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2016 Year in Review – The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee Making Waves
2016 saw the expansion of The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee, a state chapter of The Way To Happiness Foundation.
The Way to Happiness, a book written by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s, is comprised of 21 precepts, each one predicated on the fact that one’s survival depends on the survival of others—and that without the survival of others, neither joy nor happiness are attainable. In the three decades since it was authored, more than 115 million copies of the book passed hand to hand, thus inspiring the international movement which is spreading throughout Nashville, TN.
Volunteers for The Way to Happiness Association of Tennessee (TWTH-TN) began the year by participating in a large-scale event to promote peace, where they passed out hundreds of copies of The Way to Happiness booklet.
To honor World Environment Day, volunteers met with others interested in making Nashville a greener city, during an event called “It’s Your City—Green it Up.” Among those attending were a Nashville Horticulturist, the director of BURNT (Bring Urban Recycling to Nashville Today), and the District 17 Beautification Commissioner.
Next, TWTH-TN was at a local Father’s Day celebration distributing booklets and speaking with people about why it is important to “Honor and Help Your Parents,” as one of the precepts in the booklet mandates. Then, members took another message to Parent University, an event organized by Metro Nashville Public Schools, where they shared the need to “Love and Help Children.”
For International Friendship Day, TWTH-TN worked with the Nashville Church of Scientology to organize a large event to bring people together. Members of the Sikh, Jewish, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Muslim and Scientologist communities joined together to learn about one another and forge true friendships by taking part in guided dialogue using the precepts of The Way to Happiness booklet. Pastor of the Church, Rev. Brian Fesler, said, “We brought people together for the event, but it’s not going to end today. Many of them plan to stay in touch and keep getting together over the next few months to continue a journey to friendship.”
In September, a Tennessee volunteer had a trip scheduled to visit the Honduras to complete construction on a house for missionaries, doctors and advisors. While he was there, he wanted to do even more good and distributed copies of The Way to Happiness booklet. While handing out booklets, he ran into many who could not read. So he took things a step further by setting up a small group where precepts were read aloud. The group then discussed them, so all could achieve full understanding of what they contain.
By Fall, TWTH-TN volunteers wanted to step things up even further so began a series of weekly booklet distribution events in neighborhoods with higher crime rates.
In October, a volunteer was welcomed to the nineteenth annual Intertribal Powwow hosted each year by the Native Cultural Circle (NCC) of Clarksville. There, she distributed more than two hundred booklets to Native Americans and others attending.
TWTH-TN is making a true impact across Tennessee and reaching other parts of the world. To learn more about the program, or to order copies of The Way to Happiness booklet, visit twthtn.org.
