An experience we had this past week has really caused me to step back, consider things and ponder a little bit about what joy is, what true happiness is. We met a really nice man in a wheel chair a couple weeks ago and we decided we wanted to go back and visit with him so hopefully we could help his day go better. Well, he was home and he invited us inside, and as we began talking he told us that God doesn't really matter to the world, that it's only money that really matters. I'm pretty sure he lives alone and I have no idea if his family even lives in the U.S. He proceeded to say that he probably wouldn't mind being a member of our church if the church gave him everything he needed to survive just like it does for us, but I guess he didn't understand that we pay our own way out here.
We then asked him what made him happy in life, and he replied that traveling made him happy. And then it got me thinking, is this man truly happy? Am I truly happy? What is happiness? What is joy? And what makes a person happy? Can a person be truly happy even if they don't know God?
And that's the big question: Can a person be truly happy in life here on earth if they don't know God? There definitely are people who don't know God or that there even is a God. Or some don't believe that He literally is our Father in Heaven and that we are very literally His spirit children. And because some people won't have the opportunity to know about God in this life, I guess it is possible to still be happy in this life without knowing God. But what about eternal happiness? That's where the knowledge of God comes into play.
But when I was still pondering A LOT about what true joy is, I got to thinking, when in my life have I been the happiest? There are two general times that stick out in my mind when I think about the happiest times in my life: they are now, as a missionary, when I am forgetting myself and serving others, seeking their happiness above my own. And second, when I'm with my family. So can we experience true joy without love? Because I love the people out here, and I sure as heck love my family more than anything else in this world.
So... joy? What is it? I don't know. All I know is I have experienced it when I've forgotten myself and made others happy. The Book of Mormon, in 2 Nephi 2:25 says "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." God put us here on earth to experience joy. Obviously life is not perfect and we still have trials but when you do experience joy, you'll sure know it! And when you find out what joy really is, please let me know.
