Spring Break!

Spring break is here... and not a moment too soon! At last a break in the storm of life, and off to enjoy the calm of home. Calm? Is that how I would describe home? I suppose it would be difficult to describe anything containing 3 kids, all under the age of 9, as being anything resembling calm. So I suppose that's not how I would describe it, but one does not have to encounter the calm to find joy. My nieces and nephew are as full of energy and spunk as any kids, and yet they fill my heart and soul with unrefined joy and happiness. In a lot of ways they rejuvenate me by allowing me to see what's really important. I do wish I could see them on a more frequent basis than current circumstances permit, but the extended absences make the times I do see them all the more special. This week is not about finding the calm, rather it is about making up for lost time... lost time with those that we find closest to the heart, despite any physical distance.

Digging to sufficient Depth

One of the many blessings of the gospel is that it offers us protection in our daily lives. About 6 years ago I found myself in a precarious situation. I was in the east Iraqi desert with my Marine Corps unit. We were miles away from the nearest friendly unit and were outside of the protective blanket of artillery. We were left, quite literally, to defend ourselves. Shortly thereafter, we received word that approximately 50 Iraqi tanks were heading in our direction. As an infantryman, the prospect of going up against 1 tank, let alone 50, is debilitating. We had in our arsenal very few weapons that would have any effect on a tank. Our best defense then was to dig. The deeper the fighting position, or hole, the better. This effectively protects the infantryman against tanks. A tanks counters this by placing it's tracts on the fighting position and then spins the tank. Sadly, if the fighting position is not deep enough this act kills the infantryman in the hole. We stayed awake that entire eerie night. Every little noise sounded like that of distant tanks. Thankfully, the threat of Iraqi tanks bearing down on us never materialized. In our lives, the prospect of Satan bearing down on us can also be debilitating at times, and the threat of Satan's army bearing down on us very often does materialize. At the beginning of the school year I found myself very unprotected from such an army, and decided that a change needed to be made. I needed to dig deep into the foundation of the gospel. This year, a meaningful and sincere prayer is how I begin and end each day. I read scriptures before I go to bed and whenever I have time to spare throughout the day and I regularly attend institute classes. By immersing myself in things of the Spirit I have effectively dug my fighting position in the gospel. I can gladly state that my fighting position is of sufficient depth to protect me against just about anything that might be thrown my way. Digging a fighting position in the barren Iraqi desert required a lot of work, as does digging one in the gospel. Both fighting positions offered me protection, but a noteworthy side effect of digging a fighting position into the gospel of sufficient depth has allowed me to gain a closer relationship with Heavenly Father. Protection and a closer relationship with Heavenly Father... it's as sweet a deal as it sounds!

Happiness

What’s the difference between someone who’s happy and someone who’s not? It is that one encounters trials while the other somehow abstains from such encounters? Perhaps it’s an issue of money. After all, most marriages end as a result of financial turmoil. Or maybe it’s the fact that one person is more popular than the other. Or one is married and the other is still going stag throughout life. In reality, the issue of happiness has nothing to do with any of the aforementioned reasons. Happiness isn’t contingent on whether we are currently enduring a trial or not. We find opposition in all things, even in good things. That’s part of life. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with money. Anyone who has traveled to a 3rd world country can tell you that there is no positive relationship between money and happiness. If anything, there is a negative relationship where the less money you have the more happy you are. If there is such a negative relationship, I think it has to do with realizing what’s truly important in one’s life… and it’s not money. Surely marriage can be argued as being a basis for happiness, but happiness can and should come long before that. Besides, if you can’t be happy before marriage what would make that change after a marriage? Like my drill instructor said, “The recruit you are today is the Marine you’ll be tomorrow.” There are very few intellectual things that can be taken from my time in the Marines, but I’ve found this statement to be rather profound. So how does one find happiness? Well, we all encounter opposition, and if happiness isn’t based on whether or not we are currently encountering opposition then the most important aspect of finding happiness is realizing that it’s that very opposition that allows us to find happiness. Bruce C. Haffen writes, “Without the taste of bitter in our experience, the taste of sweet is lost on us – we are without context, without a frame of reference and even the sweet things of life may be without meaning or purpose.” Continuing the point that our joy is in fact contingent on the presence and not the absence of opposition Haffen writes, “Joy-like grace- may well come in the midst of contrary experience, for it is a real part of life. Joy is not an alternative to opposition; it is part of a compound that includes opposition.” Further illustrating the point, those who have taken college courses have undoubtedly encountered a struggle or two. For those who have put in a lion’s share of effort to understand and to overcome these collegiate difficulties, eventually a figurative light bulb will turn on. At that point a measurable amount of joy is realized. In contrast, a student who finds the topic easy and does not encounter any struggles with it will glide through, more often than not without joy having not gone through the trial. In our personal lives, it’s important that we don’t seek to just glide through. On that very note Haffen writes, “When we are asked at the judgment bar how our life on earth was and what it all means, the following would not be a particularly satisfying answer: ‘Oh, it was nice. No big problems, really. It was a very nice life.’” We must not resist the refining fires that arise in our daily lives. I have been told that the measure of a man isn’t taken when all is well; rather it is taken during the tempests of life. How do we react in such a case? Do we act with honor and courage, or is it something we find ourselves needing to work on? Do we turn for help or do we pridefully think we are strong enough to handle it on our own? Just as important as IF we turn for help is to WHOM or to WHAT we turn for help. I know from my own personal experiences, as well as libraries of other’s experiences, that as we turn to our Heavenly Father for help we will be given the adequate strength to not just survive the tempest, but to find joy in it as well. When it comes to our interaction with our Heavenly Father, I try to imagine the interactions I will someday have with a child of my own. When my son is going through a problem and then decides to come to me for help, I imagine I’ll cherish the opportunity to lovingly guide him through life’s storms. I’m sure our Heavenly Father cherishes those opportunities as well. He wants us to come to Him, and we’re better off when we do. It makes one wonder why it doesn’t happen more often.