"We Lived After the Manner of Happiness"

#25
II Nephi 5:27
And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.
 
I’ve thought a lot about what Nephi meant by living “after the manner of happiness.”  I’m certain it went beyond having money, food, and clothing.  I’m sure it surpassed momentary pleasure.  I’m convinced it was more than good weather.  I think what Nephi was teaching us here is that as a people they lived like we want to live … as a “Zion’s People.”  
In our day, that means keeping the covenants we’ve made.  One of the covenants we’ve all made at baptism is taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ in all that we do.  We get the opportunity to renew that covenant each Sunday during the sacrament.  It reminds us of who we need to pattern our lives after … the Savior.  
I love that the Savior created this world.  I love that he’s referred to as the “Creator.”   Creativity is very important to me and it’s an important part of what I do for a living.  Creativity is exciting.  Several years ago I traveled to Chicago for a conference on Creativity.  One of the sessions I attended at the conference was called “One Hundred Ways to be More Creative.”
I thought you might like to hear a few of the hundred methods our instructor suggested to become more creative:
 
Wear your watch on the other hand – change the part in your hair … do something.  Act differently. Think differently.
 
Re-arrange the room.  Re-arrange something in the room.  Put a catsup bottle on your desk or a croquet ball.  Add something from childhood to the room:  a doll, a large plastic truck.
 
Turn literally everything into a game.  If you think a task is a “chore” it drains energy.  If you think it’s a “game” it generates energy.
 
Walk barefoot in the mud.
 
Float the rumor you have an IQ of 175.
 
Make a furniture fort at home.  Spend half an hour in it with your whole family.
 
Go to the zoo in the middle of the day.  Drop everything and watch an elephant for 30 minutes.
 
There were many incredible and fun ways presented to be more creative.  But when he got to number 26 something grabbed my attention.  #26 was this:
 
For one day, change your name.  Be “Terry, or Ed, or Chuck or Gretchen or Lancelot.”  Your entire day will be different.  Notice how you see yourself everyday “through your name.”  For example if your name is “Ed” you sit, eat, and make phone calls like an “Ed” would.  Subconsciously, you think a “Bruce” would do it all slightly differently.  Be a “Bruce” for a day.  Try it.  You don’t even have to tell anyone.  They can call you by your regular name.  You’ll notice more about yourself all day long.  You’ll develop a heightened consciousness.
 
I got thinking about how some of the greatest actors have done that with the characters they’ve portrayed.  They’ve studied them extensively trying to gain insight to every nuance of that character.  You may have heard that Tom Hanks put on 50 pounds to play his character in the beginning of “Cast Away” so he could lose it later.  Doing so allowed him to better understand and portray his character.  I’ve heard of actors who have spent time in Army boot camps, spent time with homeless people, spent time in the gyms just so they could better understand the character they were going to portray.
 
Now, I’m not an actor, but I thought about #26 for quite a while and considered this; what if we all took upon us a different character for a period of time.  Not just casually, but really getting into it.  For example how differently would you act if you acted like your bishop?  What would your life be like if you tried living it like President Monson?  What kind of difference would it make in your life if you tried – not for a day or two – but always to be like the Savior?  What if for the next week you took upon you His name?  Well, we not only have that opportunity – we have that responsibility and it a responsibility we’re reminded of every Sunday.
 
… That they may eat in remembrance of the body of they Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which has has given them; that they may always have his spirit to be with them.  Amen.  (D&C 29:77)
 
How can our lives be different if we truly take upon ourselves the name of our creator, Jesus Christ.  How would we act?  How would we treat others?  How would we better serve Him?
 
"Most people in trouble end up crying, 'What was I thinking?' Well, whatever they were thinking, they weren't thinking of Christ. Yet, as members of His Church, we pledge every Sunday of our lives to take upon ourselves His name and promise to 'always remember him' (D&C 20:77). So let us work a little harder at remembering Him."  (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul," Ensign, May 2010, 46)
 
One of my most favorite sermons in the Book of Mormon is King Benjamin’s speech in Mosiah 2-5.  In chapter 5 verses 8 and 9 he gives some thoughts on being called by the name of Christ.
 
8  “… Therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
9  And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God … for he shall be called by the name of Christ.”
 
Being the perfect teacher the Savior gives us some wonderful insights to how to act when we take upon us His name.  
 
The person who takes upon themselves His name are promising to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places that ye may be in, even until death.”  (Mosiah 18: 8-9)  
 
The Aaronic Priesthood holder who takes upon himself the name of Christ will live the principles of “long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.”  He will have charity towards all men and let virtue garnish his thoughts unceasingly.”  (D&C 121: 41-45)
 
The Youth who take upon them the name of Christ will not be afraid to “put on the whole armor of God.”  They will gladly go through boot camp to put on the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation and the sword of faith to prepare them for the most important and rewarding role of all: To be like the Savior.
 
If we are successful in taking on the Savior’s name at all times will there be any person in our stake who wouldn’t have enough love and understanding to overcome any problem, any challenge, any heartache?
 
Think about it.  If we all to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and live like him will there be any youth in our stake who won’t use clean language, have clean thoughts and actions and keep themselves spiritually pure?
 
Will there be anyone who doesn’t read the scriptures daily or who doesn’t feel the peace that comes from the companionship of the Holy Ghost?
 
The Prophet Alma asks us each of us this question:  “And now behold, I ask of you my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?  Have ye received his image in your countenances?  Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?  (Alma 5: 14)
 
Those who have received his image in their countenances and experienced this mighty change in their hearts will find it easier to follow President Howard W. Hunter’s counsel that he shared in his last public address to the Church:
 
“Mend a quarrel.  Seek out a forgotten friend.  Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.  Write a letter.  Give a soft answer.  Encourage youth.  Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.  Keep a promise.  Forgo a grudge.  Forgive an enemy.  Apologize.  Try to understand.  Examine your demands on others.  Think first of someone else.  Be kind.  Be gentle.  Laugh a little more.  Express your gratitude.  Welcome a stranger.  Gladden the heart of a child.  Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.  Speak your love and then speak it again.”  (President Howard W. Hunter; The Gifts of Christmas; The First Presidency Christmas Devotional, December, 2002)
 
If we will take upon us the name of the Savior we will win the prize.  No, it won’t be a Tony, an Emmy or an Oscar.  It will be “peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.”  (D&C 59:23)  That prize is “the greatest of all the gifts of God.”  (D&C 14:7)
 
I pray that we will all be more effective in our spiritual lives by taking upon us the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I testify as we do, our lives will be filled with greater joy, greater meaning, and greater happiness; and through all our trials, struggles and mistakes it will bring greater hope.  This is what I believe is living “after the manner of happiness.”