JOY IN GIVING
Concordia alumnus Jim Laatsch, AA ‘61 admits that he’s not the happiest person in the world. That hasn’t stopped him from trying to understand what brings happiness to people, though. After Jim retired from pastoral ministry, he wanted to research what scholars and researchers were learning and publishing about happiness. His original goal was to write a book based on this research, but as he shares, “My writing may show that I am a preacher, not a scientist.” In reading hundreds of books and journal articles by secular researchers, Jim found that many of their findings aligned well with a biblical view of happiness. “An important corollary for most of these writers is that things that money can buy, do not significantly increase our degree of happiness,” he says.
For Jim and his wife, Karen, doing good is an outgrowth of their faith in Jesus. It’s this faith, they say, that brings joy, which is more significant than happiness. “Joy is a response to God and God’s gifts to me at a very deep level,” Karen remarks. As longtime supporters of Concordia, being generous brings joy to the Laatsches. “Giving to CSP may not make me laugh more but laughter does not indicate that one has more happiness. I think it is doing more good for the Kingdom,” Jim indicates. Karen agrees: “Sharing my financial gifts with CSP brings me joy because I believe I am helping share God’s message of salvation with everyone that CSP touches. It is a way to share my joy with [students].”
Jim explains that happiness also goes beyond simple good feelings. He observes that, “for almost all of history, happiness was doing good, not feeling good.” 23
