A Higher Point of View

There's a humorous skit about a woman who visits a fortune teller to decide whether she should change careers. "The crystal ball says it would be boring," the fortune teller reports. "But," he adds, "it could be fun though."

The woman then asks about her upcoming vacation. As the fortune teller gazes into the crystal ball with horror, he reports that it will be a total disaster that will leave her lonely and crying. "But," he concludes again, "it could be fun though."

"How could that be fun?!" the woman asks.

"Anything can be fun," comes the reply. "It's all perspective really."

"Anything could be bad, too," the woman countered.

"It could be," the fortune teller agreed, "but it could be fun though."

A similar conversation occurred in the family car on the way to church a week or two ago. My wife had commented on what a good year our family has had. My first instinct was to agree. We welcomed a child to the family in April, I got a big promotion at work, we had a lot of fun traveling to new places and things seemed to be going well. It had certainly been a good year.

As I thought a little more, I paused. Yes, a lot of good things had happened, but some bad things happened, too. Our county experienced a catastrophic wildfire, flooding on two separate occasions and snow events that knocked out power. Some extended family turmoil persisted, there were months with more demands than we could meet and days when we just seemed out of sync. There were illnesses and injuries and world events that added to a pile of evidence that could convince any jury we'd just had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year.

Our perceptions can have dramatic effects on our spirituality and happiness. When I saw the world with my wife's sense of optimism, I experienced a sense of gratitude that was encouraging and uplifting. As doubts came, my hope diminished and I began to relive the stress and burdensome weight of life's difficult experiences.

Of course, we will all have hard days. We will all have questions or doubts at times, including some regarding our faith. The perspective we allow to prevail in our thoughts and attitudes will ultimately affect our actions and the happiness we choose to allow into our lives.

The Lord assures us that "my ways [are] higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:5-9). When it gets hard to see the bright side, the Lord encourages us to continue to act in faith, doing the things we already know he would want us to do; try to examine issues and situations with his eternal perspective; and then seek for truth in divinely-appointed sources including the Holy Scriptures and through prayer.

The Lord taught through the Apostle Paul:

Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God... Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God (2 Corinthians 2:5, 9-11).

The Lord is able to help us see the world from a higher point of view if we are willing to sincerely seek after his truth. This allows us to reframe our questions and view our lives based on the Lord's standard of truth rather than accepting the world's premises or assumptions. In the context of the plan of salvation and the teachings of the Savior, for example, death is not the end of our existence, love does not justify sin and faith without works is dead. Through the lens of the gospel, we can find comfort at the passing of a loved one, courage to act on an impression and the gratitude and warmth of God's love as we remain true to the commandments he has given us.

This higher perspective is especially important in the way we view other people. Though we may be frustrated at the driver that cuts us off on the freeway, an arrogant colleague or an unhelpful customer service agent, the Lord sees the great worth and potential in all of us. He sees you and I and those that annoy us equally as "a little lower than the angels", "more precious than fine gold" and his royal heirs "crowned with glory and honour" (Psalms 8:5, Isaiah 13:12, D&C 18:10). One of the great things about the holiday season is that with just a little gratitude, patience and some kindness, we are all able to experience greater joy and peace on earth.

As a new year begins, there are certainly untold triumphs and discouraging setbacks ahead. Some we will be able to control, others will be immune to our influence. It could be the worst ever, but I think it could be fun though.

That They Might Have Joy

The world is increasingly in commotion. There are political upheavals, wars and rumors of wars, personal tragedies, attacks on family values and all kinds of economic woes. One report to the United Nations confirmed that "weather-related disasters such as floods and heatwaves have occurred almost daily in the past decade, almost twice as often as two decades ago... Predictions of more extreme weather in the future almost certainly mean that we will witness a continued upward trend in weather-related disasters in the decades ahead" (Miles, Tom. Article linked).

While nightly news reports increasingly align with Biblical descriptions of "perilous times" when "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places" (2 Timothy 3:1, Matthew 24:7), there are more personal disasters too. Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce; one in five Americans suffers from mental illness; almost a million people declare bankruptcy each year; we are afflicted by debilitating and life-threatening diseases and the suffering of those we love; and more people than ever are having crises of faith that eventually lead to having no faith at all.

President Boyd K. Packer summarized in 2004:

I know of nothing in the history of the Church or in the history of the world to compare with our present circumstances. Nothing happened in Sodom and Gomorrah which exceeds in wickedness and depravity that which surrounds us now.

Words of profanity, vulgarity, and blasphemy are heard everywhere. Unspeakable wickedness and perversion were once hidden in dark places; now they are in the open, even accorded legal protection.

At Sodom and Gomorrah these things were localized. Now they are spread across the world, and they are among us ("One Pure Defense", Feb 6, 2004).

Amid a world of stress, fear, chaos and wickedness, it is easy to become discouraged, worried or hopeless. Yet, the Lord has said that we can experience greater hope and peace in our lives as the prophecies that precede the Second Coming of Christ are fulfilled (Matthew 24:6; D&C 45:35). What's more, he has promised that the righteous in our times will be gathered while "singing with songs of everlasting joy" (D&;C 45:71). How can this be, when our lives are filled with so much suffering, confusion, oppression and difficulty?

The prophet Nephi experienced some of the conditions that are common to our day. As a young man, his father left a life of prosperity to take his family into the wilderness prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. On at least one occasion, the family nearly starved to death. Nephi's rebellious older brothers led wicked lives that led to a great deal of suffering for their family. They frequently fought with Nephi and tried to kill him and their father many times. As his posterity grew, Nephi's people separated into a new nation that took up arms to defend their liberties and their families from the descendants of Nephi's brothers that sought to enslave and destroy them.

Given all he experienced, we could easily expect Nephi to be a mess of a person with myriad mental afflictions worthy of our pity. Instead, Nephi writes that he and his people "lived after the manner of happiness" (2 Nephi 5:27). So what can we learn from Nephi's experience that will help us sing songs of everlasting joy despite the commotion all around us and even, at times, within us?

A further study of Nephi's resilience reveals that at least one source of strength was his unwavering focus on his purpose. The Lord has clearly declared his own mission relative to his children on the earth: "For behold, this is my work and my glory-- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Our purpose within God's larger plan may seem less clear.

Leadership guru Ben Zander has observed that the reason for much of what we do is simply to "make our eyes shine". Shining eyes, he explains, reveal our joy in the journey and our hope for the future. Most of us tend to do things that we think will awaken opportunity in us and those around us.

Nephi said it this way: "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). This is the purpose of our lives on earth: to have joy. Every commandment the Lord has given leads to this outcome. Joy is the reason for multiplying and replenishing the earth and joy is the reason for keeping the Sabbath Day holy. As we learn to better live by the laws that God has given us, we will discover a greater measure of joy in our daily lives.

That, of course, does not mean we'll always be happy. Consider Paul's counsel to the members of the ancient church in Hebrews 12:

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God...

Ye have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin... despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth...

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:1, 2, 4, 6, 11).

None of us would suppose that the Savior was happy to be tortured and killed on the cross at Calvary, yet Paul explicitly states that Christ did so for the joy it brought him. Few of us take pleasure in the difficult challenges we encounter in life or in the humility of correction, but through the exercise of our trials we often grow in wisdom and find the peace that precedes the deepest joy.

Ultimately, like all else that is good in life, true joy is a gift from God predicated upon our ability to have his spirit to be with us. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23). And, like all other gifts from God, he is anxious to share it with us if we will allow it: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11).

Painting by Greg Olson

The Lord illustrated how we can share in his joy in a vision given to Nephi's father, Lehi, and later to Nephi also. In the vision, Lehi was led to a glorious tree filled with the most delicious fruit he had ever tasted. He stated that the fruit was "desirable to make one happy" and that it "filled [his] soul with incredibly great joy" as he ate. The fruit was available to all, but many chose not to approach or left in shame after they had begun to eat.

The Lord explains later that the fruit Lehi saw was symbolic for the Love of God. Elder David A. Bednar has taught, "The greatest manifestation of God's love for His children is the mortal ministry, atoning sacrifice, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit on the tree can be considered a symbol for the blessings of the Savior's Atonement."

Because of the Savior's Atonement, each of us can receive joy as we exercise faith in Him, repent of our sins, make and keep sacred covenants including baptism and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost in our daily lives. Interestingly, and unsurprisingly, as we accomplish our purpose of having joy in this life, we are also attaining God's purpose to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man.

Modern scripture expounds upon the testimony of ancient prophets with prophecies of thunderings, lightnings, tempests, and "the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds" (D&C 88:88-90). It continues, "And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people" (D&C 88:91). Yet, the Lord has promised that we need not be troubled when we see these things going on around us.

Ben Zander has suggested that if we are not finding joy in the goals and activities of our lives, we need only to "move the goalposts". As we turn to the Lord and strive to better live the gospel outlined in the Holy Scriptures-- that is, as we live after the manner of happiness-- our eyes can shine and we can sing the heartfelt songs of everlasting joy even in the darkness and chaos that sometimes surrounds us. This is our purpose here on the earth: that we might have joy.