“Adam and Eve must at times felt like lost sheep. They were
originally in God’s presence, then left him through an act we sometimes call a
sin, but which might also be called an ‘act of independence’. They were
cast out of their garden of innocence into the lone and dreary world. They
began to suffer pain as a consequence of their independent action.
“In humility and childlike faith they called upon God for
help. They offered sacrifices as instructed by an angel….through the symbol of
sacrifice they were taught about the Saviour and were shown how they could
return to God’s presence through His Atonement.
“What did Adam and Eve know after they returned to God’s
presence that they hadn’t known when they were originally with Him in the
Garden? What can WE know after our own return to God that we didn’t know in our
premortal life?
“The scriptures explain that God expected and desired that
Adam and Eve’s children would have the same kind of mortal experiences as their
first parents had, which suggests that the redemption of Adam and Eve was not
just a convenient way to erase the effect of an unfortunate error.
“Rather, it was an intentional element in a course of
instruction designed by God himself for the preparation, if they freely chose
to accept it. Without that course of instruction, they could not have developed
the capacity to live a ‘meaningful’ celestial life.
“So it is with our experience as their children. Mortality
is not mere estrangement from God – it is the crucible through which the
possibility of truly meaningful life becomes real.”
-
Bruce C. Hafen, “The Broken Heart” p 38-9
You tell me I must stay and conquer
Like You conquered Your turbulent
sea;
I understand, but oh how I long to
see
The shore of eternity!
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
(Art: Deep Calls to Deep by Aeron Brown)
