Harmony of Body and Spirit: A Key to Happiness | Gérald Caussé | 2020

Bishop Gérald Caussé teaches about the relationship between our bodies and spirits. Harmony between the two is the key to happiness.

This speech was given on October 13, 2020.

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"My dear brothers and sisters, I am thrilled to be with you today on this magnificent campus with my dear wife, Valérie. We express our love to President and Sister Worthen and to each of you. For the Presiding Bishop of the Church, these types of speaking occasions are fairly rare, so I feel greatly honored and very blessed to have this opportunity to address you.

Today I want to share some thoughts on how to build harmony between our bodies and our spirits, which is key to finding true happiness both in our mortal existence and in the life to come.

I recently rewatched the movie Beauty and the Beast. I really enjoy this movie—and not only because it takes place in France or because I can easily relate to Lumière’s funny accent!

I believe Belle is a lot like you. She is bright and independent, an avid reader, and anxious to learn about the world. At the same time, she often feels different from those around her. She is blessed to have a generous and compassionate spirit. She likes authenticity and has no taste for worldly affectations or for what the Book of Mormon calls “the vain things of the world,”1 whether it be power, material wealth, or obsession with physical appearance.

Belle is taken prisoner in a haunted castle by a hideous and repulsive beast. He is none other than a young prince who, because of a spell, is trapped in the body of a terrifying monster. Belle does not judge the Beast and is able to see beyond his repugnant appearance. She understands that his embittered character, his rude manners, and his fits of anger are only a façade that hides a tortured soul who only desires to love.

Under the soothing influence of Belle, an astonishing transformation takes place in the Beast—one that begins in the very depths of his soul and eventually results in a complete physical transformation. Because of Belle’s love, the spell is broken and the young prince regains his original appearance, to the great delight of the people who come to hail their new king and queen.

I love the underlying message of the film, which can help us as we search for genuine and enduring happiness. Each of us is made up of two elements—the physical body and the spirit. And these two parts of every human being are closely connected and have a very intimate and reciprocal relationship. The Beast’s physical body, with which the prince had been encumbered, made him grumpy and asocial, but when his heart changed and he was able to recover his joyful and sociable nature, his physical appearance also changed.

This applies to all of us. Our physical condition can profoundly influence our spiritual wellness. Conversely, our spiritual strength and the feelings of our hearts deeply affect our physical well-being. In other words, the beautiful harmony that can exist between our physical and spiritual natures is an important condition for finding true happiness in our mortal journey and in the eternities to come.

This important principle is at the core of the doctrine taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is explained in section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants:

For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a ­fulness of joy;

And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.2

The scripture refers to the joy we can all experience at the time of our resurrection, when our bodies and spirits are united again. I believe it also applies to our mortal existence and the joy and fulfillment we may experience when there is complete harmony between the spiritual and temporal sides of our natures—which results from being in harmony with the Lord.

In the Christian world, some believe that our bodies are a hindrance to the elevation of our spirits. Those with this view feel that we should keep our lives free from the contamination of physical elements, which they see as fundamentally carnal and evil. Certainly, as Alma taught his son Corianton,

all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness."