Let me be clear

Today I am thankful for gratitude. I spent too much of my life thinking, if this happened or if I had this, then I would be happy. The largest part of my gradual awakening that's led to true peace and happiness in my life is learning to be truly grateful and satisfied with what I have. I love this painting of Christ, the only one I know of where He's smiling. Because we think of Him as a man of sorrow, most depictions are of Him with a stern or sad face, indeed He dealt with very serious things. In most of the circumstances we read about in the scriptures, He was probably not smiling, but because He perfectly exemplified how we should behave, I know He always had a grateful heart. And because great joy always follows true gratitude, I imagine most of His mortal life He looked like this, and still does now. "And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fuln

Now here's where things get personal and I take some real social risks, because many of my friends are involved in the type of things I'm about to rant about, but for those who are not, I feel it's a necessary public service to warn against a destructive but tempting influence which everyone will encounter at some point. For simplicity's sake I'm going to use the term "pyramid scheme". I know people love to argue about this term, mostly because they want you to join up with their pyramid scheme and the term "pyramid scheme" has negative connotations (for good reason). So, when I say this I am talking about any endevour that requires you to sell things to your friends and put pressure on them to do the same, regardless of any other factors. So, it seems harmless enough, a friend invites you over for an event. Maybe it's a spa party or a chocolate tasting or a jewelry party, or some equally tempting social event. Of course when you spend