The Good Life - Part 2: Why?

The scriptures have a lot of insights to offer when it comes to our reason for being here. If you read it very selectively a certain not so positive pattern emerges. Lets look at a few passages. In the Book of Abraham the Lord said this during a revelation where Abraham was allowed to see us in the preexistence:

...and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all the things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them. (Abraham 3:25)

To Moses he stated his whole reason for everything he does:

For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)

Over and over the scriptures speak of the importance of obedience, the seriousness of our eternal destiny's, the fate of the unfaithful and so on. We learn that life is a test to be endured. Phrases like: "Endure to the end" and "Return with honour" can get a pretty grim meaning when the gospel is being seen through this lens. Thats why we need to point out a few nuggets in the scriptures that help us put all of this into perspective. When John the Beloved wanted to sum up what the gospel was all about he said this:

For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

This puts it all in different perspective. God is not just a demanding perfectionist that wants us to be perfect and forces us to live dull dreary lives to get there. He actually loves us. Every command, every experience, every event we go through is given us out of love. Now thats something to think about next time we feel like complaining about something.
But what about the dull dreariness? Is life really supposed to be a series of trials and misfortunes and is any kind of relaxation and happiness or fun a sin? Perhaps Lehi said it best when he told his son that:

Adam fell that men might be. And men are that they might have joy. (2 Ne 2:25)

What do we learn from this? The part that will stand out the most is that we exist to have joy. What about the obedience and the trials? Weren't we supposed to endure life in order to get our reward in the hereafter? Well obviously that wasn't our fathers plan. He in fact intended that we be happy. That we have joy.

But that only comes if we are perfect right? Wrong! Notice how it states that Adam fell? And yet in the same verse he states that we can have joy. And this is the miracle of the plan. No matter the trials we go through. No matter how low we sink in life, his hand is always stretched out. He is always there, ready to take us by the hand, to bring us through the hard times and show us how to find joy and happiness in life.

I think this is enough for today. In my next entry I will answer the question "When?" Until then, May you find joy in the journey!

The Good Life - Part 1: Introduction

Why do we get up in the morning? Why do we struggle through difficulties and hardships? What is it that motivates us to do things we really don't want to do and to work long hours every day? What gets us to take the risk of investing emotionally in another person? To take loans and buy houses? To give birth to children? The risks involved in all these things should be enough to deter any sane person from even trying. So why do we do it? Could it be that we see something from afar? Something we want to reach?

Some call it happiness, others bliss. To some it is success and to others it is the dream of a better life. In the church we often see it as the reward for faithful service, the result of a life of "doing the right thing". Common to all is that we see it as something in the future, something not quite attainable but that we constantly strive for.

I call it "the Good life" and claim that it is very much attainable in this life. It is very interrelated to the things I've been writing about so far in my blog but in this miniseries I will be looking at it out of a spiritual and philosophical perspective. I call it the good life for several reasons: It signifies that it is not about perfection but rather about constant growth. It means that it's something we can have ongoing in our lives, something we can have more or less now. I also chose it because the term "the good life" has special personal meaning to me that I wont go in to here.

In this miniseries inside my blog I will give you updates from my studies into what "the good life" really is about and how we can have it. But don't worry. I haven't given up the war. It is still raging and I will be posting updates on that as well.