Clark is in the marching band, and at his competitions, one of the bands uses a quote from Carl Sagan: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
Here’s the gist of what he meant. To make an apple pie, you first need apples. Apples require trees, soil, sunlight, and the right temperature. Someone has to plant the seed and harvest the field. It all depends on a planet and a universe with the right conditions.
When you trace the origin of every ingredient, it is incredible to realize that every atom in the pie was forged in the heart of a star. Those stars had to exist long before the atoms that make up the apples, flour, and sugar could ever form. The thought is both humbling and awe-inspiring.
My journey to find joy has not been easy, but I have learned that it is possible to choose happiness and to cultivate joy. Just like Carl Sagan explained about making an apple pie from scratch, you have to account for all the ingredients.
So what are the ingredients of joy? To begin, I would like to examine a few verses. The first is Moses 1:39:
For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
This verse helps us understand God’s purpose. The second is 2 Nephi 2:25:
Men are that they might have joy.
(insert your name here) is here on earth so that you might have joy!
Together, these scriptures show that joy does not happen by accident. It is part of God’s plan and the very reason He created us.
Just as every apple pie begins with the creation of the universe, every moment of true joy begins with the creation of Christ’s plan.
If so much has to happen just to make an apple pie, how much more had to happen so that I might have joy?
God’s plan was created, and Christ was chosen from the very beginning as the foundation of this great plan of happiness. Agency was given as the means to fulfill God’s purpose. From the very start, we were given the ability to choose.
My mom once told me, “Just be happy.” It was during one of the darkest periods of my life. I was frustrated and shot back,
“How can I just choose to be happy? That is not how depression works.” Still, the phrase stayed with me. Choose happiness. I think that was a turning point for me. Within a few months I met the love of my life, and with her I have found a life of joy.
Joy is not found by avoiding hard things. In fact, choosing happiness can be one of the hardest things we ever do. You have to be deliberate, and for me, that meant relying on and placing my whole trust in Christ. I had to choose to take the ingredients provided by the foundation of the world and apply the correct measurements in the precise order. In this journey, I became the baker, following the recipe Christ gives.
I am inspired by others as I watch them face trials and make efforts to choose joy. Joy is not just a state of alignment with Him. It is the deliberate choices we make each day. It is His teachings that change our hearts.
A few years ago, the temple added emotion to the story of the Creation and the Fall. When Eve ate the fruit, you could see the sorrow and weight of her realization. Many of us can relate to what she must have felt in that moment. Then, in stark contrast, you could see the joy that filled her when she understood that a Savior had been chosen and that she would not be cut off from God’s presence forever. I remember feeling that same joy when I truly realized that Christ had paid the debt for me, for my sins.
In Alma 36, Alma shares the story of his conversion. He describes the torment he felt when he realized all he had done wrong, and then the moment he remembered what his father had taught about Christ. He says:
“And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! …that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. …On the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.”
There is a hymn that says, “When there is no peace on earth, there is peace in Christ.” It is through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that I have found joy. God’s plan has a purpose, and His plan is infinite. His purpose is that I might have joy.
So if you want to make joy from scratch, you must first remember Who created the universe, and why.
Living the Good News 