Sources of Joy and Factors of Happiness: Lesson IV, Health

Sources of Joy and Factors of Happiness A Study for the Advanced Senior Classes of the M. I. A., 1921-1922. By Dr. George H. Brimhall Lesson IV. — Health Introduction. — Optimism, self correction and health make thrift worth while. To the pessimist self correction is almost out of the question; he is so absorbed with outside evils that the necessity for inner improvement is either not seen or not thought to be worth while. The unrepentant individual be- comes content with carelessness, conjures excuses, condones crime, and finally commits it. Such a one becomes estranged to the joy of character and cleanliness; and, granted time and opportunity, the individual degenerates into an en- vironment that will coordinate with his conduct, and he acquires the ability to enjoy idleness, in- iquity and squalor. It is the case of the individual taking the same downward steps that are followed by races from civilization to sav- agery. The inescapable parallelism be- tween the fate of the individual and the fate of the group, in their climb or decent along the pathway of life, is seen at every tun^ Physical Health. — We now come to a consideration of health as a factor of happiness, and, calling to mind the fact that most diseases are filth diseases, we see the close relationship between cleanliness and health. ' In the baccalaureate sermon, to the students of the Brig- ham Young University, delivered in May, 1921, Bishop Charles W. Nibley made health the first great essential of success. Herbert Spencer held to the theory that the first essential in national greatness is the production of a race of strong human animals. The ancient Greeks recognized the importance of health in the ex- pression: "A strong mind in a strong body." Dr. James E. Talmage, in a lec- ture delivered several years ago, defined health as a condition of freedom from disease, fulness of energy, and a desire to construct- ively expend that energy. This def- inition would place the indolent person on the sick list, where he doubtless belongs. No person is well who does not desire to work. Webster defines health as a state of being hale, sound, or whole in body, mind or soul. It appears safe to say that health is a state of wholeness, and the term is coming to mean a state of fitness, fit for service, fit for business, fit for travel, so that it has come to be a common expression to speak of one who is in good health as one who is physically fit. In the broad sense, the saying that he who wants health wants everything, is true; it is also true that he who has health has every- thing. The person who has physi- cal health is at ease with his physi- cal organism, he is valid, full of physical strength, he wants to be up and doing, he is not reminded of his physical existence by that

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS 1095 morning-tired feeling which is nature's announcement of the com- mission of one of three sins: dissi- pation, overwork, or overeating. The healthful person faces the day with a feeling possessed by the sturdy inhabitant of one of our mountain valleys, who exclaimed while facing a canyon breeze, be- fore sun up, "I feel so good, so good, I could just jump over the mountain." This was the meeting of two rising suns, the King of Day and a Healthy Man. Physical health is not only a source of happiness to the individual, it is a source of happiness to the group. Ill- ness of one member of a house- hold cuts down the joy of the en- tire family. The extent to which public health is a factor of hap- piness, will be comprehended in part by considering what happens when an epidemic is permitted to strike a community. First, safety calls for quarantine to the individ- uals affected; second, public gath- erings including all forms of recre- ation are often discontinued; third, productiveness is cut down by in- terference with industry, and through it all apprenhension in- stead of joyous anticipation per- vades the entire social atmosphere, to say nothing of the distress com- ing from bereavement. Intellectual Health. — A person is mentally fit and intellectually helpful when he is at ease with truth. He knows and he knows that he knows, and he is ambitious to know more. The morally health- ful person is at ease with right. He has convictions and conduct that match. He is conscious of ethical insight and enjoys ethical activity. Spiritual Health. — To have spiritual health one must be "At rest with Christ," and possess a God-reaching faith, and a religious fervor inpelling him to enjoyable doing of religious duties. Unteachableness is a symptom of intellectual unhealth, no matter whether it manifests itself in a sOrt of know-it-all egotism, grey-matter stagnation, or subnormal capacity. Distrust of the final triumph of right, dislike for the inconvenience of ethical heroism, and a willing- ness to recklessly run the chances of an infinite remoteness of the day of reckoning, are symptoms of moral unhealthfulness. Entertain- ing skepticism indulging in in- iquity, omitting duties, are the three great symptoms of spiritual sickness. When we have a compli- cation of physical disorder, intel- lectual lassitude, moral laxity, spiritual faithlessness, we have a case of all-round soul sickness, which is both in part and in whole the very opposite of heaven, the very negative of happiness: but when there exists a condition of physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual health, the man and the multitude thus conditioned feel the impulse to exclaim life is heaven. Literary Lights A sound mind in a sound body is a short but full description of a happy state in this world. — Locke. Life is not mere living but the enjoy- ment of health. — Martial. Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, lie in three words — health, peace, and competence. — Pope. Oh! health! health! the blessing of the rich! the riches of the poor! who can buy thee at too dear a rate, since there is no enjoying the world without thee. — Ben Johnson. Reading References Gospel Doctrine, Jos. F. Smith, pages 300 to 303. Relations of Society to the Drug Hab- it, Peter H. Bryce. American Journal of Public Healthy September, 1921. Wil- liam James — from Religious Experiences.

1096 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Questions and Problems 1. What is auto intoxication and how is it related to overwork? 2. At what point in our eating do we begin to take poison? 3. Discuss this proposition: Next to the drink habit and the drug habit (in- cluding coca-cola), stands the patent medicine habit, as a health destroyer. 4. Substituting the word health for the word love in that beautiful hymn, "Love at home," which statement would con- tain the most truth? 5. Why should disease smuggling be made a misdemeanor? 6. In considering a place to locate, for the building of a home, which do you consider the most important, the mat- ter of livelihood, education, or health? 7. Which is the better health advice, don't worry; or don't hurry? Give rea- sons. 8. What happens when we grow tired, and then work on until weariness dis- appears? 9. In what miracle performed by the Savior did he indicate the relationship of sin to sickness? 10. What sort of sickness is referred to in I Cor. 11:30? 11. Health being a prime factor of hap- piness, why are people so careless with it? 12. Discuss the ad' antages of physical examination (a) in the home, (b) in the schools. 13. Have some one read a five-minute paper on "The Work of Public Health Associations." 14. See if you can improve by substi- tution on th'.s list of twelve health-hab- its: Physical Health: 1. The habit of eating plain, whole- some food, including a good deal of milk. 2. The habit of exercise that demands deep breathing and perspiration. 3. The habit of being cheerful. Intellectual Health: 1. The habit of close observation. 2. The habit of studying books. 3. The habit of accuracy of expression. Moral Health: 1. The habit of sincerity. 2. The habit of keeping one's word. 3. The habit of doing a square deal. Spiritual Health: 1. The habit of prayer. 2. The habit of attending religious ser- vice. 3. The habit of paying tithes and of- ferings. 15. What is the difference in reaching a man through his stomach and reach- ing manhood through his stomach? Lesson V. — Thrift Thrift, in this case, should mean financial prosperity through indus- try and economical management. The slogan of the ages has been, Spend less than you make. The late President Francis M. Lyman, who may fittingly be remembered as an apostle of thrift, held to the belief that persons who would save ten per cent on every dollar would escape want and have sufficient competence for old age. One of our most successful busi- ness men speaks of thrift as the second great essential to success, and holds to the thought that pen- ury is the result of people not be- ing willing to pay the price for thrift. They operate under the delusion that one may eat his pie and have it, too. It is certain that productiveness is at the foundation of all thrift. The over-expenditure habit pre- vents productiveness from reach- ing over into the field of margins, by driving it into the ditch of de- ficit. It was pointed out in lesson three that a feeling of safety is a fundamental of happiness; the habit of saving places within the reach of the masses the conscious- ness of security against want ; while the spendthrift habit sacrifices to the present the possibilities of any sense of security for the future. The economist advances exult- ingly looking ever forward with

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS 1097 judicious optimism and backward with consistent satisfaction: saying of his sacrifices, "It was worth them all." The epicurean receeds with embarrassment, faces the fu- ture with fading hope, looks upon the past with a wish for its return, condolingly preaching his own fi- nancial funeral sermon, the climax of which is, "It was worth it all." Thrift promotes self confidence, which is a form of strength; and a sense of strength is another funda- mental of happiness. Wrestling with an unnecessary want — is a fine form of intellectual athletics. Thrift wins the confidence of oth- ers, and this elevates our social selves. A social self is your idea of what another person thinks of you. Honest thrift is accompanied by a consciousness of being straight. Ev- ery thrifty man is a village black- smith, in character, who, "Looks the whole world in the face For he owes not any man," beyond his willingness and ability to pay. Among the Latter-day Saints thrift carries with it the conscious- ness of square dealing with the Lord. A man's reputation as he knows it is the sum total of his so- cial selves, and thrift makes this sum total enjoyable, while its op- posite makes the same sum total unen joy able. Thrift, unadulterated by greed, increases one's helpfulness. To want to help and can't is accom- panied by a consciousness of weak- ness which is always a condition of unhappiness, and without thrift our helpfulness is reduced to mere good intentions. Literary Lights Live with a thrifty, not a needy fate; small shots paid often waste a vast es- tate.— Herriek. I knew once a very covetous, sordid fellow, who used to say, Take care of the pence; for the pounds will take care of themselves. — Lord Chesterfield. Economy, the poor man's mint. — Tup- pet. There are but two ways of paying debt — increase of industry in raising in- come, increase of thrift in laying out. — Carlyle. Problems and Questions 1. Wherein is tithe paying a good thrift habit? 2. Discuss the doctrine contained in the following: Not mine to spend, Not mine to keep, Not mine to give, Not mine to lend 'Tis the Lord's part, a tenth of all I earn. 3. Wherein is buying without asking the price indicative of lack of thrift? 4. Illustrate the lack of thrift in cur- tailing expenditures at the expense of production. 5. What about the policy of cutting the milk bill to increase the gasoline supply, or to pay for fan^y footwear? 6. How do expenditures for destruc- tion affect national thrift? Illustrate. 7. Aside from the unethical element involved, how does the wasting of an em- ployer's time by the employee affect the thrift of the community? 8. How does telephone gossiping af- fect community thrift? 9. Name what you think the three most valuable thrift habits. 10. Wherein does unwise curtailment of food supply, interfere with produc- tion, and thereby become an unthrifty procedure? 11. In which will the thrifty man be more concerned, in producing or saving? 12. Are there any other thrift habits entitled to rank before these, and are these in their order the habit of pro- ducing, the habit of saving, the habit of investing? 13. Make a list of your thrift habits, and of the things that are making for the thrift of your community. 14. Have a successful business man give some specific direction in regard to safe investments. 15. Formulate some rules of safety a- gainst wild cat schemes.

1098 IMPROVEMENT ERA Reading References Man of Tomorrow, by Claude Richards, chapter 32. Poor Richard's Almanac, Benjamin Franklin. Thrift, Samuel Smiles. Read James Psychology, chapter on Selves. Lesson VI. — Helpfulness The philosopher was right when he said there is evidently a paral- lel between the length of the pe- riod of helplessness in the off- spring and the height of intelli- gence of the parent. The new born mosquito is ready for self support immediately; the child of civiliza- tion requires more than a decade of care from its parents, and rev- elation points to an uncounted number of years of man's need of help from God. The helplessness of offspring provides for a corresponding help- fulness of parents. Helplessness is that helpfulness may be, and both are that there may be joy. Out of helplessness comes the possibil- ity of gratitude. Underlying help- fulness is the emotion of sympathy and gratitude. The Relation of Helplessness to Helpfulness. — We hear of destitu- tion, we witness want, our sym- pathy is aroused, we are pained with the thoughts of suffering, but are pleased with the contemplation of relieving it, and thus the desire of helpfulness brings happiness. We send relief, and gratitude gush- es forth from the hearts of those we help; they are made happy. These two streams, sympathy and gratitude, come together, and at their confluence love is formed. The two great laws of love have been lived, first, we grow to love that which we appreciate, second, we grow to love the objects of our willing service. Mercy. — Even an injudicious act of mercy blesses the merciful, and when the Master said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," he evidently understood that it was not merely a question of receiving back in kind from someone else, but though cruelty were returned the merciful ex- panded mercy from within; and the great beatitude included the truth, blessed are the merciful for they shall grow in mercy, and with that growth of mercy as with the growth of all helpfulness comes a corresponding love, not only of the object of the helpful- ness, but of the helpfulness itself. To love the object of our acts is happiness, but to love the act itself is joy. All unselfish helpfulness is mer- ciful, consequently we recognize with the immortal Shakespeare, that "The quality of mercy is not strained." Self Help as Related to Help- fulness of Others as a Factor of Happiness. — The consciousness of being self helpful, is one of the fundamentals of individuality; we all enjoy it, even the contemplation of doing for one's self is happiness,, and this stream of joy widens and deepens unless it leaves its course and plunges off into the abyss of arrogance and self sufficiency, and the individual subconsciously revels in the error of having in mind no need of help from God or his fellow man, a state of inglo- rious glory. It may be a state of pleasure but not of profit, for joy is always profitable. But self-help, savored with the recognition of some helplessness, is

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS 109$ a source of satisfaction to the in- dividual and encouragement to others. Self helpfulness is a mark of greatness. Sublimity of life in one person inspires sublimity in many. To be royally self helpful, then, means to be helpful to oth- ers. The fall of a chieftain sends fear to the legion, the conquest of a captain encourages the whole company, and encouragement is a high form of happiness. It was said by Algernon Sidney that God helps those that help themselves. This idea has cropped out in many forms in literature. There is a beautiful recognition of divine application of self-help- fulness as a source of happiness when coupled with the recognition of helpfulness from God, in Rev- elation 7:13-17. "And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him: * * * "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Some Illustrations. — Some years ago there sat at a mountain spring two persons; they were in the can- yon for loads of wood, one was a middle-aged man, the other a boy in his later teens. During the meal time an awkward Scandinavian emigrant, reeking with perspira- tion, and panting with exhaustion, came for a drink. Drinking his fill, he sat down in the shade of a maple to rest. The younger of the two men lunching said, "Come, have a bite," the old- er one ate on in grim and greedy silence. The wood craft recruit said with considerable culture, "I ought not to eat your dinner, but I lost mine on the way up." "O come, and eat," said the young host, "a half is often better than the whole." The second invitation was ac- cepted, and the young man who furnished the half dinner had so much joy in witnessing the hap- piness of his guest, that the mere recollection of the incident called forth the following lines : "The joy of sharing a dinner, Of lending a helping hand, Is the joy of being a winner, In the race to the heavenly land/' A young man sat on a platform of a western railway station watch- ing a herd of cattle that had been unloaded to feed. Much to his sur- prise three young women, gaudily dressed, approached and began chattering and giggling. As they came close one of them stopped and confronting him almost bra- zenly said, "You look good to me." "I am glad," said he, "If I look good to any one in this rough garb." "Aren't you lonely?" said she. "No," he replied, "I have been here but a short time, but the place is surely lonely enough." "Come over and lunch with me at the Red Lark," she responded. "And where is the Red Lark?" he asked. "Over there just beyond the meadow," she replied. He looked and saw the building, and knew what the Red Lark meant. "No I cannot go with you to the Red Lark." "Why not?" she asked. "It will cost you nothing, and I promise you a good time." "Well, I cannot go."

1100 IMPROVEMENT ERA. "Where are you from?" "I am from Utah," came the re- ply. "Are you a 'Mormon?" she asked. "Why do you ask?" said he. "Oh, I just thought you were a 'Mormon.' " "Well, I am. What do you know about the 'Mormons?' " At this question she turned pale, exclaiming, "Heavens, man, I was reared by a good 'Mormon' father and mother." "Do you believe in 'Mormon- ism?" "Merciful heavens, yes. I at- tended the Brigham Young Univer- sity, got a testimony there, and how I wish I had never received that testimony." And she wept. "Do you mind telling me how it all happened?" asked her inter- viewer. She calmed herself and said, "When I discontinued school, 1 went to my country home, happy and hopeful. There came to our town a traveling man. I became acquainted with him, and through his influence against the wish of my parents, 1 went to one of our large cities where I had agreed to meet him. I trusted and loved the brute. He took me to Saltair and showed me a good time. He brought me back to the city where we went to a rooming house togeth- er. I spent the night there, and when I awoke next day, I was a- lone, lost — lost to my girlhood, my good name, everything!" I dressed and attempted to leave the building, but was told I could not do so. Later on I was pre- sented with a ticket to Omaha and some spending money. What could I do?" I was unfit to go home, and the place where I was seemed a prison. It was a case of anywhere for freedom for me, so I went to Omaha. At the station there I was unexpectedly met by persons who seemed to know that I was coming. They were kind to me, but kept me going on the trail on which I started when I left my home. From Omaha they brought me here where they keep close watch on me." "Would you like to go home?" the gentleman asked. "I don't know," she replied, "but I do know that I should like to get away from this place and these people." "You accepted a ticket away from the 'Mormons,' would you accept one back? If I will get you transportation, furnish you with suitable clothes, and provide for your needs and comfort dur- ing the journey, will you go back to your parents?" At this question she rushed to- wards him as if she would em- brace him, but he waived her off and said, "Will you go?" Gazing into his face, she ex- claimed, "You are the first man I have met in two long years. All the others were vultures. You are interested in helping me, they have all been interested in destroying me." Then, hesitatingly, she said, "I must have my suitcase. There are some things in it that I cannot leave at the Red Lark, and I know the people there will not let me have my things." "Yes, they will, I will go with you and we will get your suitcase." They went to the Red Lark to- gether and were met at the en- trance with a most cordial welcome by the keeper. The girl went in. The man remained outside. The girl asked for her suitcase. Then the friendliness of the keeper changed to fury, but the youth Lsajd. *Give the girl her suitcase,

SOURCES OF JOY AND FACTORS OF HAPPINESS 1101 and let her go, or I will bring authority here that will move the entire place." The keeper said to the girl, "Take your 'trash' and go." The "Mormon" took her to a furnishing house where she changed her costume at his expense. Attired as a lady, she stood before the glass and said, "Something like myself again." That afternoon the train carried her toward her mountain home. Her rescuer loaded the cattle and proceeded eastward on his way. She was met with the welcome of the returned prodigal, and is living the life, though marred, for which she was created, while her benefactor drinks deep of joy through the memory of his helpfulness. The hero of this incident at the time of its oppening was relatively poor; he had no money for luxu- ries. Now he has in his employ scores of men and women happily developing one of the industries of our state. His employees all know he is full of helpfulness. Helpfulness makes for happiness in making us more like God. It is the hymn, "Nearer my God to thee" in action. Nearness to God without a corresponding likeness to God is the antipodes of hap- piness. To neglect or refuse to be help- ful is to miss the tree of life; it is to come under the law animality; grow by taking. To seek and em- brace opportunities to be helpful is to partake of the fruits oif the tree of life; it is to come under the law of humanity and divinity. To grow by giving. It is the ap- plication of the great doctrine taught by the Master when he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." President Francis M. Lyman once said, "The Savior had to be saved before he could save other people," and the Savior as all others was saved through his own helpfulness and the helpful- ness of his Father. The helpfulness of help to the helper is in proportion to the sac- rifice made in the helping. The upreach of helplessness and the uplift of helpfulness are the funda- mental sources of sympathy and gratitude, either of which in ac- tion is happiness; and these two give birth to unalloyed love which is the apex of joy, the reaching of which is the great purpose of the atonement, the greatest act of help- fulness ever performed on earth. "If you can't help a lot, don't refuse to help a little;" remember the widow's mite. Helpfulness is the basis of ex- altation. "He that would be great- est of all, let him be the servant of all." Who serves most rules best. Helpfulness is strength in the high- est form of expenditure. Unselfish helpfulness produces one hundred per cent happiness, which is a ful- ness of joy. Literary Lights Tis not enough to help the feeble up But to support him after. — Shakespeare. Help refused Is hindrance sought and found. — Brown- ing. To look up and not down, To look forward and not back, To look out and not in, and To lend a hand. — Edward Everett Hale. Help yourself and heaven will help you. — La Fontaine. I warmed, I clothed, I cheered my guest, And laid him .on my couch to rest, And made the earth my bed, and seemed In Eden's garden while I dreamed. Reading References A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal.

1102 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Questions and Problems would become of sympathy? 8. Discuss this proposition: "The 1. Which gives the greater joy, being purest love finds its highest expression merciful or receiving mercy? in helpfulness." 2. Which is the greater happiness, a 9. Show that the object of the atone- consciousness of mercy growth, or the ment was the greatest act of helpfulness expectation of mercy gift? known to earth. 3. In which should we be more con- 10. How can self -helpfulness be help- cerned in being helpful or in receiving ful to others? help? Why? 11. How does one man's thrift become 4. On what grounds may we consistent- helpful in the thrift of other people? ly say, "Thank God for the helplessness 12. At what point may self-helpfulness of children?" become a hindrance to self growth? 5. Wherein are the needy an uplifting 13. Repeat the law of growth in the force to those who provide for them? physical world. 6. What are the conditions that make 14. What is the law of growth in the gratitude possible? spiritual world? 7. If there were no need of help, what