Can I Have Joy ... Now?

I have been thinking a lot, lately, about the nature of happiness or joy. I have wondered if either of these can truly be had now, or if they are only available in some future time, place, or condition? I want to share a few thoughts with you that have been meaningful to me. Some of these come from scripture, others can be compared to scripture to see if they hold up. Ultimately, the Light of Christ and Holy Ghost are our guide for discovering truth.

First, consider what Lehi taught his family, in 2 Nephi 2:

  24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
  25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.  

I believe that we are to have joy. But, are we to have joy right now, sometime later, or can we even have it in this life?

Trusting the teaching of Lehi that we are to have joy, consider how the Psalmist adds some insight when he says in Psalm 146:

  5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

In this verse, the timing is a little less ambiguous. It says that a person IS happy WHEN their hope is in the Lord God. It seems, then, that if we can obtain a hope in our Lord God, then we can BE happy.

I recently read a book, "Light in the Wilderness," by BYU Religion professor Catherine Thomas. She compares our journey through life to the journeys in the wilderness of the Jaredites, Lehi and his family, and others who seek after a paradise or a promised land. She says: 

The Fall, as well as all things that pertain to the Fall, have somehow played into the Divine intention of Man's joy, not just in some distant, otherworld future, but now. Yes, Man was created to have a joy alive in himself even as he travels through straitened circumstances. Part of the purpose of the mortal probation is to turn Man's distracted consciousness from the outer world to the inner recesses of joy, to a Paradise, happier far."

Another book that I have read is, "The Power of Now," by Eckhart Tolle. Tolle had a moment of deep spiritual insight during a time when he was depressed and despondent. He found life overwhelming and  found himself saying, "I can't live with myself!" Then, in a moment of insight, he asked, "Who is the 'I' and who is 'Myself' that 'I' can't live with?" He was overcome with calm and felt the closeness of God. He realized that the "I" was the part of him that is connected to God. We might call it the Divine Spirit that is within us. He also realized that the "Myself" is the endless dialogue within our mind that is influenced by the outward influences we experience in life. We sometimes torture ourselves with memories of the past and we imagine a future that does not exist, yet causes us great worry. Tolle realized in that critical moment that, in reality, all we have is now. When we quiet the inner voice, and really live in the now, without reliving the past or inventing the future, we can feel the presence of God more clearly and we can feel joy. Here are a few quotes from Tolle:

The Now is precious. There was never a time when your life was not Now, nor will there ever be. ... What you think of as the past is a memory trace, stored in the mind, of a former Now. ... The future is an imagined Now. ... Realize that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life. ... The present moment is sometimes unacceptable, unpleasant or awful. ... If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. ... When the future comes, it comes as the Now. ... You cannot have the good without the bad. ... Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within. ... Now

I have found that one of the greatest blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ is the power He has to help us be healed from past hurts or offenses so that we can move forward from the past. We can leave those things in the past because what really matters is who we ARE now. We are not defined by past actions, whether successes or failures. Rather, we ARE the person we become as we learn lessons from past successes or failures. The miracle of the atonement is that Jesus Christ heals us of the pain caused by sin, sickness, or sadness. He makes it possible to live, now, at peace because we have come to know Him.

Likewise, as we come to know the love Jesus has for us, we also come to know that God has a plan for us. And, we learn to leave the future in God's hands. This is not to say that we don't plan, learn, grow, or prepare for the future. Sometimes the best use of Now is to invest in the future. Rather, we don't spend our energy in the now worrying about things that have not happened yet, and may never happen. If we live well Now, we will be ready for whatever Now we face as we live God's plan.

Finally, today I listened to President Uchtdorf, in his recent October conference talk called, "Of Regrets and Resolutions." He gives similar counsel to what I have related above. Joy and happiness are to be had now. He says:

So often we get caught up in the illusion that there is something just beyond our reach that would bring us happiness: a better family situation, a better financial situation, or the end of a challenging trial.  

The older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don’t really matter or determine our happiness. 

We do matter. We determine our happiness. 

You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness. ... 

We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.” [1] 

Brothers and sisters, no matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it. 

Perhaps we should be looking less with our eyes and more with our hearts. I love the quote: “One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” [2] 

We are commanded “to give thanks in all things.” [3] So isn’t it better to see with our eyes and hearts even the small things we can be thankful for, rather than magnifying the negative in our current condition?  

The Lord has promised, “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold.” [4] 

Brothers and sisters, with the bountiful blessings of our Heavenly Father, His generous plan of salvation, the supernal truths of the restored gospel, and the many beauties of this mortal journey, “have we not reason to rejoice?” [5]

Let us resolve to be happy, regardless of our circumstances.

I find that these insights have brought peace and joy into my life. I have found that when I give my full attention to what is happening now, I enjoy it more. I hope that some of these thoughts can be of help to you as you ponder how they might fit into your life and your search to know God.




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[1]  Psalm 118:24.
[2]  Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, trans. Richard Howard (2000), 63.
[3]  Mosiah 26:39; see also Doctrine and Covenants 59:7.
[4]  Doctrine and Covenants 78:19.
[5]  Alma 26:35.