The Real Choice

Everything we are choosing is not so much what happens to us, our circumstances, but rather the connections we make with our Creator.  We are choosing every minute whether this part of our life brings us closer to God, or farther away.

In ev'ry condition—in sickness, in health,
In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth,
At home or abroad, on the land or the sea—
How Firm a Foundation Hymn 85:2

This is true with every situation.

Wealth can bring you closer to God, or farther away.  No matter what the level of poverty we have in life, we are using that to choose to come closer to God, or farther away.  There is none that has any wealth, really.  We are all roughly equally poor.  In the Eternal sense of things we are all completely destitute and dependent, no matter what we think we own in the world.

Thou sayest, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;" and knowest not that thou art
wretched,
and miserable,
and poor,
and blind,
and naked:  (Revelation 3:17)

Comforts can take us away from God, but wealth can also bring us to Him.  If the will of the Lord is that we have the things of the world, and we consecrate all we have to Him, to serve His purposes, then we could become truly rich with the riches of Eternity.  This is the real choice we have, not how rich or poor we are here on Earth.  We have no control over what we have, it is all given to us.  It is firstly His to give.  Nothing is "earned."  Nothing is "owned."  We really are, at all times while in mortality,

"wretched,
and miserable,
and poor,
and blind,
and naked:"

It is not the wealth that tears us away from God, but rather the "lusts of the eyes" -- the things we want.  This is just as true for those who have nothing of the world.  They are just as...

wretched,
and miserable,
and poor,
and blind,
and naked 

...as a "rich" person, but if they are greedy in their hearts, filled with envy and covetousness, lusting after the things that others own, their poverty will bring them away from God.  It is their choice.  It is the true choice we have.  It is the only choice.  Those who discover this truth can use their circumstance of "poverty or wealth" to further the work of God, and come closer to Him.

The choice is simple.  Those who don't have enough for their needs could choose to turn to the Lord to fill their needs.  As He does so, their faith in Him will be increased.  They will learn to put their trust in Him, and come closer to Him.

On the other hand, those who consider themselves wealthy would consecrate all they have to the work of the Lord.  They ask the Lord how He wants them to distribute their possessions.  They will seek those in need, and

"nourish them,
and did clothe them,
and did give unto them lands for their inheritance;
And... administer unto them according to their wants."  (Alma 35:9)

As thy do this, they learn to become closer to the Lord, and learn His ways.

This concept is true no matter what the circumstance.

"But wo unto the rich, who are rich as to the things of the world. For because they are rich they despise the poor, and they persecute the meek, and their hearts are upon their treasures; wherefore, their treasure is their god. And behold, their treasure shall perish with them also.
And wo unto the deaf that will not hear; for they shall perish.
Wo unto the blind that will not see; for they shall perish also."  (2 Nephi 9:30-32)

The concept of "poverty and wealth" could be applied to all circumstances we may find ourselves in, such as health or knowledge.  Health is like wealth, whereas sickness is like poverty.  Those who are "learned" are as if they were wealthy in the knowledge of the world, whereas those who have no training are poor in knowledge.  No matter what it is, we are not deciding if we are going to be rich or poor, healthy or sick, learned or ignorant, but rather if we are going to use that circumstance to bring us closer to God, or not.

Being physically fit and healthy could, like the rich man, either lead us away from God by not being able to discover how needy we really are, or it can bring us closer to Him as we give our strength to serve His purposes, working hard to serve Him and our fellow-man.  If we are sick we may use that illness to choose to come closer to God by seeking healing from His hand, or turn inward, justifying all of our spiritual weaknesses because of our physical infirmities.

Those who are smart enough to go to school and get a higher education may consider themselves intelligent, but don't know that they are really ignorant compared to their Father, who knows all things.  Learned people often look down on those who don't have schooling, and they don't seek the mind and will of the Lord for their lives.  They consider themselves strong and independent, not needing to lean on the Lord for their support.

"When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish."  (2 Nephi 9:28)

Just like the rich man, they are really ignorant, and in need of God for everything they know.  However, they aren't aware of their need.

This is just as much of a problem with the unschooled.  They may look with lust on learning, or be lazy or give up trying, and not learn anything.  Ignorant people, rather than turn to the Lord to find knowledge, will sometimes ridicule or despise those who are learned.  God is not a god of ignorance.  Growth is about learning and growing continually.  God has commanded us to "seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith." (D&C 88:118)  Thus, their ignorance could lead them away from God, or bring them closer to Him.  It's their choice.

If either one turns to the Lord they will use their circumstances to bless His children.  As knowledge grows, so does all of society.  "But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God."  (2 Nephi 9:29)  This is the issue, really, no matter what our circumstances in life -- do we seek the counsel of God?

Understanding of what our choice is in life would make us see our circumstances differently.  All that we have, all that we know, and all that we feel, are merely means to help us to choose Him, no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.  That is the real choice.

Endless

I sat in my car with a young man in the parking lot of a hotel.  We had intended to talk in the hotel lobby because he didn't want to go home where his mom was.  Instead, we stayed in the car.  He had attempted suicide the day before.  He cut himself multiple times and took sleeping pills hoping he would just bleed to death in his sleep.  He woke up with very little blood around him.  He was still alone, with nobody to call.  He felt awful, terrible, and horrible.  There was no way out of how he felt.  He just cried and cried.

A line segment has two ends.  Time has two ends.  Life on Earth has two ends.  We often call these "the beginning" and "the end."  While this is what we see, and is apparent, in reality there is no end.  Existence is really a line, but we only see one segment.  There are no ends, only stages.  You can't stop.  The train of life doesn't stop.  You can't get off.  You don't cease to exist.  Life has always been, and it keeps going even as there are constant changes.  You end one form, and move on to another, but the essence of who you are always was, and always will be.  We "lived" before our birth, and we will move on to other "lives" after we leave it.  There is no stopping this train.  There are no ends.

The young man said that even as he was trying to die, he knew it would not be the end.  He knew that his life would continue in another dimension, and that he would have to account for his actions.  He knew that he would still be himself, and be in the same situation of feeling horrible and being isolated.  He just wanted it to stop.  He wanted to cease to exist.  He wanted an end, but he knew that it really wouldn't be the end.

Many people want an end.  They don't like life for a thousand reasons, and want it to end, at least at some point.  This is pointed out in "retirement," where people try to bide their time until they die, the end.  "Live out my last days in peace."  Their "life" is already over, they've finished growing and learning, and working, now they can just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labors.  The end is near.  What they don't see is that it has already happened.

Anxiety and fear come from ends.  The modern physician is told to give people fear of ends so that they will be motivated to obey.  People obediently take their medication to "prevent the end" when all they really do is create more problems.  The irony is that most of these people who fear "the end" are already finished, they just want to prolong their goodbyes.  They have already given up on life.  They are no longer learning and growing.  They don't take on new responsibilities, learn new languages, work to make the world a better place, or love more people, rather they are entirely inwardly focused on the next cruise they can enjoy, food they can eat, or movie they can passively watch.  They are already as dead as they will ever be, because they will go on, but not to life

Work is a necessary part of life.  In spite of this, we want to be lazy and avoid work.  There are many forms of work that fulfill a life, such as using muscles and brains to help others, trading our specialty for theirs, planting, growing, harvesting those things we need to survive, or loving, giving, learning and growing in any way.  There is no end to the work of life.  There is no retirement.

Life is growth.  Life is work.  Life is hard.  M. Scott Peck, MD, a psychiatrist, noted in his book, The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth

“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and accept it-then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.”

What is so important about this concept of immortality is that it is horrible if you are not living, growing, learning, improving and loving.  If all you have is self-absorbed whims, your life goes on as a separate, single, independent entity that cannot grow, improve or change.  The excitement of life is change, and yet dead people avoid change.  You will go on, but you will never change.  It's hell, which is worse than not existing.  A dead, isolated existence is just yucky!  Existence continues, but life does not -- unless we choose to live.

The way to end the pain is not to try to stop it.  This only creates more frustration, pain, sorrow, anxiety, and depression.  It is hopeless to stop it.  You must accept it. You must go on, you will go on, your only choice is how you will go on.  If you choose to go on living you will connect with more and more people.  Fulfillment in life is connections with others.  These are made as we learn and grow.  We need others to teach us, and we need to teach others.  People who never marry or have children have a more difficult time growing up than those who marry and have children.  Nevertheless, they can choose to take on the responsibility for the welfare of others and still learn and grow.  They live.  They don't want to stop.  They don't want ends.

"Salvation" is not the same as immortality -- that is a given -- but rather Eternal Life is salvation  To continue to live, learn, grow, and improve is what constitutes and defines life.  If the end comes and we are already dead, we will not suddenly get life, but rather just continue on the path we have chosen.  The young man knew this, and was very glad his stupid plan didn't work.  I just wanted to say so much to him.

Live the hardness.  Take on the responsibility.  Live life to the fullest.  Give your whole heart.  Give all your energy.  Love all you can.  Learn all there is.  Be the motivation for others.  Go to school.  Play your music.  Get married, have children.  Sure it's hard.  Of course you will have setbacks, pain, problems, "speed bumps," and all sorts of "failures."  That's life.  That's how we learn.  That's how we grow.  The endless life is the only life worth living.  Don't try to stop it.  Push ahead.  Go, Go, Go!  Move!  Act!  Do it!  Don't stop, and don't try to stop it.

As soon as you decide to live, you will remove all the fear of life, and ends.  Life will go on forever.  Love will be a possibility.  And, immortality will become Eternal Life.  Because we can choose, if we are willing to put in the effort, for life to be ENDLESS!