--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Merrill, Joseph collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 9 number: 9 published: 1906-07 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph Merrill, "The Happy Life," *Improvement Era* 9, no. 9 (July 1906): 721–730.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0909unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0909unse start_page: 721 end_page: 730 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1906-07) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0909unse publication_year: 1906 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1906, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The Happy Life HAPPY LIFE.* BY JOSEPH MERRILL, PH. D., DIRECTOR OF THE STATE SCHOOL OF MINES, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH. Whence we came and whither we go are questions that have always aroused the deepest interest in the minds of thoughtful men. But there are two questions closely akin to these, which are, in a sense, more practical. Why are we here, and how shall we best accomplish the object of our existence? It is to one phase of these last questions that I respectfully invite your attention tonight. We are here on earth that we might have joy, and it is our duty to realize this purpose of our existence. These propositions I submit to the graduating classes of the University of Utah as being the essence of a practical system of philosophy worthy of acceptance and of true allegiance. This philosophy, as I understand it, is Christianity itself, or at least is in harmony with Christianity. The thought that we exist in order that we might have joy— the fullest and most complete happiness—and, therefore, that we ought continually to seek joy, is a pleasant one, too pleasant, perhaps, to be accepted at once by the serious-minded. And yet it is to the thoughtful and serious-minded that I now address myself, in full confidence that these propositions will be entertained. In'the main, you who are about to be graduated have reached an important period in your lives, and there are now presented to you weighty questions to be answered. In the past, the hands of loving friends have steadied you, re- * Baccalaureate Sermon, delivered in the Assembly Hall, Sunday evening, June 3, 1906. 722 IMPROVEMENT ERA. moved obstacles from your paths, shielded you from dangers, and in manifold ways made it possible for you to be what and where you are tonight. But now a change has come. You have reached the mental and physical stature of men and women. You are now expected to" stand alone and to make your own way in the world. And, indeed, you are glad that it is so. For, coincident with the development of the physical stature, there has matured within you a consuming ambition to act the part in the world of men and women. Most of you have already decided what your vocations shall be. But the important question is not what they are, but how shall you pursue them. It is not necessary to give the reply in words, for it will be given in deeds. From this hour, the life's conduct of each of you will be a revelation of the answer. How then shall you proceed? Heaven grant that it may be in that way that shall bring to you tha fullest possible measure of joy—of happiness supreme! It is your duty, I have said, to go forward in this way, and you may grant that it is. Still, lacking definite information as to the way, you may desire that it be pointed out, and I shall endeavor to comply with your wishes. First of all, then, I repeat that you are what you are and where you are by reason of the help you have received from others. Your very existence is due to others. And just as during the earliest days that you breathed the breath of life you were absolutely dependent for physical nourishment and care, so, during all your days you have been dependent for mental food. The methods by which you have been trained, and the knowledge on which you have fed and become mentally equipped for your several callings, have been provided for you by the labors of others. You are, then, in debt for the means by which you have grown both physically and mentally mature. And the happy life can come to you only as it can come to any man—by discharging the debt you owe to others. But how much do you owe? may be asked. How many hundreds of thousands of dollars will discharge the obligations of your raising to your friends -to society? No amount of money will do it. Your debt is not a financial one. Your existence is due to THE HA PP Y LIFE. 723 love, not money; to service, not gold alone. Which one of your childhood lives was not worth more to your mother than the combined riches of all the world? Then, ths obligations you are under for manhood and womanhood cannot be discharged in the material goods of this world, even though you had the wealth of Croesus. You must pay in kind, that is, in love and in service. And it will be only as you do pay in kind that true happiness will come to you. x Now you may ask what proof I offer that genuine happiness comes only by the path of loving sacrifice. And, in reply, I present the experience of all mankind. For, if in the world of human experience one thing is more firmly established than another, it is that happiness comes from, and is proportionate to, service. Let me cite you to two notable examples of the New Testament: Among the ancient apostles,Paul stands out pre-eminently as the scholar and enthusiastic worker. His writings and his heroic examples have in all ages, since his time, strongly appealed to men. For Paul did nothing by halves. Born and reared a Pharisee—the strictest sect among the Jews, he was at first one of the most ardent persecutors of the early Jewish Christians. But near Damascus, when on one of his persecuting expeditions, the divine light was flashed from heaven upon his soul. He heard the voice of his Master, in obedience to which the current of his life was suddenly reversed. Just as he had been devotedly true to his former light, so now he became the staunchest supporter of the cause he would have destroyed. Looking for the motive that impelled him, we find it laid bare in his own words in the first chapter of his great Epistle to the Romans: "I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise." At this time it seems that he was principally indebted to the Greeks and Barbarians for persecutions. They had chased him from city to city, heaped on his devoted head every kind of abuse, and often placed his life in jeopardy. In what way could be be indebted to them? The context plainly shows that he felt himself under a supreme obligation to carry the gospel to them as he had come to know it. "So as much as in me is I am ready to 724 IMPROVEMENT ERA. preach the gospel to you also that are in Rome." "For," as he declared to the Corinthians, "necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel.'' Having received light and truth, he felt himself imperatively obligated to impart it unto others, even in the face of the bitterest opposition. Privations, prison bonds, and even the prospects of death, deterred him not. Forward went this heroic soul with his glad message, until compelled to bare his neck to the sword of Nero. Paul faithfully discharged his duty as he saw it, both when persecuting, and later when preaching. At first he thought he was rendering service to God. Later, he certainly was rendering service to men. And it is pertinent for us to ask: in this service to men, was he happy? His Master, Jesus Christ, had said: "Ifye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them," a statement supported by Paul's declaration that he could be happy in no other way than by giving the service he rendered. The great principle which he recognized in his life was that every one should open his mind and heart to all the light and truth that God grants to him; and, having received the light, should discharge his supreme obligation to impart it to others, and in every way make himself and others better and happier by means of it. But for all time, and beyond all question, is this glorious principle established on the enduring rock of eternal truth by the life and labors, sufferings and death, of our Lord Jesus Christ. "God so loved the world, that he gave his Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'' Thus sent into the world to redeem it, and to establish those rules of personal conduct that should make men worthy to return to the presence of their Divine Father, we see our Lord without faltering, without deviating a hair's breadth, absolutely true to his commission. And when tempted in the wilderness, on the threshold of his mission, as no other person was ever tempted, being offered the kingdoms of this world with all their glories if he would swerve, we see him rise as a God in righteous indignation, and command the tempter to get behind, and then proceed, as a meek and lowly man, with nowhere to lay THE HAPP Y LIFE. 725 his head, to teach men to live a better life. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect," (Matt. 5: 48) was the beautiful thought he tried to burn into the souls of men. "Keep my commandments," was the injunction that he gave to his disciples on one occasion. What for? That he might be glorified, and thereby have some personal ambition gratified? Jesus was the perfect man. His life is the perfect example of beautiful, loving service, and of the happiness born of such service. "Keep my commandments," why? "that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." (John 15; 11.) In these simple words, our Lord expresses the plain but allimportant truth that true happiness springs from the love and service of God and man. In further support of this truth, I now appeal to your own experience. When have you felt most that life is worth the living? When has it tasted sweetest? When have you been in the fullest possession of a peaceful, refined, joy-giving spirit that filled your soul with love, and your mind with noble thoughts and high aspirations? In short, when have you been most truly happy? I shall speak for you, confident that your answers would all agree that your greatest happiness has sprung from duty best performed, from service of the greatest good. Your own experiences, then, support the call I make of you to follow the paths of duty unswervingly, unhaltingly, in order that your lives might be full of that sweet joy that transforms this wicked world into a heaven of delight, typical of the heaven beyond the grave. You shall then be in possession of a spirit that will radiate sunshine wherever you go, and give joy and hope to all with whom you come in contact. I have spoken of duty and of service, but I have had no specific act in mind, the performance of which will discharge your obligations and win for you the happy life. Nor do I mean to say that this life is found in this or that vocation, to the exclusion of the other. This life is inherent in no vocation, but it may be found in any that you would follow. It depends not so much on what our business is, as it does on the manner in which we persue our business. In every calling we maybe honest, true, unselfish, diligent, persevering, and do unto others as we would have others do unto 726 IMPROVEMENT ERA. us. Opportunities for doing good, of serving others, will always be on hand. The fruits of right living may be scattered in every place. The ideal of the farmer, of the teacher, the engineer, or the doctor, may be to do all the good within his power. Let any man in any calling diligently pursue this ideal, and the desirable life of which we have spoken will be his. But in this connection there is one principle that should not be forgotten. It is stated by our Lord, according to St. Luke, (12:48) in these words: "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." You are now about to become college graduates. You have enjoyed privileges and advantages that are denied to most of your fellow men. You are in the class of the favored few. Special opportunities for training and development have you had, and, in consequence, your powers and talents and intellectual attainments are above the ordinary. Much has been given you: of you will more than the ordinary be required, to reap the blessing. The poor widow's mite was accounted more than the princely gifts of all the rich men combined. And so the trifling work of the young man of ability and scanty education, treading the lowly walks of life, may yield him more of the blessed fruits of happiness than are reaped from the mighty labors of the man of power. Our God is just. Let us make sure that our service is commensurate with our powers. But this is not all. While we must serve according to the light and ability we possess, we should make sure that our capacity for serving is ever growing. We all know the parable of the talents. How the master divided his goods among his servants according to their several abilities, giving to one five, another two, and another one talent, and then journeyed to a far country. After a long time he returned and called his servants to an accounting. The servants who had received five and two talents, respectively, put them to use, and pleased their lord by returning to him double the number of talents he had intrusted to them. In consequence these servants, who had been faithful over a few things, were made rulers over many. But the servant who received but one talent buried it, and was able to return only this talent. His lord was angered, and cast him out for being slothful and worthless. THE HA PP Y LIFE. 727 How applicable this parable to many lives such as yours! You are now in the possession of your talents. You are trained, in part developed. You have learned yourselves and know, in some measure, your possibilities and limitations. You have worked side by side, and have measured your strength with one another. You know better than any man what you can do, wherein you are strong, wherein you are weak. But do you fully know yourselves? Perhaps not; most likely not. Under the pressure and force of circumstances you have all surprised yourselves, no doubt, at what you have been able to do. If you will, you may continue to surprise yourselves by the labors you can accomplish. For, you are at best only in part developed. Greater things than any yet dreamed of, you may do if you will. Have you the will to do them? Or, like the slothful servant, shall you be content to rest upon honors already achieved, to move on the plane at present attained? If your ambitions are now satisfied, and you shall be content to render only the service for which you are now qualified, I fear the happy life will be yours only in a small degree. It will come to you richly only for faithful and loving service commensurate with your expanding powers. You are like young trees that have reached the period of fruition, but not of mature development. And as the tree, properly cultivated, will grow for a long period after it has begun to bear fruit, so you may continue to grow, if the conditions of growth are complied with. It is your duty to supply these conditions. It was the diligent servants who pleased their Lord and earned the reward of merit. Now what are the conditions for future growth? It is almost needless to mention them. For you know that they are the same conditions that have governed growth in the past. And past growth has been conditioned chiefly on self-effort, self-activity, coupled with moral rectitude. But in the past, growth has been easy. You have had only to follow the path marked out for you to accomplish the tasks daily assigned, and to avoid the dangers to which your attention was continually directed. Expressed as a metaphor, you have had to row, to be sure, but rowing under such conditions has not been difficult. In the future, however, all this will be changed. Now, I do not wish to discourage you, but to nerve you for the greater strug- 728 IMPROVEMENT ERA. gles yet to come. Tomorrow, if you go ahead, rowing will be more difficult than it is today. You have been rowing near the shore; tomorrow you weigh anchor and row out into the sea of life where the currents are stronger and the storms are fiercer. In the future, more than in the past, the quality of your rowing will show the stuff of which you are made. Are you going to row, or shall you drift? And if you row, shall it be with the current, across it, or against it? Tonight you start out about even in the race. How will it be' ten, twenty years from now? Will it be the old, old stories repeated of success, of indifference, and of failure? Look at the college graduates of one and two decades ago. From them learn the lesson. Then they stood together as you stand tonight. But during the brief interval that has elapsed, they have become irrevocably separated by deeds of achievement. Some have advanced rapidly, some slowly, some not at all, and some, alas! have gone backward. This separation may be due, in part, to a difference in native ability, in part, to circumstances, but it is mainly due to acts of the will. In those who have steadily advanced, you may discover that they have exhibited at least four qualities of success. First, untiring industry has characterized their lives since commencement day. They have worked unceasingly, not because, perchance, there were daily assigned tasks, such as they had in college, but because they recognized the great law that there is no excellence without labor. Their tasks were self-imposed. And, to them, there was no substitute for industry along the road to success. They knew, as we know, that a laggard is despised both by God and man. No laggard is truly happy. In the second place, they have exhibited the capacity for growth. It is sad, but true, that some students seem to have exhausted their capacity in completing their college courses. They may have been brilliant students, and at commencement time given promise of great careers. But their brilliancy proved to be of the meteoric kind, flashing for the moment above the scholastic horizon, and then disappearing from view. They early reached their zenith and lacked the capacity for further development. On the other hand, the plodder is often like the plant of slow growth, THE HAPPY LIFE. 729 and he astonishes us in later years by the extent of his powers. But in all cases growth is dependent in part, at least, on the will, and every one may continue to grow if he wills it, and then sticks to his determination. Every successful man does grow. The third quality of success is perseverance. Sometimes bril liant students fail in life because they are impatient of results. They are like the child that plants a seed one day, and digs it up the next to see why it has not sprouted. It is true that a graduate sometimes discovers that he is not naturally adapted to the career on which he has started, and that some other course gives greater promise of success. We should always be willing to rectify mistakes, and to turn, no matter how late in life, into that path along which we are best qualified to tread. But if success is our goal, we should remember that we must approach it with a firm and steadfast purpose, and must not be swerved by every passing breeze and changing scene. We must be willing to face the storms and carve our way over obstacles or through them, though they be mountain high. Another quality that our truly successful men exhibit is that of purity and strength of character. I mention it fourth, but it is the most important of the group. I do not say that every man of influence and power possesses this quality, but it is exhibited by every one who is loved, respected and honored by his fellows, and whose influence is beneficent in moulding the thought of his time. Without this quality we cannot inspire confidence, nor can our labors for good be effective. The moral weakling, even though he have a giant intellect, can never be trusted. But if it is known that a man's word is as good as his bond, that his motives are as pure as the driven snow, and that his fidelity is as firm as the i ock of ages, that man, if he possess the other qualities of success, can never be a failure, nor can there be set a boundary to his influence. These are some of the qualities, my young friends, exhibited by the most successful men. They are also the qualities characteristic of the most happy men. Industry, perseverance, fidelity— all of these are elements of that kind of service which intelligent men and women must give, if their lives are in harmony with the 730 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Divine Will and, therefore, full of the sweetest experiences vouchsafed to men. And now, to what I have said I must add one thing more I have spoken of your duty to men, and the necessity of discharging your obligations to them, as a condition for winning happiness. But what of your duty to God ? You know the first great commandment is to love him with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might and mind. And this is inseparably joined with the second commandment, to love thy neighbor as thyself, the application of which we have been considering. But it is impossible to love our fellow-men so much that our service, and therefore our happiness, can be full and complete, unless we observe the first commandment also. No atheist ever drank to the full of the sweetest joys of this life. For no atheist can reap the deepest satisfaction in his service of men, because he does not have the richest abundance of the divine love and Spirit to mellow his soul and sweeten his labors. And though we serve God by doing good to men, yet our duty to him cannot be fully discharged unless we yield to him our hearts as well as our hands. Young men and women, cherish an ambition to do all the good within your power. In whatever walk of life you tread, let this be your ideal. Pursue it wich all tin vigor of your young lives, and upon the brow of each of you there sha'i be indelibly written the word success, in its best and truest form, as measured by the love and esteem of your fellows, and the joy and satisfaction that springs from the c msciousness of duty done. Seek true happiness, your highest duty. But remember that in order wholly to find it, you must lose yourselves completely in the service of both God and man. Salt Lake City, Utah.