God “doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world.” (2 Nephi 26:24) Anything that happens is for a reason, and “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Everything he does is to the end of bringing to pass the eternal life of man, maximizing the happiness of man, and preventing as much suffering as possible:
For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)
And moreover, 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. (Mosiah 2:41)
32 And again, the Lord God hath commanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit whoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; <u>for whoso doeth them shall perish.</u>
33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that <u>which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing</u> save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile. (2 Nephi 26)
If this is the case, why are so many people unhappy? Why is there so much suffering? And why will the vast majority of mankind go to hell?
The answers to these questions are found in two words: constraints and consequences.
A constraint is an inalterable piece of a problem. For example, if you have a maze where the objective is to connect the start point to the end point, the maze is constrained by your inability to pass through the walls. Consequences are the effects that follow from causes.
Understanding constraints and consequences is as critical to acquiring increased light and truth as knowing the layout and dimensions of a room is to furnishing it. Increasing light and truth requires increasing your awareness of constraints and consequences.
Constraints from reality
The Lord said:
24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
25 And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.
26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;
27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.
28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.
29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. 30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. (D&C 93)
Truth is things as they are. God knows all truth, but he does not create it. It is not created. Truth is independent, pre-existent, and infinite.
God is God because he conforms to truth. He received truth and glory— which means it existed before he did. He did it through a process where he iteratively acquired a greater awareness and then reconciled it to the increased light he received. We will become like him inasmuch as we do the same.
One example of how the Lord conformed to truth was provided when he was baptized by John. They both realized that John was unworthy of the task, yet the Lord indicated that he was submitting to principles beyond his ability to influence:
14 But John [declined baptizing Jesus], saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. (Matthew 3)
Truth is not things as we wish they were. God himself is both empowered and constrained by his submission to truth. When the Lord says “it must needs be done in mine own way” (D&C 104:16), it is not because of some arbitrary preference he might have. It is because there is no other way.
We are also empowered and constrained by our submission to truth. In our case, all truth we have access to comes through him, because he has already obtained it, and is the source of it to us. The gospel is the mechanism whereby we can obtain it.
We must embrace reality. We don’t get to decide which rules we will play by. Reality does not care how we feel about the rules. They just are.
We are told that “...when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:21) Another way of saying this is “every outcome is a consequence of predetermined conditions” or “everything that happens is a result of predetermined conditions.”
In mortality, we can either choose to learn the rules and play the game, or we choose to lose, and suffer all the while without understanding why.
We don’t get to pick the rules, but we do decide how diligently we will seek them out and how closely we will pay attention to them. This process is called optimization.
Optimization is about getting the most of something you want given the unavoidable obstacles and unchangeable consequences in the environment. Almost all real problems have no unconstrained solutions. There are less-than-ideal consequences in every solution to the hardest problems. Optimization recognizes this, and seeks the best solution given that none are free from undesirable sub-outcomes.
Unfortunately, in today’s world, most people believe that with enough scientific advancement and social control, we can create an environment free from constraints and consequences. The unconstrained worldview is epitomized by the character Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , who demands a laundry list of physically impossible outcomes, and threatens to destroy everyone else’s happiness unless they find a way of making it happen. Veruca and Charlie share their desire to be the factory owner, but they differ greatly in their efforts to obtain it. Charlie believes in a constrained system—where some things are as they are and can’t be changed. Veruca doesn’t care to recognize the limitations of reality and, predictably, ends up suffering a great deal.
Belief in an unconstrained reality is accelerating in depth and breadth in spite of evidence to the contrary, and it is bleeding over into our spiritual beliefs. In spiritual and temporal settings alike, this unconstrained worldview creates unbridled hatred and animosity as reality continuously crashes against the belief that by wishing we can create something different and better than things as they really are. We all suffer from the unavoidable consequences of acting against evident reality, rejecting functional solutions while holding out for unrealistic ones.
In spiritual settings, this is manifest by the numerous people who write off the existence of God for the most simplistic reasons. These are they who, after experiencing some degree of suffering or some hole in previously held dogma, conclude that there can be no God. For them, a system of truth that requires study, experimentation, and growth is not good enough. They want something that is complete and instant, something that has no questions, no struggles, and requires no effort.
Unfortunately, such a system is physically impossible. It has actually been mathematically proven that any system will generate questions that it cannot answer. A higher order system is always required. The proof applies to all systems, and is as true in temporal things as spiritual ones. A person who does not accept constrained reality, in other words, is going to endure unnecessary suffering in all aspects of life because they refuse to contend with a great deal of what is all around them. They will stumble through miserable lives without accomplishing nearly as much as they could have, constantly being unpleasantly surprised by many outcomes they should have seen coming and could have prepared for. Not surprisingly, those who believe in an unconstrained reality have much higher incidence of anxiety, depression, and suicide than those who believe in a constrained reality. This stuff really matters.
One of the characteristics of reality that we can’t change is the existence of opposition. There is opposition in all things: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.” (2 Nephi 2:11)
Whether in life or death, and at every level of truth, everything has its complement. Those who enjoy a greater degree of glory do not do it in a vacuum free from wickedness, temptation, misery, or suffering. Instead, their glory includes an expanded awareness of all these things. Their expanded happiness, joy, and enjoyment is not from an absence of negative things, but because they are aware of and have overcome the negative things.
Your pathway to increased happiness, like everyone else’s, unavoidably runs right through increased awareness of wickedness, temptation, misery, and suffering. These things can’t be done away with. The experiences they bring are required to encounter something better.
We sometimes think we are full of faith. Here is a test to evaluate whether this is the case: If you were temporarily omnipotent, what would you change about this world? Would you bring those who do evil to justice? Would you make a beautiful paradise for yourself and those like you? Would you heal the sick? Feed all the poor? Would you arrange for the lonely to be visited? Perhaps the last thing you would think of is leaving everything exactly like it is. You see, God not only has all power, but he also has all knowledge, all wisdom, and all love. If you really believe that, then how could you suggest that there is a better way than what he has ordained? A simple and silly thought experiment as this reveals that we have very little faith, indeed.
But, you might say, Jesus performed miracles that dramatically changed reality. That is correct. And he still does.
But why didn’t Jesus heal everyone? Why doesn’t he? What is happening when we ask to be healed?
The answers to these questions and the balance between God’s power and God’s actions are found in what is “expedient.” Expedient is a scriptural term that means “that which improves.” Remember, God only does what helps people.
An exploration of his phrase “according to your faith be it unto you” can help clarify this idea. “According to your faith be it unto you” means to the degree that what you desire accords with what would benefit you according to your sincere understanding of God’s will, it will be done. This is the standard the Lord uses to exercise his power, and it ought to be the standard we use in asking for his power.
In his mortal ministry, Jesus showed that the recipe for obtaining a miracle was not about persuading God to change his mind, but about a mental, soul-searching process of the individual to determine if what they are asking is right according to their sincere current understanding of right and wrong. Escape from pain is not right, nor is encounter of pleasure. There is a moral underpinning to right and wrong that transcends mere pleasure and pain. That definition of morality is variable, specific to an individual’s current understanding of God and what is good. You can't lie to yourself and live the benefits of the truth.
Using what you have learned here, you can upgrade your perceptions of reality.
Why do bad things happen to bad people? Bad things that happen to bad people are the natural consequence of the beliefs of bad people. They shield themselves from the full scope of reality through willfully denying what God tries to show them about reality, and therefore encounter the negative consequences of reality that they would have otherwise avoided.
Why do good things happen to bad people? They don’t. The things sometimes regarded as good things that happen to bad people are actually misperceived as good. Pleasure is not universally good. It frequently occurs in situations that will lead to net pain, certainly when the full spectrum of experience (which consists not only of bodily pleasure and pain, but mental pleasure and pain) are considered. Bad people, by definition, engage in attitudes and behaviors that detract from their net well-being. Any seemingly good thing that happens to them is either not good or in response to that segment of their attitudes and actions that corresponds with his will to the degree they understand it.
Why do bad things happen to good people? They don’t. The things sometimes regarded as bad things that happen to good people are actually misperceived as bad. Pain is not universally bad. It frequently occurs in situations that will lead to net pleasure, certainly when the full spectrum of experience (which consists not only of bodily pleasure and pain, but mental pleasure and pain) are considered. Good people, by definition, engage in attitudes and behaviors that increase their net well-being. Any seemingly bad thing that happens to them is either not bad or is in response to that segment of their attitudes and actions that do not accord with his will to the degree they understand it.
Why do good things happen to good people? Good things that happen to good people are the natural consequence of the beliefs of good people. They embrace a greater scope of reality through willfully seeking and obeying what God tries to show them about reality, and therefore encounter the positive consequences of reality that they would have otherwise not enjoyed.
Is it true that God sends rain and sun on both the just and unjust? Yes and no. This statement is true only in terms of the individuals’ perception. From God’s perspective, whatever rain he sends on the just is only for the purpose of watering their crops, so to speak: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) Every experience in the life of those who love God is precisely what they need to acquire the light and truth that keeps them from greater fellowship with God.
So much of suffering in life comes from desiring what is contrary to reality. While many great potential outcomes remain unrealized due to insufficient desire in the individuals who have the power to make them reality, many more outcomes are sought that have zero possibility of fulfillment, because they are contrary to the laws of the universe as given by God.
Discovering and pondering previously unseen constraints can vastly reduce one’s suffering in life. Many of these constraints can be found by studying the scriptures. These can be found, for example, in the wisdom literature, in sermons, and in what are broadly called “the commandments,” and are really instructions for better living.
Since the goal of truth is improvement, understanding constraints is vital to acquiring, assimilating, and dispensing truth. The more constraints you are aware of and understand, the more effectively you can improve and help others to improve.
Consequences of reality
The entire universe functions through cause and effect, though almost all of those relationships lie outside of human understanding. These causes and effects are not arbitrary. They are intrinsic to the system. While “[God] will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6), that rendering is not from his arbitrary choice, but through the natural outcomes of those deeds.
God knows all things. “He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever.” (D&C 88:41)
No human will ever encounter a situation that God does not perfectly predict and understand. When we seek to obtain more light and truth, we are seeking to more perfectly understand what God can. We are seeking to more correctly understand cause and effect.
Cause and effect combine both elements of God’s glory: his awareness and his character. The more we understand cause and effect, the more our awareness will increase and the more we will understand the reason God acts as he does.
It is abundantly clear that we are woefully ignorant of both positive and negative consequences in this life. The simplest proof of our lack of understanding is to consider how often people are surprised by what happens in life: by what their children choose to do, by what their circumstances are later in life, by what happens to them at work, or even what happens in a given day.
The degree to which you are surprised by outcomes is a clue as to how much light and knowledge you lack. Surprise is the opposite of the way creation works. God reveals his mysteries to everyone who will listen, and the signal is broadcasting at all times.
One way of understanding the difference between the fullness of light and truth associated with our mortal existence and the amount of light and truth you possess is to realize that a fullness of light and truth would mean that you are perfectly aware of all causes and effects in mortality: all opportunities afforded to you in this life; all actions required to take full advantage of them, and all effects of all alternatives. Joseph Smith said: “Why be so certain that you comprehend the things of God, when all things with you are so uncertain?” (TPJS p. 230) If you are surprised by something, take it as an indication that you lack understanding in that area and that what you currently believe is incorrect or incomplete.
In a sense, reality doesn’t happen to you, it is revealed to you through what happens. The consequences of reality are landmarks that indicate to us where our perspective deviates from things as they really are. Because we reap what we sow, you can use the outcomes in your life as an indication of the correctness of the premises you believe. If you plant a pumpkin seed and a turnip grows, chances are your understanding of the process is mistaken.
Many times, we think of the process of salvation in terms of being refined—of having things removed from you. This is good, but incomplete. The acquisition and assimilation of truth isn't like the game Operation where God takes some forceps and yanks some undesirable quality out of you. Instead, God exposes you to a measure of your ignorance of reality through revealing a little bit more of things as they really are. You then get to choose: Do I ignore this tidbit, do I let it fester, or do I fix it by changing my understanding of myself and the world?
You can choose to fight reality, but you won’t win. Fighting reality is like headbutting a brick wall. It is within your ability to try, but not to succeed.
God’s judgment can be negative, but can also be positive. In either case, it is simply the consequences of reality. It is really just his lifting of the veil and exposing us to the fullness of mortal truth. All hidden things are revealed, and we are perfectly aware of “our guilt” (see Alma 11:43).
We will be perfectly aware of all causes and effects in mortality: all opportunities afforded to you in this life, all actions required to take full advantage of them, and all effects of all alternatives. We will therefore also be perfectly aware of what we lost out on because we would not seek what was placed right into our grasp, would not heed what we were being shown, and would not become what we were meant to become.
Most people flee from light, choosing to ignore what would improve them. The consequences of ignoring new truth go beyond losing out on the benefits of having assimilated it. You will also find that you will suddenly lose some previously accepted truths—either subconsciously, or because they suddenly make no sense to you. Some very few will consistently rejoice in the correction, opting to grow closer to God by embracing more of what it is he knows and becoming more of how he is.
The light reveals what was previously unknown. God said: “if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12:27)
Reality tends to be awful. It tears us apart. Loved ones die. Innocent people suffer. Pets get cancer. We regard these high intensity bad things as rare, but all things are before God continuously. If you knew all things, like God does, they would have been ever present before you, long before they happened. But there are positive consequences as well. Knowledge removes surprise, doubt, and fear. When all things are before you, you learn systems that overcome those things, and what is rare in the lives of others is something your normal way of being rises above.
The revelation of more truth is not a punishment for those who love God and obey him. It is a gift. If you love and obey God, these things are given because God trusts you and knows that you have the capacity to overcome them and to use them to expose the principles and understanding you lack. The suffering is for a moment, but the benefits last forever if you trust him and turn to him and learn what it is he is trying to teach you.
The consequences of reality are tied to the level of truth you possess. There are different consequences at different levels.
Some progressive consequences of higher truth are positive. The level of truth you possess sanctifies you, or makes you capable of receiving all the blessings reaped as a natural consequence of living the truths at that level: “that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.” (D&C 88:34)
Miracles are an example of consequences of higher order truth. Miracles are not the suspension of natural law. Instead, a miracle is the substitution of higher order consequences into a lower order world. The degree of light and truth possessed by the worker of the miracle determines what level of cause and effect applies to the situation. A caveman would regard the operation of a lighter as a miracle, yet a modern person would see it simply as the cause and effect of a higher order system. In this life, we suffer all the effects of a lower order kingdom, including death. Yet, by acquiring the light and truth of a higher kingdom, Jesus was able to impose consequences from a higher order: through the sacrifice of his perfect life, all men will be resurrected. The cause (Jesus) and effect (resurrection) of a higher order replace the cause (Adam) and effect (death) of a lower one.
As Jesus said, he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it (see Matthew 5:17), and he did so by acquiring the light and truth necessary to obtain and apply the consequences of a higher order.
In all things, God’s power is bound by law, but the law exists in different degrees of order. Acquiring higher levels of light and truth empowers you to exercise the consequences of the higher order. The Lord demonstrated this practice not only in his consummate act, but throughout his ministry. If you reread the New Testament with this principle in mind, you will find the pages open to you an aspect of the gospel you have never before noticed. For example, when the Canaanite woman begged him for her daughter’s healing, he ignored her the first time, and called her a dog the second. The third time, in response to her extreme trust in him (cause), he was able to substitute a higher order effect by healing her in spite of the fact that doing so violated the lower order law of his being sent exclusively to Israel (see Matthew 15:22-28).
Some progressive consequences of higher truth are negative. The level of truth you act against determines the degree of negative consequences you receive:
35 That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still.
39 All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified. (D&C 88)
Those who do not comply with the law corresponding to their level of light will have their light taken away. When this happens, they are exposed to more undesirable consequences, but they are not aware of why those undesirable consequences happen. They are no longer exposed to more than they conform to, “they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received.” (D&C 88:32)
Life, in a sense, is a constant game of gaining better understanding of the rules and playing the game with increased skill. It is essential to learn the actual rules, not just what we think they are. There is a difference between rules and traditions. We waste too much opportunity because someone told us something was impossible when it wasn’t, and too much effort on what is actually impossible because someone told us it was possible.
Constraints from our belief
Beyond what is and isn’t true, there are serious constraints in what God can teach us and when. Some of these are related to limits in capacity. How exactly do you reduce a fullness of truth to a mortal mind? More proximate are the constraints that are self-imposed. We create innumerable synthetic constraints with the ideological barriers we put in place.
Our sacred cows are many. Each false tradition we embrace reduces the light and truth we can possess: “And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.” (D&C 93:39) These traditions tend to shut down our ability to evaluate new truth that threatens to up-end them.
Each line we draw in the sand is one more obstacle that requires God to water down or chop away at some aspect of truth in order to get us to accept it. Imagine how difficult it would be to teach someone about colors if they refused to open their eyes.
We must be willing to let go of what we currently view as true, or even sacrosanct, in order to progress with God. We must be willing to accept his instruction, correction, and reproof.
As we are willing to allow God to correct our beliefs, he can teach us more directly, without working around so many stumbling blocks. “Now let them put away their whoredom, and the carcasses of their kings, far from me, and I will dwell in the midst of them for ever.” (Ezekiel 43:9)
Consequences of our belief
Beliefs are not reality. Beliefs are our perception of reality, which is inherently limited in both accuracy and correctness. Beliefs are completely malleable. They can be anything. You can choose your beliefs, but you cannot choose the consequences that attend the beliefs you choose. You are capable of so much more than the muted output of living in illusion. Why intentionally ignore the pitfalls in your character, when doing so will invariably cause great harm to yourself and others—far more harm than confronting the truth? You should do everything you can to reconcile your beliefs to reality as far as you know it.
Our lack of understanding prevents us from obtaining outcomes we desire, because we do not know the actions that generate them. Consequently, our actions produce effects that we do not want, and also avoid effects we do want. We are far less aware of the effects of our actions than we would like to think. Our awareness deficit both prevents us from obtaining outcomes we desire and causes us to encounter outcomes we don’t desire. An increased awareness of things as they really are—an increase in light and truth—is the only way to obtain more of what we want and less of what we don’t.
Quantify your degree of awareness of the connection between what you seek and what you do. If there is any aspect of anything you believe that does not accord with reality, it is in your best interest to immediately change it. Rather than seeking relief from the consequences of your actions, seek how to improve your actions.
Constraints on happiness
There is the confusion about what happiness actually is. The dictionary defines happiness as pleasure, gratification, and the lack of pain. The dictionary is wrong. Most Christians believe the closer you get to heaven, the less you suffer. Most Christians are wrong.
The closer you get to heaven, the happier you are, and the more knowledge you have. Yet, the more knowledge you have, the more you suffer. “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18) God suffers. Enoch saw him weep. Therefore, we know that happiness always includes pain. In fact, because there is opposition in all things, the greater the happiness you experience, the greater your suffering will be.
The truth is not a mail order box promising the avoidance of all life's problems from the onset. Those who believe it is will be consistently confronted with soul-wrenching contradictions which shake their very foundations. Instead, it is a process which, when followed, will provide the solution through an understanding of every problem one can face in this life. The soul-wrenching contradictions are not a flaw in the system—they are by design. They are what generates the searching for God that always yields an increment of light and truth. They are what entices us to let go of what we think we know and proceed into the unknown in search of something better than what we have.
Paul said, “Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.” (Hebrews 12:3) What does it mean to endure such contradiction of sinners? The Lord, possessing a fullness of light, was exposed to people who embraced great darkness. Extreme contrast is a property of truth. The more truth you have, the more contrast you will experience. This contrast doesn’t always make sense, nor seem palatable.
The Lord’s sermon on the mount included several statements describing blessed states that would, to a normal person, seem anything but. Read them slowly:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. (Matthew 5)
How would you like to be poor in spirit? What does that mean, and what would it feel like? Do you enjoy mourning? What do you have to endure in order to be considered meek? Is it fun to hunger and thirst? What must you do in order to be considered merciful? What must you sacrifice to be pure in heart? What must be your experience to be called a peacemaker? Do you rejoice in persecution? Being reviled? All of these things are awful. Yet Jesus says those who experience these things are blessed. How can that be?
The truth is repulsive to those who do not yet possess it. Being like God is an acquired taste. The gospel is not cute. Truth is not a gimmick. Jesus described it as a daily cross that we have to carry. Then how is all this a blessing?
The Lord said that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He also promised that those who follow him will have to give away everything, including their reputations, their money, their families, their property, their carnal security, their character attributes, and even their lives. How can these two ideas reconcile with each other?
The Lord’s yoke is easy, and his burden is light, but only with respect to the alternative. Reality presents constraints that must be acknowledged before any of the gospel makes sense. The lesson is hard enough that all of creation is required to teach it, and even then almost no one will perceive and endure it.
Consider these contradictory axioms:
- The more you love, the more you suffer.
- The more you tell the truth, the less people will believe you.
- The more focused on God you become, the more you find everyday moments to be part of your religion.
- The more energy you focus on God, the more productive your temporal affairs become.
- The more you serve others, the more they will hate you.
- The more you acquire that helps others, the less they will accept from you.
- The greater you become at forgiving, the more others will hurt you.
- The more you learn, the less you are able to teach.
- The closer you draw to God, the further you drift from humanity.
- Every sacrifice reduces the pull of your possessions.
- The more you give away, the more God gives you.
- The more righteous you become, the more wickedness you see.
What makes the knowledge God has desirable? Everything in mortality ceases to be desirable once you know what it truly costs, that it is actually pretty awful, and how good the alternative is.
Consider this simple analogy. Imagine you married an attractive but awful person with no personality. As they age, you will realize that what you thought was good about them was actually just temporary, and that on a longer scale, marrying them was a really awful idea.
The knowledge and glory of God is repulsive to unsanctified people. Why? Because the glory of God includes the fact that all things are present before him, including the depths of chaos that by his grace elude us. With every increment of acquired truth, these and other contradictions make sense. With every increment of acquired truth, these realities become more palatable.
As one’s spiritual intelligence increases, both the happiness they experience and the pain they experience change. Not only are they deeper and more intense experiences, they are also based on different things than they were at lower levels of truth.
The best analogy for this may be that of love in a relationship. Young love is characterized by the excitement that accompanies new heights of intimacy. Over time, this levels off, and is systematically replaced by stable, but deeper, care for the other person. Love shifts from what you get to what you have to what you give. What you give is a much better love than what you get, but it also hurts a lot more. A divorce after 20 years of dedicated marriage hurts a lot more than a break up after two months.
The bad news is that suffering never ends. The good news is that as you progress in truth, the things that caused you suffering before will no longer cause you suffering. You will overcome them through knowledge. Suffering never ends, but just as with knowledge, it progresses based on increased awareness. Consider this passage in terms of the cause of Alma’s sorrowing:
Now Alma, being grieved for the iniquity of his people, yea for the wars, and the bloodsheds, and the contentions which were among them; and having been to declare the word, or sent to declare the word, among all the people in every city; and seeing that the hearts of the people began to wax hard, and that they began to be offended because of the strictness of the word, his heart was exceedingly sorrowful. (Alma 35:15)
This man of God was sad because he could see in others the negative consequences of lacking truth that he possessed, and they would not accept it. Perhaps if he were not aware of the power of these truths he held, he would instead be grieved for something more normal, like the lack of food, sleep, money, housing, or companionship. Alma had long ago overcome all these things, and they no longer caused him sorrow.
We read: “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6, see also 2 Nephi 9:39) We can say these words and still not get what they mean.
Among Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jeremiah, Job, Moses, Adam, Enoch, Nephi, Mormon, Moroni, Christ himself, and all the faithful, will you find a single person who went about cheerfully, always finding worldly “happiness” (the lack of suffering) in this fallen world? You will not. Not among the righteous. Their joy, as with Christ’s kingdom, is not of this world (see John 18:36). That doesn’t mean it can’t be found here, but instead means that it is not defined as the world would define it.
Some examples of how people interpret the same event differently can illustrate the power of how we perceive the reality of the co-existence of happiness and sorrow. Laman and Lemuel said, “Behold, these many years we have suffered in the wilderness, which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.” (1 Nephi 17:21) At the same time Laman and Lemuel regarded their deprivation of worldly convenience as suffering, Lehi and Nephi— who were suffering more because of the spiritual burden they carried in ministering to Laman and Lemuel—experienced happiness. Their happiness came not from the presence of temporal pleasure absent of pain, but from the meaning provided by sacrificing for the benefit of others. We see this in the reunion of several missionaries who had been persecuted heavily for years:
16 And it came to pass that as Ammon was going forth into the land, that he and his brethren met Alma, over in the place of which has been spoken; and behold, this was a joyful meeting.
17 Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the earth.
18 Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.
19 Now the joy of Alma in meeting his brethren was truly great, and also the joy of Aaron, of Omner, and Himni; but behold their joy was not that to exceed their strength. (Alma 27)
Why were these men so happy? Because they had sacrificed so much for the happiness of others.
Enduring happiness—happiness strong enough to carry one through the unavoidable sorrows of existence—comes most directly through the love of Christ (see 1 Nephi 8:10), which means the love Christ has. When we prioritize the joy of loving others as Christ loves us over the so-called happiness the world offers, we encounter strong resilience to the sorrows that relentlessly crash against us as waves on the shore.
Consequences for happiness
The lives of the wicked are filled with suffering. It's the natural consequence of their choices. The wicked choose to act in opposition to rationality because they opt to blind themselves to the truth. They do not see things as they really are, and therefore are hit by the consequences of their choices that they choose to ignore—like a man who likes the look of a rope and decides to carry it without recognizing or admitting that it happens to be attached to a tiger. He gets mauled all day long without coming to the realization that there is a tiger attached to his beloved rope. Instead of letting go of the rope, he goes about his life moaning about how unlucky he is because he gets mauled by a tiger every day when few others do.
The lives of the righteous are filled with sorrow, but it isn't because of their choices. It is because they see things as they really are, and they are filled with sorrow for those who do not. It is their love of others that brings with it their sorrow for them. They see men getting mauled by tigers all day long, and they are already doing everything they can (including taking some of those maulings themselves) to help them, mostly without ever really benefiting them.
So many people endure a seemingly endless chain of suffering in their lives without realizing why. One purpose God has in allowing suffering is to show you the benefits of obedience to truth through exposing you to the natural consequences of decisions contrary to his truth. Sometimes these things are directly and obviously related (such as when an addict loses his family as a consequence of drug habits). Sometimes these connections of cause and effect are non-obvious. Seeking God’s wisdom will enlighten you in surprising ways.
The gospel is about minimizing the illusion, which means minimizing unnecessary suffering:
1 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken
3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—
5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.
7 These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they <u>that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.</u>
8 Now, the decrees of God are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved.
9 And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your God upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin.
10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.
11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have <u>gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness. (Alma 41)</u>
To invoke the full power of God in your life, you must not only address the direct causes of your suffering, but reconcile your whole life to your best understanding of God.
We have a very narrow set of expectations, and we don't care that we have artificially left out all the trouble that goes with those expectations. We spin up cotton candy realities, and live in constant misery with the coping mechanisms that we've developed to keep the negative consequences of a life of ignorance behind the curtain. Pretending there is a wizard of Oz may enable us to live in the Emerald City, but it doesn't kill the wicked witch. To actually fix the problems requires more truth—it requires venturing out onto the yellow brick road, becoming a more capable person through overcoming challenges, and losing a great deal of innocence in our world view.
Most people say they want to be happy, but they don't want to learn how to be happy, because that requires comprehending the things about themselves that are ugly, and that cause pain. They want to be happy without living after the manner of happiness. They seek for what is impossible.