Tenets of Devotion

In D&D, the Paladins are expected to abide by certain tenets, depending on the Oaths they swear. Of these, probably my favorites are the Paladins who swear Oaths of Devotion, and thus are expected to live the Tenets of Devotion, which are listed on page 86 of the Player's Handbook:

Honesty. Don't lie or cheat. Let your word be your promise.

Courage. Never fear to act, though caution is wise.

Compassion. Aid others, protect the weak, and punish those who threaten them. Show mercy to your foes, but temper it with wisdom.

Honor. Treat others with fairness, and let your honorable deeds be an example to them. Do as much good as possible while causing the least amount of harm.

Duty. Be responsible for your actions and their consequences, protect those entrusted to your care, and obey those who have just authority over you.

These are fairly decent rules to live by, and they're among the main reasons I like to play a Paladin. I like playing characters with built-in reasons to be good. Granted, any player can just choose to have their character be Good, but I like having a clear, in-game reasons to be Good. This is a large part of the reason why I play a Paladin, particularly a Devotion Paladin, when I get the chance. These tenets are principles that I want to live by, both inside and outside the game. I play a Paladin when I can because I want to live by these standards in real life, and playing a Paladin will hopefully help be do better at being like one in real life.

Asking "Will You" Instead of "Please"

I normally say "please" when I ask for something, especially when the person I'm asking is God. It only makes sense to make it a polite request. But this morning, I tried something different. I asked "will you help me," instead of "please help me."

There are several semantic differences at play here, all adding their own connotative interpretations of what was said. For one thing, it gives God more of an "out," if the answer is "no." "Please help me" is a request that would be rude to refuse, but "will you help me" can be a simple question of fact, akin to asking "will it rain tomorrow," to which a "no" answer is a mere statement of fact, with no moral judgement placed on anyone.

On the other hand, a "yes" answer represents more of a commitment with "will you" than with "please." If someone asks God "will you help me," and God answers "yes," that is a commitment which, we can be certain, God will keep.

There were other reasons I liked "will you" over "please," but it's difficult to think of them right now because I'm tired.

Now, this doesn't mean that I will only as "will you" and never "please" from now on. Both are useful in certain situations. And it may be that "please" still makes more sense than "will you" more often than not. But occasionally, it makes more sense to ask God "will you help me" than "please help me," so I'll probably do it again.

Struggling Without Calling Upon God

In Mormon 5:2, we are told that the Nephites, now deeply entrenched in iniquity, and at war with the Lamanites, "did struggle for their lives without calling upon that Being who created them."

This strikes me as being incredibly foolish, but not much more foolish than we are when we also "struggle . . . without calling upon [God]." Sure, God's miracles are either few and far between or so subtle as to remain unseen, but hey, it couldn't hurt to ask, right?

In life, we have to struggle. That's just a given. Everyone has to struggle. But we don't always have to struggle alone. God will, sometimes, perhaps often, come to help us, but only when asked. No matter how much we struggle, no matter how much He wants to help us, God will, respectfully, wait for us to ask for His help.

Granted, there are times when we are better off without His help, and He lets us move forward on our own, usually either to help us gain strength or to let us prove to ourselves how strong we already are, but at those times when we really need His help, and it's important that we get it, He will help us, if, and only if, we ask Him to.

Let us never be so foolish that we forget to ask for God's help. True, we don't always get it, even when we ask, but it doesn't hurt to ask. It can only hold us back it we don't. I don't want to struggle, but I especially don't want to be foolish enough to struggle without calling upon God.

Searching for Inspiration - Spiritual Eyes

I just spent half an hour or so looking for inspiration, and then I realized my problem. I only started looking for inspiration when I needed one I could blog about. Up until then, I was focusing on my other responsibilities, like writing my essay, tutoring, and doing other work. I wasn't really listening for the Spirit or looking for inspiration until the last minute.

I know that life gets crazy, and it seems like we have a dozen things to do each day, which is why I'm not going to say that we should "make time" for spiritual matters. Sometimes, that's not really a viable option. Instead, I'm going to say that we should look for the Spirit in even secular things.

For example, I tutored a student working on a paper about slavery. God has compassion for the suffering of others, and so should we. I'm working on a paper about lifetime appointments for federal judges. General Authorities also serve for life, as should we. I helped tie a load of stuff into a trailer. The commandments also "tie us down," but only to help us get where we're trying to go. Those are three examples of spiritual thoughts that I could have had and blogged about way earlier today, except that I wasn't thinking about that.

I used to be really good at seeing spiritual messages in mundane objects and events. I think I've let myself get distracted "in the thick of thin things," one might say. It would be good for me to learn to see with spiritual eyes again, and not just for blogging purposes, either. I want to connect with the Spirit more, if only for my personal and spiritual well-being.

Inspiration is out there. It's not something one needs to actively search for, but one does need to be looking with one's spiritual eyes to see it.

Steps in the Right Direction

Navigation is, perhaps, not as hard as it is sometimes made out to be. For example, I don't know exactly where Mt Rushmore is, but given enough time, I'm confident that I could get myself there. This is because I know the general direction of Mt Rushmore (East Northeast, I assume), so I know the general direction to head in, and I'm confident that local maps and signs can give me more precise directions once I get closer. I can't pinpoint Mt Rushmore on a map, and I can't give anyone detailed directions, but I know its location well enough that I can start taking steps in the right direction, and I can figure it out from there.

Similarly, I may not know Jesus Christ well enough to emulate His behavior perfectly, but I know enough about His attributes to see places where I can improve. I can't follow in His footsteps exactly, but I can take steps in the right direction. None of us are perfect, and I daresay none of us know how to be perfect, but we each know at least a handful of ways in which we can be better, so we all know enough to enable us to take steps toward perfection, even if we don't know precisely what perfection looks like yet.

I'm sure that I couldn't find the Celestial Kingdom on a map (unless that map is really a diagram), but I know its location well enough to take steps in the right direction.

The Shame Cycle

You know about the Pride Cycle. It's all over the Book of Mormon. A person or group is blessed, they prosper, they get proud, God withholds His blessings, the person or group falls, then they repent and are blessed and prospered again. It happens countless times over the generations.

What I want to talk about is similar, probably in name only, and probably only because I named it that way. It's something I call the Shame Cycle.

Every once in a while, someone feels down. Life gets people down sometimes. That happens. But when that happens, people generally try to cheer themselves up, and, depending on how down they were and how long they were down, they might try something desperate and or foolish, in hopes it cheers them up. Sometimes it's drugs or alcohol. Sometimes it's sinful behavior. Sometimes it's venting negative emotions. Whatever their chosen form of relief is, it's not good for them, but it actually works, in the short term. For a little while, they feel better. They may even feel okay for a while. But then the consequences of their actions kick in, and those consequences make them feel even worse than before. They feel down again. And they remember what they did last time that (sorta) cheered them up again. They do the same thing they did last time, it sorta works again, but then they crash again, and so it goes. Bad feeling, bad behavior, "good" feeling, bad feeling, bad behavior. Ad infinitum.

It's called the Shame Cycle because the "bad feeling," after the first few cycles at least, is almost always shame. People feel ashamed of what they had done, and they feel miserable about it, but they turn to the same bad behavior to dull the pain of their shame.

The good news is that I've found a way to break the cycle. The bad news is that it isn't easy. We need to learn to turn to Good behavior, even (and especially) when we're feeling bad, so we can get our "good feeling" from good sources. Doing exercise and giving service are great for this, as are playing and/or singing hymns. Really, any good thing you can do can invite the Spirit into your heart, which is one of the best Good Feelings of all.

It's tempting to turn to bad behavior for "good feelings," but that perpetuates the shame cycle, which only leaves people feeling worse. But if we turn toward good behavior for our good feelings, we can break the Shame Cycle and get good feelings that last longer and won't ultimately let us down.

For the Beauty of the Earth

As anyone who follows me on Facebook probably knows, I like mountains. I love their beauty and majesty. I marvel at their scale. And I especially appreciate their symbolism as daunting challenges, lofty ambitions, glorious achievements, and our striving to draw closer to God. Mountains are awesome. And if I appreciate nothing else about God, I at least have to appreciate His artistic craftsmanship in creating them. It's amazing that God made every mountain, forest, coastline, and all other beautiful landscapes. He's an incredible artist, and He created a marvelous world for us. I'm glad that I get to live in it and look at it. It truly is a wonderful creation.