Is happiness guaranteed? Does it say that anywhere in the Scriptures?
Why do some people find happiness elusive?
Why is it easy for others?
Can we guarantee happiness for ourselves?
If I'm not happy, can I do something about it?
Am I responsible for my own happiness?
My question here is not if the gospel brings happiness. It does. My question here is if we can guarantee happiness for ourselves by living the gospel.
I'm in Alma 42 today, and Alma frames the question quite nicely.
And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.
~Alma 42: 1
In other words, Corianton is worried that our emotional state is the inevitable product of our choices. This works for our purpose, because if sinners get misery, then non-sinners must get happiness.
Sin--->Misery
~Misery---->~Sin
If we're not miserable, we must not be sinning.
Does God mourn? "Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love." says Russell M. Nelson, which leads me to assume that yes, even God mourns. Even Jesus mourned. He wept when Lazarus died, even though he knew that within a manner of minutes Lazarus would be restored and everyone would be happy.
Jesus and God DO NOT mourn because of their own wickedness. They absolutely mourn for the pain that others are experiencing. And I suppose that there is nothing to prevent them from mourning their own pain. Did Jesus weep for himself when the pain from the Atonement became too intense?
Righteousness guarantees PEACE in this life and HAPPINESS in the world to come. If it were not so, GOD WOULD BE AN UNJUST GOD. If he consigns the wicked to a state of misery, to do the same for the righteous would make him a respecter of persons, which we know He is not.
REPENTANCE AND DEATH
For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.
If Adam lived forever, he would have not been able to repent and the great plan of Salvation.
Why is death necessary in order to to repent? Well, for one thing, no death would have meant no Atonement from Jesus Christ. That makes sense, I suppose.
Why do some people find happiness elusive?
Why is it easy for others?
Can we guarantee happiness for ourselves?
If I'm not happy, can I do something about it?
Am I responsible for my own happiness?
My question here is not if the gospel brings happiness. It does. My question here is if we can guarantee happiness for ourselves by living the gospel.
I'm in Alma 42 today, and Alma frames the question quite nicely.
And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand—which is concerning the justice of God in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.
~Alma 42: 1
In other words, Corianton is worried that our emotional state is the inevitable product of our choices. This works for our purpose, because if sinners get misery, then non-sinners must get happiness.
Sin--->Misery
~Misery---->~Sin
If we're not miserable, we must not be sinning.
Does God mourn? "Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love." says Russell M. Nelson, which leads me to assume that yes, even God mourns. Even Jesus mourned. He wept when Lazarus died, even though he knew that within a manner of minutes Lazarus would be restored and everyone would be happy.
Jesus and God DO NOT mourn because of their own wickedness. They absolutely mourn for the pain that others are experiencing. And I suppose that there is nothing to prevent them from mourning their own pain. Did Jesus weep for himself when the pain from the Atonement became too intense?
Righteousness guarantees PEACE in this life and HAPPINESS in the world to come. If it were not so, GOD WOULD BE AN UNJUST GOD. If he consigns the wicked to a state of misery, to do the same for the righteous would make him a respecter of persons, which we know He is not.
REPENTANCE AND DEATH
For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.
If Adam lived forever, he would have not been able to repent and the great plan of Salvation.
Why is death necessary in order to to repent? Well, for one thing, no death would have meant no Atonement from Jesus Christ. That makes sense, I suppose.
- Man gained one characteristic of God, the ability to tell Good from Evil.
- If he had partaken of the tree of life, Man would have gained immortality, another characteristic of God.
- But being a Fallen Being, he would not have had Glory, which is the third characteristic of God.
Thus God subjected man to (2) physical death and (3) spiritual death and gave them a chance to exercise (1) the knowledge of good and evil in order that they might repent.
What would it be like if we gave man 1,2.
Man has the ability to know right from wrong, but lives forever. I don't see why this is a problem. We know God can give people glorified bodies capable of re-entering his presence. (John, Elijah, Alma, Joseph Smith was enabled to endure God's glory, etc, etc.)
I don't understand why death is necessary for repentance.
Russell M. Nelson explains:
Death is the separation of the spirit from the body.
We have a yearning for eternal life. "The only length of life that seems to satisfy the longings of the human heart is life everlasting."
Elder Nelson uses the analogy of a "Return Journey" to explain the necessity of death. Just as birth gives us entry into a physical body, so death guarantees us an exit from our physical body. This justifies death because it makes it a necessary evil. To return to our beloved God we must die. Painful, but worth it.
But the return journey analogy breaks down for me because we do end up seeing God in our bodies again! So death (our spirit leaving our body) is not a necessary pre-condition to seeing God again. Nor is it the only option of getting a new body. Moroni, John, etc.
So why do we need to die in order to repent?
What would it be like if we gave man 1,2.
Man has the ability to know right from wrong, but lives forever. I don't see why this is a problem. We know God can give people glorified bodies capable of re-entering his presence. (John, Elijah, Alma, Joseph Smith was enabled to endure God's glory, etc, etc.)
I don't understand why death is necessary for repentance.
Russell M. Nelson explains:
Death is the separation of the spirit from the body.
We have a yearning for eternal life. "The only length of life that seems to satisfy the longings of the human heart is life everlasting."
Elder Nelson uses the analogy of a "Return Journey" to explain the necessity of death. Just as birth gives us entry into a physical body, so death guarantees us an exit from our physical body. This justifies death because it makes it a necessary evil. To return to our beloved God we must die. Painful, but worth it.
But the return journey analogy breaks down for me because we do end up seeing God in our bodies again! So death (our spirit leaving our body) is not a necessary pre-condition to seeing God again. Nor is it the only option of getting a new body. Moroni, John, etc.
So why do we need to die in order to repent?
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