Light and Darkness - Walk in the Light

This probably isn't going to be the only Blog Post I write about Light and Darkness but I found a good talk by President Henry B. Eyring called Walk in the Light, and I figured this was a good place to start.

I think that I may have shared parts of this talk with you before, maybe when I was talking about examples of righteousness. In this talk, President Eyring gives a really awesome quote that would have done perfectly with that message.

When you walk in the light, you will feel at that moment some of the warmth and the happiness that will finally be yours when you are welcomed home again with the hundreds and perhaps thousands of others whom you will bring with you, who have walked in the light because you did.

Or might I have shared that in How to Change a Life? Or maybe I intended to, but never got around to it? Anyway, it's an awesome quote.

Yet, as good as that is, that's not what I was intending to focus on for this blog post. Long before he gave that quote, President Eyring said:

Every child of Heavenly Father born in the world is given at birth, as a free gift, the Light of Christ. You have felt that. It is the sense of what is right and what is wrong and what is true and what is false. That has been with you since your journey in life began. The fact that you were baptized and received the Holy Ghost is evidence that you chose to walk in the Light of Christ. 

When you were confirmed a member of the Church, you were given the right to have the Holy Ghost as your companion. The Holy Ghost is a powerful source of light to recognize truth, to follow and love the Lord Jesus Christ, and to find your way back to God after this life. 

But the spirit who led the rebellion in the world before still opposes the plan and wants you to be miserable. He wants you never to find your way home again. That enemy of your soul knows you and your goodness. He knows that if he can turn you away from walking in the light, he can both capture you and stop you from helping others along the journey...

You make choices every day and almost every hour that keep you walking in the light or moving away toward darkness.

This confirms much of what I wanted to say about light and darkness. We all have some light in us, that light is meant to be a guiding influence in our lives, the Holy Ghost is a great source of light, Satan tries to pull us away from the light, but in the end, it's our choice who we follow, and every decision we make takes us either closer to or farther from the light.

This isn't all that I would like to say about light and darkness, and I'd love to break this all down and say it more clearly, but I have to get this blog post up in the next half hour, so I don't have enough time make this blog post just the way I'd like it. But I'll do what I can.

Essentially, there is a path of light. The specific details of this 'path of light' may be different for each of us, for example, one person may be inspired to become a doctor, and another might be inspired to become a firefighter. They both save lives, but in different ways. And we're not all doctors and firefighters. When we each follow God's plan for us, we're lead to different places in different ways, but all of us are lead to do good. Which leads me to my next point.

Even though the details of our paths may be different, the basics of our paths are the same. God wants all of us to do good and be righteous, and influence others to do good and be righteous. God wants all of us to keep the commandments, no matter what our individual callings are.

Another thing that's universally true is that the Holy Ghost wants to help us follow the path of light, so he nudges us and whispers in our ears. He respects our decisions, and He won't keep bothering us if we insist that we don't want His help, but if we do want His help, and follow His directions, He'll lead us down the right path and give us opportunities to do a lot of good.

On the other hand, the evil spirit doesn't want us to follow, or even find that path of light. He constantly nudges us and whispers in our ears things that he thinks will tempt us to follow other paths. All too often, he's successful at leading others astray, and misery always follows.

As President Eyring said, "Such choices are not always easy to see clearly." We need to be careful to make sure that we're following the light. A good way to judge whether we're walking in light or darkness is how we feel on the inside. The Holy Ghost, the messenger of light, tends to bring with Him feelings of peace and comfort. If you're not sure what the Spirit feels like, try this: Do something you know is good, and carefully examine your feelings afterward. Do this repeatedly and soon you'll have a pretty good idea what the Spirit feels like. Follow that, and you're well on your way to walking in the light.

Time's up. Not too bad for a start. More to follow.

No Prompt Today. =(

I don't have a prompt for today's blog post. I watched several Mormon Messages videos and skimmed through a few General Conference talks, but nothing really stood out to me in a way that encouraged me to share it. Maybe something will come to me as I type.

I've been thinking about the Armor of God (the spiritual armor, not the blog). How one puts it on, how it helps, how one maintains it. It does require maintenance. With physical armor, you put it on once and unless you take it off, or unless it falls off somehow, you'll be wearing it for the rest of your life. Spiritual armor isn't so permanent. Putting it on is a process, and you've got to continue the process even when you think you're done, or you'll lose the protection.

Armor might be a bad analogy for this. Fire is better, since you have to constantly supply it with firewood. The fire analogy has been used for testimony many times. But fires don't protect you from anything, except maybe wild animals that might be afraid of it. Hey...

I don't know about the 'wild animals' part, but there's something vaguely familiar about the thought of the enemies of the light having a sort of fear or at least aversion to light (light here being used to mean righteousness). Isn't there a saying: "Satan trembles when he see the weakest saint upon his knees"?

Right now, I want to write about light and darkness. I want to write about how we can generate light to repel darkness. I want to write that those who have grown to be comfortable in darkness will be uncomfortable in light, and those comfortable with light are uncomfortable in darkness. That the world is filling with darkness, but that heaven remains full of light. If we want to be comfortable when we go there, we'll need to fill ourselves with light first. There are varying degrees of light and darkness and no person on earth is totally light or totally dark. There is both light and darkness in all of us, thus there is hope for even those that are in darkness and room for improvement for those that are in the light.

I also want to talk about the Spirit as being attracted by light and repelled by darkness. Similarly, but on the other end of the spectrum, the devil is attracted by darkness and can be repelled by light. Thus, by "cast[ing] off the works of darkness and put[ting] on the armor of light," we can attract the Spirit, repel the devil, and thus protect ourselves from temptation. Also, I want to point out that having that kind of light take constant effort, that we need to continually grow that light, or it will diminish.

I want to encourage us to generate more light. I want to write something inspiring, informative, uplifting, and good. But it will take time. I'll need to find good resources: Conference Talks to quote from, scriptures to cite, things like that. I know there are hundreds of messages on this topic (if it can be considered just one topic). I just need to find them. I could do what I can with my own reasoning and speculation, but it would feel so much better to be able to back the message up with quotes. I want to be sure that I get my facts straight, to be sure that what I tell you is true. I could really use a review in this message myself. It'll really beneficial to me to read what the General Authorities say about light and darkness.

I'm going to have to do some research and get back to you. I'm sorry that this blog post has no real message. Maybe you can pick up a little, inspiring snippet from those paragraphs I wrote about what I want to write later. When I actually manage to write about light and darkness, that blog post will be much better. And I got the idea from writing this post, so at least it hasn't been a total waste.

Anyhow, I have research to do. And homework. I have a short essay due on... Tuesday? That may take priority. =/ Anyhow, I've got to move on. I'll post something good tomorrow morning. Maybe about light and darkness, maybe not. I want to make sure I do that topic justice when I do it. But I will do it, and hopefully soon. It's a really interesting topic. I look forward to researching it.

Virtual Reality vs Spirituality

Another Mormon Message I haven't seen before. Not quite as dramatic as the last one, but still good, and very applicable. The message comes to us from Elder David A. Bednar, and the message is titled Things As They Really Are. That's kind of a vague title. Personally, I would change it to Virtual Reality vs Spirituality. Hold on, I can probably embed this one, too.




These things are working, right?

Anyhow, for the first half of this video, I'll admit I was kind of only half listening. This was all stuff we've heard before. When is he going to say something new? Exactly two minutes into the video.

I offer two questions for consideration in your personal pondering and prayerful study. Question number one: Does the use of various technologies and media invite or impede the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost in your life? Question number two: Does the time you spend using various technologies and media enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve, in meaningful ways?

I'd like to delve into both of these questions, but I'd also like to leave for school in a little less than an hour. I'll see what I can do.

Question One: Does it invite or impede the Holy Ghost?
My first thought was that technology impedes the Holy Ghost. If we're paying attention to what the electronic boxes are telling us, we're probably not paying attention to the Spirit. The short version of the story is that too much technology is bad. Right? Wrong.

As Elder Bednar said just before asking the questions, "Please understand, I am not suggesting all technology is inherently bad; it is not." Electronic devices are not inherently bad, and the Spirit is not automatically offended every time we connect to the internet. But some uses of technology is offensive to the Spirit, and giving too much attention and devotion to even the harmless uses of technology can lessen our sensitivity to the Spirit. It's not that technology is bad; it's that we use it wrong. Some might argue that the internet is evil, that it was invented by the devil for the selling and distribution of pornography. There may be other enthusiasts who say that is a divine gift, that it was given to us from God for the sharing and strengthening of testimonies.

It's all in how we use it. Some use it for good and invite the Spirit by doing so; some use it for evil and thus drive away the Spirit. Naturally, God wants us to use technology for good.

Question Two: Does it enlarge or restrict your capacity to live, to love, and to serve?
Again, my first thought was in the negative. I was thinking that every hour we spend on the internet is an hour we didn't spend playing board games with our families or serving in a soup kitchen. Every conversation we have through texts and emails is a conversation we didn't have face to face and heart to heart. Again, I was thinking that technology was bad, and once again, I was wrong.

Let's continue that correcting quote from Elder Bednar. "Please understand, I am not suggesting all technology is inherently bad; it is not. Nor am I saying we should not use its many capabilities in appropriate ways to learn, to communicate, to lift and brighten lives, and to build the church."

There are good ways to use technology. Not just neutral, but good. We can use it not only "to learn, to communicate," which are both usually good things, but also "to lift and brighten lives," which is always a good thing. We can do a great deal of good through technology. Yet, there are also many cases in which we can to even more good face to face and heart to heart.

It's all in how much we use it. Some people go online and do some good electronically; some people go outside and do some good personally. I believe that for most people, God wants us to do both.

If we spend all our time doing good through thechnology, we miss many opportunities to do good in person (and vice versa, but I doubt anyone has that problem. Actually, I doubt that anyone has either problem because it's virtually impossible to spend all your time doing good, online or in person. But I think you know what I mean).

The true short version of the story is that God wants us to do as much good as we can through every method He has made available to us, including, but not limited to, technology. By posting this message, I hope to do at least some good electronically, but now I'm going to go outside and see if I can do some more good in person.

How to Always Have His Spirit

In considering the concept of being ready and preparing to be ready to do whatever God needs us to do when the moment comes, I thought about the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost has been given to us to guide us, and if we follow its direction, we'll be lead to do things that make us more righteous and worthy, and thus more ready to serve. Also, we'll gain practice in following the promptings of the Spirit, so when it gives us special directions in unique circumstances, we're more likely to be able to understand and follow those directions than we would be if following the Spirit is a new experience for us.

Elder David A. Bednar gave a good talk about the Spirit in April 2006. In that talk, he told us that even though we've been promised that we "may always have His spirit to be with [us]," there are things that we sometimes do that cause us to withdraw from the Spirit (or vice versa. I'm not sure which). I think it's important to remember that the promise is that we may always have His spirit to be with us. We may  have it, in the sense that we're allowed to have it (as in 'you may have a cookie'), and we may have it in the sense that we might always have it to be with us; it's possible that we'll always have the Spirit as our guide. But it is in no way promised that we will always have his Spirit to be with us. As Elder Bednar taught, whether we have the Spirit with us or not depends a lot on our choices.

For example, whether we currently have the Spirit with us or not, we can do good things that will invite the Spirit to be with us. Also, whether we currently have the Spirit or not, we could do things that would drive away the Spirit. The Spirit won't stay when we make it uncomfortable. If we partake in bad media, or if we harbor evil thoughts, the Spirit will warn us against those things, but if we don't heed those warnings, the Spirit will leave us. Alternatively, if we heed the warnings and shun temptation, we'll find that we have the Spirit with us in greater abundance.

The Spirit is a strengthening force. When we have the Spirit with us, we will have the courage to do things that we otherwise might have been to shy to do, like reaching out to help someone. Also, as noted before, the Spirit is a guiding influence, giving us direction on exactly what we can do to help. And when we need help, the Spirit can be a comforter, helping us feel peace, hope, and love.

Since the Spirit it such a valuable influence, and since it won't always stay with us if we do things that drive it away, it's important to know what kinds of things offend the Spirit, so we can avoid them, and what things invite the Spirit, so we can seek them. To this end, Elder Bednar shared some very useful counsel.

The standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing. If that which is intended to entertain, for example, alienates us from the Holy Spirit, then certainly that type of entertainment is not for us. Because the Spirit cannot abide that which is vulgar, crude, or immodest, then clearly such things are not for us. Because we estrange the Spirit of the Lord when we engage in activities we know we should shun, then such things definitely are not for us.

Things that help us invite the Spirit include: meaningful personal and family prayer, feasting on the words of Christ, faithfully keeping commandments and honoring covenants, developing Christlike attributes, and serving others. The full list is so long that it probably can't be written, but it can all be summed up in the phrase "doing good things."

We invite the Spirit when we do things that are good. We repel the Spirit when we do things that are bad. The choice is always ours to make. The presence of the Spirit is an extra incentive to do good things, and a friend to encourage us to keep doing good things. Having the Spirit with us can be a big help, and when perilous times come, we'll need all the help we can get. So we should act now to develop good habits to attract the Spirit, and gain practice and experience in following the Spirit. Like the young man in video, we never know when we might need it.

When Lightning Strikes

Apparently, I haven't yet seen all of those Mormon Messages videos. I just saw one this morning that I'm sure I've never seen before. If I have seen it before, I must not have been really watching. Hold on, I think I can embed it.




Did that work? Is it working?

In any case, the title of the video is Sanctify Yourselves, and certainly that is its message, but first it tells you why you would want to do that. This message is directed specifically at the Priesthood (as are most messages of correction from the Twelve), but what Elder Holland said near the end about holding the future in your hands could easily apply to anyone, and the requirement to stay worthy to call down the powers of heaven does not only apply to men.

I cried during this video. I felt that, if I had been in this young man's position, I would have been so worried that I wasn't worthy enough. More than that, I would have been panicked. I might have told God that I had never asked for that kind of responsibility, that I wasn't up to that kind of challenge, that He couldn't ask ask that much of me, or rather that He could, but that I couldn't deliver.

The moral of this story seems to be that you never know when lightning will strike. You never know when your next trial (or, to put a positive twist on it, your next opportunity) will come, so we need to prepare now to be ready for it.

How many times have we heard this before, Brethren? (Actually, I don't know if any Priesthood holders read this blog, so I may just be talking to myself here.) We've been frequently, even regularly reminded that we need to be righteous, worthy, and ready to respond. You remember that scripture, "In the last days, perilous times shall come"? Which days are we in again? And has anything perilous been happening recently? Let alone the moral degradation of society, I'm not in a position to comment on that, but there have been plenty of natural disasters to go around. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, storms. More people than little league football players are going to need healing before all this is over. Will we be ready to provide it? Will we be worthy? Will I?

This is a personal issue, and it can only be answered individually. This is a cause for self-reflection and an increase in personal commitment. I've said before that I use paladins as my role-models. One of the qualities I envy in paladins is their constant commitment. They're always on their best behavior. They always maintain their standards, and they never break their commitments. It must be exhausting for them, but there are certain benefits to it: they're always ready to answer the call, to call down the powers of heaven, to aid their fellow man.

We could use a few paladins right about now. And if we don't need them yet, we'll certainly need them soon. We're going to need their courage, their faithfulness, their ability to heal. But thankfully, in this case, we don't need paladins, per se. We'd be just as well served by faithful disciples of Christ.

In either case, one doesn't become a paladin or a disciple overnight. It takes prior effort. If I'm going to become a paladin, or a disciple whose qualities are on par with those of a paladin, I had better start developing those qualities now. We're already in the Last Days, we've already seen some perilous times, and certainly we're already in the most strongly contested part of the battle for mortal souls. We haven't a moment to lose. The time for disciples is now.

Riding the Bicycle

I just listened to President Uchtdorf's talk Of Regrets and Resolutions. In that talk, he said several things that I needed to hear. Actually, I probably need to hear them again, but I don't have time. I'm leaving for school in less than an hour (an hour earlier than normal), and I really need to post at least something on my blog before I go.

President Uchtdorf shared a usual experience that he and his wife had when riding their bicycles.

My wife, Harriet, and I love riding our bicycles. It is wonderful to get out and enjoy the beauties of nature. We have certain routes we like to bike, but we don’t pay too much attention to how far we go or how fast we travel in comparison with other riders.

However, occasionally I think we should be a bit more competitive. I even think we could get a better time or ride at a higher speed if only we pushed ourselves a little more. And then sometimes I even make the big mistake of mentioning this idea to my wonderful wife.

Her typical reaction to my suggestions of this nature is always very kind, very clear, and very direct. She smiles and says, “Dieter, it’s not a race; it’s a journey. Enjoy the moment.”

When thinking of Harriet Uchtdorf's quote in context of the other blog posts I've written, I wonder if what she said about bike-riding could be said about Eternal Progression as well.

Thinking about what I've posted recently, the primary concern seems to be the constant need for improvement. We have so many sins to resolve, so many bad habits to quit, so many Christlike qualities to develop. Even if we forget about the mortal world and focus only on the eternal things, life seems to give us an unending supply of things to do.

And of course, all those things are important to do. We have to resolve all our past transgressions, kick all our bad habits, and develop every Christlike quality if we're ever going to become perfect. I occasionally get impatient with myself for not kicking bad habits quickly enough. Perhaps I would do well to remember what Harriet Uchtdorf said, "it's not a race; it's a journey."

One thing that I try to remember about Eternal Progression is that, in our mortal perspective, it'll take an eternity to complete. No one can do it all in one lifetime, but fortunately, this one lifetime isn't all we have. Because of Christ, we'll all be resurrected, so we can continue living and progressing after we die. It's not a race. We don't have to get there faster than anyone else. We don't even have to do it quickly. We just have to do it persistently. And all we have to do in this life is get ourselves on the right path, and show, by our actions, that we're willing to follow that path forever.

But something that is very important to remember about this journey is that, even though there is no deadline for reaching the destination, We Must Never Stop. We're still on bicycles. If you're riding your bike and stop pedaling, you might coast for a while, if you already have momentum or if you're going downhill at the moment, but gradually, you're going to slow down, and when you feel yourself slowing down, you'd better start pedaling again or you'll crash.

It's the same with Eternal Progression. We don't have to burn rubber or anything, we can take the time to "Enjoy the moment," as Sister Uchtdorf said, but if we ever stop progressing, we may find the resulting crash a very painful experience, and we may find it very hard to start biking again.

There is a balance. There has to be. Somewhere between making good progress toward our Eternal goals and not stressing out too much about how we're nowhere near perfect yet, there has to be some "perfect speed" which is slow enough that we can find joy in the journey, but also fast enough that we can be satisfied with our progress. Maybe that speed is different for every person. Some of us, undoubtably, need to speed up, and some of us may be surprised to learn that we might do well to slow down. Only God knows for sure.

If there's one thing I've learned this morning, it's that we need to keep biking - uphill, downhill, forever - but while we bike, it's important to find joy in the journey and to enjoy the ride.

Buying the Bicycle

I just spent the morning reading Believing Christ. Unfortunately, I didn't find the exact section I was looking for, but I did find some sections that teach the concept that I wanted to share. In the first chapter, Robinson talks about what he calls the Great Dilemma. It's basically that God wants us to be perfect, but none of us can reach that standard, at least, not within our lifetimes. Chapter two talks about the solution to that dilemma.

He shares a story about his young daughter, who desperately wanted a bicycle. They couldn't really afford a bike, so he said something vague about saving her pennies, and left it at that. Several weeks later, his daughter came to him and said that she had done what he had asked of her, and they went shopping for a bike. Eventually, they found the bike that was perfect for her. The only thing that wasn't perfect was the price. The bike cost about a hundred dollars. Her savings? Sixty-one cents. She was devastated. Seeing her despair, her dad made her a new deal: "You give me everything you've got, the whole sixty-one cents, and a hug and a kiss, and this bike is yours."

Like the girl, it's practically impossible for us to achieve perfection on our own. Sure, it's theoretically possible for us to keep all the commandments perfectly, just as it's theoretically possible for her to save up enough to buy the bike, but realistically? We need help. That's where the Savior comes in. He asks us to do our best, give Him the whole sixty-one cents, or however much or little we are able to do, and He'll pay the difference.

To be honest, we're nowhere near perfect, but that doesn't really matter. All that matters is that we try to do what God asks of us and that we make sure to trust God for the rest. He does want us to achieve perfection eventually, but in the meantime, He knows that we're only human. He loves us and He's willing to make up for our imperfections. And as far as I'm concerned, that's really good news.