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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