Choose Happiness

2 Nephi 2

We know that we must pass through sorrow to know joy.  But all of us know people who don't pass through sorrow; they stay and wallow in it, become bitter, and are joyless in their lives.  Why?  Why do some people face the greatest obstacles and tragedies and come through stronger, kinder, more empathetic, and happier while others are crushed by the same obstacles and tragedies?

v. 27 Wherefore, men are ^afree according to the ^bflesh; and ^call things are ^dgiven them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to ^echoose ^fliberty and eternal ^glife, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be ^hmiserable like unto himself.

The answer lies in who you choose to follow.  Following Christ brings happiness; following the lies of Satan make you miserable like unto himself.

v. 28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great ^aMediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

These are the simple steps to following Christ:

1.  Look: He set forth the perfect example of how to live one's life in happiness.  Learn of Him, know Him, and follow that example.

2.  Hearken:  "Hearken" means more than listening.  It means giving one's full attention.  Keep his commandments.  Commandments are not restrictions, they are guidelines that lead to happiness.

3  Be faithful:  Be faithful to His words.  Where do you find His words?  In the scriptures.  Read the scriptures, feast upon them, turn to them in your darkest hours.  Help for every problem can be found there.  Reading scriptures invites the Spirit which gives you peace and comfort even in the midst of the darkest days of your hardest trials.

4.  Choose.  Choose righteousness, choose happiness, choose to live your life according to HIS will.

v. 2 9 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the ^aevil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to ^bcaptivate, to bring you down to ^chell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

Ah, there is the final key to the puzzle.  Choose to follow the will of the Spirit over the will of the flesh.  Easy to say, but so hard to do, at least at first.  But it gets easier, much easier, because of the intercession of Jesus Christ, because of His atonement.  Because He heals us.  

Think about why we turn to the will of the flesh, why we sin:  It is because there is some hurt, some need that we are trying to fill in our lives.  We try to mask the pain through immediate gratification; some people go to extreme lengths to make it stop hurting.  But as long as we try to kill the pain according to the will of the flesh, the relief is only temporary.

When we turn to our Savior and apply His atonement in our lives, He heals us.  He takes away the loneliness, the self-doubt, the guilt, the pain.  We have no more desire to do evil, because we're not trying to kill the pain anymore.  We have passed through sorrow.  We are free to experience true joy.

Agency

2 Nephi 2

v. 15 And to bring about his eternal ^apurposes in the end of man, after he had ^bcreated our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the ^cfowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the ^dforbidden ^efruit in ^fopposition to the ^gtree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. 

v.16 Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should ^aact for himself. Wherefore, man could not ^bact for himself save it should be that he was ^centiced by the one or the other.


One of the greatest gifts God has given us is the freedom to choose our actions.  Christ invites all men to come unto Him; He stands ready, waiting, with open arms.  He stands at the door and knocks, but He waits for us to open.  No one is forced to follow Him.  No one is forced to accept His gift of repentance and the atonement.

v. 22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

v. 23 And they would have had no ^achildren; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no ^bjoy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no ^csin.

v. 2 4But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who ^aknoweth all things.

v. 25 ^aAdam ^bfell that men might be; and men ^care, that they might have ^djoy.

The only path to happiness is through sorrow.  When God "cursed" Eve, He said He would "greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." (Genesis 3:16).  And to Adam, God said, "^bcursed is the ground for thy sake; in ^csorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." (Genesis 3:17)

Mothers, isn't it true, that our children have the power to bring us so much sorrow?  How many nights have you spent walking the floors with worry, or crying yourself to sleep because of the mistakes of your children?  I just want my children to be happy, and my heart breaks when I see them make decisions that lead to heartbreak for them.  

And yet, is there any greater joy than that found in your children?  Their antics, their smiles, their giggles, their hugs and unconditional love.  The pride you feel in their accomplishments.  The joy when they learn and grow and are happy.

It is better that we should pass through sorrow, better than innocence and ignorance. 

Opposition In All Things

2 Nephi 2

v. 10 And because of the intercession for ^aall, all men come unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be ^bjudged of him according to the truth and ^choliness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the ^dpunishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the ^eatonement—

Because of the intercession for all men, Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to judge us, "according to the truth and holiness which is in him."  When He took upon himself all of our sins and sorrows, He became the one person to understand us completely and uniquely.  He understands the circumstances that lead us to the choices we make. 

And let's be honest, the reason we sin is because we are trying to overcome some hurt inside us.  We're trying to fill some hole in our heart, and we mistakenly turn to the promises of the world to fill it.  The ways of the world will always fail us; turning to our Savior and letting Him heal us is the only true way to happiness.

This verse also introduces the doctrine of opposition.

v. 11 For it must needs be, that there is an ^aopposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

This makes immediate sense when you think about it, and it changes the way you look at life.  Suddenly, trials and difficulties and even past mistakes are no longer "bad" things.  On the contrary, it is only by passing through unhappiness that we can experience happiness.  Have you ever noticed how people who have had extreme difficulties have a greater appreciation for life, how they are more compassionate, how they find joy in the smallest things?  They find joy that other people miss.

Understanding this principle helps me understand the fall of Adam and Eve better.  Often, we think of the garden of Eden as a wonderful paradise where everything was perfect and Adam and Eve lived in happiness.  Their every need was provided for them.  They didn't have to work.  They didn't have any sorrows.  They were completely innocent.

But understanding the principle of opposition, we know that the absence of sorrow doesn't mean happiness.  The absence of sorrow means the incomprehension of happiness.  The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil did not just give them knowledge, it gave them specific knowledge: the knowledge of opposites.  

The idea of living in the garden of Eden makes me cringe.  No knowledge.  No work.  No progress.  Spending my days endlessly picking fruit and petting pretty animals?  Good grief, every day would feel like an eternity.  

Choose

2 Nephi 2

v. 28  "And now, my son, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of the Holy Spirit."  (emphasis added)

I like the sequence of that verse.  Look to Christ.  See what He did during his life and ministry.  He set the example.  Learn of Him.  Then hearken to His commandments.  Listen to the counsel He gave during His ministry.  Let His teachings sink into your heart.  And then choose.  Choose to follow Him.  Choose to obey.

How interesting that merely three days into this experiment, I have come upon an opportunity to apply what I'm learning.  We had a minor incident in the neighborhood.  You know, the kind that neighborhoods always have.  And it's not the first time we've had a problem with this particular family.  I feel perfectly justified in my emotions towards them.  The little boy was mean.  I don't like the parents.  I don't like the way they handled things the last time, and I don't like how it's being handled now.  Surely, I can puff my chest out in righteous indignation and feel superior.  Seriously, I'm that sure I'm right about all this.

And yet... I know by how I'm feeling that I'm not handling it right.  I'm not being a peacemaker.  I'm not "loving [my] neighbor."  I'm not forgiving seventy times seven.  I'm certainly not loving my enemies.

There are things I can do immediately that will soothe hurt feelings just a little bit, just enough to not let this boil over into the entire neighborhood.  But I know that, for this experiment to work, I need to go beyond that.  I need to learn to forgive and to change the way I feel about them.  I need to put into practice the most basic of Christ's teachings.

Ah, humility.  It's a hard thing to learn, isn't it?