When we seek happiness, when we
want peace and contentment, when we want control of our lives, when we want a
direction, a reason for our lives, where do we turn?
There are “gurus” who teach their
version of solutions to this quest, who will enlighten us – for a price. Their
advice pales in comparison to the help and instruction we can find readily in
the scriptures, in the testimonies of the 16 prophets of this dispensation, and
in the writings of the scriptural prophets. One General Conference offers more
wisdom and insight than all such “gurus” can offer.
There are those who turn to
worldliness and immorality because they think that therein lies the happiness
they seek. They are willing to spend their lives in a fruitless search for
truth and understanding through those who have no real understanding of the
eternities and the plan our Heavenly Father has devised for each of us.
There are those who give up looking
for answers and just drift through life, willing to “go with the flow” because
they lack understanding of the purpose of their existence. They are willing to
waste their lives, their talents, and their innate goodness on the altar of
apathy and indolence.
There are those who busy themselves
with work, achievement, wanting stuff, getting stuff, and wanting more stuff,
excluding their families from anything but their desire for more worldly goods.
They neglect their wives, husbands, and children to advance their careers. They
tell themselves that they are doing it for their loved ones, but their real
motivation is purely selfish. Alienation, focus on the wrong goals, and
eventual misery are the results of such life motivation. Children, spouses, and
eternal goals are lost as they waste their lives in worldly pursuits.
There are those who look in the
right places for guidance, who seek the Lord and do their best to understand
that the only real happiness, peace, control, and direction is to be found in
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
.In the October General Conference
this year, President Eyring titled his remarks “To My Grandchildren,” and
begins with this statement:
There is one
overarching commandment that will help us to meet the challenges and lead to
the heart of a happy family life.
He mentioned that this year two of his grandchildren will be married and within a few years at least 10 more will probably do so. He said:
That happy prospect has
caused me deep contemplation as they have asked me for advice. Essentially they
have asked, “What choices could I make that will lead me to happiness?” And on
the other hand, “What choices are likely to lead me to unhappiness?”
President Eyring’s statement
reminds me of the scripture in Alma
Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.
And if that is true, and certainly it is eternally true, then the converse is also true: Righteousness always is happiness. Scriptural justification for that idea can be found in 2 Nephi 2:13:
…if there be no righteousness
there be no happiness.
Mary Wollstonecraft, an early (circa 1780) feminist said the following:
No
man chooses evil because it is evil. He only mistakes it for good; the
happiness he seeks.
On the face of it, her statement
seems to be true. If a person robs a bank, he or she usually does so because
they think the money will buy them happiness. The only trouble with her thought
is that it leaves the adversary out of the equation, assumes that evil is just
a mistake, and therefore can be excused as only a poor choice, with no eternal
consequences. If we are to believe Mary, the gospel plan is not part of the decision,
when in fact, it is the key to proper choices. Poor choices can have eternal
consequences, and are offered by the adversary for our destruction, not our
happiness.
The person who robs a bank usually
finds that the money is soon gone, their pleasure was fleeting, and the
consequences of their actions are restrictive and very undesirable, which is
exactly what the adversary intended when he enticed the robber to take the
money.
President Eyring says that giving
advice on happiness in marriage is hard to give:
Heavenly Father has made
each of us unique. No two of us have exactly the same experiences. No two
families are alike. So it is not surprising that advice about how to choose
happiness in family life is hard to give. Yet a loving Heavenly Father has set
the same path to happiness for all of His children. Whatever our personal
characteristics or whatever will be our experiences, there is but one plan of
happiness. That plan is to follow all the commandments of God.
What a testimony to Heavenly Father’s
power it is to hear an apostle say that we are each unique. Even twins have
unique characteristics, likes and dislikes, attitudes and desires. But with
that uniqueness comes a requirement for commonality of conduct based on instruction
from the Lord that applies equally to each of us. The gospel is unchanging,
God’s commandments and covenants are eternal, and the path we must follow to
return to our Father-in-Heaven was defined before the world was.
15 And it came to pass that there was
no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the
hearts of the people.
16 And there were no envyings, nor
strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of
lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the
people who had been created by the hand of God.
17 There were no robbers, nor
murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were
in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God
18 And how blessed were they! For the
Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and
prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first
generation from Christ had passed away, and there was no contention in all the
land.
This is the happiness we seek. There is no mistaking the evil of the world for true, eternal happiness and joy. The adversary’s counterfeits cannot offer such – only misery and woe in the end.
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