“We might have been happy.”

How sad the phrase, “If, only if.” There are a thousand “ifs” so readily available to our minds as we long for paths not taken, for words not said, and for decisions not made. Especially sad are those who look longingly into the future using a rearview mirror. Often trapped by “what might have been,” they rarely engage “what is” in a meaningful way. Hence, they are never preparing for “what will be.”

In this week’s meditative verse we hear the lament of such a soul who “might have been happy.” The lamentation, however, was echoed through the generations from fathers and mothers to sons and daughters. From generation to generation it became the basis of wars and eventually the near annihilation of a people and a culture.

Unfortunately, we have much yet to learn from those experiences. We continue to hear the chant, “We could be happy, if only…” Whether the exploding sectarian violence in almost all corners of the globe, or the racial violence we see almost every day, or the tribal feuds still prevalent around the world, the blame for unhappiness is placed at someone else’s doorstep.

Of greater concern, is when a husband or wife, or son or daughter’s perceived lack of happiness disrupts family relationships. “If not for you, I would be happy,” far too frequently echoes off the walls of our own homes and relationships.

Amidst this commotion is the bedrock truth that ultimately we create our own inner sphere of happiness or unhappiness. We are designed and created for joy and that we might have it abundantly! The choice is ours. True joy has an eternal quality to it. This is because it springs from the true source of joy – the light and truth of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May your search for joy this week be found by looking inward and upward.

 

“We Might Have Been Happy”

And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart; yea, he hath led us out of the land of Jerusalem, and we have wandered in the wilderness for these many years . . . which time we might have enjoyed our possessions and the land of our inheritance; yea, and we might have been happy.

Book of Mormon  1 Nephi 17:20-21

 

“We might have been happy,” was the refrain

The wail of an angry and stranded soul

Captive in a wilderness of self-made pain

Where lack of faith would take its toll

 

“Content we might have been”

Their children would say years hence

If not for the lies and spite of our kin

We would be happy and our joy immense

 

“We might have been happy if only”

Even now we hear it repeated

By those who are lost and lonely

Feeling embittered and cheated

 

We determine our happiness and joy

By choosing how we will behave

And by gospel truths we employ

And upon our hearts engrave

 

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

Liahona

 

 - Verse -

 

And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness.

Book of Mormon   1 Nephi 16:10

 

To walk by faith is a needful thing

A trek without sure knowledge or fact

Of what the perilous journey will bring

Or how we may, to tests and trials react.

 

So God gave to prophets and seers

An instrument of faith and obedience

For journeys through the vale of tears

Voyages of hope, faith and expedience

 

A divine compass, a Liahona was provided

To point the way into the unknown

     Powered by faith, they were guided

To a promised land of their own

 

A Liahona can be my guide

Not made of brass nor spindled

But embers of faith deep inside

Where testimony’s fire is kindled

 

A Liahona I would truly be

Pointing in the Master’s direction

Thinking, feeling and doing as He

On my journey toward perfection

 

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

 SCARS

 

Look at your hands.  Do you have a scar or two?  Maybe they are somewhere else on your body due to a fall or cut, or perhaps a surgery.  You have them and I have them - scars on our bodies and, yes, scars in our hearts and souls.

Both the visible and invisible scars each tell a story.  There is one on my right hand - a cut from a paring knife while canning pears.  There’s one in my chest and another in my left hip from surgeries. When I see the scar, I relive the event to some extent.

At age 7 I cheated death as I fell some distance face-first onto loose pavement and gravel.  It took many years and doctors for the physical scars to heal.  Sadly, my youthful schoolmates found them “fun” to make fun of.  Almost 60 years later the physical and emotional scars are mostly not visible, but sometimes, strangely, they are still noticeable . . . . . just to me.

There are other scars . . .  that I carry inside - emotional and spiritual scars from other painful encounters and experiences- scars hidden from the world.  You too, perhaps, have your physical, emotional and spiritual scars.  Some of them, though old, are still tender and sore.  They either haven't healed completely, or perhaps, there is something that won't let them heal.  You have your scars and I have mine.  BUT, here’s the thing,  WE ..... ALL ....HAVE ....SCARS.

Now, let me tell you a true story that happened some years ago.  For this story I am indebted to Po Bronson’s book, “Why Do I Love These People?”  (Random House, 2005).   Recently, I also heard and was reminded of this story as it was retold by a great preacher, Chuck Swindoll.  The following follows both their narratives.

It is a true story about a stately, even majestic, old elm tree. The tree was planted in the early 1900’s on a farm near Beulah, Michigan. It grew to be large and, even today, it is some 60 feet across the crown. Its trunk is about 12 feet around. But what makes this tree unique is a scar that encircles the tree.



It seems that in the 1950s the family that owned the farm kept a bull chained to the tree. The bull would work its way round and round the tree. The heavy iron chain scraped a trench in the bark about three feet off the ground. The trench deepened over the years threatening to kill the tree.

Although damaged severely, the tree, strangely, did not die.
After some years the family sold the farm and took their bull. They cut the chain, leaving the loop embedded in the trunk and one link hanging down.

The elm continued to grow and bark slowly covered parts of the rusting chain that strangled it. The deep gash around the trunk became an ugly scar.

Then one year an agricultural catastrophe struck Michigan -- in the form of Dutch Elm Disease.  A path of dying trees spread across vast areas of countryside. Most elm trees in the vicinity of the farm became infected and died. But that one noble elm remained untouched while all around it, elm trees died.

Amazingly, it had survived two hardships. First, it was not killed by the bull's chain years earlier, and this time it out-lasted the deadly fungus that killed the elm trees around it.  Then one day, after several years, scientists from Michigan State University came out to study the tree. They looked closely at the chain necklace buried deep in the scar. After some research, these experts reported that the chain itself actually saved the elm's life.

Here’s what they said happened: The tree absorbed so much iron from the chain left to rust around its trunk that it became immune to the fungus.  What certainly could have killed the tree actually made it stronger and more resilient. The iron in the rusty chain that left a scar – had saved its life.

There is much to learn from this tree, which still lives in Michigan today. First, I survived my wounds and, in most cases, they left me stronger.  Most of us have been hurt or wounded, or bruised or scarred in some way. Other wounds await us in the future as we work out our salvation in a sometimes dangerous and ever-darkening world. 

However, it is not the circumstance, situation, or event that causes wounds that make a difference; it is our reaction or attitude to it, which makes the difference. It is not the tribulation that counts, but the degree to which we apply the healing balm of Jesus’s Atonement that really counts.

When we feel the pain of our own scars, it may be helpful to ask ourselves, “Are my wounds deeper than Christ’s wounds? Are my scars greater than His scars? Is my suffering greater than His suffering?”  Isaiah’s offers these words of comfort, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and…. With…. his stripes…. we are healed." 

God would have us put our scars and afflictions, those caused by us or inflicted upon us by someone else, on the altar of Christ’s Atonement.  Therefore, let's put our abuse, our betrayals, our failings, our forsaken love, or our anguish over wayward children, - let’s put our sins of commission and sins of omission – sins of every kind, let’s put all of our failed hopes, and dreams and aspirations on His atoning alter this day.  Let us put our sicknesses, our diseases and aches and pains on that alter, and allow His Atonement to bind them up, to soothe them, and let His Atonement heal them.

Today could be the last day of a wounded life, and the first day of a renewed covenant life.  Christ is the Redeemer and Healer of all of our wounds and scars, all our crosses and all our losses - FOR HE HAS RISEN and in Him is life everlasting for you and me. 

 

Larry Doyle Crenshaw

 

The Tree of Life

Verse

And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!  Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw?  And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. And he spake unto me, saying:  Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.

Book of Mormon   1 Nephi 11:21-23

 The Tree of Life

                                                           The ancient symbol of God’s love        

By the Lamb of God revealed

Desirable is the fruit thereof

For all who would be healed

The path to the sacred Tree

A straight and narrow road

Taken on the path to eternity

Where heaven is our abode

Is there such a Tree found growing

In your heart and mind and soul

Does it bear fruit worth bestowing

On the sheep of the Master’s fold

A Tree desirable above all things

God’s love in our minds and hearts

And the greatest blessing it brings

Eternal life, the Tree of Life imparts.

Larry Doyle Crenshaw