The Timelessness of Happiness – Sunday, January 04, 1942
With the breathless passing of many days, we have come again upon the first week of a new year, which, while it is fundamentally no different from any other day or time, emphasizes in our thinking the passing of our lives and rapid journey we are all making toward whatever eventualities lie before us. Countless times these past few days, we have heard countless people wish each other “Happy New Year” with something of an awareness that there was less of conviction in this traditional greeting than there has been at the change of the year in some seasons past. But, notwithstanding the shadow that has cast itself upon this annual wish, we are still impressed with the overruling fact that every man in his own way is seeking happiness.
Indeed, we are told that “Men are that they might have joy.” (Book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi 2:25)—a deep and abiding joy. And so it is proper that life should be a quest for happiness. But our difficulties begin with the distorted and perverted ideas that some men have concerning happiness. Some wrongly suppose that domination of others will bring them happiness. Some seek for happiness in the realm of material things, only to find that their accumulations in and of themselves, do not bring what it had been hoped they would. Some mistake happiness for a passing thrill and pay a great price for it, and have nothing to show for the price paid except heartache and regret.
Now, since we have conceded that the search for happiness is properly the business of life, perhaps we should remind ourselves of some of the basic elements of happiness. First of all, genuine happiness never consists of things that give distorted pleasure to one and cause another misery. It must be made up of ingredients of which all good men may be partakers. Another element of absolute happiness is timelessness. It must endure beyond the present moment. It must not be something that gives indulgence today and a headache tomorrow. And, happiness must be of such nature that it can be increased by the sharing of it.
In short, happiness is that illusive and much pursued state of being which is made up of things which are for the everlasting good of all men, and the key to it is found in this scripture: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) This is the happiness we have in mind when we wish all men a happy new year at the beginning of 1942.
By Richard L. Evans, spoken from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, January 4, 1942, over Radio Station KSL and the Nationwide Columbia Broadcasting System. Copyright – 1942.
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January 04, 1942
Broadcast Number 0,646