“He Lived Great”

John Taylor eulogized the prophet Joseph Smith in these words:

He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people.

Doctrine and Covenants 135:3

He also wrote the following about Joseph and his brother Hyrum:

They lived for glory; they died for glory; and glory is their eternal reward.

Doctrine and Covenants 135:6

What does it mean to live great or to live for glory?

Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). We all have an equal number of seconds in each day, but we don’t all have the same amount of life. We can fill our time with activities which leave us unsatisfied and unfulfilled, like the man in Isaiah’s metaphor who dreams that he is eating and drinking but wakes up hungry and thirsty. (See Isaiah 29:8; 2 Nephi 27:3.)

Lehi and his family had to leave behind their home, their land, their gold and silver, and their precious things in order for God to lead them to a land of promise. (See 1 Nephi 2:4, 20.) After his death, his son Nephi had to distance himself from a destructive relationship with his older brothers which he was unable to heal, despite his best efforts. (See 2 Nephi 5:1-5.) But when Nephi and his people established their own colony, they “began to prosper exceedingly” (2 Nephi 5:13). Nephi tells us, “We lived after the manner of happiness” (2 Nephi 5:27).

Henry David Thoreau wrote about his effort to live with intentionality and purpose:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear.

Walden, Or, Life in the Woods, 143

Today, I will strive to live great. I will fill my precious time with worthwhile activities which will bring long-term satisfaction and fulfillment. Above all, I will remember the Savior, who will help me live “more abundantly.”