Testimony VS Tangible Comfort

Though the world says, happiness is fleeting. I firmly believe we create our own happiness.

As I study humanity’s pursuit of happiness, I see several theories proposed. The most common model used to demonstrate a pecking order of satisfaction is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Abraham Maslow proposes 5 levels of needs that need to be met, one after the other, which lead to an overall actualization of well being. The model, as described by Janet A. Simons in Psychology - The Search for Understanding (West Publishing Company, New York, 1987) is as follows:

“Physiological Needs These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the person's search for satisfaction.

Safety Needs When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and behaviors, the needs for security can become active. Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe.

Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.

Needs for Esteem When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.

Needs for Self-Actualization When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense, lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a person wants when there is a need for self-actualization.”

With Maslow’s proposal, a person generally needs to eat, feel safe, feel loved and have a certain self respect  before they are able to realize their role in life, experience enlightenment through inspiration, and live in a way that their Godly testimony is the foundation of every decision.

However, according to my reading in scripture, I propose that the opposite is true.

More often than not, when a person is well fed, comfortably housed and surrounded by friends and kin, that same person forgets about heaven, forgets the worth of the Bread of Life and of Living Waters, and in pride puts tangible comforts ahead of spiritual illumination. Unfortunately, that same person is moved to remember the true source of happiness only after trials of famine, pestilence, or some other challenge that leads to sore repentance.  ("All Things Work Together for Good," Elder James B. Martino, April 2010, General Conference is an article worth reading.)

1Kings 17 demonstrates a great example of putting testimony before comfort—which leads to greater comfort in the end.

Elijah, during a time of famine, went to the Lord in need. The brook that sustained him had dried up. In response, the Lord told him to go to a widow and ask her for food. Verses 10-16 tell the rest of the story.

“So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.”

I suggest a new hierarchy of need. When followed, first to last, it will show the way to a lasting and fulfilling happiness.

First, maintain an ongoing relationship with heaven—though bold in statement, I say that I have never seen a faithful person who relied on daily revelation and inspiration starve or have lasting thirst.

Second, foster your relationship with your spouse. Without your spouse, you are nothing and have nothing.

Third, cultivate your children.

Fourth, obtain a level of self sustenance through work, budget, food storage, etc. (www.providentliving.org)

Fifth, magnifying your church callings.

Sixth and finally, after all else is well, participate and contribute to your local and greater community.

When feeling unhappy, restless, or stressed, I challenge you to prioritize your efforts accordingly. As you do, you will see how the Morning breaks while the shadows flee and your ear will hear as  Jehovah speaks.

The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Lo, Zion's standard is unfurled!
The dawning of a brighter day,
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world.
The clouds of error disappear
Before the rays of truth divine;
The glory bursting from afar,
The glory bursting from afar
Wide o'er the nations soon will shine.
The Gentile fulness now comes in,
And Israel's blessings are at hand.
Lo, Judah's remnant, cleansed from sin,
Lo, Judah's remnant, cleansed from sin,
Shall in their promised Canaan stand.
Jehovah speaks! Let earth give ear,
And Gentile nations turn and live.
His mighty arm is making bare,
His mighty arm is making bare
His cov'nant people to receive.
Angels from heav'n and truth from earth
Have met, and both have record borne;
Thus Zion's light is bursting forth,
Thus Zion's light is bursting forth
To bring her ransomed children home.

(The Morning Breaks, Parley P. Pratt; LDS Hymns #1)