Spiritual Vertigo

For those who are unfamiliar with the term (a group which included me until I watched the video Spiritual Vertigo), vertigo is a feeling of disorientation that pilots sometimes get while flying through clouds. It means that they lose track of which way is up or down. Vertigo is extremely dangerous because if a pilot changes his course while experiencing vertigo, especially if he changes it by accident, he may feel that he's going in a safe direction when he's actually headed for danger.

During World War II, a Mormon pilot was going out with a group of other fighter planes. He was not an experienced pilot yet, and he was nervous about flying through the clouds (wise man). His flight leader told him (essentially) "Just follow me." He did. As they flew through the clouds, the Mormon pilot lost all track of which way was up or down, North or South, but trusting in his flight leader, he followed him faithfully and was led safely out of the clouds.

We are much like that Mormon pilot. We don't always know very much, and we certainly don't know as much as our Heavenly Father. In this world of differing opinions, it's easy to become confused about what's right and what's wrong, what's okay to do, and what's a sin to do. If we drift in our course, especially if it happens so gradually we don't know it's happened, we may be headed for spiritual danger while we think we're still on the straight and narrow path.

God knew that this would happen when He planned this mortal life for us. He knew that we'd get lost and confused. He gave us instruments such as the Light of Christ and the Gift of the Holy Ghost, so we can know right from wrong for ourselves, but He also knew that some of us would have a hard time following the Spirit. He knew that many of us would need a more obvious guide to follow.

So He gave us prophets to share His word, He sent His Son to be an example to us, He places righteous people in our day-to-day lives to nudge us in the right direction. God has given us many guides which, if we choose to follow them, will lead us safely out of the clouds.

Satan tries to disorient us, hoping that we'll crash into the ground or into mountains, and sadly, many people do. But even if we get lost and confused while flying in these clouds, we can make sure that we're headed for safety by faithfully following our flight leader. We may not always know what's best for us, but He does, and if we follow Him wherever He leads, we can literally follow Him to heaven.