FOR THESE THINGS AND MORE I AM GRATEFUL (2)

Long before I became aware of the Book of Mormon and its references to the Plan of Happiness I was very conscious that the expectations at home were very different than life as it was portrayed in the movies or on television. I was even aware that the reports of friends and what went on within the walls of their houses was different than what I experienced at home.

I don't remember it having a beginning, it just was. There was never a list of rules posted, it was just how things were.

Happiness comes from cooperation and not from contention.

Happiness comes when there is peace and not when there is war.

Happiness comes with soft voices and not with harsh words.

Happiness comes when helping and not when hurting.

Happiness from giving is permanent while happiness from getting is temporary.

Happiness comes with tenderness and not with anger.

Happiness comes from forgiveness and not from revenge.

Happiness comes when diligent and not when slothful.

Happiness comes when loving and never when hating.

Happiness comes with kindness and never with bullying.

Happiness comes when all are included and none are excluded.

Happiness comes with universal kinship and not with bigotry.

Happiness comes when blessings given to others are appreciated and not envied.

Happiness comes with righteousness and not with iniquity.

Happiness comes with hope and not with desperation.

Happiness comes with faith and not with doubt.

Happiness comes with knowledge and not with ignorance.

When I did discover the Plan of Happiness in the Book of Mormon I was always puzzled why so often those who possessed it held fast to it for only a short season.

Life’s passage has helped me understand that we mortals are funny that way, always being persuaded that when we have that which is desirable above all, that there is something better.

Unfortunately we usually discover, as our ancestors through the centuries have, that the ‘something better’ we were chasing turns into a corruptible counterfeit and misery, sorrow and sadness replace our hoped for happy state.

The words recorded in the Book of Mormon in Fourth Nephi, although very brief, hold out the hope to all of us that the Plan of Happiness can be lived by large groups for generations.

Though I haltingly learned and was slow to remember and all too often from it’s paths did take flight

I will forever be grateful to parents, teachers and loved ones who to me the Plan of Happiness did impart

Though through the ages Holy men have recorded the rules on stone, skin, papyri, metal, linen, and pulp

It seems all must discover that Happiness will not come until the tenets are engraven upon the heart

(TO BE CONTINUED)