Blessings Help, Gratitude Heals

Yesterday I read a talk by Elder Nelson titled "Thanks be to God." He began with a story and an observation that struck me.

"Recently, Sister Nelson and I enjoyed the beauty of tropical fish in a small private aquarium. Fish with vivid colors and of a variety of shapes and sizes darted back and forth. I asked the attendant nearby, 'Who provides food for these beautiful fish?'

"She responded, “I do.”

"Then I asked, 'Have they ever thanked you?'

She replied, 'Not yet!'

I thought of some people I know who are just as oblivious to their Creator and their true 'bread of life.' They live from day to day without an awareness of God and His goodness unto them. How much better it would be if all could be more aware of God’s providence and love and express that gratitude to Him...Our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for Him."

The story of the fish tank and Elder Nelson's observation really impacted me. For most of my life I have been the fish in the tank that never even thinks to look up and see where my blessings are coming from. In fact, most the time I don't even stop to think about the fact that they are blessings.

Sometimes we become confused with thinking that because we've always had something, we have a right to it. To the fish, food wasn't a gift, it was an expectation. With this attitude we become entitled. I have spent most of my life asking God to give me what I don't have. I have rarely had the maturity or humility to really thank Him for what I already do have.

I looked this talk up yesterday after reading the story of the ten lepers. In that story, ten lepers plead with Jesus to heal them. He sends them to the priest to be pronounced clean. As they went, they were cleansed. Only one of those ten turned back to glorify God and thank the Savior. He recognized the great blessing he had been given.

The Savior told this man to go his way, "thy faith hath made thee whole." I thought about the difference between being "cleansed" and being "made whole." All ten were cleansed, only one was made whole.

As I pondered this, I realized why. How long would those 9 be satisfied with their lives? How long before they forgot the great blessing they had been given and again became dissatisfied? Would their rejoicing last? If they did not learn how to turn back and recognize God's hand in their lives, their joy would likely be temporary and short lived.

I believe that blessings help us but gratitude heals us. Receiving a gift makes us happy for a moment, gratitude for our gifts will make us happy forever. Without gratitude, no amount of blessings will be enough. With it, everything is enough.

I'm grateful for this story from the Bible. I'm grateful for the powerful message it teaches. I believe that getting what we want will make us happy for a moment, wanting what we have will make us happy forever.

Thou Shalt Not Hurry

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