The song, “Always Look on The Bright Side of Life” was written by Monty Python and is becoming the most popular song played at funerals in this great country. Life, for many of us, is lived in a prideful way; by that I mean we are often too proud to even open a Bible or to ask about spiritual concerns. Doing so makes us look like we are not in control but are looking for a way to admit we need and want some help, that we need direction to find peace, to find comfort, to find real meaning in life. People generally want to believe they are self sufficient and need to rely on no other. To admit to such only implies that they are weak, dependant, and need something, someone greater, stronger, wiser than themselves. It has always amazed me at how much inner strength it takes to be humble, to admit that we are not gods, to admit that we are no more than human beings and that we are dependent on each other for strength and even on a power greater than a human or what humans can provide. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf stated that “…we try to avoid looking deeply into our souls and confronting our weaknesses. Until we have that kind of courage, we will never be able to discover our true potential, our real strengths. We will continue to be superficial human beings, indulging in social and light hearted activities that tend to buoy up or shore up a facade of self strength and self dependency.”
The title of Python’s song assures some that they are right (the way they have lived). It goes as follows:
Some things in life are bad. They can really make you mad Other things just make you swear and curse When you’re chewing on life’s gristle
Don’t grumble, give a whistle And this’ll help things turn out for the best… And…always look on the bright side of life… (Whistle) Always look on the light side of life… (Whistle) If life seems jolly rotten There’s something you’ve forgotten
And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing When you’re feeling in the dumps Don’t be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle—that’s the thing. And…always look on the bright side of life… (Whistle) Come on.
Always look on the right side of life…(Whistle) For life is quite absurd And death’s the final word You must always face the curtain with a bow Forget about your sin—give the audience a grin Enjoy it—it’s your last chance anyhow.
So always look on the bright side of death…(Whistle)
Just before you draw your terminal breath…
(Whistle) Life’s a piece of sh–, when you look at it
Life’s a laugh and death’s a joke, it’s true
You’ll see it’s all a show, keep ’em laughin as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you
And…Always look on the bright side of life…
(Whistle) Always look on the right side of life…
C’mon Brian, cheer up, Always look on the bright side of life… Worse things happen at sea you know.
I mean—what have you got to lose?
You know, you come from nothing—
you’re going back to nothing.
What have you lost? Nothing. Always (Nothing.)
Look on the right side of life…
Nothing will come from nothing ya know what they say? There ya go, see! Always look on the right side of life… (Cheer up ya old bugga, c’mon give us a grin! There ya go, see!)
For those who view life in such a shallow perspective, the lyrics to that song would be most meaningful and those who hang onto that view until the very end obviously want that song sung at their funerals. Since it is one of the most popular songs played at funerals, there are many shallow people. With a grin on their face, they would say: “For life is quite absurd And death’s the final word, You must always face the curtain with a bow, Forget about your sin—give the audience a grin. You know, you come from nothing—you’re going back to nothing. What have you lost? Nothing.”
Thank goodness, many of us mature in a spiritual sense, much above that level of thinking, before we go. At least we will either openly or secretly seek for a cause, a strength, a power beyond our own and recognize our human frailties and at the same time be able to understand that we have a divine nature. That something in us tells us that we did not and are not “nothing,” that we actually have a spirit that came from another place, and that spirit will be going back to that place one day. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27) “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:10) The soul only has limited value among other men—men of the world.