writings is a good way to grow closer to God’s love. You also must practice agape love. It is not possible to experience Level 4 without putting action behind your faith. Asking God to work through your acts of love, generosity, charity, compassion, and forgiveness are ways to get to Level 4. You can talk to your campus pastor about other ways to grow deeper into Level 4.

It is different for everyone. Some people experience and embrace God’s love when they are very young. For others, it takes their entire lives. We believe that it is important to seek God’s friendship and love as soon as possible, because that’s the meaning of your life, and you will be happier. But the good news is that God is infinitely patient. If it takes you your entire life to embrace Him, He will receive your embrace with as much love and forgiveness as He has given to people who came to Him when they were much younger.

Read Matthew 20:1-16. This is a parable about laborers in a vineyard, where Jesus teaches that people who come to God late in their life will receive the same reward as those who came early. That reward is His unconditional and eternal love.

Sometimes people ask, “Well then, what’s the point of coming to God early? Why not have fun now, and wait until the very end of my life to come to God?” The problem with that is:

(1) You don’t know when the very end of your life will be, so that’s quite a risk.

(2) If you spend your youth making habits on Levels 1 and 2, you may find it very, very difficult to break those habits later on. The more we choose ourselves over God, the less attractive God seems to us, until one day, we may find it nearly impossible to accept His love.

(3) If God truly is the perfect fulfillment of your desire for unconditional love, why would you wait until the end of your life to get this kind of happiness?

God’s love is eternal. It will last forever. God will never stop loving you. Which means that you will always exist – and as long as you accept His love and respond to it in love, you will have Happiness 4 forever.

There are several reasons for this. One is that when we are very young, we tend to first find happiness through material things like yummy foods and interesting toys. Psychologically, we build habits on Level 1 (physical pleasure) that are hard to break when we get older. It seems a lot more fun to play video games and relax on the couch than it is to talk to God, meditate on His love, attend church, or engage in His ministry of serving others. But if you work on it and give it time, it will become easier and easier to relate to God and embrace His love, until it eventually replaces materialism and ego and becomes a habit of its own.

Another reason why Level 4 is hard to reach is because you cannot see, touch, and hear God in the way that we are used to doing with human beings. But you can know God’s real presence in a much deeper way if you spend time with Him in prayer, in community with others (church), in service to others (ministry), and in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is a special exception to the rule that we cannot see or touch God. The Eucharist is Jesus Christ, really present in the form of bread and wine. It is a very real way that we can make a physical communion with God.

It depends on what their needs are, but you can start with prayer and being a good witness in your own life. Be patient, gentle, kind, compassionate, generous, and humble toward that person. If the opportunity comes up, talk about your faith, but do not push it. You should also talk to your campus pastor about this.

Most people do it that way, just because it’s natural. But it’s not necessary. Some people seem to connect to God very early in their lives, without going through the crises of Levels 1, 2, and 3.

That’s pretty good insight! A saint is a person who has died and is now in heaven with God. In heaven, they experience Happiness Level 4 totally, eternally, and without any crisis. They also experience all the other levels, but in a healthy way that doesn’t lead to crisis.

Crisis 4 is when we believe that God exists and that perfect happiness is His love, but we run away from Him and don’t let Him in. This might be because we have done something that we think cannot be forgiven, or because we think that God is so high and mighty that He wouldn’t want to be with us, or because of some other reason. One way to solve this crisis is to think about the following: If God cannot or will not forgive us, or if He does not want to be with us because He thinks we’re too puny, then He is not unconditionally forgiving and He is not unconditionally loving. If that’s true, then He is not perfect. He is limited by His own big ego. But if God is imperfect and limited, then He can’t really be God. He would just be another imperfect creature like us. So if you have belief that God exists, then you really have to consider that God can and will forgive anything, and that He can and does want to be with you forever. Accepting this truth is only possible if you are willing to talk to God through prayer, listen to Him in your heart, and respond to Him with trust.

No. The other things that bring you happiness are covered in the other three levels of happiness. Level 4 is about God. God gets His own level, because the kind of happiness he offers is so different from Levels 1, 2, and 3. It’s unconditional, perfect, infinite, absolute, and eternal. The only thing that is unconditional, perfect, infinite, absolute, and eternal, is God. But it’s up to you to verify whether Level 4 happiness really exists. You have to take the leap to faith and experience it for yourself.

Sure! Atheists can be happy on Levels 1, 2, and 3, just like a theist can. But atheists don’t believe in God, and so they would not experience Level 4, which is about finding happiness through accepting God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. An atheist would have to switch from atheism to belief in a loving God in order to experience Level 4.