"It Is Not Good that Man Should Be Alone" | Peggy S. and Kevin J. Worthen

We are not meant to endure the trials and challenges of this life alone. We need to build meaningful relationships in which we can lift and be lifted.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/kevin-j-worthen/it-is-not-good-that-man-should-be-alone/

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BYU President Kevin J Worthen and his wife, Peggy S. Worthen, delivered this devotional address on 5 January 2016.

© Brigham Young University. All rights reserved.

"Think about it. Whenever we ­experience something truly good in our lives, that feeling is enhanced when we share it with ­others—either in the very moment or at some future time. That is a universal truth. When Lehi partook of the fruit of the tree of life and found that “it filled [his] soul with exceedingly great joy,” his first desire was “that [his] family should partake of it also.” Lehi understood implicitly that he could not experience a fulness of joy by himself. His happiness could not be complete unless he could somehow share it with those he loved.

To a large extent, the depth of our eternal happiness will be determined by the quality of our relationships with others. The clear fact is, no one will be exalted by him- or herself.6 Thus one of the purposes of this mortal existence—and therefore one of the purposes of your education at this university—is to develop both the skills and the attributes necessary to establish long-lasting, joyful relationships.

That truth is reflected in the manner in which the Church is organized. As Elder Marlin K. Jensen once noted:

The Church builds meetinghouses, not hermitages.

From the beginning of the Restoration, the command has been for us to gather in communities, where we can learn to live in harmony and mutually support one another by honoring our baptismal covenants. . . .

. . . The inspired organization of the Church . . . provides settings where we can develop socially. In Church callings, meetings, classes, quorums, councils, activities, and a variety of other opportunities for association, we develop the attributes and social skills that help prepare us for the social order that will exist in heaven.

Indeed, our very concept of heaven is shaped by the notion of relationships. The authors of the lds.org Gospel Topics essay on “Becoming Like God” explain:

Church members imagine exaltation less through images of what they will get and more through the relationships they have now and how those relationships might be purified and elevated.

Latter-day scripture teaches the same message. In section 130 in the Doctrine and Covenants we read:

That same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.

That scripture contains both a promise and a warning. The promise is that if we develop positive relationships during this mortal life and keep the commandments, those relationships will not end at death. Indeed, they will be enhanced. We will not only enjoy that same “sociality” in the world to come but it will then “be coupled with eternal glory,” thereby increasing both the temporal duration and the quality of those relationships." - Kevin J. Worthen

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