Chores for my Birthday

With today being my birthday, I've been trying to think of how I might make this day a good one. I could go for a bike ride, but I have a reason to stay home today. I could watch movies or play games, but I do too much of that already. So, I've decided that I'm going to do a few things that my future self will be glad I did. I'm going to do some chores. Today, I'm going to sweep the floors, do some dishes, maybe work out in the yard (unless I chicken out because it's warm outside), and maybe do a few other things that I'll later be glad I did. I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy them while I'm doing them, too. One of my best qualities is that I usually have a pretty good attitude. Today's a good day for that. I'm feeling pretty happy today.

Be of Good Cheer - A Commandment?

I found this on Facebook this morning. I'm sure I've seen this quote before, but I'm not sure I've shared it yet.

I never thought of the Savior's words, "Be of good cheer," as a commandment. It always seemed like just a thing a person tells their friend when their friend is upset. It's not an order; it's just words of encouragement. I've never thought of it as something that we're supposed to do because God commanded it, but rather as something that God has asked us to do just because He wants us to be happy. That amounts to the same thing, doesn't it?

God gives us commandments because He wants us to be happy, and He knows that following His commandments is the best way to achieve happiness. Telling us, essentially, to "be happy," is right in line with the purpose of all of the other commandments. Yet, I think there's still a difference.

Most of the commandments come with a set of blessings and punishments. If you obey the commandment, you get blessings. If you break the commandment, you get punished (perhaps by the natural laws of the universe, in the same sense that getting your hand burned is the "punishment" for touching something very hot). Being of good cheer doesn't seem to fit this mold. There are no blessings attached to being happy besides, well, being happy. And the only downside of being miserable that I can think of is being miserable. The reason I hardly think of this as a commandment is that the only blessing or punishment that comes with being happy or not is that either you'll be happy or you won't. Keeping this commandment is its own reward, and breaking it is its own punishment.

But why should a commandment need an external set of barely-related punishments and rewards to be a proper commandment? Perhaps it's because I think of the commandments as a bunch of rules that God asks us to keep "because I said so" or because He'll bless or punish us depending on whether we listen or not. Since there's no punishment attached to not being of good cheer, it doesn't seem like a real commandment. But that's ridiculous. There are better reasons to keep commandments than because of blessings or punishments or because God said so, and you can bet that God has other reasons for giving us all those commandments besides giving Himself excuses to bless or punish us, or to just boss us around (though any excuse to bless His children is probably a good enough excuse for Him).

God's primary motivation is love. Because He loves us, He wants us to be happy. So He gives us a set of instructions that will lead us to happiness, and because our motivations are not always sufficient to get us to follow those instructions, He often bribes us with blessings and threatens us with punishments until we eventually do what He wants us to do, and find out that it has made us pretty happy.

With the commandment to be of good cheer, there are no blessings or punishments attached because this commandment really doesn't need them. It's almost a no-brainer. If you want to be happy, be happy. If you choose not to be happy, then you won't be happy. It's painfully simple, and I almost feel stupid for thinking that I have to explain it.

There is, however, one downside that is irremovable from breaking any commandment, even without any other punishments attached. The breaking of commandments is sin. God cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. Sin makes us unclean. No unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. If being of good cheer is a commandment, then being of poor cheer could keep us out of heaven.

In a way, that doesn't sound fair. Hearing that, even though you've kept all the other commandments, you still can't enter heaven because you're miserable, is enough to make a person terribly upset! On the flip-side, hearing that all you need to do to finish qualifying for heaven is to be happy is enough to bring a smile to anyone's face.

There may be another reason we have to be of good cheer to qualify for heaven. I don't know if this is doctrinally true or not, but I get the feeling that the people in heaven will bump into one another on occasion. And, whether it's confirmed in doctrine or not, I know that people's attitudes are contagious. If there was a miserable person moping around in heaven, it'd affect the happiness of everyone else up there. Then again, if one person in heaven has a bad day (assuming that a person can have a bad day in heaven), being surrounded by cheerful, optimistic people might lift their spirits. Being happy can help other people be happy. And the more people are happy, the happier people will be. (And now I feel stupid again.)

So, to achieve the maximum amount of happiness for the maximum amount of people, God has asked that each of us at least make an attempt to be happy at least some of the time, in hopes that our happiness will help make others, or at least ourselves, more happy, and there will just be more happiness in general. I've heard it said that "happiness is the object and design of our existence." If that's true, then being of good cheer isn't just something you can do to cheer yourself up; It may be the meaning of life.

I may be taking this idea a little bit too far here, so let me tone it down a bit. At the very least, being of good cheer is an invitation to be happy, and who wouldn't want to do that? Even if it's not the purpose of life or an essential characteristic of those who may enter heaven, it's still worth doing, just for the short-term effects. So, be of good cheer. It may or may not be a vital commandment, but it's certainly a good idea.

The Ongoing Restoration

Last night, in family scripture study, we started reading from the Doctrine and Covenants, having just finished the New Testament the previous night. What struck me most about last night's reading was how exciting it must have been for those early saints (the positive parts, anyway). There was new scripture, new revelations, newly restored Priesthood power, and a newly restored and reorganized church. It seemed to me that the church must have been more "alive" 200 years ago than it is now, but Mom pointed out that there's no reason why the church shouldn't be just as alive and exciting today as it was back then. We're still getting new scripture and new revelations. The Priesthood is just as powerful now as it was then, and the church is just as true now as it ever was. All the excitement I think I might have had at the time of the Restoration could be fully applied to the time we live in right now.

In his Priesthood Session talk, President Deiter F. Uchtdorf said:

Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us—Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now. It includes “all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,” and the “many great and important things” that “He will yet reveal.”

Sometimes I think of the Restoration as an event of almost two centuries ago, as "old news," but in the grand scheme of things, 200 years isn't really very long. The Restoration is still "new news," and some people still haven't heard it yet, partly because we're frequently getting new stuff to hear. With fresh revelations that are directly relevant to our time period coming out every six months, it can be difficult to stay current with all the new revelations we receive, and I'm sure God will give us more teachings as quickly as we're ready to receive them.

Though we haven't added anything to our scriptural cannon in a while, and most of our new revelations seem just to be adding greater detail and emphasis to stuff we already knew, a lot of what this church teaches is relatively new, and there's no reason for it to be any less exciting as it was when we were first told about it. In addition, I'm sure there's at least some "new news" in our future, waiting for us, and the rest of the world, to be ready to hear it. God isn't done restoring and revealing everything He wants us to have, know, and do. I'd guess that there will continue to be more and greater revelations up to beyond what we might call the end of the world. The Restoration isn't an exciting thing that happened 200 years ago. It's an exciting thing that's happening right now.

We're On An Adventure!!

When Elan the Bard and his follow adventurers were arrested by Miko the Paladin and were to be taken to Azure City to answer the charge of "weakening the fabric of the universe" (of which they were guilty, by the way), he tried to convince Haley the Rogue to go along with it (rather than disappearing into the night) because, and I quote "It'll be an adventure!" Haley responded by saying, "Elan, we're adventurers. Technically, anything we EVER DO officially counts as an 'adventure.'" Elan ponders this for a moment and is later seen half-covered in grape jam, doing a handstand with a lantern hanging from one foot and a squirrel sitting on the other, playing paddleball with his free hand while a roller skate dangles in front of his face, hanging from a stick tied to the top of his head, excitedly declaring, "I'm on an adventure!!"

While Elan's wisdom and intelligence are questionable, I love his optimism. No matter what happens in our lives, whether good or bed, it'll certainly be an adventure. I had such an adventure the other night, when I spent two hours searching for a camp site that I must have biked right passed at least twice. At first, I was excited about the adventure I was on, hauling a cart full of camping gear to a site I was sure I'd find easily. When the campsite proved more difficult to find than I had anticipated, my excitement lessened, but I still must admit that it was an experience, an adventure, that I am glad to have had.

I had some desire to apply such optimism and enthusiasm to my experiences of yesterday. Not much happened - just a bunch of meetings and assignments - and I was feeling pretty down when I thought about how much I was expected to do and how little energy I had left after my previous adventure. I just basically wasn't having any fun. But I knew that was my choice. I could still make it sort of fun. Rather than seeing my assignments as work, I could choose to see them as a challenge. Rather than seeing them as responsibilities, I could see them as opportunities. Rather than seeing life as a lot of work, which I admit that it is, I could see it as an adventure, which it also is.

God gave us this life so we could have experiences. With all the ups and downs in life, some of the experiences are positive and exciting, while some of them are negative and discouraging. But when this life is over, we're going to look back at it with the same perspective that a hiker has when he reaches the top of a mountain and looks back at the trail he just climbed. Some stretches of the trail were rough, and some of them were easier. Sometimes, you had a great view, and sometimes, all you could see is the steep climb ahead of you. In some moments, the adventure was exciting. In other moments, climbing the mountain seemed like more trouble than it was worth. But in the end, it's an experience, and you can choose whether to see it in a positive light or a negative one.

And if you need a little help seeing negative experiences in a positive light, consider this: before this weekend, I didn't think I could bike for five hours straight (taking 5-10 minute breaks every now and again, drinking plenty of water and eating trail mix to keep my energy up) while hauling a heavy load up and down hills and back and forth across bridges, but I did it. Either I had that power already within me, or I gained that power through the experience, but either way, by the end of the day, I had shown to have more power than I had thought I had the day before. I don't know whether the experience brought out some hidden strength that I already had, or whether it gave me more strength than I had had before. Probably both. But now I have that strength, and I know that I have it, and if we can apply that to the other challenges of life, who knows what kind of potential we can unlock?

The great thing about adventurers in some stories and most role-playing games is that they grow stronger and more skilled through the challenges they face, and the same is true for us. As we face difficult challenges, we gain or unlock power, skills, and abilities that we didn't have before, or at least didn't know we had. The harder our challenges are, the more we grow. In that sense, the tougher our obstacles are, the better they'll be for us in the long run. I still feel kind of tired from biking so far and sleeping on the ground that weekend, but my arms and legs have never felt stronger. While a certain stretch of that adventure was more of a challenge than I'd have liked it to have been, it was still a good experience, and I'm glad I had it.

There will probably be a few more "adventures" in my future - some more challenging than others - but I'm going to try to face them with a positive perspective and focus on how much they're helping me grow, and what great stories (and blog posts) they'll be when I get through them. So the next time a challenge hits me, I'm going to remind myself that "I'm on an adventure!!" and I'll try to make it a good one. We're all on an adventure of sorts, and it is, quite literally, the adventure of a lifetime. And that's worth getting excited about.

How to Get a Free Haircut

On Friday morning, I found myself in a barber shop, but I wasn't there to get a haircut. I didn't really need one. I was just waiting for someone else. While I was waiting, I couldn't help noticing that there was a mini freezer sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, thawing, and leaking water all over the floor. Several of the barbers we're cleaning the last few bits of ice and water out of the freezer and mopping the water off of the floor with rags. Because I had nothing better to do (and after a moment's hesitation because of how awkward it might be), I volunteered to help.

At first, the haircutters said I really didn't need to help, but I insisted. I helped them mop up the water, put the freshly thawed freezer back into its place, and finish drying the floor. When the work was done, the barbers offered to show their gratitude for my help by giving me a free haircut. I turned them down at first, but they insisted, and in the end, I got a nice trim. I offered them a small amount of money, but they refused it, so I offered them a smaller amount of money and insisted that they take it. Then we parted ways, each thinking that the other had done more for us than we had done for them.

Offering service and being kind is good for everyone. It was good for me because I felt good inside (the free trim was just an extra bonus). It was good for the barbers because they had help with a semi-challenging task, and then made and took an opportunity to show their thanks. I showed a small amount of thanks for their showing of thanks, and we each left thinking that we hadn't thanked the other enough. This is why I love service - not because I got a free haircut, but because it makes people happy. I was happy to serve and they were glad for the help. I was glad to get a good trim, and they were happy to give it to me. We each did service for the other, and everybody's happiness improved as a result. It was probably the best experience I had that day, and definitely at least the second best.

The title of this blog post is a little misleading because you shouldn't give service expecting some gift or favor in return. That's not how it works. Service only provides the happiness I love it for if it is given out of the goodness of one's heart. My service was genuine because I wasn't expecting anything in return for helping with the freezer, and their service was genuine because they weren't expecting any payment for the haircut (and, honestly, the amount of money I made them take wasn't even enough to be a half-decent tip for a haircut. I should have given them more). Since we each did what we did just to be nice, those acts of service had the miraculous results of lifting our hearts and getting our days off to a good start.

The Right Guide

Today has been a full day, but yesterday was even better. There are at least two things I could blog about concerning yesterday, one of which you might know about from following my Mom on Facebook, and the other, I haven't told anyone yet. Decisions, decisions.

I left the house at 4pm, planning to arrive at the campsite at 6. Realistically, carrying a heavy load of camping equipment, I probably should have expected to arrive at about 7. I don't know what time it was when I got close to my destination the first time. Having felt that I should have seen some signs by now, I asked someone for directions, and was told that my destination was across the river and back down the way I came a ways. So, I made my way to a bridge to cross to the other side of the river, unknowingly biking right by our camp site. I went back the way the man had told me quite a long way,  all the while asking for directions, and no one could agree on what side of the river my destination was. By this time, the sun was beginning to set - about 7:30 or so. Eventually, I ended up at a point where I KNEW I was going the wrong way, so I pulled over, checked my maps (I kind of knew I was off the edge of my usual maps, but I checked anyway), and once again asked for directions. This time, I was told that the campsite was pretty much directly under a massive bridge - the bridge the first guy had told me to cross. Feeling foolish for having backtracked so far, I turned back toward the bridge (stopping to put my bike lights on, as the sun had set at this point, 8pm, or a little afterward) only to find that the camp site was not under this bridge.

Feeling very tired, very frustrated, and hopelessly lost, I began to vent my feelings to Joe in a text message (he had texted me about something, and I responded by confessing that I was terribly lost). I crossed the bridge again, mostly just because I didn't want to stop moving. I was pretty sure I was close to the camp site, and I needed to keep looking for it. As I crossed the bridge, I saw on the north side of the river a parking lot filled with cars, and I thought that that might be where I needed to go, so I made my way toward it and found a parking lot that was nearly completely empty. Thinking that I was too close to the bridge to be at the parking lot I had seen from it, I began to bike away from the bridge, and, as it turned out, directly away from the camp site I was looking for.

I probably would have gone on being lost for at least another hour if not that, just then, I was passed by a pick up truck that was headed the other direction, and I happened to notice that the truck was being driven by my bishop. I shouted out to him, turned my bike around, and he led me to the camp site. I arrived at my destination three hours after I thought I would, two hours after I could reasonably have expected to have, and five hours after leaving home. According to Google Maps, I biked about 32 miles - a distance they claim that an unburdened cyclist in excellent physical condition could travel in only about three hours.

So, what's the moral of the story? I took directions from I guy who didn't know what he was talking about, or at least didn't know that I was within 50 yards of where I was trying to go, and I went on a wild goose chase that took me at least two hours, exhausted me, caused my Mom and my brother to worry sick about me, and kept me from reaching the destination that I had practically already reached until after dark. When I finally got back to where I had started, I was lucky enough (or rather, blessed enough) to run into my bishop. I followed him and got where I wanted to go within five minutes.

In life, there are lots of people who think they know the best way to get to where you're trying to go, and if you follow the wrong people, you could end up biking around in circles for two hours. It's not that the people who mislead us are always bad people. The man who misled me was a very kind (but very wrong) person who gave me directions that he thought would get me where I wanted to go. Perhaps, in life, the people who get us lost are people who are lost themselves, and perhaps just haven't realized it yet. I hope he knew where HE was going, at least.

In contrast, when we follow the right people, such as the Prophet, the Apostles, and others who are inspired by the Spirit, we can find the peace and direction we're looking for that we won't find anywhere else. It'll probably still take more than five minutes to get where you're going, but you'll get there infinitely faster by following the prophets than you will by following those other guys, and some of the blessings of following the prophets, such as peace, can be felt right away. I knew, when I was following my bishop, that I wasn't lost anymore. I knew that he knew where we were going, and that I was finally going the right way. I didn't care if it took me another 30 minutes to get to the camp site. I was just glad that I knew I was going to get there, because I knew I was following the right guide.

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, since most of my audience is already LDS, but I think we could each stand to reflect on what we do on a daily and weekly basis, and ask ourselves whether it's bringing us closer to the Celestial Kingdom, whether it's taking us farther away, or whether it's causing us to just bike around in huge, two hour circles. Only by consistently following true prophets can we make real progress toward our eternal goals, whereas following others might lead us terribly far off track.

I Love That Clean Feeling

Yesterday, I did a lot of biking. I got home just before bedtime tired and sweaty, feeling sticky and gross. Then I took a shower. It felt so good to be clean again, and I was able to sleep comfortably through the night.

Repentance feels good too. To have our consciences wiped clean and to feel pure and worthy to stand before the Lord is probably the greatest feeling in the world. In life, we get dirty sometimes. We make bad choices and mistakes. We get sweaty and gross (especially when it's 100 degrees outside and your main form of transportation is biking). Through frequent repentance, we can wash away the sins of the day and go to bed feeling clean.

God knows that we're all human. He knows that we'll all keep making mistakes. And though He asks us to try to avoid sin as much as we can, He knows that we'll fall short of perfection on a daily basis. He asks that we keep trying, and promises that as long as we're trying to improve, He'll remain patient with us and He'll forgive our sins as often as we ask Him too.

I'm very grateful for God's love and patience. I'm grateful for the blessings we have of being about the repent and bathe frequently. I'm grateful for that feeling I get when I become fresh and clean again, physically or spiritually.

From tonight to tomorrow morning, I'll be camping. (Tomorrow's blog post will be late, by the way.) I'll probably get dirty. I'll definitely get sweaty. And I fully intend on taking another shower when I get home. I'm pretty sure Mom expects me to take showers as frequently as I need to, just as God expects me to repent as often as I need to. And I know that I feel a whole lot better when I do.