"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ,
having a perfect brightness of hope,
and a love of God and of all men.
Wherefore, if ye shall press forward,
feasting upon the word of Christ,
and endure to the end,
behold, thus saith the Father:
Ye shall have eternal life."
- 2 Nephi 31:20
I had a disheartening conversation with a friend the other day who advised me she no longer attends Church. During the course of the conversation she revealed that her life has become such a burden to her that her only hope lies in sudden death. As my tears flowed and as I urged her to put herself in God's hands and to trust that He will make something better of her life, her reply was that God doesn't really care and when she was doing the right things it didn't make any difference. She said she had lost hope for a better life here and in eternity. Unfortunately this friend has zig zagged between obedience and disobedience all her life. Her lack of consistency has undermined her power of endurance and enhanced her expectation of lasting happiness and perfection in this life, which in reality is a futile pursuit. In expecting fulfillment here and now she has totally overlooked the fact that this life is not only 'a growing season' but also our testing ground.
The design of mortality is such that it should motivate us to look forward to perfection in the next, not to wile away our days in frustration blaming God that we are not lying on a bed of roses or cursing Him because we cannot 'take happiness in our sins' (Mormon 2:13). This friend and some others who have crossed my path have expressed to me that they wonder if they had ever really chosen godhood as their eternal destination. They feel that they were somehow forced to choose it because the alternative would not have been such an attractive outcome. They whine about the unfairness of having to choose between godhood and damnation and ask why they were not allowed to stay where they were, sitting on a fence, not choosing either. All of a sudden godhood has become a price too high to pay and they rationalize that they never really wanted it anyway. But the funny part is that they did, as all of us did, way back in our "beginning". We were never ever forced into anything.
To better understand the exercise of our agency in relation to this life we need to know the true meaning of 'the beginning': "After revealing to Abraham that there are infinite, uncreated intelligences, God showed him that some of the intelligences 'were organized before the world was' (Abraham 3:22). If our individual intelligences have agency it must have been our choice to be organized into our first estate.....Our 'beginning' was the moment we chose to have our intelligences 'added upon' by being born into the spirit world......our spirit bodies were conceived by our Heavenly Parents to house our uncreated intelligences. We are gods in embryo, with the full potential to mature and to become like our Celestial Parents.....The gospel is the 'everlasting gospel', not only because its effects are everlasting, but because it has always been in place, from eternity....It is the 'hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began' (Titus 1:2)" (B. Grant Bishop, M.D., The LDS Gospel of Light, pp108-111). I venture to say that there might have been some intelligences who did not choose to be 'added upon' and chose to remain as they were.
This is not taught as gospel doctrine but it makes sense to me that we chose godhood "in the beginning", when we were yet only intelligences, and with it the process of being born first spiritually and then physically. The alternative would have been lack of free agency. The plan for godhood had to be in place prior to the spirit world so the innate agency of our intelligences would be respected. It could not have been a random act for Heavenly Father to have created numerous amounts of spirit children and then had to decide what to do with them! Godhood was not a drummed up plan that gave us 'something to do' but rather a plan that has always existed, based on free agency. If Heavenly Father was once a mortal like we are now, then His purpose was always to gain exaltation, have eternal increase and provide the way for His children to gain the same. That is certainly the plan for us also as has been revealed through modern-day revelation and scripture. As Lorenzo Snow once put it: "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, 2011, Chapter 5: The Grand Destiny of the Faithful). The understanding that we decided in the very beginning that we wanted godhood should be enough for us to press on, however, 'the greatest gift of God' does not seem to mean much to some of us who focus too intently on happiness here and now. The seeming ease of telestial life is simply too hard for some of us to resist so we keep looking down instead of up for pursuit of lasting joy and fulfillment.
Joseph Smith taught that "the fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it" [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 49]. So basically, the Saviour's death and resurrection should be the main focus of our religion. Why would that be? Because the Saviour's resurrection brings about immortality and immortality brings about a 'fulness of joy'. According to the following scripture we cannot have this fulness in this life: "For man is spirit, the elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy. And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy" (D&C 93:33,34). Right now we are not inseparably connected, we are very much in that fragile state of being where death is imminent. Thus the principle of resurrection "gives us the strength and perspective to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and by those we love, such things as the physical, mental, or emotional deficiencies we bring with us at birth or acquire during mortal life" (Dallin H. Oaks, Resurrection - The Beginning of Immortality, Ensign March 2016, p 80)
When we are not staying on the 'strait and narrow path' with a goal to endure by 'passing the points of breaking without breaking' (Neal A. Maxwell), we are not valuing eternal life. Some of us are of the opinion that the price to pay for such a life is far too high but is the telestial life, without the sustaining power of Christ, easier to live than the life of obedience that the gospel demands of us? In short, the former exacts hardship while the latter asks for endurance, endurance that is made possible with Christ's sustaining power: "Enduring to the end means that we have planted our lives firmly on gospel soil, staying in the mainstream of the Church, humbly serving our fellowmen, living Christlike lives, and keeping our covenants. Those who endure are balanced, consistent, humble, constantly improving, and without guile. Their testimonies are not based on worldly reasons - they are based on truth, knowledge, experience, and the Spirit" (Joseph B. Wirthlin, in CR Oct 2004, p 107; or Ensign Nov 2004, p 101)
It is not enough for us to experiment living the gospel from time to time to see if we will be blessed for it. Pressing forward and enduring to the end requires consistent coming unto Christ through a life of obedience. It is only this consistent effort that brings us to the point of conviction that will see us to the end. This point of strength makes endurance possible and thins the veil to the point where we can develop a desire for what is on the other side of it. It is something one cannot obtain overnight. It is a reward for nourishing faith, foregoing self-gratification and standing firm on the testing ground. When my friend pointed out to me that I have basically nothing much to show for my years of endurance and adherence to the gospel, I reflected on what I do have and concluded that the way I have come to feel about the Saviour after 40 years of cultivating my seed of faith is the greatest treasure I could possibly own and one that I would not trade for all the riches of this life. I felt saddened that my friend was only looking at my temporal blessings as a measure of my personal success. Sometimes I fear that we are like spoilt children wanting to be rewarded for every little thing we do right when in reality God has already done more for us than we can ever repay. He owes us nothing. This earth was created for our sake and the Saviour atoned for our sake, all out of the goodness of His heart and His mercy. We cannot possibly expect more. The path to eternal life has been paved. It is up to us to tread it. But we are not alone. He is there, ever waiting, ever wanting, ever hoping that we will come to Him. His arm of mercy is extended. He is ever ready to encircle us in the arms of His love. In them there is safety, in them there is joy, in them there is life eternal. Press on.
The design of mortality is such that it should motivate us to look forward to perfection in the next, not to wile away our days in frustration blaming God that we are not lying on a bed of roses or cursing Him because we cannot 'take happiness in our sins' (Mormon 2:13). This friend and some others who have crossed my path have expressed to me that they wonder if they had ever really chosen godhood as their eternal destination. They feel that they were somehow forced to choose it because the alternative would not have been such an attractive outcome. They whine about the unfairness of having to choose between godhood and damnation and ask why they were not allowed to stay where they were, sitting on a fence, not choosing either. All of a sudden godhood has become a price too high to pay and they rationalize that they never really wanted it anyway. But the funny part is that they did, as all of us did, way back in our "beginning". We were never ever forced into anything.
To better understand the exercise of our agency in relation to this life we need to know the true meaning of 'the beginning': "After revealing to Abraham that there are infinite, uncreated intelligences, God showed him that some of the intelligences 'were organized before the world was' (Abraham 3:22). If our individual intelligences have agency it must have been our choice to be organized into our first estate.....Our 'beginning' was the moment we chose to have our intelligences 'added upon' by being born into the spirit world......our spirit bodies were conceived by our Heavenly Parents to house our uncreated intelligences. We are gods in embryo, with the full potential to mature and to become like our Celestial Parents.....The gospel is the 'everlasting gospel', not only because its effects are everlasting, but because it has always been in place, from eternity....It is the 'hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began' (Titus 1:2)" (B. Grant Bishop, M.D., The LDS Gospel of Light, pp108-111). I venture to say that there might have been some intelligences who did not choose to be 'added upon' and chose to remain as they were.
This is not taught as gospel doctrine but it makes sense to me that we chose godhood "in the beginning", when we were yet only intelligences, and with it the process of being born first spiritually and then physically. The alternative would have been lack of free agency. The plan for godhood had to be in place prior to the spirit world so the innate agency of our intelligences would be respected. It could not have been a random act for Heavenly Father to have created numerous amounts of spirit children and then had to decide what to do with them! Godhood was not a drummed up plan that gave us 'something to do' but rather a plan that has always existed, based on free agency. If Heavenly Father was once a mortal like we are now, then His purpose was always to gain exaltation, have eternal increase and provide the way for His children to gain the same. That is certainly the plan for us also as has been revealed through modern-day revelation and scripture. As Lorenzo Snow once put it: "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, 2011, Chapter 5: The Grand Destiny of the Faithful). The understanding that we decided in the very beginning that we wanted godhood should be enough for us to press on, however, 'the greatest gift of God' does not seem to mean much to some of us who focus too intently on happiness here and now. The seeming ease of telestial life is simply too hard for some of us to resist so we keep looking down instead of up for pursuit of lasting joy and fulfillment.
It is not enough for us to experiment living the gospel from time to time to see if we will be blessed for it. Pressing forward and enduring to the end requires consistent coming unto Christ through a life of obedience. It is only this consistent effort that brings us to the point of conviction that will see us to the end. This point of strength makes endurance possible and thins the veil to the point where we can develop a desire for what is on the other side of it. It is something one cannot obtain overnight. It is a reward for nourishing faith, foregoing self-gratification and standing firm on the testing ground. When my friend pointed out to me that I have basically nothing much to show for my years of endurance and adherence to the gospel, I reflected on what I do have and concluded that the way I have come to feel about the Saviour after 40 years of cultivating my seed of faith is the greatest treasure I could possibly own and one that I would not trade for all the riches of this life. I felt saddened that my friend was only looking at my temporal blessings as a measure of my personal success. Sometimes I fear that we are like spoilt children wanting to be rewarded for every little thing we do right when in reality God has already done more for us than we can ever repay. He owes us nothing. This earth was created for our sake and the Saviour atoned for our sake, all out of the goodness of His heart and His mercy. We cannot possibly expect more. The path to eternal life has been paved. It is up to us to tread it. But we are not alone. He is there, ever waiting, ever wanting, ever hoping that we will come to Him. His arm of mercy is extended. He is ever ready to encircle us in the arms of His love. In them there is safety, in them there is joy, in them there is life eternal. Press on.
Yes, my fretting, frowning child,
I could cross the room to you more easily,
But I've already learnt to walk so I make you come to me.
Let go now, there, you see!
Oh, remember this simple lesson child,
And when in later years you cry out with tight fists and tears,
Oh help me God please!
Just listen and you'll hear a silent voice,
I would child, I would, but it's you, not I, who needs to try
Godhood.
- Carol Lynn Pearson
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