The great conflict

     I have made no secret of my disdain for conflict, whether arguments, fights, abuse, or war. I don't even like stories involving scaring innocents! Mortals fear death a great deal. The greatest threat a human can give is to end life, "I'm gonna kill you!" Those who recognize God and our immortal souls know that death is NOT the worst thing that can happen in mortality. Actually, pain is the worst. Whether physical pain, mental anguish or emotional pain- having to go on with pain is the worst part of being mortal. Death causes an end to mortal experience and a temporary disruption in relationships, which can be deemed a great tragedy.

     Before any of us came to this earth, we were with our Heavenly Father and there was a conflict about how our mortal experience should go. God didn't want to force any of us to return to live forever with Him under perfect rules. He knew forcing us wouldn't work. He wants us to be happy. Satan had the idea that we could all live our mortal lives and be guaranteed to return to God. We could have the chance to get a body but not be accountable for how we use it. Then Satan wanted the credit for bringing us all back. Jesus offered to come to earth, live as a sinless mortal, and give His life as a sacrifice so we would have the opportunity to return to live with God. All we would have to do is accept His gift of the atonement, acknowledge our sins and repent, and be willing to take His name upon us (not be ashamed to be called Christians). 

     In the temple today I was reading how it will all end:

And Michael, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven. And the devil shall gather together his armies; even the hosts of hell, and shall come up to battle against Michael and his armies. And then cometh the battle of the great God; and the devil and his armies shall be cast away into their own place, that they shall not have power over the saints any more at all. For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who seeketh the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb. This is the glory of God, and the sanctified; and they shall not any more see death. (D&C 88:112-116)

     This final battle, just like the first conflict, will not involve guns, knives, warships, planes, or even nuclear weapons. These beings cannot be killed in the mortal sense. The "death" referred to is a permanent separation. The conflict is over ideals. We either choose to live righteous laws or we choose to live according to our rules, whatever they may be. The outcome of the battle has already been decided. God is superior but Satan is determined to keep trying to gain more strength. We cannot affect the outcome but we do have the right and responsibility to choose what side we want to be on. It's not simply deciding that we don't like the Mafia or people like Hitler. It also means deciding we don't like the natural man in ourselves. It means we want to overcome even the slightest desire to live by our own lusts: greed, laziness, hatred, sex outside marriage as ordained by God, covetousness, or anything that causes conflict with other beings. There WILL be conflict and we each must choose what side we want to be on.

This is not what I want

     Whatever the opposite of evolution is, we're doing it. As we advance technologically, we humans are regressing emotionally, socially, and spiritually. People have made mistakes and done mean or stupid things since humans began. However, generally society-at-large recognized things that just "weren't right". The increase in advanced education over the centuries has not created more advanced beings. We no longer throw rocks and spears at each other, we have more effective weapons that more efficiently destroy life without requiring us to dirty our hands. We don't seek to understand others but to judge them and hate them when they are different from us. Even in more primitive societies there have been standards of accepted morality. Drunkenness was frowned upon as irresponsible behavior. Sex outside of marriage was kept secret knowing it was not accepted. Leaders were criticized when their dishonesty was disclosed. People disrespected anyone who lived on hand-outs rather than doing all they could to provide for themselves. It was expected that responsible adults would take care of possessions they had worked hard to gain. Immorality was the label for any of such behaviors.
     Today, the best we can do for being high on drugs or alcohol is discourage people to not drive when they're compromised. As long as you can manage to do whatever minimum responsibility you have, being drunk or high is not criticized. "Everybody does it."
     Today, not only do you not have to be married, but you can have sex with whomever you want whenever you want. You can even complain if anyone criticizes your sex drive because you are being "discriminated against". Having sexual relations is simply a biological drive and we are approaching being allowed to do it in the street like I have seen dogs do or like the drunks at Mardi Gras.
     Politicians' words and actions are tolerated much as royalty has been for centuries. When someone is a "leader" we only need to be concerned about how well their subjects or constituents are eating. Whether they are a leader worthy of respect and obeissance is no longer considered.
     It has been deemed "unfair" when anyone doesn't have what their neighbor has no matter what they may deserve. It is all too easy to cry foul without any effort to make a place for one's self. Society no longer demands responsibility for one's actions. It's "judgmental" to call anyone lazy.
     Today, the phrase "he who dies with the most toys wins" is the motto to live by. We live in the age of disposability. If something is worn, broken, or just boring it gets thrown out and replaced. There are very few repair shops, very few sewing machines, very few craftsmen who can make something last longer and most people don't care enough to figure it out for themselves. It just isn't economically sound to bother with old stuff. Although our cars are better engineered to last longer, we get bored with them or don't bother to even clean them out. We just buy new and continue to create mountains and mountains of garbage.
     So, basically, it seems we have gone from having segments of our society considered guilty of immoral behavior to being a society that promotes amorality. We seem to prefer not having any kind of standard. That way we can do, or neglect to do, whatever we want and just complain if someone else doesn't like our choice. Then the criticizer gets chastised rather than labeling any action or person as wrong or "immoral". There will be a price to be paid. We will suffer the consequences.

While I'm thinking.........

     I noticed I haven't posted very frequently lately so I decided it might be okay to compose another post on the same day. Our Sunday School lesson today was basically a discussion about sharing the gospel. There was a gang of young men whose fathers were really important men in their society and were not happy about the behavior of their sons. They had tried to teach them correct principles and reason with them to no avail so they prayed mightily that the Lord would help to change their behavior. As a result, an angel visited them which caused a mighty change in their hearts. They repented and were so grateful for their knowledge of God's plan including the Savior's atoning sacrifice that they wanted to tell everybody about it. (I know that feeling!) So they even turned down the opportunity to be king preferring to spend more than 10 long years traveling around with only what food they could find or hunt in an effort to spread the "good news" of the gospel. They fasted and prayed much. "And it came to pass that the Lord did visit them with his Spirit, and said unto them: Be comforted. And they were comforted. And the Lord said unto them also: Go forth among the Lamanites, thy brethren, and establish my word; yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls." (Alma 17:10,11) Now I can imagine desiring the Lord to comfort them but I don't know that I would be very comforted by the "long-suffering and afflictions" promise! So, what kind of comfort is that??
     We are told that there "must needs be opposition in all things". We certainly appreciate good health more after a bout with illness or injury. We appreciate food more when we're really, truly hungry and not just craving a taste of something. We appreciate knowledge more when we recognize our ignorance of something and truly want to understand.
     If we want physical strength, we know it doesn't work to gain it by being relaxed and comfortable in a lounge chair. If we get heavy so it's an effort to do things, we aren't going to lose weight by eating whatever we feel like whenever we want in amounts available to us.
     So, I guess it makes sense that we need to suffer a little. But what about the "show forth good examples" part? Since every mortal being experiences suffering, we tend to seek relief by wanting the suffering to be over quickly but even if we have the wisdom to try to gain insight through our suffering, how do we endure it? We have established support groups. Aha! When we can witness others who have gone through, not just suffering, but a pain very similar to our own, it gives us hope that we can manage to endure, too. The flip side is, if we can endure our own suffering well, we can be a light to others to encourage them. We all have known people who keep going through all kinds of suffering: divorce, cancer, death of a loved one, rebellious child, special needs child or other family member who needs constant care, bankruptcy, serious injury- the list goes on and on. Those who manage to endure while offering sympathy to others are "good examples" who might choose to be "instruments" in the Lord's hands. Long ago, I gave a Christus statue to Ammon that got knocked off a table, breaking the hands off. He said he was going to glue them back on but decided to leave it without the hands as a reminder that we are the Lord's hands. A prophet once said that the Lord always hears our prayers but He often answers through another person. I hope I can be a good example and manage to bring others to Christ as I suffer well whatever afflictions I may suffer during my mortal probation.

About lions and choices

     Several times I have watched videos on the internet about a lion or other wild beast that was nurtured by a human for an extended period in their life then returned to the "wild". Later the human visits the beast and is recognized and shown affection. It's so exhilarating! I have always thought it might be nice to hug a big cat or be hugged by a bear. However, warnings abound concerning trying to make a friend of a wild animal. Remember Sigfreid and Roy with the lovely big cats in Las Vegas? They basically live with them yet one was mauled by one of their tigers a few years ago. So, why does an animal turn on a human they have had a very pleasant relationship with? Does the animal have some kind of hatred or resentment hidden inside? I don't think so. Animals are not on the same level as human beings when it comes to intelligence or capability of emotions. Animals respond according to instinct. If they are well-fed and comfortable, they become fairly placid. If they are "bored" they may become more violently playful than we would like. And if they feel pain, even if the human near them is not the cause for their pain, they are likely to respond by lashing out. If they feel threatened, they will defend themselves. This does not mean they set out to harm someone else because they're having a bad day. Only humans do that. Humans will be annoyed at someone, even an innocent child, who disturbs them when they are resting or occupied in a manner they don't want disrupted. Humans will set out to hurt, even just a little bit, someone else who simply reminds them of someone they don't like or harbor resentment towards. THIS is what the Lord calls the "natural man" and says that he is the enemy of God. It's totally natural for us to act in ways that God and even Ghandi have labeled "sins"- greed, sloth, lust, hate, etc. What God hopes for His children is that we will, first, want to overcome those natural tendencies because we see how much they hurt others and ourselves, then, be willing to work to fight those "instincts" toward actions (or even thoughts) that can lead to hurting others and ourselves. Lions, bears, and wolves cannot be taught to love others as they would want to be loved. You cannot explain work ethic to an animal. Most animals will have sexual relations with any other (usually of their own kind) who is available when they have the urge, as long as there isn't a stronger animal who might hurt them for doing so.
     There are humans who consider us to be just another animal with a more advanced brain. We certainly can behave in that way if we choose. God would really prefer His children to have a desire to elevate themselves above the beasts He created over whom we are to be stewards. He hopes we will care for the lovely Earth He created for us. But the Earth in this form is not to be our eternal dwelling place. We are God's children, His offspring- not just one of His creations. He wants us to be like Him but He will not force us to do that. He wants us to choose to be like Him. We are here in mortality to learn the consequences of choices, the pain of suffering, and the desire and hope of something better than animal instincts. 

Purity or naivete?

     Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." Today a young couple came into the Nauvoo temple to be married- sealed for time and all eternity, not just "til death do you part". As I looked at their sweet faces, the words "pure" and "clean" popped into my head. Free from the worldly trappings of an expensive, lavish wedding gown (today's styles are usually backless, strapless and tight-fitting) or some other attention-getting fashion statement, their beauty shone from within. Their eyes shone clear and bright and their appearance was simply pure. In the scriptures, the temple of God is often referred to as a mountain. In Psalms 24 we read, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." Their goal was to make a sacred covenant to God and to each other, not just have a big party.
     Russ and I were having a conversation related to a recent lesson in church about seeking the lost lamb. My observation was that the "lamb" lost to the "Good Shepherd" does not always recognize that he/she is lost to Him and the fold, or doesn't care. They are interested in their own individual world and have what they want. In the words of the Lord, "They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol." Those who strive to be pure in heart are often considered naive or lacking in "street smarts" which is a deprived state in the eyes of the world.  To those who might feel critical or pitiful to those who strive to be pure in heart, I would offer the perspective Paul wrote to Titus, "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." If the lenses you look through are dirty, everything will look polluted to you. Does it matter if you have a desire to have a pure heart and clean hands? I guess it's up to each person to answer that. If you are completely satisfied with the way the world is, if you have whatever you could hope for, maybe there is no reason right now for you to look beyond your individual world. You can continue to be nice to your neighbors, hold down a job and pay your bills, take care of your responsibilities, and live according to the standards you set for yourself. However, if you deplore the world's anger, prejudice, lack of honesty, lack of moral purity or even desire for it, if you would prefer peace, unity, and purity, you might want to consider trying to contact God and asking Him about His Son and what they can do for you if you are willing to simply choose- choose to accept the atonement, choose to be obedient to all the rules which will provide a peaceful society in which to live pleasantly, choose to throw away pride and be humble, choose to serve, love, and be all He wants you to be.

Civil War

     We have recently watched a history program highlighting Franklin Pierce, Buchanan, Douglas, and other politicians just before the Civil War began in the United States. They all made a concerted effort to bridge the divide between the southern states and the northern states in order to avoid the tragic war that ultimately broke out. As I listened to the policies and suggestions they made in an effort to find a viable compromise, I realized that there really was no way to compromise such strongly held and opposite beliefs. The southern plantation owners had always had slaves and were dependent on their cheap labor to financially survive. Other southerners had come to believe Negroes were inferior people and therefore justified in being placed in a subordinate class. Northerners felt that "owning" another human being, no matter what race or color, was simply inhumane. As the United States was still growing, new states were added and each side felt the new state should not be added to the current policy side of the opposition. In order to be a unified country, it just would not work to have slaves in certain states who claimed their state's right to choose when other states were so adamantly opposed. As Lincoln quoted the Bible, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
     This continues to be true today. We no longer have advocates for slavery. However, we have very opposite views of other issues including LGBT rights, abortion, surrogate parenting, and a host of moral issues. In the seventeenth, eighteenth, and even nineteenth centuries, the majority of citizens of the United States had a basic belief in some higher power whether or not they attended a church. Such a belief meant there was a higher authority as to what is right or wrong, what should be socially acceptable. Over time, as we have grown in wealth and power and man-made innovations, many citizens have decided there is no higher authority. Whatever each man chooses to believe, morally, is valid. However, having such disparate, strongly held "belief systems" will destroy our country. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." There are sci-fi representations in books and movies of visitations to the planet by a superior intelligence but these are all simply the images of someone's imaginations. Sometimes I wonder if people can more easily accept a belief in the Borg or Vulcans or the Empire than in God as presented in the Bible. There are "witnesses" that claim to have heard and even seen God and/or His Son, Jesus Christ. The moral policies they present make a great deal of sense but aren't always easy to live. When people have desires that oppose the moral standard given in the scriptures, they want to find some other standard to believe in to justify themselves in living the way they desire. As was proven in the mid-nineteenth century here, you cannot maintain peace with firmly held moral views that are total opposites. You can't say, well, we'll let those who want to have slaves have them and those that don't will have laws against slavery. Today, you can't have some areas say anybody can be married and other areas say that only a man and unrelated woman can legally be married. You can't have some cities or stores that say anybody can use whatever bathroom they feel inclined to use and others limit them to specific genders. You can't have marijuana legal in some places and punishable by imprisonment in others. (And trying to limit its cultivation is impossible. It's weed!) Ultimately, there has to be a consensus of legal limitations. If we are not going to agree, at least by a majority, on the existence of a higher authority than ourselves, there is no means of establishing a standard. Chaos will be the unavoidable result. The country will be destroyed.
     Jesus Christ said, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon." In the United States, we claim the legal right to make most of our choices in life. Whether or not you believe in Him, God has given all of us the freedom to choose whatever we want to choose. But we CANNOT SIT ON THE FENCE. We can't say we believe in God but not His laws. And we can't make God in whatever image we want. There are those who justify being God's judge, jury, and executioner without knowing what God truly would have them do. He has told us to LOVE others as we love ourselves. For those who choose to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe we are led by a prophet who speaks on behalf of God to all people. We have had direction from God, through a living prophet, on ALL of the issues currently in dispute as well as many others such as tattoos, piercing, appropriate age for dating, quality of movie and music, and modesty in living. If we have a desire (called being tempted) to live any standard other than what God has established, we have the right to choose for ourselves. The prophet will not come to your home and condemn you. In this life you will not be imprisoned. (Even in the next life you will not be imprisoned unless you want to claim that not living with those who want to follow God's laws is imprisoning you.) God loves you no matter what you choose. He wants you to enjoy for eternity whatever standards YOU would choose for yourself. You cannot embrace the standards men would embrace and ever be happy living with others who would choose God's standards. You will hate the one and love the other. You cannot sit on both sides. There is no compromise. It's okay if you feel too weak to actually live a higher standard as long as you don't justify the lower standard as being just as valid as the higher standard. There is no compromise. You either live God's standards which you can learn about through prophets, or you determine YOU should be the judge of what's fair or right. But you can't have it both ways. You can't live with people who want to live God's standards and be at peace if you don't want to live those standards. If you acknowledge God's superiority, you will want to obey His wisdom knowing He loves you and wants more than anything for you to be happy. If you don't, then you can live with others who want to live by their own standards, too. A whole world of self-appointed gods! The problem will be that they won't have the same standards you do. There won't be peace.

Windows to the soul

     Body language is one of the subtle ways a human being broadcasts sincere feelings. But it's not the only nor the most accurate means to "read" a person. Years ago, we were introduced to a man who was paralyzed the neck down after a simple but tragic fall. He could not utilize body language because his face was the only part of him he could voluntarily change. He could speak just fine and we spent many hours visiting with him wanting to give him positive things to focus on and loving attention.
     Every day when I work in the temple, I am in close contact with lots of people, many of whom I don't know and most of whom will smile in a friendly manner. There is a connection which occurs with many of them, especially when I am administering sacred ordinances, that touches me deeply and I can see it touches them as well. I often feel a great deal of love from and toward someone else even a stranger, simply by looking into their eyes. It has been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. You can tell quite a bit about a person by looking them directly in the eye. You can see if they are angry or preoccupied or sad or excited or really happy. They don't have to cry or yell or grit their teeth or use any part of their body. On the other hand, if you are feeling a distracting emotion, it's more difficult to discern someone else's feelings. If I want to try to "hide" my feelings, I will very purposefully look down so as not to allow someone else to look into my eyes.
     It is no secret that I have been fascinated by what mankind has been learning about the functioning of the brain. It is so true that the brain contains who you are. Your body language may reveal your reactions but it is the thought in your brain that causes your body to display anything. We may refer to what's in our "hearts" but it's actually your brain that processes and chooses feelings- anything from love to hate and everything in between. Each human being has a "tabernacle of clay" which is a carbon based container generally with two arms, two legs, a head, and all sorts of things going on inside. But the brain is where everything is generated and processed. But what instigates your brain process? If you have ever been near a "brain-dead" person, you can sense they "aren't there". The Lord says, "For man is spirit." (D&C 93:33) Also, a favorite scripture of mine (D&C 131:7-8), "There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter." Our eyes are connected to our brain directly through the optic nerve. Most of the time we consider only what data is entering into our brains through our eyes but perhaps there is a means of communication we have not yet completely understood that allows our brain (which is where who we are resides) to send out information. The Lord has also said, "The spirit and the body are the soul of man." (D&C 88:15) We are spiritual infants for the most part. We are in the process of figuring out exactly who we are and far from comprehending our potential. The most important thing we need to do during our mortal life is CHOOSE who we want to be when we "grow up". As a prophet once said (Alma 34:32-34), "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. And now.... I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world."
     Now this doesn't mean you are eternally doomed if you have not yet overcome some weaknesses or faults. It just means that you need to choose during mortal life whether you want to work at being like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, ............. or not. If you do, then you simply acknowledge your imperfection and gratefully accept the sacrifice on your behalf offered by our Savior. Then we show our love and gratitude by no longer justifying our faults and sincerely trying to be like Him and following His commandments which means we have to sincerely make an effort to know just what those commandments are. The choice is simple, yes or no, but then the hard part is continuing on the chosen path or otherwise known as "enduring to the end."