"Lord, I Believe..."

I think it's about time to get back to General Conference. It's been a while since I last posted about a General Conference talk, and I only have one Session left. The trouble is, the next talk in line was given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, an Apostle that I really like, and it's about a Bible story that someone I know really likes. I'm worried that I won't be able to do this talk justice, especially since I want to wrap up this blog post as quickly as possible so I can get some work done while it's still morning, and so I don't get too comfortable sitting at the computer. Maybe I should hold off on this talk until tomorrow. I'll have plenty of time to write about it then.

Perhaps a compromise is in order. Perhaps I'll set the stage in this blog post, sharing the story that Elder Holland shared, then tomorrow I'd add his observations and mine.

On one occasion Jesus came upon a group arguing vehemently with His disciples. When the Savior inquired as to the cause of this contention, the father of an afflicted child stepped forward, saying he had approached Jesus’s disciples for a blessing for his son, but they were not able to provide it. With the boy still gnashing his teeth, foaming from the mouth, and thrashing on the ground in front of them, the father appealed to Jesus with what must have been last-resort desperation in his voice: 

“If thou canst do any thing,” he said, “have compassion on us, and help us. 

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 

“And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

This account, minus the initial summary by Elder Holland, is found in Mark chapter 9, verses 22 through 24, and the way Elder Holland tells it, it's one of the most heart-wrenching story in all scripture.

This man’s initial conviction, by his own admission, is limited. But he has an urgent, emphatic desire in behalf of his only child. We are told that is good enough for a beginning. “Even if ye can no more than desire to believe,” Alma declares, “let this desire work in you, even until ye believe.”

Since Elder Dalin H. Oaks' talk of April 2011, I've thought occasionally on the importance and magnitude of desire. In his talk, Elder Oaks said:

Let us remember that desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. In addition, it is our actions and our desires that cause us to become something, whether a true friend, a gifted teacher, or one who has qualified for eternal life.

This quote would have been helpful to remember when I was writing about my Identity Crisis. In that blog post, I eventually came to a similar conclusion, that our desires shape our identities and reflect what's in our hearts. In this case, the father's great desire for the welfare of his son reflected his deep love for his son.

With no other hope remaining, this father asserts what faith he has and pleads with the Savior of the world, “If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."

As Elder Holland points out a sentence later, "The plural pronoun us is obviously used intentionally." By this the father seems to be saying that both he and his son are suffering as a result of the child's condition. And the father asks for help from the Savior for both their sakes. With compassion, and using this opportunity to teach a lesson on faith, Jesus answers.

“If thou canst do any thing,” spoken by the father, comes back to him “If thou canst believe,” spoken by the Master.

Our prayers are often answered this way. It seems that God has an easier time getting our attention and getting us to think by repeating or rephrasing things that we have said. And Jesus Christ is famous for encouraging others to have faith.

“Straightway,” the scripture says—not slowly nor skeptically nor cynically but “straightway”—the father cries out in his unvarnished parental pain, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” In response to new and still partial faith, Jesus heals the boy, almost literally raising him from the dead, as Mark describes the incident.

In the video Finding Faith in Christ, this event, or a similar one, is shown with hesitation between the statements "Lord, I believe," and "Help thou mine unbelief," with a skeptical raise of the eyebrow from Christ in between. Whether there was any hesitation in that moment or not, there was the declaration of faith, then the admittance of a lack of faith. Elder Holland says a great deal about this later in his talk, so I won't go into that now, but I will say that our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ have a great deal of compassion for us, however imperfect we are. The father didn't have absolute faith that Jesus could heal his son, but he did have some faith (or at least some hope) that He could, and "in response to new and still partial faith, Jesus heal[ed] the boy."

We're not totally righteous all the time, but we're trying to be. Or at least we're trying to be mostly righteous most of the time. And I believe, or would like to believe, that God is willing to bless us for every little thing we do right; for every righteous action and every ounce of faith. We don't know anything about the father's actions, but we do know that he brought his child to Christ and His Disciples to be healed, and that, in itself, was an expression of faith. And for however little faith he had, he and his child were blessed. This tells me that Christ is merciful, and that He'll bless any effort and desire to follow Him.

To Avoid Walking in Circles

The First Presidency Message from the June 2013 Ensign is from President Deiter F. Uchtdorf. The title is Walking in Circles. It talks about a German psychologist named Jan L. Souman who took people out into the middle of the desert and told them to walk in a strait line. When the experiment was performed on sunny days, the subjects did very well, but when it was cloudy, the subjects invariably ended up walking in circles.

The reason for this difference, according to President Uchtdorf, was the presence or absence of visible landmarks. On sunny days, the subjects could see mountains in the distance, and used those to guide them. On cloudy days, all the subjects could see was an expanse of sand and clouds.

President Uchtdorf made this observation: "Without visible landmarks, human beings tend to walk in circles. Without spiritual landmarks, mankind wanders as well."

He then spoke about scriptures and General Conference talks, and how they provide spiritual landmarks that we can follow. By following the standards, guidelines, and commandments found in the scriptures and General Conference, we will be led in a strait course to Eternal Life. If we ignore those spiritual landmarks, we will wander off-course and end up walking in circles.

Spiritual landmarks are indispensable for keeping us on the straight and narrow path. They give clear direction as to the way we should travel—but only if we recognize them and walk toward them. 

If we refuse to be guided by these landmarks, they become meaningless, decorative masses that have no purpose but to break up the flatness of the horizon.

Even with all the guidance our Heavenly Father offers us, we will still be lost if we don't follow His guidance.  Having scriptures and reading them is not enough. We must learn from them and apply what we learn for them to benefit us. Likewise, going to General Conference and listening to it is not enough. We must internalize the inspired teachings and apply them.

Let us, therefore, open our eyes and see the landmarks our benevolent God has provided to His children. Let us read, hear, and apply the word of God. Let us pray with real intent and listen to and follow the promptings of the Spirit. Once we have recognized the supernal landmarks offered by our loving Heavenly Father, we should set our course by them. We should also make regular course corrections as we orient ourselves toward spiritual landmarks. 

In this way, we will not wander in circles but walk with confidence and certainty toward that great heavenly blessing that is the birthright of all who walk in the straight and narrow way of Christ’s discipleship.

Asking for Help Through Prayer

The articles to be found in the June 2013 Ensign can already be found on LDS.org. Skimming through the table of contents, I saw an article titled Asking for Help Through Prayer, and I knew I had to check it out. In this article, we're reminded of a story shared by Elder J. Devn Cornish of the Seventy in October 2011.

“One evening I was riding home after a long period [of working] in the hospital, feeling tired and hungry and at least a bit discouraged. … I was, frankly, finding it hard to just keep pedaling. 

“My route would take me past a fried chicken shop, and I felt like I would be a lot less hungry and tired if I could pause for a piece of chicken on my way home. I knew they were running a sale on thighs or drumsticks for 29 cents each, but when I checked my wallet, all I had was one nickel [5 cents].”

As you may have guessed by the title, Elder Cornish decided to pray, and he asked God to help him find a quarter with which he could buy the desired piece of fried chicken.

The article goes on to share many principles on prayer, using Elder Cornish's story as it's main source and including many quotes from other General Authorities as references. The article stuck out to me first because of its relevance, and also because of its formatting. I might pattern future blog posts after this article.

As for sharing the message of the article, there are too many good messages to share. I'll just pick one or two of the principles.

1 “As I rode along, I told the Lord my situation and asked if, in His mercy, He could let me find a quarter on the side of the road.”

I sometimes wonder why, when we pray for help, we're asked to tell God about our situation (which He already knows) and propose a solution (when He has probably already thought of several better ones). If He already knows what's going on, why would He want us to tell Him? And wouldn't it be wiser to ask the wiser person what they think is best rather than to suggest whatever solution we were able to think of?

You've probably heard that the teacher learns more than those that they teach. Maybe that applies to prayers, too. When we "teach" God what our situation is, perhaps the point of that is to give us the chance to see our situation more clearly, and to see it more from the perspective from which God would see it. That way, we can be wiser in discerning what our problem is and what we truly need.

Then, we are asked to propose a solution. After we've reflected on our situation and put our own wants in the perspective of God's wisdom, we suggest whatever solution we think is best, which is not necessarily the blessing we wanted when we started to pray. Now that I think about it... "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them" (Bible Dictionary, "Prayer"). We're not supposed to tell God what we want and try to convince Him to give it to us. We're supposed to find out what God wants and learn why that would be best for us.

4 “Trying to maintain a faith-filled but submissive attitude as I rode, I approached the store.”

The article talks about how faith in God includes faith in His timing, but I think it also includes faith in His wisdom and goodness and infinite love, even when the answer is "no." So, we brought our problem to the Lord and asked for a specific blessing, having complete faith that He can miraculously grant our request... Then He doesn't.

I recently read a story where a mother and father and the rest of their family, as well as most of their ward, were fasting and praying on behalf of their son, who was going into surgery to try to save his eye from cancer. When the eye ultimately had to be removed, the father was devastated and felt that God hadn't answered their prayers, that He wasn't listening, or didn't care. The father's faith was shaken, and so was mine. I've had times when I didn't receive help that I was sure I needed, even after sincerely praying for it. This story reminded me of those times, when I too felt angry and betrayed.

Eventually, the father calmed down, and was reminded, through sweet inspiration, that God does answer prayers, that He does love His children, and that He already is doing what He knows is best for them. The father gained the faith that he needed in order to trust his Father, and he and his family carried on through the hardship. We can do the same. We can find within ourselves the faith that we need to continue to trust the God that we trusted before, even when it seems that He's letting us down. Perhaps what He's really doing is giving us the chance to pick ourselves up.

There are a lot of lessons we can learn from Elder Cornish's experience with prayer, more than I can write about in a single blog post, but the article whose link I posted above and which will be in the June 2013 Ensign goes a long way to teach us more about prayer than what I've written here. If you get the time later, maybe you should check it out.

Praying for Help

It strikes me as odd how little we (or "I," since I can't speak for any of you on this matter) don't pray as much as I could. Sure, we pray at the beginning and end of each day, and we pray at our meetings and meals, and sometimes when we're traveling, but there are some many other times that we could pray, but don't. I don't pray before I blog in the morning. I probably should. If I had done that today, I probably would have managed to blog sooner. I don't usually pray over school assignments or studying. I don't pray for help job-hunting. The Bible Dictionary says, "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them." I what those blessings may include. I wonder how much God is willing to help me with, but is just waiting for me to ask.

A few days ago, I quoted a scripture where the Nephites boasted in their own strength, and were thus left to their own strength, and they failed. We are often 'left to our own strength' when we fail to ask God for help through prayer. I wonder how much better we'd do at things if we asked for God's help in doing them. I wonder how much more I could accomplish, how much I could improve, if I asked God for strength and guidance more regularly. Linking prayer to the Prerequisites idea, using the quote from the Bible Dictionary above, asking for blessings seems like a very small price to pay for receiving them. Perhaps I ought to make a habit of praying more frequently.

Praise to Their Memory

Today is Memorial Day, a day that we remember and honor those who lost their lives in the battle for freedom. It's a day that we give thanks to those who made it possible for us to have the great blessings and freedom we enjoy, at great personal cost to themselves. Today is a day for humility and reverence, in honor of heroes fallen in defense of our country, our religion, our freedom, our peace, and our wives and our children. Today is a day for Veterans and the other heroic soldiers who never made it home. I hope you all go to some kind of service today honoring those kinds of heroes.

But there's another group of heroes that also deserve our honor and remembrance for a very similar reason, who also gave their lives in battles for freedom. Today, I want to spend a moment remembering the martyrs, from Jesus Christ and the Apostles, to Joseph Smith and the Pioneers, and anyone else who died for the cause of religious freedom and freedom from sin. Their sacrifice was no less ultimate and their cause was no less great. I don't mean to distract you from your remembrance of heroes fallen in physical battles for our freedom. I just ask that you add martyrs to the list of heroes you remember today.

Whether we're talking about martyrs or the heroes who fought in physical wars,  it's true that we wouldn't have many of the blessings we enjoy today if it wasn't for them. We owe them our peace and our freedom, our lives and our liberty. If it wasn't for them, this nation probably wouldn't exist, and even if it did exist, it wouldn't be the same. Those heroes, by their sacrifices, made life better for all of us. Today, we give thanks to them and the God whom they served, who I'm sure welcomed them home with open arms and gave them a hero's reception.

Older Posts

Looking for things to write about, I started looking through some of my older blog posts, the ones that I posted shortly after returning home from my mission. These posts are found in May, June, and July of 2011 and March of 2012. A few of them were pretty good: Happy Father's Day, Battle for Freedom, To Generate Spiritual Light, Seek the Higher Ground, The Practical Use of Talents. It's ironic that after I wrote about the practical use of talents, in which I said that I could use my talent for writing to build up the Kingdom of God by maintaining a spiritual blog, I didn't blog again for almost a full year. I'm grateful for the commitment I made to blog every day. I know there'd have been a few days I'd have missed if it wasn't for that. And once I stopped blogging, it'd be harder to start again. But now that I've been blogging every day for a few months, it's been getting easier. The hardest part now is finding things to write about.

A theme for my blog has always been the armor of god, and the spiritual warfare for our souls. That makes sense, given the name of the blog. Another theme I keep coming back to is light, especially as an analogy for spiritual light. I've talked about generating light, maintaining it, the fact that it sometimes grows slower than we'd like, and the strength it has to repel darkness.

I've also talked, once or twice, about the idea of having a theme for this blog, like bridging the gap between spiritual concepts and physical activities. I always thought it was a good idea to have a set theme, except for when I found out that that doesn't work. Whenever I set a theme, I stopped blogging for a while. I don't want that to happen now.

So, far, I've been writing for months without a theme, and it's been going fairly well. I've even been forming a few themes naturally, just by writing about what I've been thinking about, and by continually thinking about the same kinds of things, like armor and light. And the more I've been blogging about them, the more I've been thinking about them, which I'm sure has been good for me.

We are in a spiritual war, and the more we remind ourselves of that, the more faithful we'll be motivated to be. I said in one of those older posts that there was a quote going around, "Life isn't a cruise ship, it's a battleship. If you're not being shot at, be grateful for that." And I mentioned wanting to change the second sentence to, "If you think you're not being shot at, check again." The enemy is terribly subtle. If we're not watchful, we may find that we're being spiritually weakened without our knowledge.

That's why God wants me to blog. Sure, it sometimes helps the people who read my blog, but it also helps to keep these things on my mind, too. I need this blog as much as anyone does. Man, God sure knew what He was doing when He asked me to start a daily blog.

Prerequisites

This morning, I want to write about something I wanted to write about yesterday, but didn't because I didn't think anyone would want to read it, but now I've changed my mind. Not that I think anyone would particularly care about what I'm writing about, but that I'm going to write it anyway.

My topic today is Prerequisites and an idea I had for a new role-playing system.

There are many fantasy-style role-playing systems in existence, the most popular of which is easily either Dungeons and Dragons or World of Warcraft (Because role-playing gamers LOVE alliterations, for some reason). In either of these games, you create your own character by choosing that character's Class, along with a few other, less-important traits. The Class of the character determines what the character's skills and abilities are. If you choose the Fighter or Warrior Class, your character's skills will lie almost exclusively in the realm of physical combat. If you give your character the Wizard Class, he or she will be good at casting spells, but won't be good for much else. If you make your character a Ranger, they'll be good at archery (or dual-knife fighting), existing in the outdoors, tracking, and dealing with animals, which is useful if you're outside, but considerably less useful if you're inside or underground.

Let's say you wanted to create a character like Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. He's a skilled sword-wielder, but he's also an excellent tracker. He's described in the movies as being a Ranger, so you'd probably choose the Ranger Class for this character, but then you'd also want him to wield a sword. In Dungeons and Dragons, a Ranger's weapon of choice is always either a pair of knives or a bow and arrows (Yes, Aragorn does use a bow in the movies, but it's not his primary weapon). If you want to build a character that's a skilled sword-wielder, your best bet is to make him a Fighter, but then you won't be as good at tracking. The Class-based system is very limiting in terms of what Classes of characters gain which skills.

And there's another problem with this kind of system. The way these characters improve the skills their Class has given them is by gaining Experience (often shortened to XP). And you gain XP (and this is where things get truly ridiculous) by defeating enemies in combat. Are you a Ranger who wants to become better at tracking? You have to go and fight some monsters. Are you a Wizard that wants to learn how to cast more powerful spells? Go out and fight some monsters. Are you a Fighter that wants to be better at fighting? ...Okay, that one actually makes sense, but that leads me back to the Prerequisites idea.

If you want to become good at something in real life, you have to spend time engaging in activities that will make you better at that thing. This usually means study or practice or both. Practicing works for certain skills, even in the Class system. A Warrior becomes better at fighting monsters by "practicing" fighting monsters. That makes all the sense in the world.

But let's say you chose the Wizard Class. Generally speaking, Wizards are all about high intelligence and superior knowledge. They should benefit from studying, right? Not in the role-playing systems I know of. In order to gain experience as a Wizard, you have to actually go out and cast a few spells, but that makes sense to me, too. You can study something all you want, but you never really learn it until you go and practice it. But the thing is, just studying and casting spells isn't enough to help you gain XP as a Wizard. In most role-playing systems, you have to use spell-casting to defeat monsters in order to gain experience from your practice and studying. Clearly, the system is flawed.

A better system would allow you to gain skills through study and practice, whether you ever use those skills to fight monsters or not. In the Prerequisites system, if you want to gain a particular Benefit, such as having a certain skill, you have to meet that Benefit's Prerequisite, which in this case would likely mean study and practice. Also, in this system, you'd be able to study and practice, and gain experience and become skilled at any skill you want. Say you already have skill as a tracker. You can still study and practice sword-fighting so you can be good at both. Or if you already have skill as a melee fighter, you can still study the art of casting spells. You're not limited in your potential and options by which class you chose, because you never choose a class in the first place. Rather, you choose which skills you'd like to have, then study and practice those.

However, there are certain Benefits that you can't gain just by studying and practicing. Those Benefits would have their own Prerequisites, and anyone who meets those Prerequisites qualify for gaining those Benefits. (And now we can link the conversation back to something religious!) Say you want Divine Favor. Say you want God to help you do stuff, to strengthen you, to give you knowledge and wisdom. You have to meet the Prerequisite, and in this case, the Prerequisite is righteousness.

The Nephites, throughout all their conflicts with the Lamanites, have relied on the benefit of Divine Favor to win against the larger armies of their enemies. As long as the Nephites were righteous, they met the Prerequisite, gained the Benefit, and won. But whenever they stopped being righteous, they no longer met the Prerequisite of Divine Favor, so they lost the Benefit and started losing battles, too.

We see this concept illustrated rather clearly in Helaman 4. In this chapter, the Nephites and the Lamanites are at war (again), and this time, the Lamanites are winning. Verses 11 and 13 tell us why:

Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.

And because of this their great wickedness, and their boasting in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands.

In verses 15 and 16, we see the turn-around:

And it came to pass that they did repent, and inasmuch as they did repent they did begin to prosper. 

For when Moronihah [Leader of the Nephite armies] saw that they did repent he did venture to lead them forth from place to place, and from city to city, even until they had regained the one-half of their property and the one-half of all their lands.

 Moronihah knew that since the Nephites had repented and had begun to be righteous again, that the Lord would again be with them, and would strengthen them and allow them to prosper again. They met the Prerequisite, so they gained the Benefit. And I want to make it clear that in this incredible system God has created for us, anyone that can meet the associated Prerequisites can gain any Benefit they want! Okay, so spell-casting isn't one of those options, but almost anything else! Do you want to be financially successful? Want to have strong family relationships? Do you want to find true happiness? Find out what the Prerequisites are (God has already told us most of them), and meet them.

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— 

And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. (D&C 130: 20-21)

Help for Those That Lack Hope

In October of 1980, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave a devotional at BYU. The title of his talk was For Times of Trouble. I didn't read the full message because it was very long, but I did find a quote from that message that I really like.

I need that reminder today. Most of Elder Holland's message was about self-doubt, discouragement, and fear. Basically, he was saying that these are tools of the adversary, which he uses to try to disable us and make us feel that we're incapable of doing the right thing. The antidote is feelings like hope and faith. We can trust in the Lord and is plan and His timing, even if things, from a mortal perspective, seem hopeless.

I'm not feeling good today. That's not bad grammar in this case. It's not that I don't feel healthy, it's that I don't feel good. I'm feeling a lot of self-doubt and discouragement.

But I just got an idea.

I while back, on Facebook, I saw a quote that says "Do more of what makes you awesome," so just now, I wrote a quick list of a few things that make me awesome, a few things that I like about myself. It's a short list, but it gave me a few ideas. Now, I'm going to put some of those ideas into action. I'm going to go out and DO more of what makes me awesome.

***

I feel a little better now. Perhaps that idea I had was inspired to help me do good and feel better. Maybe that was a manifestation of the help Elder Holland was talking about in his quote. Sometimes, God lets us struggle because struggling is how we grow, but even when it doesn't feel like it, He's always there to lend us a hand when we really need it. I'm glad He was there to give me a little help today.

Armor of God - Sword of the Spirit

Last night, we read Helaman chapter 3. In which, the Word of God was described as being "quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil," (verse 29). This, of course, made me think of "the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God" which is spoken of in Ephesians chapter 6 with the other parts of the Armor of God.

The Sword of the Spirit is different from the other parts of the Armor of God in that it is not actually armor. It's a weapon, made to destroy rather than to protect. There are ways that you can use a sword defensively; you can block with a sword, and you can (literally) disarm your opponents with a sword, as Ammon did, without actually taking their lives, but by design, swords were made to slash, to stab, and to kill.

For this reason, I didn't like to think of Paladins as wielding swords. If I were a Paladin, I'd like to be a protector of the innocent rather than a slayer of the wicked. If I had the choice, I'd let the wicked live in hopes that they'd repent before they're sent to meet their maker. For that, I'd have to fight them with a weapon with which I could knock them out without killing them. A hammer would be good for this. But every time the word of God is described as a weapon, the weapon is a sword.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

 In early March, I described our testimonies as being useful as swords and shields in the war against evil. Then, I said that we could use our testimonies as swords by sharing our testimonies. We could teach the word of God, and declare our belief in it. This wouldn't hurt anyone like a real sword would, but it would be a good way to actively work against Satan. Satan tries to fool people with lies. We can help them see through the lies by baring testimony of the truth. Satan is the real enemy, not the people he fools, and the Word of God is a powerful weapon against him.

In a way, this method of fighting against Satan is very "sharp," in that it can cut through one thing while leaving a thing next to it unharmed. It can speak strongly against sin without condemning the sinner. You don't get that kind of accuracy with a hammer (I know. I tried it last night. That nail was almost impossible to hit). A sword can be a weapon of great precision, if it is sharp enough and wielded well.

Though I still would prefer to wield a hammer than a sword if the war against evil turned physical, I can see why, in a battle against spiritual evil, a sword is the best weapon for the job. The word of God was meant to pierce deep into our souls and touch our hearts, not to beat us over the head as with a club. The word of God is more gentle than that, and at the same time, more powerful. Paul knew what he was talking about when he compared God's word to a sword.

I Wonder as I Wander

Yesterday, I was looking for some nice music to listen to, and I remembered the title of a song I'd heard playing on Pandora, "I Wonder as I Wander," so I looked it up on Youtube, and I was mildly surprised to learn that it had lyrics. (The version Pandora had played was instrumental.) Sources vary on the exact wording of the lyrics, but as far as I can tell, it goes something like this:

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
How Jesus, the Savior, did come for to die,
For poor ordn'ry people like you and like I.
I wonder as I wander... out under the sky. 

When Mary birthed Jesus, t'was in a cow's stall,
With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all,
But high from God's heaven, a star's light did fall.
For the promise of ages... it then did recall. 

If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,
A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing,
Or all of God's angels in heaven to sing,
He surely could have it... for He was the king. 

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
How Jesus, the Savior, did come for to die,
For poor ordn'ry people like you and like I.
I wonder as I wander... out under the sky.

Part of the reason I wanted to share this today rather than yesterday is because today is my birthday, and this song is all about Christ's birth. And I think I'd rather write about His birth and life than mine.

I really liked this song, first for its enchanting melody, and then for its powerful message. It starts with an emotion somewhat similar to the emotion stirred up by the hymn I Stand All Amazed,  that it's inspiring to think someone would love us deeply enough to suffer and die for our sakes. Then the song details the humble circumstances of Jesus' birth, and reminds us that if Jesus had wanted anything, and I mean anything, "He surely could have it... for He was the king."

Then they repeat the first verse, but it wasn't because the writer was lazy or felt the song was too short. They repeat the verse because the same emotion is now put into greater perspective. This wasn't just someone with an abundance of love laying down his life for us. That's special enough, but there's more. This was a king with an abundance of love, voluntarily leaving his throne in heaven, to live as a mortal, with no plumbing or electricity, to be mocked and rejected by many, and to eventually suffer incredible pain and lay down His life, "For poor ordn'ry people like you and like I."

None of us see ourselves as very important, but somehow, our salvation was of vital importance to Jesus, the King of Kings.

That amazes me. And I wonder, what does He see in us that we don't see in ourselves? Why are we seen as important by the most important person that ever lived? I don't have answers to those questions. I don't know why Christ thought we were worth saving, despite the sacrifice it cost Him. But I'm glad that He did.

Today, I'm going to try to think of the Savior and why He did what He did. I'm going to try to see things from a perspective that more closely matches His. I'm going to try to find out what He sees in me, and then I'm going to try to live up to that. Today, I'm going to try to live up to my potential.

War Chapters - Teamwork

Sometimes, when I don't know what to post about, I just start typing until something comes out. Thankfully, this isn't one of those days.  Other days, when I don't know what to post about, I think about our family scripture study, and I share a little tidbit from our most recent chapter. That'd probably work out pretty well for today. In fact, yeah, let's do that, and I'll save what I was about to share this morning for tomorrow.

I'll just send myself a quick Email to remind myself what to blog about next time. (Not that I check my Email before I blog. Too distracting.)  And, done! It'll be a good one, I promise. =) In the meantime...

Last night, our family read Helaman chapter one. In family prayer, just before reading the scriptures, I asked for us to be shown the lesson God would have us learn from that chapter.

At first, the moral of that chapter seemed to be 'everybody loses'. The king of the Nephites had died, and they needed a new king. Out of the king's many sons, three sought the throne: Pahoran, Pacumeni, and Paanchi. All the Nephites voted, and Pahoran was chosen to be the new king. Pacumeni was okay with that, but Paanchi wasn't. Paanchi started to raise up a rebellion against Pahoran, but his evil schemes were discovered, and he was put to death. The people who voted for Paanchi were angry, and they got an assassin to murder Pahoran. In the absence of his two contenders, Pacumeni was made king, but Coriantumr the Lamanite led an army into the capitol city and killed him. Coriantumr was then killed by the armies of the Nephites.

One rotten death after another.

But that was not God's message for us. The true message, or the message He truly meant for me, I didn't find until later that night in my personal study of the same chapter. See, after Coriantumr had taken the capitol city, he had it in his mind to cut his way through the land of the Nephites and get up into the Northern parts of the land. This was a surprise to Moronihah (the leader of the Nephite armies) because the Lamanites would normally attack on the Nephites' Southern border, so that's where most of the Nephite army was, but when Morronihah saw that Coriantumr was cutting his way through to the North parts of the land, he (Moronihah) sent a message to Lehi (another Nephite general) to cut him (Coriantumr) off. Coriantumr was blocked by Lehi. He tried to retreat South, but was blocked by Moronihah. Being completely surrounded by the Nephites and with their leader being killed in the battle against Moronihah, the Lamanites surrendered, and the conquest of Coriantumr was over.

Now, I'm sure we could learn something from the mistakes of Coriantumr. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Don't allow yourself to be surrounded by your enemies. Actually, that's a good one. No matter how strong and righteous you think you are, no matter how impervious to temptation you think you are, if your surround yourself with evil, it will overwhelm you. So don't do that. Keep the evil as far away from yourself as you can.

But the lesson I learned last night was a lesson on teamwork. Coriantumr's armies had gotten passed Moronihah's army, and they were marching so speedily, that Moronihah knew he wouldn't catch up in time to stop Coriantumr from reaching the land Northward. He needed help. He asked Lehi to block Coriantumr, and he did. But did that end the battle? No. Moronihah got a second chance to block Coriantumr, and this time, he succeeded. Coriantumr was slain in battle, and his army surrendered. But that could not have been possible if Lehi and Moronihah weren't working as a team.

In life, the enemy will sometimes slip passed us. Sometimes he catches us by surprise. Sometimes he simply overruns us. However he does it, he's going to get the better of us from time to time. What happens then? We'd have a hard time beating him when he has the upper hand, and even if we could beat him on our own, it wouldn't change the past. Resisting future temptations is good, but it doesn't erase past sins. For that, we need help.

As I wrote yesterday, God is pretty handy with those Plan B's of His. When we falter in our own personal war against sin, He'll be there for us to pick up the slack. Will He finish our war for us? No, but He will give us a second chance. He'll strengthen us, encourage us, put us face-to-face with the enemy, and tell us to stand firm. It won't be easy for us. It was never meant to be easy. But God will always make it possible. He'll do for us what we can't do for ourselves, but if there's something we can do for ourselves, He'll step back and give us the chance to do it.

Obedience Brings Blessings - Disobedience Brings Consequences

When President Thomas s. Monson spoke on that Sunday morning in early April, in a talk he titled Obedience Brings Blessings, he shared an embarrassing story of a time when he and a childhood friend named Danny were disobedient to family rules and what the consequences of that action were.

One morning Danny and I decided we wanted to have a campfire that evening with all our canyon friends. We just needed to clear an area in a nearby field where we could all gather. The June grass which covered the field had become dry and prickly, making the field unsuitable for our purposes. We began to pull at the tall grass, planning to clear a large, circular area. We tugged and yanked with all our might, but all we could get were small handfuls of the stubborn weeds. We knew this task would take the entire day, and already our energy and enthusiasm were waning. 

And then what I thought was the perfect solution came into my eight-year-old mind. I said to Danny, “All we need is to set these weeds on fire. We’ll just burn a circle in the weeds!” He readily agreed, and I ran to our cabin to get a few matches. 

Lest any of you think that at the tender age of eight we were permitted to use matches, I want to make it clear that both Danny and I were forbidden to use them without adult supervision. Both of us had been warned repeatedly of the dangers of fire. However, I knew where my family kept the matches, and we needed to clear that field. Without so much as a second thought, I ran to our cabin and grabbed a few matchsticks, making certain no one was watching. I hid them quickly in one of my pockets. 

Back to Danny I ran, excited that in my pocket I had the solution to our problem. I recall thinking that the fire would burn only as far as we wanted and then would somehow magically extinguish itself. 

I struck a match on a rock and set the parched June grass ablaze. It ignited as though it had been drenched in gasoline. At first Danny and I were thrilled as we watched the weeds disappear, but it soon became apparent that the fire was not about to go out on its own. We panicked as we realized there was nothing we could do to stop it. The menacing flames began to follow the wild grass up the mountainside, endangering the pine trees and everything else in their path.

Finally we had no option but to run for help. Soon all available men and women at Vivian Park were dashing back and forth with wet burlap bags, beating at the flames in an attempt to extinguish them. After several hours the last remaining embers were smothered. The ages-old pine trees had been saved, as were the homes the flames would eventually have reached.

Danny and I learned several difficult but important lessons that day—not the least of which was the importance of obedience.

This experience may mirror experiences we have had. We find that doing things the Lord's way is hard. We become discouraged, and we think there must be some other way, an easier or faster way, and therefore, a better way. So we set our foolish plan into motion, despite the many warnings we've received against doing so. Soon, we become aware of unforeseen consequences, or at least, consequences that were unforeseen by us. We try to backtrack and solve our self-made problem by ourselves, but as with everything else, we need God's help more than we realize, and more than we're usually willing to admit. But as soon as we ask for help, He comes and begins to smother the blaze. But always, the Lord lets the fire blaze long enough that we learn our lesson - that His way is the best way, and even the only way, to receive the blessings He has promised.

As hard as it is to keep the commandments, dealing with the consequences for not keeping the commandments is harder. Speaking from personal experience, both are plenty hard. And that's actually part of the plan. God meant for life to be hard, so we could become stronger by living it. God even provided two ways for us to learn wisdom: by obedience, and by disobedience. When we obey, things eventually work out, and we learn that that was a good idea. When we disobey, things usually don't work out, and we learn that that wasn't a good idea. Either way, we (are intended to) learn to keep God's commandments. And by doing so, we (with lots of the Lord's help) bring ourselves closer to God.

I'm grateful that God always has a Plan B, that no matter how badly we mess things up, He always has a plan for how to fix it and turn it into a good thing. And, knowing how good His Plan B is, how can I not see that His Plan A must be even better? Keeping God's commandments is always the better way. Eventually, I'll learn that thoroughly enough to live it consistently.

Obedience to Law is Liberty

I'd like to make a transition from "Standing Fast in Liberty" to Elder L. Tom Perry's talk, "Obedience to Law is Liberty." In this talk, Elder Perry makes reference to the war in heaven continuing on earth.

This is not a war of armaments. It is a war of thoughts, words, and deeds. It is a war with sin, and more than ever we need to be reminded of the commandments.

Why is it so important for us to be reminded of the commandments? Elder Perry explains later in his talk:

Each choice you and I make is a test of our agency—whether we choose to be obedient or disobedient to the commandments of God is actually a choice between “liberty and eternal life” and “captivity and death.” (See 2 Nephi 2: 27)

At first glance, the phrase "obedience to law is liberty" seems to be a paradox. How can we be free when we're subjecting ourselves to someone else's rules? Elder Perry explains that, too:

A useful way to think about the commandments is they are loving counsel from a wise, all-knowing Heavenly Father. His goal is our eternal happiness, and His commandments are the road map He has given us to return to Him, which is the only way we will be eternally happy.

Sometimes, my rebellious spirit needs to be reminded that the commandments aren't electric fences, meant to keep us in a confined area. They're safety rails, meant to keep us out of dangerous areas. I may not fully understand what's so dangerous about certain sins, but I can have enough faith to trust the judgement of the One who does understand, perfectly, just how dangerous sin is. God has given us commandments to protect us and guide us safely to a place where we can truly be free. In that way, obedience to God's law truly does lead to liberty.

War Chapters - Standing Fast in Liberty

In Alma chapter 61 verse 9, Pahoran, the Chief Judge over the Nephites, said in a letter to Captain Moroni, "My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free."

That phrase stood out to me for two reasons. One, it showed that Pahoran had diligence and dedication, and two, I wasn't sure which freedom he was talking about - physical or spiritual.

Spiritual freedom is freedom from sin. Sin is habit-forming. Indulging in sinful behavior can cause an addiction to it, limiting your freedom. Thankfully, God teaches us which kinds of behaviors to avoid to stay out of the trap of sin, and the Savior provided an Atonement to help us become free of our past sins. In those two ways, God has provided for our spiritual freedom, and it would be wise to "[stand] fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free."

Physical freedom is freedom from physical bondage. Had the Lamanites over-powered the Nephites at any time, the Nephites would have been put into bondage by the Lamanites, but the Nephites were protected time and time again, and frequently given the strength, or at least the cleverness, to defeat the Lamanites and remain free. When this country was formed, we were blessed by God during the Revolutionary War to become a free country. We had a great deal of freedoms promised to us, and inspired laws were put in place to protect those freedoms. I don't want to get political on this blog (again), but I'm starting to think it would be wise to "[stand] fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free."

Whether we're talking about physical or spiritual freedom, freedom is important to God. The War in Heaven was fought over whether we would maintain the freedom to make our own choices. Satan was the great enemy in that war, and he's the great enemy of freedom now.

I was about to write "God always has, and always will, provide for the physical and spiritual freedom of the righteous," but I had a bad feeling about it, like maybe it isn't true. Maybe being righteous isn't enough to guarantee physical freedom. Perhaps we have to "get political" in order to "[stand] fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free." I was hoping not. Getting political requires courage and brains. I'm not certain I have much of either. I suppose I need to go get some. Pahoran and Moroni certainly had plenty of both, and they both "got political" pretty strongly during those war chapters. Captain Moroni has always been a good role-model for me. Maybe I should work to gain his trait of fighting for political freedom. I'm not excited about that.

But spiritual freedom, though. That, I am willing to fight for. And I can certainly use Moroni's and Pahoran's examples to do that.

Armor of God - Helmet of Salvation

I get to my blog each morning by making a web search for it. "Andrew Robarts Armor of God" or "Armor of God Andrew Robarts" Whichever I'm in the mood for. This morning, under "Related Searches," I saw "How to Put on the Armor of God," so, on a whim, I clicked on it, and found a few articles and blog posts from various authors, and even a WikiHow for putting on the Armor of God. It was almost all terribly basic stuff: You put on the Breastplate of Righteousness by being righteous. You put on the Girdle of Truth by being honest. You put on the Shield of Faith by having faith. Painfully basic stuff. But there was one item on one of those blogs or articles that made me think twice about a part of the armor that I almost never think about: the Helmet of Salvation.

The reason I hardly think about the Helmet of Salvation is because I feel that we have to earn it, then it's given to you, like a crown. Salvation isn't just something you pick up, like faith or honesty. Anyone can increase their faith and their honesty pretty much on their own, but can we gain salvation on our own? No, we need help. And securing that help (according to my thinking) would take time and work. I couldn't put on the Helmet of Salvation yet because I wasn't sure about my salvation. I couldn't wear it because I hadn't earned it, so instead, I focussed on trying to put on the parts of the armor I could put on by myself.

But the more I think about it, the more foolish it sounds. If I'm going to war and I don't have a helmet, would it make sense to say "I'm not going to worry about that right now. For now, I'm just going to make sure I've got a really good belt." That doesn't work. Even if my focus was to have a good shield, I'd still need a helmet. Helmets are vital. And so is salvation. I can't afford to say, "Oh well, I'll worry about that later." I need to get that helmet as soon as I can.

But the WikiHow gave me another perspective on what that might mean: "Keep the goal of salvation on your mind [and] remember that serving God faithfully is your goal." I might not have earned my salvation yet, whatever that really means. It's not for me to decide whether or not I have been or will be "saved," but, certain actions and behaviors of mine can have a very strong influence on whether or not I'll be saved. And I need to remember that. I need to "Keep the goal of salvation on [my] mind [and] remember that serving God faithfully is [my] goal." Emphasis Added.

My mind and my memory are in my head. You protect your head with a helmet.

This is exactly what I was missing yesterday. I lost focus. I let other things into my mind, and as a result, I almost didn't blog that day because I couldn't think of what to blog about. I think it's about time I started protecting my head, filtering my thoughts by whether they'll help me achieve my ultimate goal, forcing out evil and distracting thoughts by filling my mind with uplifting, ennobling, encouraging thoughts. Maybe that's how you put on the Helmet of Salvation.

Many modern-day Apostles have spoken on the importance of controlling our thoughts. Among my favorites is President Boyd K. Packer, who related the mind to a stream. It'll flow where we want it to go, if we channel it properly, but if we don't channel it, it'll take the path of least resistance, "always seeking the lower levels." So far, I've only been channeling my thoughts productively when I've had a homework assignment due, or when I need to find some spiritual thing to blog about. But if I channeled my thoughts more productively, more frequently, maybe I'll have an easier time keeping the stream of my mind away from the "lower levels." I could even get a water-wheel turning and actually get something done. I just need to focus.

President Packer also taught that the mind can only entertain one thought at a time. Shady thoughts will try to sneak into your mind and try to influence you, but you can crowd them out with positive thoughts. You choose what you think about, and as long as you're actively choosing to only allow good thoughts in your mind, the bad thoughts won't be able to break in. Your good thoughts will protect your mind, like a helmet.

 This is what I've been needing - The Helmet of Salvation, a reminder of what's really worth thinking about and spending time and energy on, something to help me focus my thoughts on things that are important, something to help me think like a Soldier of God.

Another Poor Morning

I'm not doing well this morning. It isn't because I stayed up too late last night. Well, okay, I did stay up kinda late last night, but I'm not too tired. The reason I'm doing poorly today is that I keep getting distracted. Remember those distractions I was talking about being helpful in escaping temptation in Alma 53:5? I probably said so there, but they can work against you, too.

I've heard it said that all that is needed for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. And, unfortunately, Satan's pretty good at getting me to do nothing. I mean, I did laundry, but I haven't posted on my blog yet, and there were other things I was going to do this morning, too. I'll do them once I've finished blogging.

I need to refocus again. It's so ridiculous how frequently I need to go back and relearn the basics. Things like faith, repentance, obedience, and prayer. I need to pray more frequently. I'm sure real Paladins would pray all the time. I should pray more. I should do more. Half a day wasted because I spent so much time on the computer. Not a good way to start a day. I'll have to do better tomorrow.

War Chapters - Nephite All-Nighters

I'm tired. I stayed up too late and got up too early. There's some good advice about going to bed at a decent time, and some of that advice is scriptural, but I'm too tired and lazy to look it up right now. I should take a shower. I shower might wake me up.

Last night, in Alma 58, we read about a group of Nephites who didn't get much sleep either. They lured the Lamanites out of one of their cities and led them on a wild goose chase through the wilderness. Meanwhile, a second group of Nephites swooped in and took the stronghold. That night, the Lamanites camped in the wilderness for the night, supposing that the Nephites they had been chasing would be too tired to go all the way back to the stronghold overnight. But the Nephites pulled an all-nighter, got back to the stronghold, rejoined their Nephite buddies, and captured the stronghold without having to fight the whole army of Lamanites. I bet they'd be really tired after that.

This isn't the first time the Nephites stayed up late or got up early or didn't sleep at all as part of a strategy. It seems like almost half of the Nephites' strategies involved going without sleep for a while. I'm sure that's supposed to be symbolic of being diligent, vigilant, and anxiously engaged, but for me right now, I'm wondering...

If the scriptures suggest that it's a good idea to go to bed early, and the Nephites don't, wouldn't they be going against scriptural advice? The reason the Nephites keep beating the Lamanites (according to the Book of Mormon) is that they're blessed for keeping the commandments. If they went against the scriptures on a regular basis, wouldn't they start to lose those blessings?

Maybe I'm being too critical of the Nephites. Maybe the advice to go to bed on time is just advice, not a commandment. And even if it is a commandment, maybe there are exceptions. Maybe God wanted the Nephites to pull that all-nighter because He knew it'd be a good way for them to take possession the stronghold without having to kill a lot of Lamanites. God loves the Lamanites, too, and I'm sure it hurts Him to see them get killed. Wars are nasty. Tangent. Moving on.

I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night. The Nephites had a pretty good reason because they were at war, but I have no excuses. Maybe that's the difference. Maybe that's why they received an exception and kept getting blessings despite technically going against the scriptures. Maybe they wanted to keep God's commandments and advice, but through revelation, they learned that, in this case, it was a better idea not to. Nephite commanders were typically good at receiving revelation and guidance for their armies. Maybe God wanted the Nephites to do what they did. I still should have gone to bed earlier.

A Mother's Hope

I'm going to make this a short blog post today.





This video first appealed to me because of its title, A Mother's Hope. It seemed to match a recent theme. But, having posted about the war chapters yesterday, I figured I'd move on from the Mother's Day theme and maybe go back to General Conference talks pretty soon. But first, since it's a new Mormon Messages video, I had to check it out.

The two things I like most about the video are the artistic animation and the beautiful background music (the music is available for free download in the description of the video on youtube). This is a wonderful video for those two reasons alone, but the message is pretty good, too.

I wonder how frequently we find ourselves in a similar situation, a hopeless situation, with no other real option than to pray for help. I wonder how long it takes us to determine that we need to pray. According to the video, it took President Uchtdorf's mother less than a minute to kneel down and pray, but in the real event, it probably took her a bit longer to call on the Lord.

Unless... Unless calling on the Lord and asking for His help was her first impulse. Living in such a dangerous situation, that woman probably prayed fairly often, and she wouldn't always have the opportunity to kneel or even close her eyes while she was praying. If I were in her shoes, I'd probably develop the habit of keeping a prayer in my heart pretty close to always. So when she turned around and saw that the train was missing, her first thought may well have been "Oh God, please help me find them."

But you know, who knows? Maybe that was her first thought, but it was impossible to show that on the video. Maybe she did pray for help almost instantly, then went out and looked. And when she couldn't find them, she knelt down and prayed to be led to them.

But my thought is how quickly do we react that way? How long does it take us to realize our need to call on the Lord? How long do we have to feel hopeless before we decide to pray to/for the one sure source of hope? How much suffering do we put ourselves through before we seek true relief?

We can be as wise as the mother in this video by asking for Heavenly Father's help as soon as we realize we need it. And, imperfect as we are, we always need His help. The sooner we pray for the Father's help, the sooner we can get it.

The War Chapters - Escaping the Lamanites

Last Friday, when I was talking about exceeding strongholds and keeping prisoners in there, I mentioned that the Book of Mormon gives us an example of how to escape such strongholds by showing us how the Nephites did it. The particular instance of which I was thinking is found in Alma chapter 55, but it's not what I had hoped it would be.

I remembered that in this story, an army of the Nephites tossed in weapons to the Nephite prisoners while the Lamanite guards were sleeping, so when the guards woke up, there was a Nephite army on the outside, and the prisoners were armed on the inside, so there was no way the Lamanite guards could stand against them. Based on this story, I was planning to share a message about how we need both inner strength and external aid to escape the chains of the second death. That would have been a good blog post, but it would have left something out.

In order for the Nephite army to toss weapons in to the Nephite prisoners, they had to take out the guards first, and Moroni didn't want to do it by fighting. The Lamanites were in their stronghold. If Moroni challenged them openly, the Lamanites would have the upper hand. So he thought of a sneakier plan. He found one of his men who was a Lamanite by birth, whose name just happened to be Laman, and sent him to the Lamanite guards with some wine. Laman the Nephite told the Lamanite guards that he had escaped the Nephites and took some of their wine with him. The guards drank of the wine until they were drunk and passed out, and then the army of Nephites came in to arm the prisoners.

So, in order to escape the power of Satan, we need someone (a guardian angel, a friend, whoever) to pretend to be a devil long enough to give the actual devils some wine, and when all the evil spirits that had been tempting us are drunk, then we can defeat them and get our freedom back.

That can't be right. Whatever God's plan is for us to break free from our sins, I don't think it involves anyone pretending to be an evil spirit, even for a moment.

But what else could this mean? If this was meant to be symbolic instructions for how to escape the power of Satan, what could the literal escape plan be? It seems to involve someone somehow disabling the guards long enough for us to get the upper hand, but who's supposed to take the guards out and how are they supposed to do it? Maybe there are other Nephite vs Lamanite escape scenes in the Book of Mormon that can give us a different perspective.

In Mosiah chapter 22, a group of Nephites under the rule of King Limhi were in bondage to the Lamanites, but they escaped all by themselves by going to the back pass through the back wall on the back side of the city, giving the guards there a bunch of wine and escaping while the guards were passed out.

In Mosiah 23, the hung-over Lamanite guards went after the people of Limhi, but couldn't find them. They found the people of Alma (the elder) instead. So the Lamanites took them prisoner. Now, the people of Alma seemed not to have wine, or maybe Alma just didn't think of it, or maybe the Lamanites weren't stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice in a row (though they did fall for it again in Alma 55). In any case, there was no wine in the escape plan this time. This time, God simply put the Lamanites to sleep and Alma's people escaped while the guards were sleeping.

In all three cases, the Nephites gain the advantage by first disabling the Lamanites somehow, usually with wine. So we're supposed to disable the evil spirits somehow? But how? In this analogy, what could the wine represent?

Then it hit me: What does the wine usually represent?

In Revelations chapter 12, we learn that in the war in heaven, when the righteous spirits were confronted by the devil and his forces, "they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;" Emphasis Added.

When the Lord instituted the Sacrament, he gave the Apostles wine that represented His blood, which He would shed for the sins of mankind. That night, in Gethsemane, the Savior completed the Atonement, which caused Him great pain even until He bled at every pore. That act made it possible for us to be cleansed from our sins and escape the power of the devil.

The wine represents the blood of the Lamb and the power of His Atonement.

When we find ourselves trapped in Satan's stronghold, which happens to all of us at some time or another, we will probably feel powerless to escape. We may feel hopeless. We might conclude that it would take a miracle to make us free again. Fortunately, such a miracle has already been provided. Through the power of the Atonement, Christ can weaken the forces that hold us captive and give us the strength to stand against them. He can drug the guards and toss weapons over the wall, giving us the advantage in the battle to take back our souls.

The battle will still be ours to fight, and unlike the Lamanites, Satan isn't going to surrender just because we have the upper hand. But with the the strength of the Lord (which I've recently learned is more than twice as powerful as the strength of dragons), it's a battle I'm sure we can win.

Mother's Example

The Children's Hymn, Love is Spoken Here, begins with a child's account of the mother praying in the home:

I see my mother kneeling with our family each day.
I hear the words she whispers as she bows her head to pray.
Her plea to the Father quiets all my fears,
And I am thankful love is spoken here.

One thing I love about my mother is that she's so faithful in leading us in family prayer every morning and evening. Some mornings, it would be so easy to forget to have family prayer, but Mom doesn't forget. As soon as everyone is up, she says cheerfully, "We can have family prayer!" And we do, all because Mom is so faithful at keeping it together.

In this video, Elder M. Russell Ballard quotes President Joseph F. Smith who recalls a childhood experience witnessing the righteous example of his mother.





I love what President Smith said after relating the experience, "Do you not think that these thing make an impression upon the mind? Do you think I can forget the example of my mother? No, her faith and example will be ever bright in my memory."

The same is true for me. I will always think of my Mom as a good, righteous person who'd want me to also do the right thing. I'm so grateful for the example my mother has always set for me.

I Owe My Mother

There are many reasons this blog post is special. It's the 100th blog post I'm posting this year, it's the day before Mother's Day, and there's a new video on the Mormon Messages page.





This powerful video made me cry the first time I saw it this morning. So often, I take my mother for granted. I hardly realize all the things she does for me, and did for me as I was growing up. I'm going to make a better effort to notice my Mom and what she does, and to thank her for everything I see her doing. I'm so grateful I have my mother in my life. I don't know where I'd be now without her. I can honestly say with Abraham Lincoln, "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

The War Chapters - Alma 53:5

In Alma Chapter 52, Captain Moroni and his armies, by a fantastic strategy, captured a large army of the Lamanites and took them prisoner. In the next chapter, Alma 53, he put them to work, causing them to fortify the city Bountiful with a wall of earth and timbers.

5 And this city became an exceeding stronghold ever after; and in this city they did guard the prisoners of the Lamanites; yea, even within a wall which they had caused them to build with their own hands. Now Moroni was compelled to cause the Lamanites to labor, because it was easy to guard them while at their labor; and he desired all his forces when he should make an attack upon the Lamanites.

This is why I love the war chapters. Everything is symbolic, but it also has a literal meaning that's easy to understand, so if you're not looking for a deeper message, you can just enjoy the literal account of what all the warriors and armies did, but if you're looking for symbolic meaning, you don't have to look for long.

And this city became an exceeding stronghold ever after; and in this city they did guard the prisoners of the Lamanites;

Us: If something is important to you, like holding onto the Lamanite prisoners so you can trade them for Nephite prisoners, you put it in your stronghold. You protect it. You guard it. If something is truly, deeply important to you, you build a tall, thick, massive wall around it, so nothing could mess it up. So, what is important to you? What are you trying to protect or keep? How strong is the wall that currently stands around it? How strong is the wall around your testimony, your family, your standards? Is it an "exceeding stronghold," or could your defenses be stronger?

Satan: The adversary doesn't like giving up his prisoners. Once he's gotten hold of them, he holds on with all his might. If we yield to his temptations, he's going to lock us up in a spiritual prison and do everything in his power to keep us there. This is all the more reason to not fall into his hands in the first place, but for some of us, it's a little bit too late for that, and we're discovering to our dismay just how strong his "exceeding stronghold" is. There is a way to escape, and luckily, the Book of Mormon gives us some advice on this subject later. But for now, the message is to not under-estimate the captivating power of the evil one.

 yea, even within a wall which they had caused them to build with their own hands.

Us: We can't count on others to defend our treasures for us. You know the old saying, "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself." The same is especially true in spiritual matters. No one can guard your testimony but you. If you want a wall built around what's most important to you, odds are you'll have to build the wall "with [your] own hands." It's going to be a lot of work, which is why, tragically, a lot of people don't bother. They don't think anything bad is really going to happen, so they don't take precautions against it. Then lo and behold, disaster strikes, and they wish they had built a wall there. When you know how important something is to you, you may find that it's worth it to you to put in the extra effort and build that wall. Cause you can bet that no one else is going to do it for you.

Satan: Unfortunately, the enemy has an easier job than we do. Or at least, a craftier plan. In his world, we are the Lamanites. The devil holds us captive in walls we build "with our own hands." But that's stupid. Why would we build the very walls that will hold us captive? There are a couple of reasons, but none of them are very good. The main reason is that Satan makes building ourselves into prison walls look fun and exciting, or really good stress relief. Do you know people who smoke or drink, or party? Why do they do it? I would guess that many of them don't know what they're doing to themselves. At least, not at first. It will, of course, eventually dawn on them, but by then, the walls they've built are probably thick enough to keep them in. At that point, they need outside help.

 Now Moroni was compelled to cause the Lamanites to labor, because it was easy to guard them while at their labor;

Us: What do you do when you're faced with temptation? Do you sing a hymn? Recite a scripture? Wash some dishes? I'll tell you one thing you shouldn't do when you're being tempted: Nothing. Doing nothing is one of the worst things we can do when the serpent comes after us. You see, if we just sit there while he's attacking our spirit, he just might find a crack in our spiritual defenses, or make one. We need to drive him away, the sooner the better. How do we drive him out? Some methods are better than others, and it may vary from person to person. Hymns and scriptures usually work pretty well (darkness can't abide in the light), but here's another trick for you: Just about anything will help. There's a method I've heard of called Distraction. The idea is that you set your mind to any task that doesn't involve yielding to temptation. As long as you're doing that, you won't be yielding to temptation.


Satan: But distraction is a two-edged sword. Sure, it can help us keep our distance from Satan, but it can also help us keep our distance from God. The tempter tries to distract us from doing good things simply by getting us to do other things. It doesn't have to be sin. It just has to not be the one thing we know we should be doing. It's easy for him to keep us off the right path when literally any other path will do. That's why we need to stay focussed and not spend too much time or energy doing things that don't really matter.

 and he desired all his forces when he should make an attack upon the Lamanites.

Us: This is where that focus will really come in handy. We can all do great things, much greater things than we realize, but for many of the things we have the potential to accomplish, it will take "all [our] forces" to do it. Take Eternal Life for example. Do we have the potential to reach that goal? With a substantial amount of help from the Savior, yes. Is it going to be easy for us? No. It's going to take A LOT of effort on our part. It may well require "all [our] forces" to succeed. And I'll explain why:

Satan: As we've already established, Satan has a much easier job than we do. All he really has to do is bump us off the right track for starters, gently nudge us onto the wrong path, then sit back and watch us entomb ourselves in the strongest hold we can build. No, the enemy doesn't need to use "all his forces" to trap us. But he does anyway. Our souls mean an awful lot to him. He very strongly desires to enslave us and drag us down to hell. He consistently dedicates every power at his disposal to the blinding and captivating of people like us. That is why it will take all our forces to stand against him.

This is why I love the war chapters. One easily-overlooked verse, in the middle of not-much-going-on, casually laid down between one exciting battle and another, secretly carries, hidden in metaphor, some offensive and defensive strategies that are critical for winning the war for our souls.

Light and Darkness - Entrance to Enlightenment

President Uchtdorf (Yes, him again) has in his office a painting titled Entrance to Enlightenment. The painting shows a dark room with an open door. The doorway, as well as a small area just in front of the door, are brightened by light, while the rest of the room is filled with darkness. To President Uchtdorf, "the darkness and light in this painting are a metaphor for life." In life, we often feel that we're locked in a dark room with no way to escape, but Jesus Christ has opened the door, making it possible for us to escape the darkness that surrounds us and come into an area of light.

Nevertheless, spiritual light rarely comes to those who merely sit in darkness waiting for someone to flip a switch. It takes an act of faith to open our eyes to the Light of Christ. 

So how do we open our eyes to the hope of God’s light?

He gives three suggestions:

First, start where you are. 

The perfect place to begin is exactly where you are right now. It doesn’t matter how unqualified you may think you are or how far behind others you may feel. The very moment you begin to seek your Heavenly Father, in that moment, the hope of His light will begin to awaken, enliven, and ennoble your soul. The darkness may not dissipate all at once, but as surely as night always gives way to dawn, the light will come.

There is really nowhere else we can start to seek the light than where we are right now, unless we want to wait for things to get worse. The only way to truly escape the darkness of this world is by coming unto Christ, and the sooner we make the choice to do that, the less darkness we'll have to fight through to get to the door. By human nature, our carnal selves are always pulling us deeper into the darkness, unless we exercise the strength of our spirits to pull us closer to the light. It will be a struggle, but the sooner we start seeking the light, the less of a struggle it will be.

Second, turn your heart toward the Lord. 

Lift up your soul in prayer and explain to your Heavenly Father what you are feeling. Acknowledge your shortcomings. Pour out your heart and express your gratitude. Let Him know of the trials you are facing. Plead with Him in Christ’s name for strength and support. Ask that your ears may be opened, that you may hear His voice. Ask that your eyes may be opened, that you may see His light.

I've never heard prayer spoken of this way. President Uchtdorf's method seems to combine many different ideas about prayer, including talking to God the same way you'd talk to another person (explaining your feelings, even though you know that He already knows how you feel), humbling yourself before Him (by acknowledging your shortcomings),  and not being afraid to ask for blessings. With this method, you would speak to God as you would speak to a friend, to a king, and to a helper. It's hard for me to imagine anyone, even God, filling all three of those roles at once. I can see God as a king and as a friend, or as a friend and a helper, or maybe even as a king and a helper, but not all three. I can't wrap my head around how anyone, even God, could be that multi-faceted. I guess I need to understand the nature of God better. But first, Uchtdorf's third piece of counsel:

Third, walk in the light. 

Your Heavenly Father knows that you will make mistakes. He knows that you will stumble—perhaps many times. This saddens Him, but He loves you. He does not wish to break your spirit. On the contrary, He desires that you rise up and become the person you were designed to be. 

To that end, He sent His Son to this earth to illuminate the way and show us how to safely cross the stumbling blocks placed in our path. He has given us the gospel, which teaches the way of the disciple. It teaches us the things we must know, do, and be to walk in His light, following in the footsteps of His Beloved Son, our Savior.

The Savior is our exemplar. When we follow Him, we're following God's path for us. The Savior Himself said it best: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Blogging About Blogging

Next Saturday, I will write my 100th consecutive blog post. That doesn't mean that I'll have been blogging for 100 days this Saturday, because there were some days that I blogged twice, but it's still a good milestone by sheer number of posts.

Having committed to a daily morning blog, some days were easier than others. There were many days that took me hours to complete the blog post because I couldn't focus. But there were other days that I had a specific thought in mind that I felt strongly enough about it that I could write a long blog post about it in a short amount of time. Some of my blog posts have been more enriching than others, and I'm not sure why. I know that many of my blog posts were lame, but I'm not sure what, specifically, made the good ones good. I particularly don't understand what's so good about "It's Thursday!" It just felt like a normal blog post to me.

My favorite blog posts have mostly been about angels, engaging in spiritual conflict, and building on past mistakes. There's a theme there, which some of you may already know, but the rest of you I probably won't tell for years. We all have our own personal struggles. Let's just leave it at that.

In fact, having my own personal struggle is part of why I created this blog, or rather, resurrected it. I knew that the solution to my personal challenge would have something to do with my specific strengths and weaknesses. Writing is one of my strengths. I figured that writing a few paragraphs on some random gospel topic each morning would help me be more spiritually-minded throughout each day. It hasn't really been working out that way, but still, blogging couldn't be hurting my spiritual progression.

Also, can having a love of music be considered a strength? Having a talent for music can be a strength, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about listening to music and having it affect me. I posted about EFY just recently. Listening to it has helped me with my personal struggle. Hymns help too, but not usually quite as much. There as some really good hymns, but most of them don't help me as much as the average EFY song.

I have basically two questions about this blog: How can I make my blog posts better for you who read it, and how can I make blogging a more powerful force in my spiritual progression? It'd be difficult for you to answer the second, but if you have any answers for the first or suggestions for the second, please share them with me. If I'm committed to blogging anyway, I'd love to find ways to make my blog a stronger force for good.

Here's another question: What are some topics that you'd like me to research and blog about? Of course, we'll try to keep it vaguely gospel-related, but I'm pretty sure I could tag a gospel-themed analogy to just about anything.

Snorkeling: It's beautiful, wonderful, and fun, but we have to stay by the surface, or we'll drown. However tempting it is to take a closer look at the beautiful things God created for us to enjoy, we have to do it in a way that still keeps us safe. And while we're looking at the reefs and anemones, we need to keep an eye out for other things that are going on around us as well. Otherwise, we may swim right into danger and not know it until it's too late.

Basketball: It's a team sport. However good you are, you still need your team to help you. And however poor you are at basketball, you can still be some help to your team. The fans only seem to care who scores the most points, but really, if anyone on the team scores points, the whole team scores. And if you helped make that basket happen, give yourself a pat on the back. You're helping more than most people realize. And if you're the star player, don't let your fan-base go to your head. Appreciate your team-mates, and TELL THEM you appreciate them. Team unity is a good way to win games.

So if you want me to blog about something random like that, go ahead and suggest it. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to strap an analogy to it. It'll actually be a fun and challenging writing exercise for me. =)

But anyway, this blog has been doing pretty well. It's helped a few people's days go a little bit better, so I'll call that success. Here's to even greater success in the future. Like the basketball players, we can make this blog awesome, together.

Four Titles - Heir of Eternal Life

"The fourth title we all share returns us to the first title in our list," says President Uchtdorf. "As [children] of our Heavenly Father, we are heirs to all that He has." Saying that we're heirs to all that the Father has is bold claim, but President Uchtdorf isn't the only one making that claim. Right after saying that, he quotes a scripture to back it up.

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

But here's what gets me. This isn't a Book of Mormon scripture. It isn't from the Doctrine and Covenants or the Pearl of Great Price, either. (Though, for all I know, it could be quoted in any of those places.) This scripture came from the Bible; specifically Romans Chapter 8, verses 16-17.

This is a New Testament scripture. EVERY Christian reads the New Testament. I wonder... If they don't think it means what we think it means, what do they think it means?

The idea of us being heirs of the kingdom can't be just a Mormon doctrine. If the Bible says the we're "joint-heirs with Christ," there must be other churches that believe that, too. And yet, we're considered different for our belief in Eternal Progression and our claim that, through the Savior's mercy and the power of His Atonement, and eons upon eons of spiritual progress, we can become like our Heavenly Father.

Every child has the potential to become like his parents. He can develop the same attributes, learn the same skills, and essentially become very much like his parents. Of course, he won't be exactly the same as they were. He'll have been born with different talents and different physical strengths and weaknesses and a different personality. He'll be his own person, just as we will be even if we achieve Eternal Life. We won't be exactly like Heavenly Father, but we will be like Him in many ways.

President Uchtdorf spoke about this earlier in this talk when he said that, as disciples of Christ, we are to become like him, but that doesn't mean we must all be the same. "This would contradict the genius of God, who created every man different from his brother, every son different from his father." Even as we become more like our Heavenly Father, we'll still be ourselves.

I'm sure there are some things about us that we would like to change, and with God's help, we can work on that. But there are also parts of us that are good, that are worth keeping, that represent our true selves, the people we were created to be. There's a spark of Godhood already inside each of us. Our purpose in life is to find it and help it grow.

It's impossible for us to imagine what awaits us if we remain faithful. The blessings that God has promised us are more glorious than we can comprehend. We literally can't wrap our heads around it. Maybe that's why so many people don't accept it. "It doesn't make sense to me, so it can't be true." I feel the same way. I can hardly believe that I could ever become like God, no matter how many eons He gave me to work on it. I don't think I have a personal testimony of Eternal Progression, in that I think that it may work for other people, but I highly doubt that it'll work for me. I think I have the potential to be like Heavenly Father, but I don't think I have the capacity to live up to that potential.

That doesn't work, does it? I'm pushing a boulder up a hill. I'm strong enough to move the boulder, and I can make some progresses up the hill, but then I get discouraged or want to take a break or something, and I let the boulder roll right back down to the base of the hill.

Now, some of you would tell me that Eternal Progression isn't like rolling a boulder up a hill. Any experience is a learning experience, a growing experience. Even when we "backslide," we can build on that experience and move forward. "There is no backsliding in Eternal Progression," some would say. "The worst thing you can do is stop moving."

I don't know if that's true. That is, I don't know if I have a testimony of the principle. I wrote about it, I'm pretty sure, when I wrote about the Ladder of St. Augustine. I wrote that we can build on our failures. And in Sariah's comment to the Reclaiming our Landfills post, she said, "Sometimes, garbage that has been properly buried changes and can turn into something that becomes a nourishing part of the soil." Even a lifetime of sins and mistakes can bring us closer to God if we learn from them. And with a little bit of Eternal Perspective, maybe some lessons will be easier to learn.

So, what are we to do for now? We're not perfect. We could try, but it'll take an eternity to make that much progress. I think I've said earlier, if not here then in Elder's Quorum, that our current goal toward eventual perfection is just to get the ball rolling, to get the process started, to point ourselves in the direction and, if we can muster up the courage and strength, take the first few steps. I think I can do that much. And if I can accomplish that much in only a matter of years, imagine how much I'll be able to do in that much time times a thousand, times a million, times and infinite amount.

I can do this. Theoretically. I just need to focus. I need to not worry about the past or the future, but to just take it one day at a time. One day. I can do that. I can try to be Christlike today.

Four Titles - Healer of Souls

"Brethren, if we truly follow our Lord Jesus Christ, we must embrace a third title: healer of souls. We who have been ordained to the priesthood of God are called to practice 'the healer’s art.' ”

Again, President Uchtdorf is speaking specifically to Priesthood holders, but again, I don't think his message is for Priesthood holders exclusively. He said, "As home teachers, we are healers. As priesthood leaders, we are healers. As fathers, sons, brothers, and husbands, we should be committed and dedicated healers." The root of that statement seems to be that, no matter what position we hold, we are meant to be healers. I believe that he could have just as truthfully said to the women of the church: "As visiting teachers, you are healers. As members of the Relief Society, you are definitely healers. As mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives, you can be committed and dedicated healers."

But I would ask "How? How can we be Healers of Souls?" President Uchtdorf counseled us:

to follow the Savior’s example and reach out to those who suffer. We “mourn with those that mourn … and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.” We bind up the wounds of the afflicted. We “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.”

The Savior is the worker of miracles. He is the great Healer. He is our example, our light, even in the darkest moments, and He shows us the right way.

Let us follow Him. Let us rise up to our role and become healers by serving God and our fellowmen.

That's still a little bit vague, but maybe it was meant to be vague. Maybe there is no 'one true way' to heal souls. Everybody's soul is completely unique, and everyone's heart is wounded in a different way. President Uchtdorf couldn't have said "To heal other people's souls, have a heartfelt talk with everyone you meet who is suffering," because not everyone is ready to talk about what's bothering them. He couldn't have said "If you see someone struggling, give them a hug," because some people really don't like being hugged, and it's probably not the kind of help they need anyway. Because we and the problems that bother us are unique in each situation, there is no one technique that will enable us to heal every soul we encounter, but there is one attitude that is always certain to help: Love.

As Christians, we are supposed to love and serve our neighbors, and by "our neighbors," God meant everyone. It can be hard, and sometimes impossible, to love everyone, but God somehow does. So if we love God, even people we really deeply hate are "friends of a Friend." And, out of sheer love for our Friend, we can show love for His friends, because deep down we know that's what He would want us to do (and I think He'll take note of how much of an extra sacrifice it was to show love toward someone we hate).

Two weeks ago maybe, I had a thought that heaven is heavenly because good people live there, and hell is like hell because mean people go there. (A corresponding thought is that even if all Mormons go to hell, as some people believe we will, our Elders' Quorums and Relief Society will roll up their sleeves and establish Zion right there on the side of the pit. It won't be much like hell if a bunch of active Mormons live there.) Similarly, we can do our part to make Earth like heaven by treating everybody nicely, by binding up broken hearts and strengthening feeble knees. The more angelic we as individuals are, the more Earth will be like a place where angels live.

The more we fulfill our role as Healers of Souls, the happier we, and the rest of the world, will be.

Four Titles - Disciple of Christ

The second title that President Uchtdorf gave us was Disciples of Jesus Christ, and the first thing I looked for when I came to this part of the talk is a definition of what he meant by that. I'd readily call myself a Christian, because I believe in and try to follow Jesus Christ, but I don't know if I'm good enough to call myself a disciple. Luckily, President Uchtorf's definition of "disciple" is found early on in this part of the talk: "all who strive earnestly to follow the Christ are called His disciples."

Now, I know that I strive to follow Christ, but do I strive earnestly? What does "earnestly" mean, exactly? President Uchtdorf doesn't say, but Dictionary.com does: "Serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous: an earnest worker." So, in order to be a disciple of Christ, I have to be sincerely striving to keep His commandments, not just saying that I am. This is a good cause for self-evaluation. But first, I should probably move along with President Uchtdorf's talk:

Although we recognize that none of us are perfect, we do not use that fact as an excuse to lower our expectations, to live beneath our privileges, to delay the day of our repentance, or to refuse to grow into better, more perfect, more refined followers of our Master and King.

Remember that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is built not for men and women who are perfect or unaffected by mortal temptations, but rather it is built for people exactly like you and me.

This should sound familiar. We've heard it many times before. "We're not perfect, but we should keep trying anyway." "The church isn't for people who are already perfect, but for those who are imperfect, but are trying to improve." Or other, similar phrases. In this very talk, President Uchtdorf called discipleship a "lifelong journey":

Brethren, discipleship is a lifelong journey following our Savior. Along our metaphorical path from Bethlehem to Golgotha, we will have many opportunities to abandon our journey. At times it will seem that the path requires more than we had wished for. But as [disciples of Christ], we must have the courage to follow our Redeemer, even when our cross seems too heavy to bear.

 At this point, I'm reminded of words of comfort that he gave earlier in this talk, "Our Father in Heaven mentors His children and often sends unseen heavenly help to those who desire to follow the Savior." Note that the qualifying quality of this promised blessing is to "desire to follow the Savior" (Emphasis Added). I'm sure we can all manage at least that much. Then, with the "unseen heavenly help" God grants us, we can succeed in at least striving to follow the Savior.

With every step we take following the Son of God, we may be reminded that we are not perfect yet. But let us be steadfast and constant disciples. Let us not give up. Let us be true to our covenants. Let us never lose sight of our Advocate and Redeemer as we walk toward Him, one imperfect step after another.

God knows that we are not perfect. He doesn't expect us to be. He just wants us to try, and to try earnestly, to follow the Savior's example and teachings. As long as we strive to keep His commandments, we are His disciples.

To close, I'd like to quote a fictional character in a webcomic I read, authored by Rich Burlew. I do so without his knowledge or permission, but I don't think he's the kind of person who'd mind. At this point in the story, a main character has died and is now half-way between heaven and earth being judged according to his deeds. We spend quite some time recalling the things he's done in past comics, good and bad, and, considering the number of times this person has done something good, but went about it in a less-good way, the judge reveals that our hero would likely be sent to a less-good afterlife, if not for one thing: "You're trying."

People forget how crucial it is to keep trying, even if they screw it up now and then. They figure that if they can't manage it perfectly every waking second, then they should just [give up] because it would be easier. But it's the struggle that matters. It's easy for a being of pure Law and Good to live up to these ideals, but you're a mortal. What matters is that when you blow it, you get back up on the horse and try again. You....well, your record is full of grey spots, but you never stop working at improving it. That's what's important. To us, anyway.

Now, I know that this isn't anywhere near doctrinal. It's fictional. But take it as a personal opinion that I'd be a bit surprised if God's mindset was any less understanding of human weakness than this. God knows we're only human. He knows that we'll fail time and time again. But I believe that what's important to Him is that we try.