And It Came To Pass

There seems to be a culturally based idea, at least in my religion, which says if you live your life as a righteous member that your life will be easier.  (This begs the questions: what does it mean to be a "righteous member" and what does "easier" mean, but those are different discussions.)  There is this pervasive idea that if you don't do as you've been instructed, if you're not obedient to authority, that you'll have more challenges and a harder time.  If and when you return to the fold your life will go back to being easy.  If a person subscribes to this line of thought, it's simple to jump to the conclusion that if someone's life is hard, they must be paying for mistakes or sinning. 

I'm not sure where this concept comes from, since it's certainly not accurate.  If I look at it from a Biblical perspective I find Job, who was described as "perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil" Job 1:1.  He had as many troubles as most mortals experience in a lifetime, despite being such a good guy.  In my own personal experience, I live a pretty clean life as far as standards go.  Yet I've had some tremendous challenges including brain damage, back surgery, near paralyzing pain for months on end, and that's just some of my physical challenges. 

I think its a huge misconception that "righteous members" (whatever that means) have it easier. Mortality is just hard, regardless of your walk of life.   Whether I am Christian, Buddhist, or worship little green men from space, I am not exempt from difficulties that come with having a mortal body and being on this planet.  As far as religion and life choices, I believe that I choose the path I want to walk and learn what I can from it.  Joining my church has surely not made my life easier, but I stick with it because it's what I want.  Owning my choice and acknowledging that life is just hard, insulates me from the idea that I'm a bad person and being punished for something I've done wrong.  It also keeps me from judging someone else as a sinner or judging their mistakes because their life is hard.  It also prevents me from judging others to be better people than I am because to me their lives look idyllic or easy. 

Judge not, that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.   And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  Matt 7:1-3 (KJV)

"For thus saith the Lord:  Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one man shall not think himself above another;"  Mosiah 23:7

One of the things that helps me when things are really difficult is to remind myself of something a friend used to say all the time.  When she was stressed, she would tell herself, "It came to pass.  It didn't come to stay, it came to pass."  It Came To Pass is a simple little phrase that I find all over the Bible and other scriptures which I've adopted as well.  It reminds me that no challenge lasts forever.  No emotion, regardless of how dramatic, is permanent.  

I like the idea that Christ came and atoned for my sins (and yours, and everyone else's).  I don't think that every time I mess up I'm causing Him more pain, because I believe He already atoned for everything anyone has ever, or could ever do.  The stuff I've already messed up is covered, and the stuff I will mess up is covered.  That's the beauty of it for me, coming to feel like Jesus loves me enough to take care of all of it, even what hasn't happened yet.  

Abraham and Black White Round Pens

I'd like to address a historical issue that many have with my religion.  In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints there are four books of canonized (official) scripture that we use.  These are the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants.  Within the Pearl of Great Price there s a book titled Abraham, just like Acts is a book in the Bible.  There is wealth of evidence illustrating that this is not a direct translation from Egyptian papyrus.  That was the generally accepted explanation of its origins within the church for many years.  This information, new to many people, is really upsetting.  I've met many good people who believe very literally in what they have been taught, and anything that varies from that rhetoric is either simply dismissed, or becomes cause for great emotional and intellectual strife.  This includes the idea that the book of Abraham was directly and literally translated from egyptian by Joseph Smith.  I observe this quite a bit both in my church and in the horse world, people who feel the way they see things is the only way to see things.

The way I see it is perhaps different that most.  If a person sees the world as black and white, everything is either right or wrong, then it can be a big step to acknowledge that there might be shades of grey.  Let's imagine for a moment there are only two ways of looking at something, my way and the wrong way.  White and black.  For me it is too restrictive to think of the book of Abraham (or any book) as being entirely factually absolute truth or entirely false.  To take the concept of black and white and admit there might be grey in between is very difficult for black and white thinkers.  But I'm going to take it even further.

I believe there is black and white, an infinite number of shades of grey, and there is also chartreuse.  How could a person possibly appreciate reds, blues, oranges, if he is only willing to look at the world, at religion in black and white?  Even black and white photographs print better if you use the color ink cartridge.  There is something to be learned from all kinds of people, all kinds of faiths, all colors and creeds, all kinds of books.  God made us all, we are all His children, regardless of which religion we subscribe to.  He does not love any of us less than the others, and He gives us all information as we are able to understand it. 

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.  And now, behold, I say unto you, and I would that ye should remember, that God is merciful unto all who believe on his name; therefore he desireth, in the first place, that ye should believe, ye, even on his word.  And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also.  Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned.  Alma 21:21-23

I don't see anything in there about disregarding truthful information when it comes from unlikely places.  In fact, these scriptures mean to me that ANYONE can receive information from God, even people who are stereo-typically assumed to be unable to receive revelation like women and children.  The book of Abraham is helpful to me in as much as I read it and find it helpful. 

For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men.  For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.  2 Nephi 31:3

I can gain inspiration and knowledge and insight in all kinds of places.  For example:  I'm standing in the round pen, a circular pen full of sand with a horse and an excited barking dog.  I'm trying to teach the horse the voice commands for each gait: walk, trot, canter, whoa (stop) and reverse (turn and go the other direction).  I speak quietly, because I want the horse to listen carefully to what I'm saying.  If I shout, the horse tends to ignore me until I've said the command several times.  While I'm teaching these soft voice commands to the horse, my dog is leaping around like a buffoon.  He loves the whip, and always barks at it hoping to catch the end of the lash in his mouth while he jumps up and down in blissful enthusiasm.  It is much harder for the horse hear me because of the dog cavorting around at the top of his lungs.  Nevertheless I continue to speak quietly, and as I do so the horse gradually learns to tune out the dog and attend to what I'm saying. 

Every time I'm in this situation (which happens several times weekly since I'm a horse trainer) I think of how God speaks to me.  He almost never bellows or loudly rattles the rooftops, He always explains things to me softly, so quietly I could easily miss it if I was attending to the barking dogs in my life.  It has taken me years of practice to learn how to hear God speak to me, and to realize that it is different than how He speaks to other people, and that difference is ok and necessary.  He speaketh unto them according to their language and understanding.  My best friend hears Him differently than I do, and my acquaintances at church hear Him in ever more diverse ways. 

If I can receive communication from God while standing in a 100' sand pen with a fractious horse and a barking dog, why couldn't I also gain inspiration about how to live a better life from this book of Abraham?  What if that book is not merely white or black, true or false, but neon purple? 

In the first chapter, the beginning of the book's story explains that Abraham had questions.  He wanted happiness and peace, and he desired knowledge.  He desired instructions.  Most of what is given as revelation in the book of Abraham is a response to Abraham's questions.  Not all of them are answered.  I equate this to my own life, and I view it as permission and encouragement from God to ASK QUESTIONS.  If the only way I'm going to get the information and blessings I so desire is to ask, you better believe I'll be asking the hard questions.  Most of my questions I don't have answers for yet, but I sure keep asking them. 

To take it one step further, if you really get into the details of how people perceive colors, what I see as blue may not be the same as the color you identify as blue.  There are too many variables, rods, cones, light refracting differently in your eyeball than in mine.  Not to mention the incredibly complicated system of nerves and chemicals that get the image to your brain, then the complexities of how a brain processes that information.  If our biology is so complicated, and I believe God designed it that way, how can a book be entirely factually true or entirely false?

I recognize that for a black and white thinker, my answer of "chartreuse" to this issue about the book of Abraham may sound like a game of Duck Duck Goose where instead of Goose, I proclaim "Skyscraper!"  I just don't think that you can solve a problem with the same black and white thinking that created it, so this is how I reason through the problem of the historicity of the book of Abraham.