Tenaciously Happy - It's not Panache

Let me share some of the best advice I have ever received.

I never met the French scientist Louis Pasteur, but when I began my adventure as a missionary, the following words by him were repeated to me until I could never forget them. "Let me tell you," he said, "the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity."

Tenacity: the quality of holding fast; of being characterized by keeping a firm grip; of being persistent.

This phrase embodies a lot of wisdom, but one thing that it taught me is that my duty trumps my desire. Sometimes, I would prefer not to do hard things; I don't have the desire; my circumstances don't make it easy. There are always a miriad of excuses, but duty is something that cannot be excused.

I believe it might be a duty to be happy; to search for knowledge and beauty and find peace.

True, it is a difficult duty at times--we are like water and seek for the path of least resistence--but we can rise above our circumstances; we can choose to shape our own destinies. We can choose to be tenacious, for therein lies our strength. If I am only good when it is easy to be good, if I only forgive those who forgive me, if I am only happy on days that are 75 degrees and sunny, am I truly good, forgiving or happy?



In others' words...
"If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun....Life has never been normal....Humanity...wanted knowledge and beauty now, and would not wait for the suitable moment that never comes....The insects have taken a different line: they have sought first the material welfare and the security of the hive, and presumably they have their reward. Men are different. They propound mathematical theorems in beleaguered cities, conduct metaphysical arguments in condemned cells, make jokes on scaffolds, discuss the last new poem while advancing to the walls of Quebec, and comb their hair at Thermopylae. This is not panache; it is our nature."
- C. S. Lewis

Strait and Narrow

I draw on others' words a lot.  The most useful are those that belong to Jesus Christ or his representatvies.  I've been having a lot of thoughts this week about a certain text from Christ's "Sermon on the Mount."  In Matthew 7:13-14, the Man of Galilee said,

"Enter ye in at the astrait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

A while back a friend of mine taught me to solve the Rubik's cube.  I'll be honest; I never ever would have figured it out by myself.  There are certain patterns that must be followed exactly if you are to solve it.  There's no way of getting around it; you have to move it in the right ways even when it appears not to make sense.   But as long as you follow the patterns, it is the same every time and it goes from chaos to order. 

In the same way, God gives us a "way" to obtain happiness.  Humanity has spent ages searching for this "way."  Jesus Christ declared, quite boldly that the way was strait or strict, and that it was narrow, and that he himself was the way, meaning that he is the example of someone who perfectly follows the "way" and that through him it is possible to follow the "way." 

Heber C. Kimball taught,

"You cannot be happy unless you submit to the law of God, and to the principles of His government. 

"When a person is miserable, wretched, and unhappy in himself, put him in what circumstances you please, and he is wretched still.  If a person is poor, and composes his mind, and calmly submits to the providences of God, he will feel cheerful and hpapy in all circumstances, if he continues to keep the commandments of God." 

Similarly, Marion G. Romney stated,

"These commandments are not arbitrary edicts of a vindictive tyrant.  They but set forth the laws and ordinances which produce--as a matter of cause and effect--peace, success, and happiness."  I like this idea.  I love these others' words.  If we are to treat life as a Rubik's cube that we want to be orderly, we simply have to follow the pattern. 

"We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre:  rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision....Life is not like a river but like a tree....Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good." 

                -C.S. Lewis                                            



The Problem of Pain

Have you ever wondered why life is so hard?  It's true--it is; but it's hard to swallow when you don't understand why.  So many people become pessimistic about pain and suffering because it is so ever-present in our lives.
On the other hand, some of the greatest men and women in history arrived where they did because they had come through their difficulties with this attitude, expressed by Orson F. Whitney.

“The spirit of the gospel is optimistic; it trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things. The opposite or pessimistic spirit drags men down and away from God, looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield obedience. We should honor the Savior’s declaration to be of good cheer."

Orson F. Whitney was born July 1, 1855.  He was, like myself, a missionary in Pennsylvania for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He went on to become a prominent poet and writer, a professor of English and Theology, a senator and, eventually, an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.  

He taught much, during his life, about what C.S. Lewis called "The Problem of Pain," viz. the question of "Why does God allow so much pain and suffering in the world?"

In an article he titled "A Lesson from the Book of Job," he wrote the following:

“To whom do we look, in days of grief and disaster, for help and consolation? … They are men and women who have suffered, and out of their experience in suffering they bring forth the riches of their sympathy and condolences as a blessing to those now in need. Could they do this had they not suffered themselves?
“… Is not this God’s purpose in causing his children to suffer? He wants them to become more like himself. God has suffered far more than man ever did or ever will, and is therefore the great source of sympathy and consolation.”

Two major things characterize the life of Jesus Christ.  One is tribulation. (see Isaiah 53, Mosiah 14)  The other is the invitation, "Come, follow me."  He wants us to live the way He did.  He lived sinlessly, but not effortlessly.  He lived in perfect obedience, but not in perfect comfort.  He lived in hope, but not at rest.

How can we expect to follow Jesus Christ without being subject to sorrow, grief, pain, anguish, and, in short, opposition?  We cannot.  It is part of the great plan of our Father in Heaven. 

 Again, to draw on others' words:

"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted.  It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility.  All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God...and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father...in heaven."  

-Orson F. Whitney                

       

I know that sorrow is a big part of every life that reads this article.  I promise you that I know that it is meant to be so.  We learn and grow because of it.  We follow the example of the only Perfect human being. 

Don't Pray a Lie

Spell-chequers beware:  Mark Twain ahead.  

Mark Twain, widely known as American literature's greatest humorist.  His humor was effective, not merely because of its author's wit, but also because of the depth of his thought.  Most have heard of Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, wherein Twain presents the escapades of the young Missourian boy Huck Finn in his Mississippi bank vernacular. 

What interested me, when I read the book, and, in reality, what makes it the great piece of literature that it is, were the universal and thought-provoking issues delved into by an "unsivilized" Huck. 

How many of us have experienced something like this?

"It made me shiver.  And i about made up my mind to pray, and see if I couldn't try to quit being the kind of boy I was and be better.  So I kneeled down.  But the words wouldn't come, why wouldn't they?  It warn't no use to try and hide it from Him....I knowed very well why they wouldn't come....It was because I was playing double.  I was letting on to give up sin, but away inside of me I was holding on to the biggest one of all.  I was trying to make my mouth say I would do the right thing and the clean thing,...but deep down in me I knowed it was a lie, and He knowed it.  You can't pray a lie--I found that out." 

Have you ever wanted to change?  Have you ever felt that you should be more than you were?  Have you ever felt sorry for something you did?  Or even for something you were?

I know I have. 

C.S. Lewis said, "If we insist on keeping Hell (or even Earth) we shall not see Heaven; if we accept Heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell." 

Lewis had his own experience with these things.  C.S. Lewis is acclaimed as one of the greatest philosophical and literary minds of modern Christianity.  His theologically charged work has inspired millions, among whom I humbly claim membership.  However, he spent a good portion of his life a self-labeled atheist.  He was, in his own words, (silly by his own admission), "angry at God for not existing."  He lived his life as he pleased until his scholarly pursuits lead him to a literally conversion.  Having been a vocal proponent of the non-existence of God, he was, needless to say, humbled.  Nevertheless, he let go of his old life, again in his own words, "kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance to escape."

As hesitant as he may have been at the outset, what he became proves what he taught.  We can change; we must simply let go of the things that stop us from changing. 

I know this to be true because I've changed and am changing.  It's hard!  Terribly hard!  Most of the time I don't like it.  Huck Finn didn't like it.  C.S. Lewis didn't like it.  Saul didn't like it.  It just plain goes against the grain.  But I promise anyone who makes it to the bottom of this lengthy post that you too can change.  As a matter of fact, you need to.  And don't convince yourself otherwise, whoever you may be. 

Take it from others' words.