Regarding the pursuit of happiness I agree with Charles Hodge that, “The senses afford the lowest kind of happiness; then, in an ascending scale, the social affections; then the intellectual powers; then the moral emotions, and then the religious affections.” As true as I think that is, I think the higher degrees of pleasure require a higher degree of energy, sacrifice and determination. Social affections necessarily bring with them demands that many of the sensual pleasures don’t require. In our culture there are so many sensual avenues that, no doubt, this is why we can become stalled at that level. To obtain “joy unspeakable and full of glory”, that comes with religious affections, requires an earnest diligence, but I believe it is life’s greatest joy.