Not Compelled

Alma 42:27 Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds.

This might be a slight exaggeration, but I think I have a new favorite scripture. I like to think that God extends to everyone the invitation to repent and come unto Him and receive blessings, but it remains just that; an invitation. God doesn't force people to obey Him. We all have to make our own choices in like. God just gives us advice and encouragement to help us live the best life, if we choose to. He leaves the choice up to us.

Of course, our choice will have consequences, like most choices do, but I think that most of those consequences, good and bad, are just natural consequences, not necessarily divine rewards or punishments for doing the right or wrong things. If we touch a hot stove, we'll get burned, because that's what happens when people touch hot stoves. It's not a divine punishment for breaking the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Touch a Hot Stove." God just tells us how the world works and advises us on how to do our best in it.

I'm grateful that God gives us the freedom to choose our own path rather than using His power to compel us to choose one path over the other. And I'm also grateful that God tells us the consequences of various choices so we can make informed decisions. Of course, God knows what choices we should make, and He urges us to make those choices, but He ultimately leaves the decision to us, and I am very grateful for that.

Rewarding Desires

Alma 41:5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

I have a small concern with this. The thing is, people can have multiple, conflicting desires. I know firsthand that people can simultaneously have desires for good and desires for evil. Granted, one of those desires will usually outweigh the other, like how someone's desire to be patient may or may not outweigh their desire to be rude in a given moment, but both desires are still there.

I'm sure that the desires we act on are more important than the desires we try to reduce or ignore. Perhaps it's the desires we act on that get rewarded (for good or evil), not merely the desires we have. It may be important to emphasize that Alma said "for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh" (emphasis added). Maybe it's the doing of our desires that's actually important.

I think it's important to act on our desires for good and to not act on our desires for evil. As long as we're human, we will have both kinds of desires, and we will have to decide which desires we act on and thus which desires get rewarded.

Karma

Alma 41:15 For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.

Apparently, karma is a real thing. I thought the idea of karma was hollow and unrealistic. We don't always reap what we sow, do we? There are plenty of times when people create consequences for other people and don't experience the results of their actions themselves, and that's true for both good actions/consequences and bad actions/consequences. At least, it's true in this life.

Fortunately for those seeking karmic justice, this life isn't all there is, and the final judgement, with all it's justice, will, through the power of the Atonement, justify everything that happens in life. If a person doesn't get karmic justice in this life, they'll get it in the next. We do, in fact, reap what we sow, sooner or later.

The existence of karma encourages me to sow good things so I can reap them later, confident in the knowledge that I will eventually taste the fruit of my labors. Every action has consequences, and we will face to consequences of those actions, whether they're good or bad. So, let's try to put more good out into the world. It's good for others, and sooner or later, it will come back to us as well. Alma made it clear that if we want good rewards, we need to do good and be good ourselves, so let's do that. Let's do good and make karma work in our favor.

A Hell to Scare the Hell Out of People

Alma 40:13-14

And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil. 

Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this estate, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

This sounds like hell, doesn't it? "Weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth," "the fiery indignation of the wrath of God." It's all classic "hell" imagery. Yet, this isn't the final state of the wicked. Most wicked people are bound to spend eternity in Telestial Kingdom, the lowest of the Three Degrees of Glory, and that's assuming they don't repent while they're in the Spirit World.

The Spirit World is the place where spirits go to await the resurrection. For the righteous, this place is a paradise. For the wicked, it feels like hell. In fact, I'm confident in saying that Spirit Prison, the part of the Spirit World where the wicked go, is less pleasant than the Telestial Kingdom, the Kingdom of Glory where most wicked people end up.

So what gives? Why would spirit prison, the waiting room for wicked spirits yet to be resurrected, be so much worse than "the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding" (D&C 76:89), which is the final, eternal resting place of the wicked?

My guess is that spirit prison is so bad, so stereotypically hellish, because it is meant to be temporary. Consider Alma the Younger. When an angel called him to repentance, he fell unconscious, and while he was unconscious, he was "racked, even with the pains of a damned soul" (Alma 36:16). These pains helped Alma decide to repent and turn his life around, and he became a missionary and even a prophet. His pains prompted him to repent while there was still time to do so.

The same can be true for everyone in Spirit Prison. For those severed souls, it isn't too late to repent before their resurrection and final judgement. I believe that Spirit Prison is so hellish so it can more effectively convince people to give up their wicked behavior and repent. Spirit Prison is like hell so it can scare the hell out of people.

Frankly, it's a sign of God's love and mercy for Spirit Prison to be so bad compared to the Telestial Kingdom. God gives people a taste of "eternal punishment" as a last ditch effort to get people to repent. It's part of the carrots-and-sticks teaching method. The hellish torment of Spirit Prison is the biggest, spikiest stick in God's arsenal. He uses it only as a last resort, and only so long as there's still a chance of convincing people to choose a path that leads to happiness. Once that chance is spent, once Final Judgement has been passed, there's no further need for such torment. When further progress is no longer possible, there's no reason for God to push us into making progress, hence no further need for the stick. God doesn't want to subject anyone to such punishment for eternity, so He doesn't. He only subjects people to such punishment so long as there's still a chance that such punishment might convince them to repent.

The Hell of Spirit Prison exists to motivate people to do what it takes to stay out of it. God doesn't want any of His children, even the worst of them, to be stuck in such a hell forever.

Eternal Investments

In Alma 39:14, Alma counsels his son Corianton to "Seek not after riches nor the vain things of this world; for behold, you cannot carry them with you," which leads me to consider what we can take with us, and thus, what we should seek.

Our own minds come to mind. When we pass on, we will keep our memories, or experiences, and everything we've learned. It makes a certain amount of sense to cultivate our minds, since our minds are eternal.

Perhaps the most obvious, most important thing we take with us is our spirits (or ourselves, depending on how you look at it). We will still be the same people in the next world that we are now, for better or for worse. We'll have the same habits, the same measure of devotion and faith, and the same level of attunement with God and His Spirit. The more we develop ourselves spiritually, the better off we'll be in the Spirit World and beyond.

And finally so tonight, we can bring our family relationships with us. Those of us who have been sealed or were born in the covenant will continue to have access to our families. Families can be together forever, so investing in strong, supportive family relationships can be of great worth in the eternities.

We all know that money is temporary, so it makes little sense to seek more riches than we need. Instead, we should seek and invest in eternal things, like out minds, souls, and families; things that can last for eternity.

Calling Corianton to Repentance

Alma 39:7 And now, my son, I would to God that ye had not been guilty of so great a crime. I would not dwell upon your crimes, to harrow up your soul, if it were not for your good.

In Alma 39, Alma found himself in the position where it was necessary to call his son, Corianton, to repentance, yet in verse 7, he says that he wouldn't dwell on Corianton's sins or call him to repentance if it wasn't for his (Corianton's) good. After this conversation, Corianton repented and returned to the light, which made the call to repentance and the harrowing up of his soul worthwhile. If he wasn't going to repent, there would have been little point in calling him to repentance, so Alma might not have done it.

Of course, this interpretation may be wishful thinking on my part. It's not pleasant to call people to repentance. One can lose friends and even one's job that way. So, I attempt to justify my cowardice by telling myself that, since the people I know aren't going to repent no matter what I tell them, there's no point in telling them that they should repent.

But I'm sure that's not the lesson God wants us to take away from this. He wants us to extend the invitation to repent to everyone, regardless of whether or not we think they're likely to accept it. Any bit of encouragement we can give them may get them closer to the point at which they're willing to repent, even if it doesn't get them all the way there by the end of the conversation.

Alma seems to say that he wouldn't call Corianton to repentance if it wasn't for Corianton's good, yet he does so anyway, perhaps because calling a sinner to repentance is always for the sinner's good, even if they don't accept the message and repent right away. At least we can give them a nudge in the right direction.

Calling people to repentance is unpleasant, and I'm more than willing to justify not doing it, but I really should do it more often, for my friends' sake. Of course, I shouldn't be overbearing, preachy, or holier-than-thou about it, but I should at least remind them of what their conscience is telling them and encourage them to listen. Sure, it won't be pleasant, but it's for their good, and if I truly want what's best for them, I owe it to them to extend the invitation, regardless of whether I think they're likely to accept it.

At the Last Day, At the Latest

Alma 38:5 And now my son, Shiblon, I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye shall put your trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

While Alma told his son that he "shall be lifted up at the last day," it may be important to note that Alma didn't say when Shiblon could expect to be "delivered out of [his] trials, and [his] troubles, and [his] afflictions." The Lord doesn't often give us specific promises as to when our afflictions will end. There may be some trials, troubles, and/or afflictions that we have to live with for our whole lives. 

Still, I can all but guarantee that our trials, troubles, and afflictions will end at the same time that we are lifted up, if not earlier. At the end of our lives, at Final Judgment, or some time during the Millennium, all of those mortal problems will cease, if they haven't already. We know that we can be lifted up at the last day, and we can be confident that all out afflictions will end at that time, at the latest.

We may not know how long our trials and troubles will last, and we may have to live with them for quite some time, but we know that earthly problems are no more permanent than the earth itself. Our trials will end. It's only a matter of time.

All Thy Doings, All Thy Thoughts

Alma 37:36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.

On the surface, this looks like a fairly standard verse about praying always, but I want to highlight two phrases in this verse and emphasize those points. Alma encouraged his son Helaman to "let all thy doings be unto the Lord" and to "let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord." This is no small feat. "All thy doings" literally includes everything you do, from getting up in the morning, to brushing your teeth, to taking a shower, to getting dressed, to having breakfast, and that's all just within your first few waking hours. Can we really make it so ALL our doings are "unto the Lord"?

I think so, but only if we also apply the second phrase I wanted to highlight: "let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord." I've made a blog where I've shared spiritual thoughts every day for years, and many of those blog posts have come from looking at everyday events through a spiritual lens. I started looking at just about everything as a parable, and it's gotten to the point where washing my hands with water and drying them off with a towel can be a spiritual experience in that it reminds me of Jesus Christ. In that sense, my "doing" of washing my hands can be done "unto the Lord," because it reminds me of Him and thus brings me closer to Him.

We can, theoretically, make it so everything we do draws us closer to the Lord, if only by making us think about what those actions can teach us about Him. The more we reflect on the Lord and His parables, the more parables we'll be able to find in our daily lives. And the more parables we find in our daily lives, the more often we'll be directed toward the Lord. In theory, this can extend until literally everything reminds us of the Lord, and everything we do brings us one step closer to being like Him. This is a high standard to reach, but the more we think about it, the closer we get to reaching it.

I was blessed to be inspired to force myself to look for spiritual messages to blog about every day. This blog has helped me see spiritual messages in places I had never thought to look, and all of them have brought me a little bit closer to God. I haven't yet gotten to the point where literally all my thoughts and actions draw me closer to God, but I'm closer to that point than I was before I started blogging, and I largely have my blog to thank for that. And I have God to thank for encouraging me to blog.

I would give you a similar encouragement. Look for spiritual messages. Write them down somewhere. Maybe share them. At least list them. Try to think about how even mundane things can help us draw closer to the Lord. And work toward the point where everything you do and every thought you have draws you closer to the Lord. I'm not at that point yet, but I'm getting there, and I'm getting there by making a conscious effort to turn even mundane thoughts and actions into spiritual messages. You can do the same.

Darkness Unto Light

Alma 37:23 And the Lord said: I will prepare unto my servant Gazelem, a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations.

There are some people who try to keep secrets. Actually, it may be more accurate to say that there are few people who don't. Most people have something to hide, and for some people, that includes some aspects of their behavior. Yet, trying to hide one's behavior is fairly foolish, because even if one manages to keep their secret works of darkness hidden from the rest of the world, no one can keep secrets from God. God sees all our works and even our thoughts and hearts, and He can reveal those "secret works" to whomever He wants.

Luke wrote "Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops" (Luke 12:3). Whatever secrets we have, they won't stay secret forever. Eventually, every work of darkness will be brought unto light. As far as I'm concerned, that's all the more reason to try and keep our noses clean and to avoid saying or doing anything of which we would be ashamed. We may be able to keep some of our works secret from some people for some amount of time, but all secrets will be revealed eventually, so in the meantime, I'd rather try not to have many.

Entrusted

Alma 37:14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.

In Alma 37, Alma entrusts his son Helaman with the sacred records, trusting that Helaman would preserve them and use them for good. We, too, have been entrusted with something sacred, something which we are trusted to preserve, physically and spiritually, and to use for good. In this case, I am thinking specifically of ourselves.

Our lives are gifts from God. We have been entrusted with the responsibility to come to earth, make decisions, and hopefully do some good. It is our responsibility to protect and preserve our lives, both physically and spiritually, to the extent that we can, so that we can use our bodies and our lives to do as much good as possible.

I hope that I can prove worthy of the trust Heavenly Father has given me by making good use of the life that I've been given, and my hope is the same for you.I want all of us to prove worthy of the trust God has placed in us. He entrusted us with mortal lives and bodies and the power to control what they do. Let's do some good with them.

Oh, What Joy!

Alma 36:20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

One thing I love about the Gospel is its focus on happiness and joy. We read in the Book of Mormon that "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25), and our founder, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught that "Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it." The Gospel is that path, and the end of that path (in terms of both destination and purpose) is happiness. God intends for us to find joy and happiness, and the Gospel is His instructions for how best to do that.

I love the Gospel. I love the joy that it brings into my life, and I love the happiness I've felt as I've lived in harmony with the Gospel. I have experienced the kind of joy Alma described, and it felt wonderful. I hope that I can continually renew that joy and happiness, and I hope that others will be able to experience it as well. The joy of the Gospel feels incredible. No wonder God wants us to share it.

Dread and Longing

In Alma 36, when Alma recalled the guilt he had felt for the sins he had committed, he said "the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror," and I can imagine why. Guilt and shame are powerful feelings. To be so filthy and yet stand in the presence of someone so pure, that would be horrible.

Yet, we don't have to feel that way. Yes, we've all sinned. We've all become unclean. But we can repent of our sins and become clean. And, if we are clean, or at least not horribly filthy, perhaps we will be able to bear the thought of returning to God's presence. In fact, we may even look forward to it. He is our loving Heavenly Father, after all. I'm sure He'd love to see us again, and if we're anywhere near worthy to remain in His presence, we may feel the same way.

Whether we dread meeting God again or look forward to it more than anything else is entirely up to us. Our actions are the main factor that determine whether we would feel comfortable in God's presence or not. Alma's actions had been very evil. Therefore, he felt very uncomfortable with the thought of returning to God for his Final Judgement. In contrast, immediately after Alma turned his life around, he saw a vision of heaven: "Yea, methought I saw, even as our father Lehi saw, God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there" (Alma 36:22). Whether our souls long to be in the presence of God or are racked with inexpressible horror of the thought of going there depends entirely on whether we've repented or not.

So, let's repent. We all know that we're all going to die sooner or later. One day or another, we are going to stand in the presence of God, whether we want to or not, and we're all going to be judged by our actions, whether they were good or evil. So, let's do good works and repent of any evil ones so we can hopefully look forward to returning to God's presence rather than dreading it.

"I Could Remember my Pains No More"

Alma 36:19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

In Alma's case, when he said this, he was referring to no longer feeling guilt for his sins once he had repented of them, and that's a thought that's worthy of a blog post, too, but when I read this verse, I think of a very different experience that I had had as a boy.

I was at a family reunion, running around, playing tag with some cousins or something in or around a copse of trees. Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was a ground hornets' nest nestled between some of the trees around which we were playing. Or rather, I should say that I didn't know they were there - until I stepped on them.

Before I knew it, I had hornets swarming all over me. I ran in an absolute panic, trying to outrun them, but many of them had already landed on me. To this day, I have a more-than-is-rational aversion to hornets and bees.

Yet, despite the trauma of this harrowing experience, I consider it a small miracle because, once I had calmed down enough for my parents to get me inside, my father gave me a Priesthood Blessing, and I got it. I remember being covered in hornets, and I remember being scared, but I don't remember the pain of being stung or bitten. In fact, I don't remember having experienced any physical pain from that experience at all. I'm sure I must have gotten bitten - I may even have some scars from that event, but I don't remember the pain. After I got that blessing, "I could remember my pains no more," exactly as though I had never felt any pain in the first place.

I know that was a miracle. I know that God miraculously spared me from the memory of the pain that I'm sure I must have experienced. I think it's unfortunate that not everyone gets that blessing, but still, I'm glad I received that miracle and that I now have that story to tell. The blessings of the Priesthood can include far more than simple healings and performing ordinances. They can accomplish miracles of all kinds, including, apparently, the miracle of me no longer remembering any pain.

God is a Great Listener

In Alma 33 and 34, Alma and Amulek teach that we can pray anywhere, at any time, about basically anything. No matter where we are (physically or spiritually) or what's on our mind, we can talk to God about it. That's one thing I like about God; He's a great listener. I should talk to Him more often and about more things than just spiritual matters. He probably wouldn't mind me talking about my day, what I'm excited for or worried about, or how I'm doing, just in general. I'd bet He'd be fine with me sending thoughts His way, just to chat. And the same thing goes for all of us. We are all children of God. He wants to hear from us. He wants us to talk with Him, no matter where we are, what time or day it is, or what we want to talk about. He's here for us. If we want to talk to Him, at any time, at any place, about anything, for any reason, He'll listen. He is always willing to hear our prayers.

Possession Revisited

Alma 34:34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

In light of this verse, I want to revisit the idea of possession, since, from a certain perspective, this might not be such a bad thing. It may not necessarily be bad for our bodies to be possessed.

For starters, our bodies are already possessed in the sense that they have spirits inside of them. As long as we're alive, there will always be at least one spirit in our bodies: ours. In fact, having spirits inside them is what separates a live body from a dead one. If our bodies weren't possessed by our own spirits, they'd be dead.

Yet, even when we consider spirits other than our own, it might not always be bad to have them around. There are other spirits in existence than the ones who followed Lucifer. There are good spirits, too, including the Holy Spirit, whom many of us wish to have as a constant companion. We want to have the Holy Spirit and the other good spirits around because they can help us defend ourselves against the evil spirits.

Now, I don't know whether or not any of those good spirits ever share our bodies, or whether they just float around outside, but even if they enter our bodies, that wouldn't give them any control over us. God doesn't take away our agency, and I'm willing to bet that His spirits won't either.

So, a certain amount of possession is essential for our physical survival, and having more good spirits around us might help with our spiritual survival as well, and since good spirits don't take control of our bodies and might not even enter them, there's no downside. So, maybe possession isn't as horrible as I had thought; it all depends on which spirits are doing the possessing.

An Enemy to All Righteousness

Alma 34:23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

Last night, I called the devil our "common enemy," and said that "our real enemy isn't other people, but the devil himself." I thought I would draw special attention to that because there is far too much divisiveness in the world, and people are too quick to label each other as "enemies." I guess that most people have forgotten that we're all on the same side, or rather, all of us have forgotten, and most people haven't been reminded yet.

Before we were born, we all took part in a great war in heaven. The devil and his angels fought against Michael (aka Adam) and his (or rather, God's) angels, and the good side won. The devil and his angels were cast out, and Michael and his angels were sent down to be born on Earth as Adam, Eve, and the rest of the human family. We are all brothers and sisters, and we all fought side by side against our common enemy.

This war continues of Earth. The devil and his angels are still trying to tempt people into following paths that lead to destruction. Unfortunately, he seems to be rather successful, as many people have chosen to follow such paths, and even celebrate that they follow those paths. Some of them even antagonize those who don't follow such paths and don't support or promote the following of such paths. Yet, as much as we may antagonize each other, we are not each other's real enemies. Our real enemy is the devil, the enemy to all righteousness and to all who strive to be righteous. If you care at all about morality, if you believe that people shouldn't do bad things, then your enemy isn't other people, it's the devil.

I do not support or promote sin, and I try not to actively support or promote people engaging in sin, yet that does not mean that I consider sinners to be my enemies. We are all sinners, though we all sin in different ways and some of us try not to sin at all. If I saw sinners as my enemies, then I would have to be enemies with literally almost everyone, which is exactly what my real enemy wants.

The devil wants us to see each other as enemies so he can promote hatred and violence. He wants us to contend with each other and afflict one another, if for no other reason than to spread pain and suffering. I'd rather not play into his hands. I'd rather see people as friends than as enemies. They're imperfect, misguided friends, perhaps, but they're still friends, not enemies. My only enemy is the devil, and I fight him by resisting his influence and by trying to reduce his influence on myself and others. This can be done without name-calling, accusations of apathy and/or villainy, or any other form of antagonism. We don't have to be enemies. We should instead focus on fighting our common enemy, the devil.

Against the Power of Our Enemies

Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.

Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness. -Alma 34:22-23

The first of these two verses seems unusual, until it is put into the context of the second. God is not normally a God of vengeance. He's not the sort of entity to whom one would turn for the power to defeat their enemies.Yet, God does sometimes bestow that power. The Nephites even relied on it. God has the power to smite and destroy, and He has used that power on at least a handful of occasions. It would seem that, when one's need is dire and their cause is just, they can call upon the power of God to aid them in the fight against their enemies.

Yet, the second of these verses is quick to point out that our real enemy isn't other people, but the devil himself. Other people may threaten our lives (as the Lamanites did with the Nephites) or our freedom (as the Pharaoh did with the Children of Israel), but the devil threatens people's souls, making him an enemy who is far more than merely deadly. The devil can't kill us physically, but if he can kill us spiritually, if he can drive a wedge of sin between us and God, that's much worse than being physically dead or in physical bondage.

We can hope to make few enemies. And when we do make enemies, we can often hope to soften their hearts and perhaps even befriend them. But we have common enemy whose heart will never be soften and whom we can never befriend.

God can help us defend ourselves from our enemies, both physical and spiritual, and He can help us repel them and even, when absolutely necessary, destroy them. This is not a power God calls upon often, but it's a power that can be called upon when it's needed, and in the case of our true enemy, we need God's power against him more often than not. We need to resist temptation, and we often need God's help with that. It's good to know that we can call on God for help against the power of our enemies, even when it comes down to a spiritual, or even physical, fight.

Patience

As Alma spoke of faith and diligence in Alma 32, he also spoke of patience, and he used a clear analogy to illustrate his point. He compared the word of God to a seed that we should plant in our hearts and nourish with faith and diligence so it can grow. Unfortunately for us, trees take a long time to grow, so we have to nourish the tree with faith and diligence for quite some time before we can taste the fruit (i.e. reap the blessings of the gospel).

That's why, in addition to faith and diligence, we also need to practice patience. While there are some blessings that we can receive fairly quickly, the greatest blessings of the Gospel, including exaltation and eternal life, are blessings that take a lifetime to earn and receive.

So, I encourage all of us to practice patience. It can be difficult to strive to stay righteous for the sake of blessings that won't come for ages, but most of those blessings are well worth the wait.

Diligence

In Alma 32, Alma encourages the Zoramites to nourish their faith with diligence and patience. 

But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. - Alma 32:41

Given that we touched on faith yesterday, I thought I'd focus on diligence tonight.

In living the gospel, it's not enough to perform a few, grand, faith-asserting actions and trust that that'll be enough to get you all the blessings God offers. Getting baptized doesn't instantly or permanently ensure that we are "saved." One trip to the temple isn't enough to guarantee exaltation. We can't just get our ordinances done and call it a day.

I believe that God cares far more about who we are than He cares about what we've done. Usually, that belief is an uplifting message about repentance: As long as we have become good people, it doesn't matter much what sins are in our past. Unfortunately for some people, the inverse is also true. Having been baptized doesn't mean much for someone who has broken their covenants and quit following the path. Individual good acts won't have much more impact than individual sins, and individual grand gestures in either direction don't generally account for much.

Instead, what's important is to be diligent in doing good, not in big ways a few times, but in little ways countless times. We need to develop patterns and habits of doing good, not just rely on a few flashy outliers. Living the gospel isn't a matter of doing a few great things in a few, special moments. It's a matter of doing good in little ways every day.

Some Musings on Faith, Knowledge, and Doubt

Alma 32:21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.

There's a weird semantics issue involving faith and doubt. Some have said that faith and doubt cannot exist at the same time, but the way I see it, faith cannot exist unless there is also room for doubt. When I roll a die, I can't be certain what result I'm going to get. That's the whole point of rolling a die. Sure, God could tell me that I'm going to get a particular result, but that doesn't mean that I know that I'm going to get that result. If I knew it, without a shadow of a doubt, then it wouldn't really be faith; it would be knowledge. Conversely, if I don't have a perfect knowledge of what result I'll get, that makes room for both doubt and faith. I can have faith that I'll get the result that God said I'd get, but unless I acknowledge the possibility of getting a different result, that's more like knowledge than it is like faith. If I know that God will give me the result He promised, I can't have faith that He will.

I believe that it's important to have faith, but to that end, I believe it's important to acknowledge that there is also room for doubt.

Immortality

It sometimes strikes me as odd how common it is for fictional characters in various magical settings to seek immortality. I understand that death is scary and often painful, but do they not realize that there is an afterlife? Do they not know that their souls are already immortal? Maybe they do know that, and that's why they seek immortality so relentlessly. After all, it is mostly the villains who seem to fight the hardest to avoid dying. Perhaps many of them are trying to stave off eternal punishment indefinitely. Though, personally, if you ask me, repenting and seeking an eternal reward seems more desirable than performing whatever dark rituals one has to perform to avoid passing on. I'd rather repent and spend eternity in heaven than cheat death and spend eternity on earth.

I don't need to seek immortality. My soul is already immortal. All I need to do is live right so I can make sure I'm happy with where my immortal soul id going. Some dark wizards might think they're better off cramming their souls into phylacteries or horcruxes, and they may be right, but my soul is bound for heaven, so I'm more than happy to let it pass on when it's time.

Weekly and Daily Worship

Alma 31:23 Now, after the people [the apostate Zoramites] had all offered up thanks after this manner [with rote prayers], they returned to their homes, never speaking of their God again until they had assembled themselves together again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks after their manner.

Alma considered it a notable point of criticism that the Zoramites only spoke of God once a week. In contrast, in 2 Nephi 25:26, Nephi said this:

And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

And I assume they did so more than once per week. How else could they teach their children the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ? If worship is only a once-a-week occurrence for people, it can easily become a footnote in their lives rather than the focus of their lives. If we only think about God once a week, we are far too casual in our worship, and it could even be argued that we have broken our covenant to "always remember Him" (Moroni 5:2).

It is spiritually important to remember God, to think about God, and to talk about God, not just on Sundays, but all throughout the week. If a day goes by when we don't think about God, we're doing something wrong. Instead, we should make a point of worshiping God daily, even if all we can manage on a given day is reading a single verse of scripture and offering a simple, silent prayer. It doesn't take much work, just daily effort. Our daily worship can be wonderfully simple. What's important is that we do it, not just once a week, but every day.

Continue in Prayer and Supplication

According to Alma 31:10, one of the "performances of the church" is "to continue in prayer and supplication to God daily, that [we] might not enter into temptation." This makes perfect sense to me. Since the adversary never gives up on trying to tempt people, we need to never stop doing the "performances" that help us maintain and strengthen our spiritual defenses. What strikes me most about this concept is that it holds true no matter how well or poorly we normally do at resisting temptation. No matter how many battles we've won or lost, no matter how much or how little will-power we currently have, we must always "continue in prayer and supplication." Otherwise, we will start to lose. If we don't maintain our spiritual defenses, they will weaken over time, and that's true no matter how strong they are now. Our defenses may be strong now, but they'll only stay strong if we maintain them and strengthen them daily.

Support and Promises

Alma 30:60 And thus we see the end of him who perverteth the ways of the Lord; and thus we see that the devil will not support his children at the last day, but doth speedily drag them down to hell.

D&C 82:10 I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

We know that, when we do what the Lord says, He is bound to bless us. Yet, when we do as Satan asks, we have no such assurance. There is no guarantee that the adversary will keep any promise or grant any blessings. Following Satan's plan is a gamble of short-term gains and long-term losses. It's fun at first, but there is no long-term support.

Meanwhile, the Lord's plan is a plan for eternity. Our short-term sacrifices are more than made up for in blessings that are sure to come. While the enemy's promises are all empty promises, not worth the time or breath it takes to utter them, the Lord's promises are gospel, and you can take them to the bank. God will always keep His promises to bless His followers, even when others don't.

Of the two, I know with whom I would rather make covenants and on whose promises and support I would rather rely. The enemy may not keep his promises or support his followers, but the Lord whom I worship always does.

Possession

In Alma 30:42, Alma talks about how Korihor was "possessed with a lying spirit," how the Spirit of God had no place in him, and how the the devil had power over him. This weirds me out a little bit. See, I don't know to what extent "possessions" are a real thing, or rather, I don't want to know. I'd love to chalk most modern talk of possessions up as ghost stories and perhaps some occult nonsense, yet there are many scriptures that reference evil/unclean spirits, many of which refer to the spirits as possessing others and/or being cast out. Such possessions have happened and, therefore, are possible.

I find the idea of such possessions disturbing, partly out of fear that such a possession could, theoretically, happen to me, and I'd rather that not be possible, and also partly out of concern for how such possessions affect the agency of those who are possessed. Possession is creepy, and it raises a lot of difficult questions, and I'd rather that it simply not be a real thing. I'd rather believe that it's impossible for an evil spirit to gain control of another person's mortal body. And maybe that's partly true. Maybe evil spirits can only take control if we let them, like how alcohol can only impair our judgement if we drink it, thus making such possessions preventable and partly clearing up the question of agency.

Regardless of how such possessions actually happen and what they mean for those who become possessed, I take some comfort in knowing that such possessions are relatively rare and completely treatable. No matter whether the unclean spirits snuck in, broke in, or were welcomed in, they can all be cast out, and the Holy Spirit can be welcomed in in their stead. Perhaps I don't actually have to worry about these possessions after all. They're not likely to happen to anyone who isn't dabbling in things that they shouldn't dabble in, and even when they happen, they can be undone. As creepy as such possessions are, they are treatable and probably preventable. As long as we treat them seriously and avoid them like the plague, I think we'll be fine.

"He Careth for You"

I was looking for a good scripture about talking with God, and I found this one: 1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." It's not quite what I was looking for, but it's still wonderfully profound, isn't it? It's amazing to think that the God who created the universe, including countless planets, the God who is an eternal, ageless being, the God to whom we all kneel, cares about you. God is so far beyond any of us or our mundane, mortal problems, yet He cares about us and what we're going through. He cares about our dumb, brief, mortal lives. He cares how we feel. He cares. I find it wonderful and incredible that God cares about us as much as He does. No matter how insignificant we think we are, God cares. I love that.

Signs Enough

Tonight, my family read Alma 30:44:

But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

No matter where we look in the heavens and in the natural world, we can see signs of the existence of God. Yet, I think that the greatest sign of the existence of God is in our own hearts. Most all of us have had experiences where we have felt God's presence, power, and love. I, personally, have seen at least two miracles that I can think of off the top of my head (a father's blessing and the midnight miracle, in case I want to refresh our memories by blogging about them in the next day or two), and I have felt the presence and voice of the Spirit more times than I can count. I know in my heart that there is a God, regardless of whether I can prove it with empirical evidence. I don't need a sign to prove that there is a God. Even from just my personal experience, I have had signs enough.

The American Promise

An ancient Book of Mormon prophet name Ether had several good and important things to say about the land that is now called North America, including this following verse:

Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written. -Ether 2:12

 As we in the United States celebrate our relative freedom, we should remember that it took a great blessing from God to make that freedom possible, and that we need to remember and thank Him, or we'll lose it. At its foundation, America was a Christian nation, and while it had (and, arguably, still has) a long way to go before living up to the ideal Christian standard, it is still a good nation, and to the extent that it is good, it will be blessed. It is my hope that America will maintain high moral standards and thus retain the blessings of the Lord. Of course, we have lots of room for improvement, and the trend doesn't always seem to be taking us in that direction, but one can always hope. And, no matter what anyone else is doing, one can always help. Others may not choose to live by high moral standards, but we can, and the more righteous people there are in a given nation, the more blessed that nation will be.

We can help defend the freedom God gave us by serving the God who gave us that freedom.

Be Not Entangled Again

In Galatians 5:1, Paul urges the Galatians to "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." This mirrors the sentiment of the People of Ammon, who, having been forgiven of their previous sins, demonstrated that they would rather die than risk committing any more sins. Jesus Christ can free us from the bondage of sin, but it's up to us to do everything we can to retain that freedom. We need to not only OBtain a remission of our sins, but also REtain it. Freedom is not something we can obtain once and expect to retain forever, and that includes freedom from sin. Unfortunately for the People of Ammon, that often means fighting for our freedom, spiritually, if not also physically. We must be prepared to do whatever it takes to retain our freedom from sin and from bondage, even if that means having to fight for it.

Zealous

Alma chapter 27 ends with the following verses about the people of Ammon, who had sworn to never use weapons again, not even to defend themselves:

Therefore, they would suffer death in the most aggravating and distressing manner which could be inflicted by their brethren, before they would take the sword or cimeter to smite them.

And thus they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favored people of the Lord.

Alma 27: 29-30

Such a devotion to pacifism isn't what one normally thinks of when one imagines someone who is "zealous." Usually, the word "zealous" applies to those who are active in pursuit of their aims and goals. In fact, those who are called "zealots" are usually aggressively active, even to the point of attacking those who hinder them. Yet, it's entirely possible to be zealous without being a zealot, and it's possible for one's zeal to manifest in unorthodox, and even apparently passive ways. It's possible to be passionate about something without resorting to violence. The people of Ammon were passionate about their beliefs, yet they didn't express them violently. Perhaps that's why they were such "a highly favored people of the Lord."

Glory in the Lord

Tonight, my family read Alma 26, which includes the following verse: 

Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel. (Alma 26:16)

This is something that I would like to do. God is good and just and merciful, and even though life is rough sometimes, God can help us get through it. With God's help, we can accomplish miracles, just like Ammon and his bretheren did. I want to see such miracles happen in my own life, and when I see them, I want to praise God for them.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of Ammon's bretheren were tempted to pat themselves on the back for what they might have considered "their own" accomplishments, or they might have been tempted to focus on the negative aspects of their missionary experience. Yet, Ammon chose to focus on the positives, and to thank God for helping their missionary efforts go so well. I, too, want to focus on the positive aspects of life and to thank God for all His help. His help has been crucial in several important moments in my life, and I want to follow Ammon's example and praise and thank God for it.