Huiselijk geluk. Familie als mysterie dat richting geeft

Samenvatting

Domestic Happiness. Family as a mystery that guides This article examines the social side of happiness in a family setting. It starts by describing the paradox in the current understanding of the family: it is idolized as the setting of true happiness and distrusted as limiting the freedom of the individual. From the side of theology this paradox should not only be approached, it is argued, by relativizing the natural family in the light of ‘God’s family’. It is also important to fathom the specific nature of the family. This is done by referring to a study of the family by Gabriel Marcel that approaches the family as a mystery instead of a problem to be solved. This means taking into account the level where the family touches a transcendent dimension. The article shows how this approach illuminates current uncertainties regarding the family, as well as notions of ‘domestic happiness’.