(Delivered 20 Oct 2012)
You may be familiar with a story
in which a supercilious, self-absorbed, sour weatherman finds himself trapped
in a town he hates, repeating the same day over and over again. Trying to come
to grips with the situation, the man descends into the fullest expressions of
his selfishness. He gossips, seduces, pranks, overeats, steals, and
thrill-seeks. However, his entire existence is ephemeral and fleeting; the
events of the day before fade away with each new sunrise like morning dew[1].
Exulting at first in what appears to be a life of no consequence, this
perpetually pointless existence sends him into a downward spiral. At last,
hitting rock bottom, he gives up on life itself. However, even suicide provides
no way out; each day he continues to wake to the same music and the same day.
The weatherman’s rise from the
ashes is far more inspiring. The character changes his focus, and pursues
activities in which we see that although the external remains unaffected, the
weatherman himself is changing. With more positive choices being made, he grows
into a very different person. He learns how to play piano, how to sculpt ice,
and to speak fluent French. His actions increasingly consider others and their
needs. After a long period, his “perfect day arrives”; he catches a child
falling from a tree, changes a car tyre for some elderly ladies, saves a man
from choking, gives the perfect speech regarding Groundhog Day for his weather
report, provides tickets to a wrestling match for some newlywed fans, and lives
in such a way that the woman he loves sees him in a whole new light. The change
complete and the process finished, he wakes the next morning to a new day in
which every action of the day before not only affects him, but the world as a
whole, and the time loop is ended.
Early in the restoration, the
Doctrine and Covenants records a number of instances where people were seeking
to know what would be of the most worth for them to do[2].
My remarks today focus on this question.
Like the weatherman in the story,
the world we live in is short-sighted and selfish. It believes in what Elder
Maxwell referred to as the Korihor conclusions, namely: that you can only know
of things that you can see; every man fares in this life according to the
management of the creature; every man prospers according to his genius; every
man conquers according to his strength; whatsoever a man does is no crime; when
a man is dead, that is the end thereof; and that there would be no Christ[3].
It is the philosophy of, ‘…eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die’[4].
It is a foolish belief that good and evil are relative rather than absolute,
and can be adjusted on the basis of personal preference or legal writ[5].
Of this, one writer stated:
…If God is
a socially conscious political being whose views invariably correspond to our
own prejudices on every essential point of doctrine, he demands of us no more
than our politics require. [H]ow would our worship of [this kind of being]
constitute more than self-congratulation for our own moral standards? As an
atheist, I like this God. It is good to see him every morning while I am
shaving.[6]
The world likewise denies the
reality or places restrictions on an all-powerful and all-wise God[7],
enshrines the self as a large though hollow idol, and embraces the pursuit of
pleasure – theatromania – as the only
worthy purpose for life while it lasts[8].
A Japanese thinker put it this way, referring to the pleasure-centric
civilization in which we live:
If there is
nothing beyond death, then what is wrong with giving oneself wholly to pleasure
in the short time one has left to live? The loss of faith in the ‘other world’
has saddled modern Western society with a fatal moral problem.[9]
Perhaps you are wondering now if
I am about to say that pleasure is a bad thing. It is not. However, it is
important to differentiate between pleasure and happiness. God’s plan allows
that happiness is predicated upon obedience to God’s will[10].
Furthermore, since we are that we might have joy, some pleasure is involved in
happiness. But God has also set bounds on what we should and should not do,
including our pleasures. Since some pleasures fall outside of the Lord’s
boundaries, it is clear that the Devil uses pleasure as a tool to entice and
ultimately destroy. In the guise of a senior devil writing to his younger
nephew, C.S. Lewis wrote most insightfully:
Never
forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and
satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's ground. I know we have won
many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He
made the pleasures; all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one.
All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy
has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.[11]
This fictional devil delivers
another terrible truth when he says of the downfall of an individual, ‘An ever
increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula’[12].
While we inherently understand this is the case for hard drugs, for example, it
is also true of softer drugs and substances like coffee, tobacco, and sugar. It
is true of carnality, pornography, and reckless thrill-seeking. This is not an
exhaustive list! Satan’s interest in the use of pleasure is to distract, demean
and enslave. Our addiction-laden society groans under the burdens of
overeating, cravings for constant entertainment, and terrible pornography.
These instant gratifications come with long mortgages. Addictions are debts
that we can do without. Such things are not of most worth; in fact, they are of
no worth. Of them, the scriptures warn us:
Wherefore,
do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which
cannot satisfy. Hearken diligently unto me, and remember the words which I have
spoken; and come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which
perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness.[13]
Every worldly pleasure turns out
to be nothing more than an abuse of something that the Lord has given to us and
ordained a proper use for. After all, the fulness of the earth is ours,
…yea, all
things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, and made for the benefit
and use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; yea, for food
and raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and enliven the
soul.[14]
Interestingly, though, even this
scripture adds a further note that although these things have been given to us,
they are not to be used to excess or by extortion. Rather, they are to be used
with judgment.
Indulgence and excess cause
individuals and society to lose the foundation and security that comes from
staying close to Christ. When morals lose their anchor, society drifts from
safe harbours and into the squalls of sin. Since the world has embraced the
tempests of immorality, indulgence and indolence, we must be increasingly
careful not to find ourselves outside of the ark of the gospel. Otherwise, as
in Lehi’s dream, we will be drown in the depths of sin[15].
King Benjamin warned his people,
‘I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are
divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them’[16].
He also exhorted the people to:
…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.[17]
Thus we see that if we desire it
there is a way to live after the manner of happiness[18].
Happiness is a purpose of our existence, and is of great worth. Importantly,
living without God in the world is ‘contrary to the nature of happiness’[19].
The happiness reserved for us in heaven is the greatest happiness that we can
ever experience, described as being a fullness. Such happiness is the blessing
for doing those things that are of the most worth.
We come now to the idea of worth.
When something is of worth, it is of equal value to something. For example, we
might climb a mountain and survey the scene from its peak, exclaiming that the
climb was worth the view. Contrariwise, we might spend a small fortune to eat
at a restaurant, and ultimately decide that the meal was not worth the price
paid. When we speak of doing those things of most worth, we are considering the
best return on our efforts in this mortal probationary state. God has promised
all that He has to those who will come unto Him and serve Him. We will never
get a better deal.
King Lamoni’s father understood
the value of what God offers us. After being taught by Aaron, he asked:
What shall
I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what
shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of
my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may
not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I
possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.[20]
Following this, the king
exercised his faith and prayed to God. He confessed not only a willingness to
give up his temporal possessions, but – far more importantly – a willingness to
give away all his sins. The king was overcome by the Spirit, gained a firm
testimony, and served God the rest of his days.
We, like the king, will find that
it is the small and simple things that we do each day that can be of the most
worth, simply because they bring us to God and the fulness of his blessings. We
should do those things today which bless all of our tomorrows[21].
Connected to worth, then, is
worthiness. Indeed, the words come from the same place. Our worthiness is a
measure of how our actions and desires meet the value required by God for his
greatest blessings. Activities of personal worthiness, therefore, are the
things that are of most worth to us.
The minimum standards of
worthiness that we are all to strive for are to qualify for a temple recommend.
Whether or not temple attendance is possible for you, be worthy of and hold a
valid temple recommend. If you are not yet worthy, you can be. Counsel with the
Lord and with the branch president. If you are worthy of and hold a temple
recommend, strive to exceed those minimum standards in every regard. Remember
that your attitude to worthiness is indicative of your attitude to worth – both
of what the Lord offers, and of how much you value yourself. On how we value
ourselves, Paul wrote, ‘For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us’[22].
Finally, make sacrifices to go to the temple. In that Holy House you will see
more clearly the worth of your soul in the sight of God, and the worth of his
blessings to you. In the temple you can be endowed with power and bound to the
Lord.
Beyond the temple walls, though,
some have wondered at the ordinariness of a normal life. Like the story with
the weatherman that we started with, we may wonder at times whether anything we
do is really making any impact. We may even feel that the grand events
seemingly required to learn to be like Christ are simply beyond our present
situation. Day to day can feel so very pedestrian, where we repeat the same
activities over and over again and get lost in the mundane.
There is a story of an African
farmer who heard from a wise man about diamonds, “The wise man said, "If
you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you
had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country.”
The farmer had been happy, but now found himself unhappy, because he had no
diamonds. He sold his farm and went looking for diamonds. He never found any.
In the meanwhile, the new owner
of the farm found a sparkling stone in the stream on the property. He took the
stone home and put it on his mantelpiece. When the wise man visited the farm
again, he saw the stone and told the new owner that it was a diamond. The two
of them went out to the stream, and, now knowing what to look for, the owner
realised that his property was covered with acres and acres of diamonds[23].
Our own
lives are filled with a wealth of opportunities to do those things of most
worth. We do not need to travel far to find diamonds – they are at home and around
us. We do not need to go to a far country. We need not be the strongest, the
smartest, or the most charismatic. Like the weatherman in the earlier story, we
could face the same today in a myriad of ways, doing many different things.
Give God credit for His perfect plan[24].
Since the worth of souls is great in the sight of God[25],
and his work and glory consist in our eternal happiness[26],
it follows that His plan includes sufficient learning and serving and growing
experiences for each of us without any requirement for a life less ordinary[27].
Truly, by small and simple things can great things come to pass[28],
and in seeming ordinariness can be found the path to perfection. The Lord says
simply, ‘The labourer is worthy of his reward[29].
We can trust His word, so the
best thing to do – that which is of most worth – is simply to do the Lord’s work.
The voice of warning declares to us, ‘He that is slothful shall not be counted
worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty … shall not be counted worthy
to stand’[30]. Paul
desired that the saints ‘…might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,
being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God’[31].
The Lord wants us to do His work with all of our might and strength, but also
with all our mind and heart[32].
This is not out of any personal need that the Lord has for our imperfect and
clumsy efforts; rather, He wants us to serve Him because it is the prelude to
His blessing us[33].
Personal worthiness comes as we
earnestly strive to live so that we are in harmony with God. Through such an
approach to day-to-day life we can genuinely and powerfully have the
companionship of the Spirit with us. And, as Nephi taught, ‘…the Holy Ghost …
will show unto you all things what ye should do’[34].
Our own journey in mortality may
reflect, somewhat, the story of the weatherman from earlier in this address. We
may begin unaware of the consequences in ourselves of our daily actions, pursue
pleasure rather than happiness, and come to feel the emptiness of an existence
without God. Then, as our focus changes from introverted-selfishness to extroverted-selflessness,
and as we bridle our passions within the bounds that the Lord has set, we come
to see the rich experience that the Lord has prepared for us here. We also can
sense the wonderful world that is to come, following a life well lived. Whether
or not that is a fair analogue of our experience, making God’s priorities our
own will put us on the path of happiness and meaning. Malcolm Muggeridge put it
this way:
When I look
back on my life nowadays, which I sometimes do, what strikes me most forcibly
about it is that what seemed at the time most significant and seductive, seems
now futile and absurd. For instance, success in all of its various guises;
being known and being praised, ostensible pleasures, like acquiring money or
seducing women, or traveling, going to and fro in the world and up and down in
it like Satan, exploring and experiencing whatever Vanity Fair has to offer. In
retrospect all these exercises in self-gratification seem pure fantasy, what
Pascal called "licking the earth." They are diversions designed to
distract in this world, which is, quite simply, to look for God, and, in
looking, to find Him, and, having found Him, to love Him, thereby establishing
a harmonious relationship with His purposes for His creation.[35]
I bear you my testimony, that for
so long as you desire and work at worthiness, the Lord’s arm is stretched out
to guide and strengthen you[36].
For so long as you draw near unto Him, He will bless you with those blessings
reserved for the righteous[37].
With God, nothing is impossible[38].
I pray the Lord will help you to give away all that stands in the way of the
treasures He prepares for you[39].
[1] C.f.
Isaiah 29:8; Hosea 6:4.
[2] D&C
15, 16.
[3]
Alma 30:13, 15-17.
[4] 2
Nephi 28:7.
[5]
Isaiah 5:20.
[6]
Eugene D. Genovese, "Pilgrim's Progress," The New Republic, 11 May 1992, p. 38
[7] 2
Nephi 28:5.
[8] 2
Peter 3:3.
[9]
Neal A Maxwell, “The Seventh Commandment: A Shield”, Ensign Oct 2001, <
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2001/10/the-seventh-commandment-a-shield?lang=eng>.
[10]
D&C 130:20-31; Mosiah 2:41.
[11]
C.S. Lewis, “The Screwtape Letters”, cited in <
http://linesfromthepage.blogspot.com.au/2010/03/screwtape-letters-by-c-s-lewis.html>.
[12]
C.S. Lewis, “The Screwtape Letters”, cited in <
http://www.quoteboards.org/tag/screwtape-letters/>.
[13] 2
Nephi 9:51.
[14]
D&C 59:16-19.
[15] 1
Nephi 8:32.
[16] Mosiah
4:29.
[17]
Mosiah 2:41.
[18] 2
Nephi 5:27.
[19]
Alma 41:11.
[20]
Alma 22:15.
[21]
Ralph Marston, <
http://www.searchquotes.com/quotation/What_you_do_today_can_improve_all_your_tomorrows./147632/>.
[22]
Romans 8:18
[23]
Found at < http://www.citehr.com/48074-inspirational-motivational-story-acres-daimonds.html>.
[24]
Moses 1:39.
[25]
D&C 18:10.
[26]
Moses 1:39; c.f. D&C 93:33.
[27] C.f.
Alma 29:3.
[28]
Alma 37:6.
[29] 1
Timothy 5:18.
[30]
D&C 107:100.
[31]
Colossians 1:10.
[32]
D&C 4:2.
[33]
D&C 82:10.
[34] 2
Nephi 32:5.
[35] Thomas
Nelson, A Twentieth Century Testimony (New York, 1978)
[36]
D&C 35:8.
[37]
D&C 88:63.
[38]
Luke 1:37.
[39]
John 14:2.
