"Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God."
Joseph Smith
Have you ever stopped to think about what that really means? It means that the purpose of life, the reason we are here on earth, is to be happy, or to discover happiness, if you will! For some reason that really strikes a chord with me.
Happiness had already been on my mind a lot lately, and then on Thursday we spent a whole lecture on it in my religion class (taught by my mission president, Brent L. Top). Let me tell you what, there are some cool things in the scriptures about "the plan of happiness".
Immediately a scripture comes to mind: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). I'm also reminded to "consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold they are blessed in all things . . . and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41). Have you considered why that is so?
Well, in order to dwell with God, we have to be like God, right? And what is God like? In Alma 41:11 there is a direct parallel between the nature of God and the nature of happiness. So when we take on His other attributes, I believe we also take on His happiness.
I'm doing a really poor job of describing how great this is. I wish I had Lori's gift for profundity right now. It's so obvious, yet we forget it all the time! We focus sometimes too much on the fact that "life is a test" and "life is hard" (I attended a Stake Conference about a year ago where that was the theme--I've never been so depressed after a church meeting in my life!). And of course life is hard, but ultimately life, and especially a life centered around Jesus Christ, is all about happiness, despite trials and sadness. I even believe that we can be happy even when we are sad (or stressed, or frustrated, or tired, or . . . anything)--the one doesn't necessarily cancel out the other.
And what goes hand in hand with happiness? GRATITUDE! I am so grateful for the MILLIONS of things God has blessed me with, all of which are reasons to be happy. In fact, I'm grateful to be happy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I love it Heath!
I think that we all need to be reminded of what it means to be happy and also why we are here on this earth. Many of us don't take the time to sit back and see that even though life is hard and difficult there is happiness all around.
Thanks for the reminder Heath, I definitely needed it. There are too many things I should be grateful for and happy about but the hard things seem to out weigh them. Hopefully this will bring about a chage of mind.
Heather I love love loved this post! It goes right along with the lesson on optimism that I am preparing for YW on Sunday. I think that optimism and gratitude (and therefore happiness) go hand in hand. That's why I loved our grateful list back in the days of Southridge. It always gave me something to be happy/grateful/optimistic about. Anyway... great post.
ps. your comment about "life is hard" stake conference reminded me about a sealing that my mom went to a few years ago. She said that the WHOLE time the sealer just talked about how life would be hard, etc. What a great note to start off on eh? Anyway... sorry that this is aching long. Love you!
Thanks Heath! I was way too depressed yesterday. I need to have more balance in my life. I miss one day of exercise and scripture reading and I feel like the world is coming to an end. Thanks for reminding me to count my blessings and be happy!
And..Mosiah 2:41 was our theme for stake conf this year...it was really good and not depressing. :)
beautifully expressed, Heather! I needed to think about these scriptures today too! I'm with Amy - so often I allow my mood to be determined by what I accomplish (or fail to accomplish) on my "be a good person" to-do list. But happiness isn't a check list! Like you said - happiness is part of who God is. It's what we feel when we're close to God and when we start to become like him. That was a great insight, Heath!
Thanks for the brain food, dearest! You're inspiring!
Wow Rusty, did I need that or what.
It brings to mind that poem that I really hate, I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it. Christ never said that. However He did say to take His yoke upon you. That His burden is light. The trouble or the pain doesn't just go away but the Lord will make it light and you can have joy and happiness. I have never thought about how you can have both feelings at the same time. You are right.
My goal of late has been to stop this frustrated, over-worked, mormon mommy routine I'm in. Working harder at keeping my covenants hasn't brought more work to my table, but more joy.
Thanks Heaven for the commandment Men are that they might have joy.
Post a Comment