If you're happy and you know it...

On Friday last, La Reine and I were blessed to be able to participate in the sealing of a sweet young woman whom we've known for many, many years (at one time long ago she was the childhood betrothed of our TK, but as we apparently don't have arranged marriages any more, that clearly didn't work out, but I digress).

Elder Joe J. Christensen, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy was the sealer, and he gave marvelous counsel to all of us there that day. Of course, I took the opportunity to thank him and called him by the wrong name - ouch.

Given my reflection on Elder Christensen, and his wonderfully happy and graceful advice, together with his quick and happy forgiveness of my social ineptness, I quote here from an address he gave which I've always loved. Feel free to take his challenge. I did again, and now I'm smiling.

- jake

"Take a sheet of blank paper and write on it at random those things for which you are most grateful. Write whatever your most important blessings are in whatever order they come to your mind.

After writing the list, on another sheet of paper put those blessings in order of priority. What is your most important blessing? The second most? And so on.

On my list, I had to go down a long way before I came to any blessing that could be bought for money. Our most important blessings are without price. Blessings such as faith, testimony, and family are the kinds of blessings in defense of which, if necessary, we would be willing to give our mortal life.

Of course, chief among all the gifts for which we should be thankful is our Heavenly Father’s gift to us of His Son. As we read in scripture, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The Doctrine and Covenants teaches us that “Jesus Christ your Redeemer … so loved the world that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the sons of God” (D&C 34:1, 3).

Father gave. Jesus gave. And we must give. There is no other blessing for which we should be more grateful than that of being recipients of the blessings that come through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Add all of these blessings to your list. Then, on those days when you may not feel like smiling, take out your list and read it and recognize how blessed you are. You will find it easy to smile and to be of good cheer. You will also find it easier to be grateful."