The Joy of Living

The Joy of Living By Stanley R. Brain Life is glorious, and how grateful we should be to our Creator for it. Who has not experienced occasions of pure joy, just for being alive? A great step is taken toward happiness by taking such an atti- tude toward life. How unhappy is the condition of those poor, warped souls who look upon life as a burden, and as something of little value, and, consequently, are continually miserable. Latter-day Saints, especially, should cultivate the attitude of hope and joy towards life more than most other people, on account of our revealed knowledge relating to the purposes of life here in the present and the continuance of it in the future. To millions of human beings such a knowledge has not been imparted, but, nevertheless, the vast majority of them find joy in living; so, how much more should not we be able to preserve a feeling of joy in regard to our lives! "Man is that he might have joy" we are told in the scriptures, and it is up to us to find all the joy we can during our lives. Not the passing pleasures of a trivial nature, but the substantial pleasure and satisfaction that come from upright living and giving of service to God and our fellow men. Not the pleasure that some think they get in following the path of evil but the joy that is possible by fol- lowing the path of good. The question is asked by some people, "What difference does it make what a man believes as far as the doc- trines of different churches are concerned?" To this can be said that it makes a vasr difference, because of the attitude toward life taken according to the belief of the individual. To the believer in some religious doctrines, the world is a place of evil and suffering and life in it is just a matter of looking forward to death which will give a relief from it; while to the Latter-day Saint, life is a beautiful and glorious thing, and the world exists to give us pleasure, experience, and the opportunity of doing good and acquiring knowledge. By preserving such an attitude of joy toward life and all that God has surrounded us with here on this earth, we may go far along the way of fulfiling the measure and purpose of our creation, and be a source of happiness to all with whom we associate, and thus make both ourselves and the world better by our having lived in it. Brooklyn Conference, New York. Your greatest benefactor is the man who kindles in your heart the deepest love for the good, the true, and the beautiful. — Nephi Jensen.