There is a great moment in the movie "The Legend of Baggar Vance" where Baggar Vance tells the struggling golfer Randolph Junuh that he has to stop trying so hard and relax and let the game come to him, instead of trying to force the game to go the way he wants it to. He tells him stop thinking with his head and start feeling the game with his hands. In this chapter of Alma, Alma essentially says the same thing. He wishes he was an angel and could do mighty works. H wishes that he had a voice that was like thunder and would shake the earth. I wonder how much of our lives we spend wishing things were different, that there was more to it, or that we had more. Alma tells himself to be content with what he has, to not "harrow up in my desires" which means distress himself over what he wants. He asks himself, "Why should I desire more... ?" If we live our lives righteously, make our decisions as best we can, and let life come to us instead of continually trying to make more of it than need be, if we could be a little less anxious about what we don't have or who we haven't become, we might be able to feel and enjoy more of life's wonderful moments. We would feel a little less guilty and certainly be more at peace with ourselves. The scriptures say, "Men are that they might have joy." I think it says "might" have joy because it's up to us to let ourselves feel it. But it isn't something that we can force on ourselves. We have to let it come to us. Not that life isn't going to give us plenty of stress and distress. But like Alma asked himself, why should we distress over what we think things should be, when what might be isn't even what would make us more happy?
Alma also says his joy comes when he sees others experiencing the joy the gospel brings. In the 15th section of the D&C it says that "the thing which will be of the most worth unto [us is to] declare repentance unto the people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father." Whenever we can bless someone else's life, help make it a little better, we help people be closer to the Lord. There isn't much else that can be more meaningful and lasting in our lives than that. When we focus on that, then who we are, how much we have, or how we compare, doesn't matter.
1 comment:
That is exactly what I needed to read tonight! Sometimes the stress and strain of life and trying to get it to go the way you want it to go causes you to lose focus. And what I need to do instead is to let go, relax, and let the Spirit guide. When I do that I do realize that I have far more than I could imagine, and it becomes easier to be content with what I have.
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