If we are not careful in living our covenants with exactness, our casual efforts may eventually lead us into forbidden paths or to join with those who have already entered the great and spacious building. The world is laden with distractions that can deceive even the elect, causing them to be casual in living their covenants-thus leading them near the tree, but not to it. The scriptures describe that this river “ran along” the path yet passed only “near” the tree, not to it.
Also seen in the vision was a river of water representing the filthiness of the world. Consider that the rod of iron and the strait and narrow path, or the covenant path, led directly to the tree of life, where all the blessings provided by our Savior and His Atonement are available to the faithful. The vision of the tree of life shows us how the effects of casualness can lead us away from the covenant path. Although we may encounter occasional obstacles along the way, this path will keep us moving toward our prized eternal destination if we stay firmly on it. Fortunately for us, we too are on a track, a covenant path we committed to when we were baptized as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Fortunately for him, the rails of the tracks on which his train ran kept the wheels of the train snugly moving toward its destination regardless of the obstacle in his way. Obviously, if the engineer had been able to swerve and leave the tracks to avoid an accident, he and his entire train would have been lost in a derailment and the train’s forward progress would have come to an abrupt stop. She shouted that she had seen the whole incident and then testified that the engineer did not even try to swerve out of the way to miss the car! As the engineer spoke with the investigating police officer, an angry woman approached them. Fortunately for the people in the car, they heard the warning of the train whistle and escaped from the car before the impact. There was no physical chance that the train would be able to stop before it hit the car, which it did. He immediately put the train in emergency mode, which engaged the brakes on each boxcar that extended three-quarters of a mile (1.2 km) behind the engine, carrying a load of 6,500 tons (5,900 metric tons).
He quickly realized that the car was stuck and unable to cross the track. One day while he was driving a train on his route, he spotted a car stopped on the track ahead of him. We have a dear friend who was a train engineer.
It is found in carefully living the gospel established by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and in striving to become more like Him. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to know how and where true happiness is found. What I found was a lot of cheap trinkets and souvenirs-not one thing I saw could possibly bring me the type of happiness that the sign implied! Over the years, I’ve thought many times about that sign and how easy it can be to look for happiness in items that are cheap or temporary. I once saw a sign in a store window that said, “Happiness, $15.00.” I was so curious to know how much happiness I could buy for $15 that I went inside to see.
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