After the Manner of Happiness

So I finally did it. I decided to start a blog. :o) I've had my website for a number of years now, and I plan to continue to use it and develop it—making improvements as I go. But sometimes I feel like sharing some thoughts, but my website is designed as a place for pictures. SO, I decided to start a complimentary blog. I'll post whenever I upload pictures to the other site.

It took me a while to come up with a title, or name, for this blog. At first I was going to use "helaman81" since that is my online screen name for just about everything—but I decided that I wanted something a little more descriptive of me. So after much thought I chose "After the Manner of Happiness."

This line comes from the 2nd Book of Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, where Nephi is describing the way he and his people lived. Just previous to this, Nephi's beloved father, Lehi, had passed away, and his brothers had risen up in rebellion against Nephi, seeking his life. Nevertheless, the Lord was good to Nephi, and to all those "who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God" (See 2 Nephi 5:1-6). So they journeyed into the wilderness, and though life was hard for them they "did observe to keep the judgments, and the statutes, and the commandments of the Lord in all things." They sowed seeds, and reaped the harvest, they studied their scriptures, they began to "build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores." They built a temple, according to the commandments of God, and organized themselves according to the order of the Holy Priesthood. They worked hard, kept the commandments of God, and, in short they "lived after the manner of happiness."

I really belive that. I belive that by working hard and keeping the commandments of God, that we can be happy in this life and in the life to come. Now, I'm not anywhere near perfect, and I have so many weaknesses and shortcomings, but I try very hard to "live after the manner of happiness." And I have found, from my own experience, that the words of the Psalmist are true: "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God" (Psalm 148:5). I am happy. Life is good. Yes it is hard. Yes I have struggles, and fears, and anxieties about the future, but I know in whom I have trusted. "I will trust, and not be afraid" (see 2 Nephi 22:2 or Isaiah 12:2). For the Lord, my God is with me. Because of the goodness of His heart, He walks with me. He talks with me. He pours out His tender mercies upon me. "I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things;" (see Alma 26:12). God has never failed me in the past, and I know that He never will in the future. His Holy Spirit has borne witness to me of that.

I hope to record here my hopes and fears and joys. I hope to share here, on this blog, both the simple, and the complex things which make up my life. Hopefully, some posts will make you laugh, and some posts will make you think. Some posts may make you cry, but it is my desire that this becomes a reflection of who I am, and a reflection of the goodness of God toward me, and to all around me. My desire is that all who stumble across this little corner of cyberspace, may leave it feeling a little bit better, with a little more hope, and a little more joy in their lives. For God has shown us the way to live, and His way, truly is "after the manner of happniess."