"And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still."
Mormon 9:14
I think this verse shows us some of the faulty thinking we have at times... we often think, well, I'll suffer through this, or I'll endure this, and even though I hate my life right now, eventually I'll get through the test and everything will be perfect. We raise the shield, grit the teeth, and settle in to endure the unimaginable torment of the present... but this verse tells us that isn't really the way it works. At the judgment day, God isn't going to change us from what we are to something else. If we've learned to hate life, to think of it as something awful that we have to suffer through... those are the people that we will still be. If we've learned to be unhappy, we won't... can't... be changed into suddenly completely satisfied people. We're here to forge ourselves into what we want to be... not to suffer through waiting for a reward in heaven. And totally not saying that there won't be rewards (there will be), or that it isn't okay to be sad sometimes, or to feel some emotion. Only that we can't let those bad days poison our whole lives. Bad and tragic and horrible things happen, but we have to learn to be happy despite them. To find the good, to enjoy and cheer and have fun even when darkness surrounds us. How else can we fight it back, but by being our own light? We can't become just as dark as everything else. I guess, in the end, the question is... are we okay with being who we are right now... forever? If we're not, in terms of emotion or anything else... then we need to change. Find a way to be happy... find a way to fight back that darkness.
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