Just a quick something that I learned today...

We had a particularly awesome sacrament meeting today.  A friend of mine got up and gave one of the most honest, humbling talks I may have ever heard.  And I don't even remember most of it.  But the point was this:

The gospel doesn't always make your life HAPPIER.  But it DOES make it BETTER.

What do we do when all the little discouragments and setbacks "don't lead us to a happy, shiny ending, but instead prepare us" for the even bigger disappointments yet to come?  What if life is just plain hard, always, with only a few fleeting moments of respite in between?  Is the gospel still worth it?

This is something I have been pondering myself lately, this fact that "happier" and "better" aren't the same thing.  This idea of pleasure vs. happiness vs. joy.  The purpose of our trials, especially when you can't seem to catch a break from them.  The command to "be of good cheer."  Or even just the absence of noticeable blessings, especially if you've been praying and working for them for a long time.  And while I DO think that the perspective the gospel brings CAN bring happiness and peace in the NOW, I don't think that's the point of it.  If it is, we've ALL OF US missed the mark at some point or another and have no reason to continue.  And I know from experience that it's not always true that living righteously brings happiness in this life.  The point is that even if NOT, the gospel is still true.  The GOOD NEWS is still TRUE!  We have a Savior that succors us, that walks through these things with us.  He has suffered for our sins and made salvation possible.  We suffer to learn and grow.  You can't really learn and grow WITHOUT suffering and sacrificing (at least a little).  Especially when it comes to things of the Spirit.  We become more like the Savior when we stop trying to be happy (which is, at its core, a little selfish, even if it's necessary) and start trying to be better, to reach out to others and make THEM happier (isn't that what He did?).  Once again, that awesome talk, "But If Not," reiterates the fact that none of us are exempt from this thing we call LIFE.  Life isn't fair.  It's not easy, it doesn't go according to plan, and even if you try really hard to be grateful and faithful, most days are just "okay" at best.  But even if we have to wait 'til the next life for everything to be settled or fair or to receive the FULNESS of joy, the gospel is still worth knowing and living.  Because we're trying to become GODLY. 

That is a pretty lofty goal, don't you think?