There Never was a Happier Time

Today I read Alma 50, which covers several years of Nephite history and introduces two very important men in the Nephite history, Teancum and Pahoran. In this chapter the Nephites are still very much under treat of war by the Lamanites and for one of those years by themselves even.

However, the part that makes me most intrigued is the line that Mormon says from the time of Nephi down to this, there never was a happier time for the Nephites than now. I find that a little odd personally. I mean, that's a little like saying the Americans were never happier than during the 13 day Cuban missile crisis! The threat of war was very, very real for these people, and yet they were happier than they had ever been. Why is that?

It was because they were keeping the commandments of the Lord. As the times grew more dire, the Nephites became more diligent in keeping the commandments. In a few weeks, we will read in Helaman where the Nephites were very, very wicked and yet the priests of the church were astonished by the amount of people joining the church and being baptized! It all comes down to opposites.

Have you ever had something ridiculously good happen to you? Was it ever tainted because you knew something equally bad was going to happen very soon? I sure have. Of course I've also had the other end of things too where something really bad happened and it was mitigated by the fact that I knew something good would happen soon. I think that is what is happening with the Nephites here. They are faced with invasion by their enemies and so they are tirelessly working for the welfare of their loved ones, which is service which we have already talked about how service breeds love, and Moroni and the sons of Alma are constantly preaching to them that they need to keep the commandments so that the Lord will be with them.

I've also had times, as I'm sure most people have, that I am so happy that even when bad things start to happen, it doesn't phase me. I'm so high on life and the Spirit that the bad thing that happens is not enough to kill my natural high. I think that is how the Nephites are at this period of time. We know it's not the happiest they will ever be, that comes much later. But it is nice to know and have confirmed that happiness comes from within, not based on external circumstances.

It really is true that we have full control of our own happiness. If we are living a life that invites the Spirit to be with us the majority of the time, then we will be happy and we will be able to CHOOSE to be happy. I've lived both kinds of lives, within reason the things I did wrong were not horrible grievous sins but they did drive away the Spirit, and I MUCH prefer to be happy and have the Spirit around me. I'm sure the Nephites did too. Until tomorrow.