We lived after the manner of happiness 2 Nephi 5

The Policeman writing his report and making arrest

The doorbell rang. It was mid-afternoon. Standing before us was a young man in search of his car?
He had lost it the night before. Could we help?

It seems he was unhappy about loosing it? His car. But was that all he was searching for? Surely he had the police report?  Why did he feel the need to ring our door? Was there more he wanted from us? Answers maybe to how his search for happiness the night before had ended badly?

Happiness, it seems is fleeting. Many believe it can be discovered in experiences, bought or like the "Tips for Jesus" benefactors, gifted. Very few understand that happiness is a state of being that must be cultivated, planned for and disciplined. Happiness is a discipline that must be refined within us.

So did we have answers for this young man of 19?

After crashing a raucous neighborhood party the night before, he had left for home, but had lost his way. While preparing for bed just before 1:30 I noticed him as he drove his car into our driveway.  I watched him from a window as he played on his phone and honked his horn, all the while acting very confused. Soon after I called the police he decided to drive his car around our truck and off the driveway into the trees behind our house. The police pursued him and soon all three vehicles needed to be towed out of our very muddy backyard.  This took until about 4:30 a.m.

The nice police officer who arrested him and his backseat buddy told us that they had been called to the party of nearly 500 for noise and many other sundry violations. Both of the boys were found with 2 empty Bacardi bottles and other substances of abuse. Both had no idea where they were or how they had gotten here, so when he showed up looking for the car, it was of little surprise to us that he had no memory of the previous nights activities. It appears we were not the only house he had inquired at.

The tow truck shows up 3:30 am

I thought of this young many and many like him who believe that happiness can be found in wild parties, drugs that falsely lift the emotions, or idleness. I thought of how this kind of happiness does not bring on a manner or a state of happiness that Nephi and other prophets spoke.

I noticed that Nephi sought happiness and because of the anger of his brethren he was unable to cultivate it. The Lord told him to flee and those that also believe in the "warnings and revelations of God" went with him. They went because they wanted a more lasting kind of happiness. Unlike the event or momentous happiness that most of the world seeks, Nephi and "the people of Nephi" sought a more lasting state of happiness, one that would bring prosperity and joy. (Alma 27:18)

Nephi as a student of the Old Testament would known of the Psalms or of Proverbs. He might have read:

Psalm 128: 2  For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
Psalm 146: 5  Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:
Proverbs 13:3  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Proverbs14: 21 He that despiseth his neighbour sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.
Proverbs 16:20 He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.

Nephi recognized the hardness of his brothers hearts, "Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief." (Proverbs 28), and he realized that this would never bring happiness to him and those that worshipped God.

I realized that all men search for happiness. Even Nephi. I realized that few find it. And I realized that, like Nephi the greatest happiness has come when I have been obedient to the counsels and laws of God. (vs10). It is interesting to see how Nephi compares his lifestyle to that of his brethren. He describes how after leaving his brethren he and his people of Nephi did:

did sow seed, did reap again in abundance.  raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind. (vs 11)

build buildings, work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores (vs 15)

they did build a temple (vs 16)

industrious, and to labor with their hands. (vs 17)

priests and teachers (vs 26)

Nephi also understood the wisdom of the proverb that teaches the importance of vision: Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18) Using this vision given to him of the Lord, he not only brought the records with him (vs 12) but he began to write and keep records (vs 29, 30). Records give us vision into our past and help us plan for the future.

As I thought about my state of happiness I began to realize how important Nephi's recipe of happiness is to my life. For what he teaches brings harmony and peace and cultivates talent and skills necessary for mortality.

I am happiest when I am with my family, when I have a quiet understanding of God's vision for me. I am happiest when I adhere to a daily routine that ensures cleanliness, nutrition and exercise of both my body and spirit.

Happiness is a state that we need not seek, for it will find us when we learn to cultivate it. As a genuine feeling of peace it will attract others who also have a deeper understanding of the "warnings and revelations of God."

When I take time to consider the "manner of happiness" that I have experienced in my life it all revolves around my obedience to God's laws and plan of happiness for me. I have discovered this happiness in my patriarchal blessing, in temple worship and service, in family moments where we share one another's talents such as song, or book reading or sport, in scriptural reading where revelation brings me new insights, in service to others and community, in gaining skill or education, and in doing all things that are "pleasing unto God" (vs 32).

Time lapse shot of tow truck leaving

I have discovered that the greatest happiness comes in partaking of the fruit of God, for " it is "most sweet, above all that I have ever before tasted," (1 Nephi 8:10-11)



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Additional scriptures on happiness



 John 13:15-17
 Romans 14:22
 James 5:10-11
Mormon 9:14
Proverbs 28
Mosiah 2:41
Mormon 9:3
2 Nephi 9:43
Mosiah 2:41

because thou did obey my voice Gen 22:1-18

Not too long after our son Robert was born, we moved to Tennessee. One morning while the children slept late, I took time and knelt in earnest prayer. I prayed for family, my husband, my children, my parents, and many of the dear friends I had made while living in Knoxville. As I lifted myself up off of my knees, I had the distinct impression that I needed to drop all of my plans for the day and drive over to visit Mary Anne. 


I gathered my children into the car and drove over to my friends home. I remember as I got out of the car I felt myself being wrapped with a love I had not known before. It filled me up, moved me to tears and as I walked toward the house it enveloped me.  I remember knocking on the door and having Mary Anne open the door with a look of astonishment upon her face. "What are you doing here?" she asked boldly but still trying to be polite. I stumbled upon my words, tried to hide my embarrassment and possible misjudgment and finally told her I didn't know, but I felt very impressed to come and ask if I could be of help. 


She then invited me in explained how only a few hours before she had been rear ended. Her car was severely damaged but mostly she was suffering from whiplash and was in great pain. She was angry and hurt because of the financial damage that the accident had caused. Her anger consumed her and  she had refused to pray. So why was I there? To help her pray? We enjoyed a long conversation and before I left I knelt in prayer with her. Her husband (not a believer) did not encourage prayer and she had been overwhelmed as she tried to handle everything on her own. When I first arrived, her anger seemed to be a living beast with which she had been struggling. By the time I left and we had time to talk about our faith and the power of prayer, she was much improved and the battle over anger had been won.

I remember this day not because of the pain and anger my dear friend went through, but because she had been cared for by a higher power. Her astonishment when she answered the door was not because I was there, but because of who my presence represented. I had come to serve her and help her remember God's love for her. She had been trying to handle life alone... until cornered she didn't know who to call or where to turn. God knew. God knew of her need. God had a plan to care for her. God had a plan to help her understand his love for her.  I had been listening and "because ... I did obey .."his" voice." I was able to act as a means to bring relief to my dear friend. As we sat and discussed how this all came about both of our testimonies grew. We realized that the sacrifice of both time and desire was needed for the miracle to occur. I had sacrificed my time and desire to do what I wanted. Mary Anne had sacrificed her need for independence and her will to be angry.

As I pondered what to write about I realized that the real thing that Abraham was being tested on was desire. What was his desire? To have his will over God's? or to have God's will over his own. It is a hard thing to master... this thing we call desire.

Abraham's faith was at a point where he was asked to give up the one thing that God knew he loved the most. He had spent most of his life praying for it: Gen as:2-3; 13: 14-16; 15:5; 17:2,4,7 all reveal the promises that God has made to Abraham concerning his progeny and eternal life. Genesis 22 is the climax of a great story of faith. Here he has all that he has wanted and God does not take it from him, but rather he asks Abraham to give it up. It is the ultimate test of loyalty, obedience and faith. It was meant to help Abraham understand the importance of not only loving and respecting the greater power of God, but also of giving all he had to it.

I could have brushed off my knees that morning and started one of my many projects. Or crossed off many of my "to-do" items that fill my errand list and  are always weighing on me, but I chose to listen.. I chose to follow the less traveled road ...I chose to obey...  and that made all the difference.

What if Abraham had not obeyed? What if he had become angry?  And what if the story had been played out before but we only got the condensed version? I don't mean to sacrilegious, but consider that Abraham might have had the prompting before and chose to ignore it until he was at a place in his faith that he had the strength to do what was required of him. The Lord teaches us "line upon line."I believe it's important for us to realize this possibility because the Bible Stories all come to us in a condensed version. We must consider the time schedule that were written in. We must realize that not all stories play out like a television sit com. We must also realize that this story in Genesis 22 represents the culmination of all of the faith trials that Abraham had endured. We surely did not receive all of them in the book of Genesis. As we surely can not know all of the times the Lord has spoken to him.

The Lord has blessings he will give us when we choose to obey the voice that answers our prayers. Part of the practice of prayer is learning to listen and then distinguish between the voice of our own will over that of the Lord. Consider that the angel of the Lord called a second time to Abraham that because he had not "withheld thy son, thine only son," he would fulfill all of the blessings that he had promised him.

My favorite line is "and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice." 

In my days... in my life... I can't bless "all the nations" by being obedient to the Lord, but I can bless
all the children of my family, all my friends, all of my family.  I can help those I love  remember the importance of not only listening and hearing the Lord's voice (or that of his angels), but of obeying.
It takes courage to overcome fear and discipline to forge courage. It is my prayer that my children, my children's children and my extended network of family and friends will all benefit from the blessing of my choices in life. It is my prayer that like Abraham, I will choose to "obey" my Lord's voice and counsel of wisdom.

Genesis 4: 8-27 Cain & Abel

Two Sons

One will credit the Lord

The other will spin fable.   

One will praise God

The other will honor Babel.

One will live by faith 

The other will kill to reign.

One will offer righteous sacrifice

The other will demand selfish gain.

One will teach God’s Holy way

The other will learn anger’s wrath.

One will follow his Father’s plan

The other will walk a worn path.

One will find peace from mother earth

The other will war in spiritual dearth.

One will reap God's blessings of love

We will call him  ….. Abel.

One will plot Mahan's curse of Cain. 

We will call him ....marked by his own label.   

                         Linda Conkey Shaw & Mark E. Shaw

Copyright May 5, 2011

Mark and I had a fun time writing this poem together. It is a deeper poem about the sons of Adam, Cain and Abel and it is about each of us. 

Abel was:  obedient, observant, respectful, favored, a sheepherder, a respecter of the earth, younger than Cain, close to his parents, 

Cain was: the older of the two. There really is no conclusive evidence to suggest that he was Eve's first born. In Moses we are told that Adam and Eve had both sons and daughters so that there was most likely a family. 

As I read through this several times, I was struck with how the story is really about the family of man. This story in many respects represents the first family feud, the first trial of anger, the first jealousy, the first temptation by Satan (outside of the GArden), so the first real trial of choice with a real understanding of all that was taught and without the constant companionship of the Father and his son, Jesus Christ. It was a trial of the Holy Ghost. 

We know from the book of Moses that Adam was taught how to find direction from God while outside of the Garden. He was instructed how to offer sacrifice and how to live by faith. He was to teach his children these things. The children were to learn from their parents. 

The first generation:  Here's the catch. Cain and Abel were never in the garden. They could only listen to stories their parents told. They had not experienced the joy, the peace and the desire to return to Father's presence would not have been as profound as it was in Adam's or Eve's life. What I am suggesting is that temptation came easier to those who did not have the experience to remember. And that is where the faith came into play. 

The first faith: Each of us must be born of parents who have lived lives of experience. We can choose to accept their advice or reject it. If we reject it then we must take responsibility for our own choice and the paths we trod. Each of us when we leave our homes are like Adam and Eve, we are cast from a garden where all of our needs have been met: food, clothing, shelter, love. We must learn to not only fend for ourselves with regards to food, shelter and clothing, job, etc, (the physical needs) we must also learn to love one another. 

Cain would have been the oldest. He would have experienced more of Adam and Eve's mistakes as they first left the garden. He would have seen and felt more of his parent's frustrations. His parents needed to make sure they countered these experiences with lessons of love and acceptance. I'm not blaming Adam or Eve.. I'm not blaming anyone. Life is meant to have experience. WE all must have it the experiences we need to grow. Each of our lives are custom created by a loving God to help us grow the most. 

This story of Cain choosing to walk away from all of the love of his mother is one to help us learn about not anger and murder, but rather the reasons anger comes. 

Why does anger come to you? Are you content? Are you frustrated by life's demands? Are you living in fear of not getting all you want or are you putting your faith in God to give you all you need?  

Anger comes to us all. It is part of being human, but anger only becomes a liability, a disability, a curse of mahan, when we allow is to rule our lives. Anger put to good use can be a good catalyst for change... or it can destroy ... relationships (families) , lives(Abel) , livelihoods (Cain lost his sacred trust with the earth and was called to be a vagabond) . It can become our label. or we can choose God and become able. 

A Book From Heaven ! Nephi 1:10-20

A Book From Heaven

1 Nephi 1:10-20

As I read my scriptures this morning I wondered what a book from heaven would be like. The world has always valued books for the wisdom and the experience they present to those who could decipher them. Why didn’t I say read? Because reading is much more than pronouncing a word. Words hold priceless interpretations. They are symbols of our language, but they are not our language. Language is who we are, how we are and how we express ourselves. Words are just one way of expression.

What makes a book magical is that the reader can interpret the words according to their own understanding. Like a river that is constantly flowing and yet ever changing, when you go back to a favorite passage the words are the same and yet different. An old adage reads that you can never put your hand in the same river twice. Books are like this. It is not the water that changes, we change. Our perspective carries us along the time line of life and we see things differently. We find new understanding.

Heaven holds its own language and words. I wonder what a book from heaven would say? With all of the millions of books on the earth today, would I take time to read a book from heaven? The printing press was first invented by Gutenburg around 1440. This only magnified our ability to get the written word to the masses. Books nor stories were not new. The first known written story is the Gilgamesh 2700 and tells the story of a great flood. Stories about man’s life abound aplenty, but what would the Gods tell us?

Lehi discovered some of this in his dream. He learned that words from heaven settle bitterly in the belly but leave a taste as sweet as honey upon the lips.

Phrases and Words

(these are my comments on phrases of words that jump out at me)

they came down (vs11) Who came down? The thirteen. The one who shown brightly and the twelve that followed. Why did they come down? They came down because we cannot go up. If you have ever climbed a mountain or accomplished a task of great merit, you understand this. Taking it to the most basic form you could imagine a parent with a crawling child. The child is unable to walk, stand or climb. If a parent wants to speak to the child they must “come down” The day will come when he child will be able to stand, walk and climb but until that time, those who are able, (those who shine) must come down to us that cannot.

gave unto him a book (vs11) he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord. (vs12) Again I am drawn to contemplate the thousands and maybe millions of books that have or ever will be written. Do they fill me with the spirit of the Lord? Some do? What must a book say that would fill me with the spirit of the Lord? What language must it be written in? Will it comfort me? instruct me? define me? teach me? offend me? warn me? Who wrote the book? If I am offended what does it say about me? If i am comforted ? Can I understand it? If not what do I do? The book does not change, like the river of water, I must change so that I let its wetness quench my thirst, let its energy liven my soul.

carried away (vs13) How are we carried away captive into Babylon? This book told Lehi about those that he prayed for. It answered his prayers. It told how their actions would lead them away from the peace that God would have them enjoy. It would carry them away? I wondered about how easy it is for us to allow ourselves to be carried away into a video game, a movie, a jealousy, anger, or even after something that seemingly appears to be a good desire? If it does not bring us closer to our God’s love for us, then it will carry us away... I wonder what I can do to draw closer to my God and not allow myself to be carried away?

read and seen (vs14) We see many things that are first written. It is called television, movies, videos. internet. The mind has its own video clip. I marveled that Lehi both read and saw.

Power +goodness + mercy = God (vs 14) I read this as a parent. I saw the infinite love and recognized how God’s love for us is manifested in His power (he will protect us) ,, his goodness (he will give us every good thing) and his mercy (he forgives us our shortcomings) As a parent I want to be like this. Too many parents subjugate their power to their children. When children are given power they are not able to handle it causes great problems. I am grateful to know that God has all power and will use it to bless my life, if I will but love him.

Praising of his God (vs 15) How do I praise my God? When I consider all that I have and all that he has given me, how do I rejoice? Is my whole heart filled and does it move me to action to share this love?

because of the thing which he had seen (vs15) - we see many things every day. We see God’s creations all around us. I marvel at the bird song, the beauty of a flower, and yet this is not what Lehi saw? Or is it? We are wanton to see many things in our life, but will we want to see that “which the Lord” will show us? I am reminded of Aaron in the Bible and how all the Israelites has to do to live was to look upon the Rod of Aaron. Look and live. But many refused to because they had not cast their eyes upon all that the Lord had made and was it too bright for them?

account of mine own life. (vs 17) I have to wonder if we will write an account of our own life? Writing causes us to think about our actions. The prophets have all counseled us to write a journal. Why? Because it makes us “account” for our “own life”. I hope that my writing will help me account for my thoughts, my deeds and my actions.

he testified (vs 19) I wonder how different this story would have been if Lehi had kept it all to himself? Of one thing I am sure, the beauty of God’s words and works were never meant to be harbored selfishly. This in itself seems an oxymoron. The beauty of God’s word were meant to be proclaimed like a bird song atop the trees each and every morning of our lives. Lehi did this, he testified. Why did they become angry?

abominations (vs19)- Whit exeklie iz am abomination? Hew di wa menege to sii whin wi ere wreng? Abominations are merely being wrong. a typo, a misprint, but they are purposefully done with malice. They are selfish for they draw us away from the message that God sends. They mislead. They carry us away and we miss the lessons of God.

ANGER(vs 20) Anger = cast out When we are angry with something we lose patience. First we cast it out. Then we may beat it or stone it. And if our anger remains unchecked we may slay it. Anger is not of God. God brings us mercy when we err. Anger casts us out.

tender mercies (vs 20) I first heard this word from our Stake Presidents wife. She talked about the tender mercies of the Lord in her life. Tender mercies come from God to those who have faith. He uses this faith to help them have enough self esteem, enough self will to find the energy to free themselves from that which binds them and promises to carry them away. Lehi and Nephi were given tender mercies that kept them from being carried away into Babylon. What tender mercies has the Lord given me that keeps me standing strong in my faith and helps me find strength of my own? I with the faith of the Lord can find my own deliverance.

I have been told that there are volumns of books in heaven. Volumes? If this is the case then I want to carefully select all that I read and make sure it is written with a spirit that will not carry me away but will show me God's tender mercies.

I want to understand these tender mercies and see for myself the brillance of all of God's works. If after all God will take the time to "come down" can I not make time to see and hear and taste of His Love.