It Is Indeed with Humility

T IS INDEED with humility, my brothers and sisters, that I occupy this position this afternoon. I humbly trust and pray that the Spirit of God will direct the things which I shall say. ¶

If I were to ask you a question and if each of you could answer me individually, I wonder what your answers would be. The question is, What is there in all this world that you would rather have? In other words, if you had one wish, and if that one wish could be granted, what would it be? ¶

I recall that when I was teaching students at the LDS Institute of Religion at Logan, on several different occasions I asked the college students the question which I have just asked you. Almost immediately and invariably those fine young college men would reply, "A million dollars," or they would say, "A Cadillac," or something else of a worldly nature. After due consideration of this problem, we always came to a united conclusion that material things of this world are not the most worth while. They are transitory; they are soon gone. Furthermore, material things do not supply complete satisfaction in life. Invariably our conclusion was that the spiritual things are the most worth while. They are eternal. ¶

We always agreed finally with the great statement made by Father Lehi, wherein he said, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they may have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25.) I know of no other statement in any of our scriptures which expresses the principal purpose of man's existence more aptly than does that one made by Father Lehi. ¶

I believe with all my heart that God the eternal Father wants his children on this earth to have joy, an abundance of joy. I believe, also, that he expects members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we who have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ, to live an abundant, joyful, happy life. ¶

Our lives should be lived in such a way as to bring to us a fulness of joy today, tomorrow, next week, ten years from now, a hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, and even throughout the eternities. I want to remind each of us that God has placed within the reach of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ the possibilities of that joy, that perpetual and eternal joy, if we will just obey the laws that bring that joy into our lives. ¶

Throughout the entire history of mankind, from the days of Adam down to the present time, throughout all nations and among all peoples, there has been a strong urge in the hearts of human beings to have pleasure, to have joy. ¶

They have tried every avenue available to man to satisfy that urge. ¶

I suppose that the vast majority of people have felt that if they could accumulate a lot of wealth, then with that money they could buy anything they desired. In other words, they believe that an abundant life, a fulness of joy could be purchased with that wealth. Numerous people have struggled diligently to accumulate wealth, with the result that many of them have become exceedingly rich. Some of them have actually worshiped mammon. ¶

(Matt. 6:24; 19:17-26; Luke 16:8-14; 12:15-23.) Doubtless these people found that that wealth brought additional problems, troubles, and sometimes additional sins. In most cases such wealth and the love for it brought additional sorrow. They have found to their great regret that as the Savior said, "... a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth." ¶

(Luke 12:15.) I recognize the fact that the possession of a certain amount of money is good. ¶

The Lord wants us to have a certain amount of the material things; but in modern revelation he condemned in strong terms the selfish rich man, as well as the greedy poor man. (D. & C. ¶

56:16-17.) Other people have felt that they could satisfy that urge for happiness by indulging all of their physical appetites; for example, even some Latter-day Saints have felt that they could satisfy that inner urge for happiness by breaking the Word of Wisdom — by satisfying their appetite for tea, coffee, tobacco, and liquor. Certainly many of them found that those things did not increase their joy. They cut off many of their opportunities for an abundant life, and especially is that true in the case of using alcohol. The devil has found no better tool to bring about poverty, misery, and divorce, and even to lead one into gross sins, than the use of alcohol. ¶

Others have felt that by indulging their sexual emotions, by committing adultery, they could satisfy that inward urge for happiness. It is my opinion that such self-indulgent people, without any exception, find to their regret and chagrin that sin never is happiness. ¶

They have found that adulterers become very unhappy in this life, casting from themselves the Spirit of God, and, as the Savior said, their final status will be to be " . . . cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God . . . " ¶

with the other sinners. (Ibid., 76:103107; 63:16-18.) If we cannot find the abundant life and complete happiness in the realm of the physical, wherein lies the basis of happiness? In the first place, I would say that happiness comes from within, and not from without. As the good book says, "... as he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he." ¶

(Proverbs 23:7.) I shall paraphrase that statement by saying, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so shall his joy become." We control our happiness from within by our thoughts and actions. ¶

People can be happy without an abundance of material things, even living under the most meager circumstances, if they will abide by the laws which bring about happiness. ¶

Now I would like to point out some of the laws upon which happiness is based, although I will not have time to point out all of them. I will suggest, first, as Brother Isaacson has just explained, that we must have faith if we are to be happy. We must have faith in God the eternal Father: that he is actually and literally the Father of our spirits; that he loves us abundantly; and that he controls within his hands, so to speak, the destiny of man and of nations. We must have faith that all will go well under his divine directorship; and that his divine plan will ultimately be fulfilled. ¶

We must have faith in Jesus Christ: faith that he is our Lord, our Master, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Advocate with the Father. We must have faith that through the atoning blood which he spilled, he gave us immortality. We will rise from the grave; we will live again. ¶

Also, we must have faith in the gospel plan of salvation which he proclaimed and an assurance that if we render obedience to that gospel plan we shall come back into the presence of God and receive a glorious exaltation and a fulness of joy. ¶

We must have faith in our fellow men. ¶

We must have faith in ourselves: faith that we can accomplish the things which we righteously take into our hearts to accomplish. I know that we may meet many disappointments; but if we are to be happy, we cannot take them too seriously. We must take them, so to speak, on the chin, and then with faith in our hearts continue forward. ¶

Along with that faith, we must have courage — courage to meet the world with all of its perplexing problems from day to day. We must do away with all fear that is within our hearts. Fear is a destroyer of happiness. It confuses the mind. It brings about many distresses. ¶

We must remember and do as God told Joshua: "... Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest." (Joshua 1:9.) That is my faith. ¶

I believe, also, that another basic root of happiness is good health. It is quite essential to a fulness of joy. ¶

God has blessed us with good health, and it is our job to live in such a way as to maintain that health that we may have an abundance of joy continuously. ¶

I know there are some people who are handicapped with poor health, and they are still able to control their thoughts and minds in such a way that they still experience a great amount of joy. However, it is far easier to experience a fulness of joy if our health is good. ¶

I believe that one of the basic roots of happiness is work. When God gave Adam the commandment that he should earn his bread by the sweat of his face, and also proclaimed that the noxious weeds and other similar things that were placed upon the earth, and the troubles that we meet, are here for our own good, God proclaimed a great truth. I know of no thing which gives more joy to our hearts than to have a job that we like, and to do that job efficiently and well. An indescribable amount of peace and satisfaction comes into one's heart through work well done. ¶

President McKay yesterday mentioned one very definite item basic to happiness. It is service. Joy comes as a result of serving our fellow men. We serve our God through service to his children. There is nothing sweeter in all the world than the spiritual blessings which come to us as the result of service, as the result of losing our lives for the Master's sake, with the promise that someday we shall receive eternal life. ¶

The last basic item that I will mention— and it is rather inclusive and a very large one, if we are to be happy today, tomorrow, next week, continuously, and eternally — is: We must keep all of God's commandments. In other words, we must render obedience to "... every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God." (D. & C. ¶

84:44.) You and I have joined the true Church of Jesus Christ. We have taken upon ourselves the name of the Master and have entered into a covenant to keep all of his commandments. ¶

The Savior came into this world, according to his own statement, to give us life more abundantly — in other words, that we might have joy, an abundance of joy, a continuance of joy. ¶

Thus it is essential that we follow the pathway which the Son of Man marked out for us if we are to receive that abundant life which is a fulness of joy. ¶

We must learn to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, might, mind, and strength. (Matt. 22:37-38.) We must abide by that Golden Rule (ibid., 7:12) and learn to love our neighbors as ourselves. {Ibid., 22:39.) In this way, and in this way only, shall we have a fulness of joy. ¶

There is no other road. ¶

The night before the Savior's crucifixion, he said to his Apostles, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." (John 14:27.) It is the peace that comes through the Spirit of Jesus Christ; it is the light of Christ that enters into our hearts, that gives us a joy — as the prophets have proclaimed— " . . . which passeth all understanding. ..." (Philippians 4:7.) Also, in addition to the Spirit of Christ, we have received the Holy Ghost, a Comforter, to comfort us in time of distress. This Comforter brings a Godly peace into our hearts. ¶

So again I will say, my dear brothers and sisters, God has placed within your hands and my hands, as members of his kingdom, the way to find joy, the way of life, the way of life more abundantly. I do humbly ask him to bless you and me, that we will keep all of the commandments, that we will abide by all of the laws basic to happiness. May we make effective in our lives Lehi's statement that "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25.) And this I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶