Sin, Sorrow, and Suffering - Part 2

"It must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter" (2 Ne. 2:15). If Adam and Eve had not partaken of the fruit of the tree of knowledge "they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin" (2 Ne. 2:23).

The Savior taught about suffering. When Pilate killed some Galilaeans, some wondered if they deserved their fate. The Savior said, "Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay" (Luke 12:2-3). He continued by telling the listeners, "But, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 12:3). Those who suffer did not necessarily sin but those who sin and don't repent, suffer. What is unfortunate is when people suffer as a result of their own sins because that suffering is preventable. We all sin but none of us have to sin.

We don't seek suffering but we don't shy away from it when we understand the meaning and purpose of suffering. Not all suffering is positive though. Much suffering in this world results from sin - our own or others'. When we suffer due to the sins of others we still have a choice as to how we will bear the suffering and what we will learn from it. It's unfortunate when people suffer as a result of the sins of others. It's a reality of life but unfortunate. Many times suffering can lead to repentance: "For many of them, after having suffered much loss and so many afflictions, began to be stirred up in remembrance of the words which Aaron and his brethren had preached to them in their land; therefore they began to disbelieve the traditions of their fathers, and to believe in the Lord, and that he gave great power unto the Nephites; and thus there were many of them converted in the wilderness" (Alma 25:6).

There is a story told of a young man who wanted to see the world and experience life. He was tired of what he thought was a boring and simple life. He went to his father for some money - his portion of the inheritance he was to receive. His older brother watched as the younger took the money and left. This young man spent all of his money pursuing pleasure. Money and pleasure were his gods - he wasted his strength worshiping them. When this man's money was spent he looked around for more. Finding none, he thought he might get a job; however, he had few employable skills. He had spent all of his money "living it up" and no longer had any for the basics of life. He was miserable and suffering. He felt ashamed of what he had done. He was too ashamed to return home to face his father and elder brother. The man was so destitute he begged for food, even scraps that unclean animals rejected. Finding no solace, no sustenance, he finally stopped being prideful; he accepted responsibility for his actions and started the journey home in humility. When approaching his home, he came with the attitude that maybe his father would accept him back as a servant, for he felt unworthy to be called son. When the prodigal approached, his father saw him from afar and ran to him. The father embraced him and wept upon his shoulder. As the son contritely begged to be received as a servant, his father called for his best robe. He called to have a feast prepared - a celebration of his son's homecoming and repentance. The father expressed great joy over his son's return.

One main moral of this story is that with sin and selfishness comes sorrow and suffering. The prodigal son was not happy in his pursuit of pleasure. He experienced momentary happiness but quickly began to suffer for his sins. As he expressed contrition and penitence, the prodigal son found joy in his return home; he found forgiveness and love.

Sin, Sorrow, and Suffering - Part 1

People often ask the question, "Why must we suffer?" Philosophers and many others have been debating that same question for ages. Even in the pre-earth life, I believe the question was raised. If I may interject some opinion, I think that Lucifer learned about the Plan of Salvation and was scared. He did not want to suffer, which is one reason he wanted all people to be forced to return to live with Heavenly Father (although, on the other hand, he knew his plan would not allow anyone to return to live with God). He thought that would prevent suffering. He also was prideful, he wanted Father's glory and power without expending any of the effort. He wanted that glory regardless of what it would cost others. He may not have fully understood the Plan but I think he did. I think he understood it and was scared. He was afraid of the suffering - of the pain and sickness and sorrow.

There have always been some who were scared of suffering and sought to eliminate all suffering, regardless of what it might cost. Others sought to understand suffering and did not shy away. Even though philosophers have argued over the meaning of suffering for millennia, truth about it comes from prophets.

Lehi, speaking to his son Jacob, "Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." (2 Ne. 2:2). "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so...righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery [note the interesting and important juxtaposition of those two], neither good nor bad." (2 Ne. 2:11). Why are misery and holiness placed in opposition? Holiness is consecration; it is purity and sanctification. Does that mean that there is no sadness for one who is holy? No, but is means there is no misery, no being miserable. The distinction is important. It does not mean that those who are miserable have necessarily sinned, although "wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10). However, sin will always bring misery.

Fasting and Prayer, Part 7

There are many promises associated with fasting. I think it's interesting to look at the etymology of the word fast. It comes from a similar-sounding Old English word. This Old English word also formed the roots of other words that we still use today. For example, steadfast and fasten. By looking at how these other words are used in the scriptures we can learn more about promises that come to us through faithfulness and fasting.

Lehi spoke unto his son Lemuel saying, "O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!" (1 Ne. 2:10). Lemuel was urged to be steadfast - to be firmly rooted in the gospel and to never waver in keeping the commandments of the Lord. Elsewhere, the prophets have commanded people to be "steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his" (Mos. 5:15). When we fast, we subject the desires of the flesh unto the needs of the spirit. When we fast we follow God's commandment; we are proving ourselves steadfast and immovable and as such, through the Atonement of Christ, will be sealed to our Heavenly Father. We will be sealed for time and all eternity to our Eternal Father. His name will be fastened upon us.

To fasten something is to bind together, such as fastening two pieces of wood together with screws or ropes. Those things that are bound together become one. However, over time if care is not taken or if the fastener is weak, those that were fastened together may slip apart and weaken. Captain Moroni, that great champion for freedom, made a banner out of his coat and "fastened it upon the end of a pole" (Alma 46:12) that he might be able to travel from city to city, waving the flag of freedom, rallying the believers of God to fight for their God, their families, and their homes. He wanted them to hold fast to the words of the prophets and to their God. As we respond to Captain Moroni's call today and hold fast to our God, our families, and our homes, we will be sealed together with our Father.

When we fast, we sacrifice so that we might be able to become steadfast in our faith, becoming one with our God, to be fastened together with Him and Jesus Christ.

I close with the scripture that is the theme of this blog: "Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God" (D&C 88:119). As we establish our homes on the foundation of prayer, faith, and fasting, we will continue to grow in unity with the Savior and our Eternal Father.

Fasting and Prayer, Part 6

"And satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." Growing up in the desert, I gained a strong appreciation for water. Whether it was conserving water at home or making sure we had enough for water while camping or backpacking, I learned how vital water, especially clean water, is for life. I am ever grateful to the Savior who demonstrated His power over water numerous times. He gave unto Moses power to purify water and to cause it to flow from a rock, quenching the thirst of the weary children of Israel. The Savior demonstrated the importance of baptism by water. He turned water to wine and calmed raging storms. He walked upon the water. The Savior shed tears for friends as well as in Gethsemane and upon the cross. I am grateful unto Him, who is the source of all pure water; He is the fountain of living water. He promises that we too, can be like a spring of water whose waters fail not. We, as we forsake water for a time during our fast, will become like watered gardens. These promises are more than just physical promises - they are spiritual. We will be well-watered, even though much of the rest of the world is in drought. We will have access to a well-spring that never fails, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

"And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." These last series of promises are all connected. The blessings of fasting and faithfulness extend beyond ourselves to bless the lives of our children. They in turn can bless our lives; they can build up the waste places. The hearts of the children will turn to the fathers. By our faithfulness, we are strengthening the foundation of many generations. We can be the one who forges a strong link between generations. We can repair the breach in the wall and rally others to our side with the words of Shakespeare: "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more" (Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1, line 1).

Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of this responsibility, this need to be faithful and not be a weak link.

In that sacred and hallowed house [the temple] there passed through my mind a sense of the tremendous obligation that was mine to pass on all that I had received as an inheritance from my forebears to the generations who have now come after me.

I thought of an experience I had long, long ago. In the summer we lived on a farm. We had a little old tractor. There was a dead tree I wished to pull. I fastened one end of a chain to the tractor and the other end to the tree. As the tractor began to move, the tree shook a little, and then the chain broke.

I looked at that broken link and wondered how it could have given way. I went to the hardware store and bought a repair link. I put it together again, but it was an awkward and ugly connection. The chain was never, never the same.

As I sat in the celestial room of the temple pondering these things, I said to myself, "Never permit yourself to become a weak link in the chain of your generations." It is so important that we pass on without a blemish our inheritance of body and brain and, if you please, faith and virtue untarnished to the generations who will come after us. (Keep the Chain Unbroken, Hinckley, 1999).

If we are faithful, our generations will praise us as ones who kept the faith, who restored the paths and rebuilt the breached wall.

Hugh Nibley on Teaching

While reading Hugh Nibley's Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Part 1 (on page 167) I came across this very important truth.

"The interesting thing we find out from Nephi very soon is that all preaching is to yourself. You are preaching to nobody but yourself. If I preach, I preach only to myself. You can see how that is here [in 1st Nephi]. Others may pick it up, as far as that goes. That's like teaching the point; that's all you do. You can't teach a person; that's not a transitive verb. You might hit a person or see a person, but you can't teach a person. What do you do when you teach a person? Well, the word for teach is touch, tactile, didactic. That's when you point to something. Teach is the same word as touch. It just means point the finger. All I can do is point. You look and then you see for yourself. I don't go directly from one person to another that way. So the teacher is just didactic. He teaches and points so others may pick it up. Nephi goes on preaching too, and later on he tells us in 2 Nephi that it's just himself he has been talking to all along anyway."

Why is this important? Why is this true? Being taught (implying learning) requires the listener to actually listen and to be changed by what they hear. This change comes not from the teacher but from within. Even the Holy Ghost cannot teach us anything without our willingness to be taught, to learn. No person will be forced to heaven. No person will be forced to learn anything they are not willing to learn.

New Year's Resolutions

I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions for a few weeks now. I decided that I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. Let's use the example of repentance. Today is always the best day to repent. Far too often we resolve that starting on January 1st we will be better at saying our prayers regularly or reading our scriptures. Or, we resolve that we will start exercising or go on a diet. The problem is that by allowing the timeline of our change to be dictated by a particular (and traditional) date, we make some of the impetus of change extrinsic to ourselves. In other words, it places some of the responsibility for change outside of ourselves and onto an arbitrary, culturally-significant date. We have a long background of making and breaking New Year's resolutions.

My real concern is, if something is so important to do - to change - then why wait until January 1st? What's wrong with changing today? There is nothing wrong with making New Year's resolutions, I just think that, especially if the needed change is related to repentance or the gospel, it is better to go ahead and make the change now instead of waiting until the new year.

As one last example. Last June I decided I needed to revamp my study of the gospel (I've mentioned this before). I could have kept going on in my less-than-ideal scripture study until the new year, then made a resolution and changed. Or, I could have done what I did do and make the change then. Even if this desire to re-immerse myself in the gospel had happened in December, I still would have started my new gospel study then rather than on January 1st. If you feel the need to improve some aspect of life, just do it now; don't wait.

Fasting and Prayer, Part 5

Next we come to some more conditions to the blessings. "If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul...." When we fast we should treat others well. We shouldn't burden them down or deride them and point fingers or be lifted up in pride and vanity. We need to share of our substance with the needy and hungry. We need to "satisfy the afflicted soul" physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

If we meet these conditions, we are promised: "Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday." God is Light. The Savior is the Light of the World. We, too, can be filled with this light. The Savior taught, "If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him" (John 11:9-10). When we fast and help others, we walk in daylight, in the light of the Son. With this light, with the light that surely will be inside us as we follow the Savior, we can help guide others.

Brightly beams our Father's mercy
From his lighthouse evermore,
But to us he gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save. [Hymns, 1985, no. 335]

"And the Lord shall guide thee continually." He will be there as a pillar of fire or a cloud of shadow, just as He was for the children of Israel in the wilderness. The Lord will be our Liahona, our compass pointing the way to the Promised Land.