"I am happy today for the sunshine,
For the skies of gray or blue
For within my heart is the song of life,
I’ll live, I’ll work, I’ll do!"
Those are words to a song that I used to sing to my young children when they were grumpy. Memory says it eliminated their grumpiness, but I cannot really vouch for that. When I thought of speaking about happiness today, I thought of that song sung so many years ago, but I was not really sure of the words so I went online and found them posted in 2016 by a woman who I think must be LDS. She said “I awoke this morning to brilliant sunshine and a song from my childhood popped into my head. We sang it in church, and it had a catchy little tune, but the lyrics are actually pretty impactful. After all these many, many years, I still remember them. I started to really think about what I am happy about today, now, in the present. This led to the thought that I could challenge myself to think about one thing each day that I am happy about.”
I appreciated your responses to the questions on the devotional discussion board. You will find as you participate in my presentation today you will recognize some of the scriptures, activities, and attitudes you mentioned that make you happy are included.
It is true there are many things in life that make us happy, where we have skies of blue—things such as an A on a research paper on which a lot of time and effort have been expended; surviving white glove day when your apartment has been checked; having enough food in your apartment to survive another day; getting a letter from Mom and Dad with cash in it; and yes, scoring a date with that boy or girl you were eyeing at church on Sunday.
And as the lyrics to the song say, “I am happy for skies of gray,” even when the research paper gets a D instead of an A, the oven was not clean enough for white glove approval, food got pretty skimpy before pay day arrived, mailbox was empty, and when finally meeting the cute girl or boy—learned already engaged.
Brother Matthew O. Richardson, BYU Advancement Vice President, spoke in a BYU-Idaho devotional on February 21, 2017, and related the following experience which I have condensed:
Of all the hundreds of papers, quizzes, and exams from his undergraduate degree, he held in his hand the only thing he saved from his entire undergraduate experience. It was a Chemistry 105 exam. After retrieving the exam he quickly glanced at it and saw the number 76 scrawled across the top in red pen. He felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He started thinking that obviously he wasn't smart enough to be at a university. He pulled the dreaded exam from his backpack, hoping that he somehow read the score incorrectly. But sure enough, that red 76 was still there. But then he saw something he hadn't noticed before. His heart raced when he saw a tiny minus sign. He didn't get a 76 on this exam; he missed 76! And sure enough, in the corner was the number 24.
Why did he save that particular exam as his only memento of his undergraduate academic experience? It is because this experience impacted and shaped him in significant ways. He remembers that every storm will eventually break if you just hold on long enough. Even as the next stanza to my opening lyrics says, “No cloud can cast a shadow over courage such as mine, so I’ll sing my song as I go along, I’ll live, I’ll work, I’ll do!”
When I was first thinking of a definition for happiness I thought of love, but in my searching what the prophets have said about happiness the term love is not used a lot. However, a quick story about two of my granddaughters, one who just graduated from BYU-Idaho and one a freshman art major, who, by the way, says that clay under her fingernails from her ceramics class makes her happy.
They have made me happy as they have stopped by my office to say hello. With their hello there is always a hug and “I love you”; when they leave after a few minutes of sharing what is happening in their life, there is always a hug and “I love you.” I know a lot of parents’ parting words to their children as they leave for the day are, “Remember who you are.” The parting words of these granddaughters’ mom are “I love you,” administered with a hug. What a great way to start a happy day.
In 2 Nephi 5:27, Nephi states his followers lived “after the manner of happiness.” To learn what they did to create this manner of happiness I will reference verses in chapter 5. And rather than post them, please open your Book of Mormon to 2 Nephi 5 and follow along with me. In chapter 4 Lehi died, and in chapter 5 we find Nephi beginning with verse 1 “crying much unto the Lord my God, because of the anger of my brethren. But behold, their anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.” Skip to verse 5: “And it came to pass that the Lord did warn me, that I, Nephi should depart from them and flee into the wilderness, and all those who would go with me. Wherefore, it came to pass that I, Nephi, did take my family, and also Zoram and his family, and Sam, mine elder brother and his family, and Jacob and Joseph, my younger brethren, and also my sisters, and all those who would go with me. And all those who would go with me were those who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; wherefore, they did hearken unto my words.” Through these verses we learn Nephi sought guidance from the Lord to know what he should do to ensure safety for his family members and close friends. Prayer and family were an important component in their being able to live “after the manner of happiness.”
If we then go to verse 10, we read that “we did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things.” This is a big one. Joseph Smith said:
"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. But we cannot keep all the commandments without first knowing them, and we cannot expect to know all, or more than we now know unless we comply with or keep those we have already received. In obedience there is joy and peace unspotted, unalloyed; and as God has designed our happiness . . . He never has—He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed, and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of His law and ordinances."2
The more faithfully we keep the commandments of God, the happier we will generally be.
Each of the prophets has addressed the issue of keeping all the commandments in order to achieve true happiness. Brigham Young said, “We are all searching for happiness; we hope for it, we think we live for it, it is our aim in this life. But do we live so as to enjoy the happiness we so much desire? There is only one way for Latter-day Saints to be happy, which is simply to live their religion, or in other words believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ in every part . . . Where is happiness, real happiness? Nowhere but in God.”3
President Russell M. Nelson has said, “When the focus of our lives is on Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.”4
In verse 12 we learn that Nephi “had also brought the records which were engraven upon the plates of brass; and also the ball, or compass, which was prepared for my father by the hand of the Lord, according to that which is written.” Verse 13 gives the result of their “observing to keep the commandments of the Lord in all things.” It reads, “And it came to pass that we began to prosper exceedingly, and to multiply in the land.” Do you not think they prospered because they kept the commandments? This can be true in each of our endeavors, whether it be academically, economically, or in our family relationships.
We are encouraged to study the scriptures and liken them to us. The Come Follow Me curriculum has been a great aid in studying the scriptures more carefully. If we liken the scriptures to our personal lives, we will find answers to questions and dilemmas that we have and also have a greater understanding of the workings of the Lord in our behalf.
Verse 14 talks about preparedness. “And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us.” We, too, have to prepare for the enemy, that is Satan and the many spirits he commands to destroy us. Nephi prepared weapons for a physical battle. We need to put on the armor of God and follow the prophet, that is walk the covenant path, to have a spiritual win. But we have also been admonished by the prophets to prepare for natural disasters or other disasters such as unemployment, major health problems, a power outage, a pandemic, a major fire, weather disruption, etc., by having a food supply, first aid kit, and anything else which are necessities in life.
Now beginning with verse 15, “I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work.” Stop there and skip to verse 17, “I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands.” President David O. McKay said, “Learn to like your work. Learn to say, ‘This is my work, my glory, not my doom.’” He also said, “Next to health as a means of giving happiness I think I would name work. That is why Latter-day Saints are so happy. They have so much to do they have no time to think of their troubles, but better than that, they are thinking of others. They are not seeking happiness, but when they give others joy, happiness is their reward.”5
In verse 16, Nephi mentions he did build a temple. If you attend the temple, you know its value in creating a feeling of happiness. So, as Nephi’s colony lived after “the manner of happiness” they had family, scriptures, a temple, were industrious, and kept the commandments which all contributed to their living after the manner of happiness.
One of my sons commented that what made him happy as a teenager is not what makes him happy now. Family and service are more important. He is not as self-centered. President Hinckley said, “Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others.”6 President Spencer W. Kimball said, “When we are asked why we are such a happy people, our answer is: ‘Because we have everything – life with all its opportunities, death without fear, eternal life with endless growth and development.’”7 He also said, “Let us not try to escape our work or shirk our responsibility. Let us ask ourselves each morning, ‘What is my work today?’ . . . Let us lay hold on happiness today.” 8
President McKay had a whole chapter on happiness in The Teachings of David O. McKay. There were some great one-liners: “Happiness springs from within.”9
“The first condition of happiness is a clear conscience. The second . . . is a sense of freedom. A third . . . the confidence of self-mastery. He said the grand key if you would be happy, obey the principles of the gospel,”10 which many of you mentioned on the devotional discussion board.
President George Albert Smith said, “The Lord wants us to be happy. That is why He gave us the gospel of Jesus Christ . . . why He conferred the priesthood upon us . . . why He organized this church. . . if you will follow the leadership of the Lord, and those whom the Lord sustains, you will not fall away into darkness, lose the light, transgress the laws of God, and forfeit your privileges that He is so anxious that all of us should enjoy.”11 The privileges the Lord does not want us to forfeit were emphasized in Brother Ahmad S. Corbitt’s devotional address last week when he spoke of the glorious promises which transport many of us back to the highest rooms of the holy temple but will be fulfilled for all the faithful in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom.
President David O. McKay asked the question “Wherein does the secret of happiness lie?” Then he answered, “The Savior gives us the key to it when He says: ‘The kingdom of God is within you. The power is within man to choose the right or to choose the wrong. Happiness is not an external condition; it is a state of the spirit and an attitude of the mind.”12 State of the spirit and attitude of the mind were mentioned several times on the devotional discussion board.
I had never thought of what I was taking home to God, but this is what President McKay said:
There is something we can take home to God, in achieving which we find true happiness, and that is character—what you have made of yourself during this mortal existence. Character—it may be weak; it may be strong. You must decide, but whatever you make it during the twenty, thirty, fifty, seventy, eighty, one hundred years that you spend here will be what you take back there. Character and the service you have rendered will determine your position and place in the next world.13
I guess I would be remiss if I did not mention how the world thinks money makes us happy.
John Taylor said, “It is a mistaken notion that wealth makes people happy. . . . The scriptures tell us that he that hath eternal life is rich; and the Lord has told us to seek after the riches of eternal life.”14
President James E. Faust, second counselor to President Gordon B. Hinckley, in an article entitled “Our Search for Happiness” stated, “The relationship of money to happiness is at best questionable.” He quoted from The Wall Street Journal: “Money is an article that may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven, and as a universal provider of everything except happiness.”15
Most of the prophets I read did not want one to think that accumulating wealth was a bad thing, but they emphasized that how that wealth was used would determine one’s happiness. President George Albert Smith said, “No matter how much you may give in money, no matter how you may desire the things of this world to make yourselves happy, your happiness will be in proportion to your charity and to your kindness and to your love to those with whom you associate here on earth.”16
Now turn to Mosiah 2:41 where King Benjamin is addressing his people: “I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; 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. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.”
It is my sincere and humble prayer that we all will decide to be happy in our mortal state, that as we wake up each morning, we will say to ourselves, “Today I am happy for (you fill in the blank),” and do as President Kimball asked us to do. “Let us ask ourselves each morning, ‘What is my work today?’ . . . Let us lay hold on happiness today by keeping the commandments.”
I am grateful to a loving Father in Heaven who is concerned about each of us, and who wants us to merit never-ending happiness dwelling with Him. I am grateful for the plan of happiness and for prophets, beginning with Joseph Smith, who instruct us in following the covenant path. I am grateful for a friend and brother in our Redeemer Jesus Christ. I know we belong to the true Church of Jesus Christ, and I leave this message with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
1 “Happiness,” The Primary Song Book, 1905, 1939 ed.
2 Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith’s Teachings, eds. Donald Q. Cannon and Larry E. Dahl, Deseret Book Company, 2015, 310-311.
3 Discourses of Brigham Young, ed. John A. Widtsoe, 1998, 236.
4 Russell M. Nelson, “Joy and Spiritual Survival,” Ensign, Nov 2016.
5 David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, Selections from the Discourses of David O. McKay, 1998, 497.
6 Gordon B. Hinckley, “Forget Yourself,” BYU devotional, Mar 6, 1977.
7 The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball, 1998, 159.
8 Ibid, 171
9 McKay, 492.
10 Ibid, 498.
11 The Teachings of George Albert Smith, eds. Robert and Susan McIntosh, 1998, 71.
12 McKay, 495.
13 “The Church Section,” The Deseret News, August 8, 1951.
14 The Gospel Kingdom, Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor, ed. G. Homer Durham, 1998, 266.
15 James E. Faust, “Our Search for Happiness,” Ensign, Oct 2000.
16 McIntosh, 14