I have often wondered why Alma said he sinned in his wish to be an angel who could cry repentance with a loud voice. It seemed to me like to desire to be an angel was a righteous desire, not a sin. As I have continued to study, I have had the realization that even a righteous desire can become a sin if it robs us of our gratitude and blinds us to the blessings we have received.
I think that true contentment is for mind, heart and body to all be in the same place at the same time. D&C 93:33-34 says that the body and spirit inseparably connected can receive a fulness of joy. D&C 138:50 says that disembodied spirits looked at their separation from their bodies as bondage. I believe that true happiness is to be fully present. If my body is here but my heart is somewhere else or somewhen else, I am dissatisfied, or in bondage.
Alma recognized that he ought to be content with what The Lord had given him to do at that time.
I think this can be really frustrating because, while mind and heart can travel to past and future, the body is stuck in the moment. So we spent so much energy trying (in vain) to speed up time so that our bodies can be where our hearts are. We speed when we drive, we walk extra fast, we take shortcuts. All without realizing that rapidly changing location does not in fact change time at all, time passes at the same rate, and if my heart is set on some future event, no amount of hurrying from place to place can get me to where I desire. The most ironic thing of all is how often we finally reach that place in time only to realize that our heart is now behind us and we long to be where we already were.
We can easily get caught with our hearts and minds in the future or the past. This is bondage. We never actually are where (or when) our hearts want to be.
I think that is what Alma recognized. If my heart is on being somewhere or something else, I am neglecting the gift I actually have before me.
I have recently tried an experiment to remind myself to stay in the moment. I have tried to always go just under the speed limit. It has been amazing to me how tempted I have been to speed up, either thinking it will "save time" or fearing that those around me will be angry. It has been helpful because each time I am tempted to speed up, I am reminded of why I'm not. I will probably spend about 1,000 times more time traveling to my destination as I will actually spend arriving at my destination. If this is the case, I must learn to make traveling its own destination. Journeying should not be the chore between life's moments, it should be it's own special type of moment. It has been an interesting experiment and I'm thinking of adopting it permanently. It may be my little way of reminding myself the futility of fighting against time.
If I want to be happy, I must learn to be content with my current situation. True happiness comes when I am fully present. My mind, heart and body are in the same place at the same time.
Teaching moment: while watching a movie, reading a book (or a scripture story), eating dinner, riding in the car or sitting in the family room, try to identify 5 or 10 (or 50) things you had not noticed before. Discuss how slowing down allows us to see and experience things that we miss when we are in a hurry. Discuss the dangers of trying to rush through things that are important.
Possible Concepts to teach: gratitude, joy, love, peace, Spirit, contentment, calm, agency, happiness, worship
Possible scriptures:
Alma 29:1-4
D&C 59:14-21
D&C 88:15
D&C 93:33-34
D&C 128:50
2 Nephi 2:25
Matthew 25:14-29
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