Today being Thanksgiving, I just want to say I am thankful for all the adversity I have had to deal with in my life. After all, the hardships and troubles we work through in life are what make us who we are. I love the title of Cheri Dew's book, If Life Were Easy It Wouldn't Be Hard. It is necessary for life to be hard.
To understand this concept we must understand that we have a loving Heavenly Father and we lived with him (and, I am sure, a loving mother) before we came to Earth. When we were in our pre-mortal life a great council was called. Our Father presented His plan for us to come to Earth to gain physical bodies (for we were spiritual beings then), and to be tested. We would grow and gain strength from this experience. Knowing we would have problems and make mistakes, Father would provide a Savior for us to atone for our mistakes. Our older brother Lucifer countered with a plan of his own. In this plan we would all be forced to do what is right and none of the spirits that were there would be lost. This plan sounded good to a third of the spirits and they chose to follow Lucifer. The rest of us realized that we would not grow or improve under this plan. We needed to have what we call agency, or the right to choose right from wrong. We knew there were risks and some would be lost, but this was the only way we would grow and become strong. By the way, a Savior was provided. Our oldest brother volunteered to do this for all of us, because of the love he has for all of us. He became Jesus Christ.
I also want to say how thankful I am for the gift of agency. This is Heavenly Fathers gift to us to help us learn to control the physical body he also gave us. But most of all I am thankful for the gift of His first-born Son, Jesus Christ, who provided a way for us to return to the beautiful world of our loving Father.
I just wanted to express some of this because it is the day to express our thanks for things that are important to us. I also will use this as a way to introduce the concept of agency. This is really why we must suffer some for other people's choices and sometimes our choices may cause others to suffer. Stay tuned as I discuss this very important concept in future posts.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
More on Choices
After my last post I ran across a scripture that goes perfect with what I was saying. It is in the Book of Mormon; Moroni 7:16, "For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God." This goes well with what I was saying about listening to, and with, our hearts.
I was also reminded of the 9th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, verses 7-9. This was given to Oliver Cowdery when he had desired to translate the Book of Mormon and failed. This is good instruction for us all. The Lord said; "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings,but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me."
A number of years ago I was called to be a Sunday School President. I was in my late twenties at the time and was feeling very inadequate. I was tasked with selecting two counselors to help in the organization. At this time in my life I had never sought inspiration for any one besides myself and my family. I was really struggling with this, so I went to see the bishop who had asked me to do this task. He refused to give me any suggestions as to who we should call. He told me that I had the keys to this inspiration and I had to do it. He did, however, give me some advice, which was basically to read this section of the D&C with me. He told me to get the Ward list and look through it and see if any names made sense to me. He called this doing my "homework." When I had some names in mind I was then to ask The Lord. When I got that confirmation, I had to submit those names to the Bishop. Well I struggled with this for another week or two and kept getting a feeling about one of my best teachers. This man was an excellent youth teacher and I just didn't want to give him up in that position. I actually argued with the spirit for a few days and finally gave in and submitted a couple of names including this man. The bishop questioned my choice because he also knew what a great teacher this brother was. I told the bishop of my experience and the man was called. He turned out to be the best counselor I could have asked for. It was he who suggested another person for his replacement and this turned out to be a great thing for the youth also.
We now have a good box of tools for making choices:
1. Look to the end of the road. Try to see the consequences of the action we are about to take.
2. Listen to, and with, our hearts. Meditate, be still, and get in touch with our inner feelings.
3. Do your Homework. Study the decision. Gather all the information that is available.
4. Ask. There is a Supreme Being. Call him God, Allah, or what you will. My son-in-law is an English Professor and has issues with organized religion, but calls the Supreme Being "The Author". I actually like this. Pray to Him. Ask Him if your decision is right. And again, Listen for the answer. I promise you will feel it in your deepest feelings.
I was also reminded of the 9th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, verses 7-9. This was given to Oliver Cowdery when he had desired to translate the Book of Mormon and failed. This is good instruction for us all. The Lord said; "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings,but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me."
A number of years ago I was called to be a Sunday School President. I was in my late twenties at the time and was feeling very inadequate. I was tasked with selecting two counselors to help in the organization. At this time in my life I had never sought inspiration for any one besides myself and my family. I was really struggling with this, so I went to see the bishop who had asked me to do this task. He refused to give me any suggestions as to who we should call. He told me that I had the keys to this inspiration and I had to do it. He did, however, give me some advice, which was basically to read this section of the D&C with me. He told me to get the Ward list and look through it and see if any names made sense to me. He called this doing my "homework." When I had some names in mind I was then to ask The Lord. When I got that confirmation, I had to submit those names to the Bishop. Well I struggled with this for another week or two and kept getting a feeling about one of my best teachers. This man was an excellent youth teacher and I just didn't want to give him up in that position. I actually argued with the spirit for a few days and finally gave in and submitted a couple of names including this man. The bishop questioned my choice because he also knew what a great teacher this brother was. I told the bishop of my experience and the man was called. He turned out to be the best counselor I could have asked for. It was he who suggested another person for his replacement and this turned out to be a great thing for the youth also.
We now have a good box of tools for making choices:
1. Look to the end of the road. Try to see the consequences of the action we are about to take.
2. Listen to, and with, our hearts. Meditate, be still, and get in touch with our inner feelings.
3. Do your Homework. Study the decision. Gather all the information that is available.
4. Ask. There is a Supreme Being. Call him God, Allah, or what you will. My son-in-law is an English Professor and has issues with organized religion, but calls the Supreme Being "The Author". I actually like this. Pray to Him. Ask Him if your decision is right. And again, Listen for the answer. I promise you will feel it in your deepest feelings.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Making Right Choices
I know I haven't written on here for a while. It is difficult when my wife and I share the same computer, and she needs it for business. She does translations from English to Portuguese and vice versa.
I have been talking about Choices and sticking to them. I took the points of my first post and was expanding on them. I am still talking about the first reason for adversity or suffering, our own choices. I thought maybe we need to discuss making the right choices. Sticking to a bad choice can have catastrophic results. As I said, the first step on a road, in essence, is a choice for the end of that road. Thus, we need to be sure we are choosing roads that will end in a pleasant place.
Going back to Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken," he says, "long I stood, And Looked down one as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth;" We can try to look to the end of the road, but sometimes it takes a few bends in the undergrowth. In other words, we don't always know where our chosen path will take us. We can, when ever possible, look to the end of our path to decide if it is the right path for us. This is one way to make good choices. The scriptures say, "By their fruits you shall know them." But what do we do when we can't see the end or the fruit?
As I thought about this subject, I came across a talk by Pres. Thomas S. Monson. This was given in our last General Conference. The Talk is titled, "The Three R's of Choice." I won't put the whole talk on here but encourage anyone interested to look it up and read it. I love the reference to Lewis Carroll's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice "comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat of whom Alice asks, 'which path shall I follow?'"
"The cat answers, 'that depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn't matter which path you take.'"
Pres. Monson's Three R's are the Right of choice, the Responsibility of choice and the Results of choice. The Right is the gift we are given of agency. The responsibility is what I am talking about today. The result is basically what I have been talking about in this whole blog. The other thing that I wanted to quote here is this: "Each of us came to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices. The prophet Mormon tells us, 'The Spirit of Christ is given to every man that he may know good from evil.'"
Whether you are a member of The Church or not, or whether you are even Christian or not, you must agree that everyone has that something. Call it conscience or whatever you will but each of us has it. When we need to make a decision about our life all we need to do is listen to our own feelings. We will know deep down what is the right thing to do. Many folks get out of touch with this as they rush through life. I submit that if you will sit quietly for just a few moments and listen to what you feel, the answer will become apparent. I like to call this listening with your heart. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are given what we call the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This is a subject for another blog, but It is done right after a person is Baptized. I have always thought it very interesting that in the ordinance where this gift is bestowed we exhort the person to "Receive the Holy Ghost." I like this because it shows the responsibility we have to listen, as it were, with our hearts.
As we make choices in our lives, let us remember the tools we have to help make correct choices. First, look down the road, whenever possible. Of course, we must know where we want to go so we can decide if we want to follow this road. And second, listen with our heart. Call this the "Still Small Voice", meditation, Zen or just a conscience. The point is we have to slow down and listen. My favorite scripture is in The Doctrine and Covenants section 101 verse 16. It ends with the phrase"...be still and know that I am God." We must be still and listen.
I have been talking about Choices and sticking to them. I took the points of my first post and was expanding on them. I am still talking about the first reason for adversity or suffering, our own choices. I thought maybe we need to discuss making the right choices. Sticking to a bad choice can have catastrophic results. As I said, the first step on a road, in essence, is a choice for the end of that road. Thus, we need to be sure we are choosing roads that will end in a pleasant place.
Going back to Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken," he says, "long I stood, And Looked down one as far as I could, To where it bent in the undergrowth;" We can try to look to the end of the road, but sometimes it takes a few bends in the undergrowth. In other words, we don't always know where our chosen path will take us. We can, when ever possible, look to the end of our path to decide if it is the right path for us. This is one way to make good choices. The scriptures say, "By their fruits you shall know them." But what do we do when we can't see the end or the fruit?
As I thought about this subject, I came across a talk by Pres. Thomas S. Monson. This was given in our last General Conference. The Talk is titled, "The Three R's of Choice." I won't put the whole talk on here but encourage anyone interested to look it up and read it. I love the reference to Lewis Carroll's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Alice "comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat of whom Alice asks, 'which path shall I follow?'"
"The cat answers, 'that depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn't matter which path you take.'"
Pres. Monson's Three R's are the Right of choice, the Responsibility of choice and the Results of choice. The Right is the gift we are given of agency. The responsibility is what I am talking about today. The result is basically what I have been talking about in this whole blog. The other thing that I wanted to quote here is this: "Each of us came to this earth with all the tools necessary to make correct choices. The prophet Mormon tells us, 'The Spirit of Christ is given to every man that he may know good from evil.'"
Whether you are a member of The Church or not, or whether you are even Christian or not, you must agree that everyone has that something. Call it conscience or whatever you will but each of us has it. When we need to make a decision about our life all we need to do is listen to our own feelings. We will know deep down what is the right thing to do. Many folks get out of touch with this as they rush through life. I submit that if you will sit quietly for just a few moments and listen to what you feel, the answer will become apparent. I like to call this listening with your heart. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are given what we call the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This is a subject for another blog, but It is done right after a person is Baptized. I have always thought it very interesting that in the ordinance where this gift is bestowed we exhort the person to "Receive the Holy Ghost." I like this because it shows the responsibility we have to listen, as it were, with our hearts.
As we make choices in our lives, let us remember the tools we have to help make correct choices. First, look down the road, whenever possible. Of course, we must know where we want to go so we can decide if we want to follow this road. And second, listen with our heart. Call this the "Still Small Voice", meditation, Zen or just a conscience. The point is we have to slow down and listen. My favorite scripture is in The Doctrine and Covenants section 101 verse 16. It ends with the phrase"...be still and know that I am God." We must be still and listen.
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