Life is Choice

The Lord said unto Enoch:

"Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;"  (Moses 7:32)

God made us and gave us knowledge (how this works is a whole other topic), and in the Garden of Eden (the beginning, or creation of life) He gave us a choice.  We were able to choose between good and evil.  The trees of the Garden represent the choices we were able to make.  They were limited, according to our knowledge.  Since we were innocent, they were simple and straightforward, "Do this, and don't do that."  The choice was as simple as an innocent two-year-old being told not to eat the cookies in the cookie jar.  However, that simple choice made all the difference in the world!  It is choice that brings life, as Lehi explained to his son, Jacob.

"And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away."  (2 Nephi 2:13)

Freedom is the ability to choose.  Without freedom there is no difference.  It is both the existence of agency, or freedom, and the presence of a choice that makes life possible.

There must be a choice
Without choice there is no life.  Agency, or the ability to choose is the essence of life.  If there are no options, then there is no choice, and everything is the same, and nothing exists.  Again, Lehi explains:

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility."  (2 Nephi 2:11)

It is contrast that makes everything exist.  Without opposition, nothing exists.  All power is found in opposition.  All life is found in opposition.  All of existence is contrast.

• Electric power is found in the contrast between poles.
• Magnetic power is found in the contrast between charges.
• Light, or vision, is the contrast of hue, gradient, and colors.
• Muscle movement depends on the opposition between calcium and magnesium ions in the cell.
• Nerve conduction is found in the contrast between intracellular and extracellular ion concentrations of sodium and potassium.  
• The power to hear is found in the contrast of sound waves.

All that is power, all that is movement, all that is change, indeed, all that makes life possible is found in contrast, or opposition.

Opposition of good and evil
Ultimately, our choice is between good and evil.

"men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil;"  (2 Nephi 2:27)

This freedom is based on the existence of a choice, and the ability to act for ourselves, being free agents.  If we are free to choose, there must be a choice to make.  Moreover, this choice must be between equals.

"the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other." (2 Nephi 2:16)

In order to for choice to exist, there must be a reason to choose, or we must be enticed to choose one or the other.  If I am given the choice of sitting in a prison cell or having all the power and money I want, that's not a choice.  If I have a choice between a penny and a million dollars, that's not a choice.  Each must have a draw of some type that makes them equal.  Each must be enticing in some way.

Life is suffering
The Buddha reminds us that "Life is suffering."  He is saying that part of the contrast that makes life possible is  suffering.  We must have joy, happiness, peace, and love -- but on the other hand, we must also have pain, discomfort, and misery.  Without the contrast, there is no life.  We cannot know joy without misery.

"if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.  And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin."  (2 Nephi 2:22-23) 

People think that the choice between good and evil is simple, and everyone knows that evil is bad, and nobody would choose it.  This is not the case, in reality.  The choice we make, on one level, is to suffer.  If we choose to suffer, then we are choosing good.  If we choose to avoid, or put off suffering, pain, or discomfort, then we are choosing evil.  We must suffer.  Good is choosing our suffering, evil is trying to avoid suffering, and having it forced upon us.

My business is to try to help people avoid the suffering of illness.  However, the way I was taught in medical school is evil.  We were told that we could relieve suffering and allow people to continue their bad habits.  This is not avoiding suffering, it is creating more suffering in the future.  The amount of disability, pain, and death from this program is tremendous!

Now, I have an entirely different practice -- I make people suffer now, so they won't have to suffer later.  By choosing to suffer now, they are doing good.  They will be hungry.  Their muscles will hurt.  They will give up their favorite foods and activities now so that they can know joy in the future.  People finish our program and begin, sometimes for the first time, to enjoy life.  The contrast is amazing!

This opposition is inescapable; we must have both ends of the spectrum in order to live.  Good is the choice to go into pain so that we can receive joy, happiness, and love.  Evil is the choice to have our cake now and try to avoid future suffering that will inevitably result.

To act, or to be acted upon
Choice is the ability to act, and not to be acted upon.  There is a continuum, or scale upon which all good and evil is based.  The scale is choice.  The higher on the scale, the more freedom we have.  There is a bottom where there is no choice at all, we are chained, ignorant, and lost completely.  There is also a top where we have all things before us, all knowledge, and infinite choices with the freedom to choose anything.

If we choose evil, we are choosing bondage.  We will be ignorant, or unable to choose.  We relinquish choice if we try to avoid life, including suffering, and receive death.  Death is not to cease to exist, but rather to remove the freedom to choose life.  If a mother chooses to abort a baby she is carrying, she no longer has a baby, choices end, life ends.  If, on the other hand, she chooses to suffer the pain of childbirth, and problems of raising her child, life goes on with an infinite number of choices.

If we choose to suffer, we are choosing to act against our wants, needs, and desires.  We are going against our natural tendency of laziness.  We are not being carried downstream, but swimming upstream.  It is active, requiring effort on our part -- constant effort.  This effort yields rewards that bring pleasure to us.  If, on the other hand, we choose not to act, we are lazy and choose to float downstream, we will end up in the sea of misery.  We then have lost all choice.  We are acted upon.  We are able to either choose our misery, or have it forced upon us.

Evil removes choice
There are two ways evil removes choice:
1. Not offering options
2. Binding, blocking, decreasing power to choose

This is a result of making short-term choices in a selfish manner.  When I choose what I like, or what I want, then pain will be the result.  We find addictions to all sorts of desires because we choose them, and lose the ability to not choose them.  We suffer pain, and we lose options, or the power to choose.  For example, we like to rest, and not work hard so we don't exercise.  Over time, we then lose the ability to work or use our muscles.  Our freedom is lost, and we only have misery.  Or, if we don't take care of our brains, we get dementia or memory loss, being unable to make choices.  Evil is being on the wrong side of contrast -- choosing comfort now so we will have misery forced upon us later.

Good increases choice
There are two ways that good gives more choice:

1. Giving more options
2. Increasing power, or control

This is a result of choosing to put off what we desire now so that we can achieve a higher goal.  The ability to sacrifice gives us power over ourselves.  We learn self-control.  Also, we have more knowledge as we suffer through our pain, loss, and discomfort.  We learn the lessons of life.  We are enabled to feel joy and happiness because we know the contrast of sorrow and misery.  We can choose our misery, or it will choose us.  We must go through it, either way.  It is part of life.  Good is being on the right side of contrast, choosing suffering now so we can experience joy forever.

The ways we choose to suffer are important.  Whipping ourselves, cutting, or causing illness doesn't bring the greatest benefit.  It does help with self-control, but isn't part of a program that brings permanent joy.  This comes by:

1. Submission to the will of God
2. Making Eternal choices
3. Allowing suffering, pain, discomfort
4. Learning self-control

Submission means giving up our own will, or the things that we want, and doing God's will instead.  We are generally filled with desires for wealth, ease, comfort and pleasure of all kinds.  We have a broken heart when we give up all the desires of our heart and submit to all the will of the Lord.  His will brings the exact suffering we need in order to learn peace, love and joy.

When we make short-term choices, the consequences are generally suffering of some kind.  We may want that chocolate bar now, but we will pay for it later.  Eternal choices are always difficult.  We will suffer to have children and raise them.  It is hard to be married forever.  Keeping our body fit, and choosing to eat only things that build and nourish the body is eternal.  All of the things that are good are forever, increasing our choices.

While we don't necessarily create our own suffering, we do allow it as the will of God.  Life will bring its own suffering, and we need to accept it, and allow it, rather than fight against it.  Perish the thought that we shouldn't suffer.  "Life is suffering."  We need to suffer in order to live and have life.  As we fast, for example, we allow the body to feel hungry.  As we exercise, we allow the body to feel fatigue, or pain.

Self-mastery is the process of unifying the body and spirit.  Giving our spirit executive power over the body requires huge effort.  The more we have indulged the whims of the body, the more power the body has to control.  Giving the spirit control means allowing the body to suffer deprivation of desires.  This is usually a lifetime effort.  It doesn't happen in a day, or a year.  Once the spirit has full control, we are unified, and we have repented of all our sins.

Choice is life
Without choice there is no life.  There must be contrast.  There must be a choice.  There must be a devil in contrast to God.  We must choose sides.  That is life; indeed, it is our very purpose.  If we choose life we go on to increase in our power to make more choices.  If we choose death, we are given boundaries, and we lose our ability to choose.

Cecile B. DeMille made the following observation.

"We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them—or else, by keeping them, rise through them to the fullness of freedom under God. God means us to be free. With divine daring, he gave us the power of choice." (Commencement Address, Brigham Young University, May 31, 1957) (CR, Oct. 1959, 127)

Subjecting the Son to the Father

In the most amazing of all speeches, Abinadi explains the relationship of Christ to God, His Father, and how Christ is both the Father and the Son.  He explains how Christ becomes our father when we are subject to His will.  It is a most difficult concept, and I feel like most just skip over the Father-Son doctrine in favor of the story of Abinadi.

I'm going to take the first eleven verses of Mosiah chapter 15 and give an interpretation in the context of God the Father and God the Son, and then re-interpret them in terms of us in the world.  I want to show how we could benefit in our own lives from knowing the relationship between the God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

And now Abinadi said unto them: I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people.

"God Himself" refers to that God, Jehovah, Yahweh, the great I Am, who created all things would condescend to walk in the flesh among the children He created all things in order to get us out of our lost and fallen state and move on to Eternal Life.

And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, 

Even though He is the Creator, He is the Son of God because He was conceived by God, the Only Begotten son of God, in the flesh.

...and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, 

Jesus relinquished the desires of the flesh to do only God's will, as Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."  (John 5:19)

...being the Father and the Son—The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.

The unity of God is found in the subjection of the Son to the Father.  Jesus was the only One conceived by the power of God, and because He is completely subject to the Father, He becomes the Father, they are One God, who together created Heaven and Earth.

And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, 

As a man, Jesus subjected His body to His Spirit, Jehovah, doing only the will of the Father, making them one God.

...suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.  And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.  Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.  And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; giving the Son power to make intercession for the children of men—Having ascended into heaven, having the bowels of mercy; being filled with compassion towards the children of men; standing betwixt them and justice; having broken the bands of death, taken upon himself their iniquity and their transgressions, having redeemed them, and satisfied the demands of justice.

These are the works of Jesus, making Him the Christ, the Anointed One.  These are the ways that He subjected His flesh to His Spirit, or subjected Himself to God.  He allowed all forms of suffering in the flesh, temptation, mocking, beating, and rejection, even after He had performed many miracles.  He didn't defend Himself.  He suffered injustice even to death -- so completely was His flesh sacrificed to the will of God.  It was the will of the Father that He suffer, bleed, and die for all mankind so He could save us from death and hell.  He subjected Himself to men because He was wholly subject to God.  It was all God's will.

And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who shall be his seed?  Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God.

Those who believe in the holy prophets and look forward to Christ for a remission of sins become His children, and He is their Father.  They inherit what He has because they are His children.  How do they become His children?  The same way He became the Son of God, by subjecting themselves completely to His will, and by doing the same thing He did.

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.  (John 4:34) 

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  (John 6:38)

If we want to be children of Christ, we must do the same thing He did.  This is a very important concept of the father-son relationship.  The Pharisees said Abraham was their father, and Jesus told them, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham."  (John 8:39)  Abraham completely submitted his will to Jehovah, even to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, on an altar.

The Father and Son within
Now, lets look at how the relationship between God the Father and God the Son can apply to us.

Within each of our bodies is a spirit that is subject to the will of God.  Our spirits made covenants with God before we came to Earth, that we would be obedient to our Lord, and sacrifice all things, even our very lives.  Lets call the spirit the father, because it is subject to God, as Abinadi described.

However, when we actually receive a body, we allow the body to control our actions.  The body has feelings, and needs.  If we don't eat, we are hungry, if we don't eat, we are thirsty.  We want to avoid all forms of pain, and seek only pleasurable things.  Lets call the body the son, because it is the flesh, as Abinadi described.

Looking again at the speech by Abinadi in this light, we could see how we would do the works of Jesus, and become His children:

And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son—

We dwell in the flesh, the body being the son and the spirit being the father.  When we subject our flesh to our spirit we have both.

And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.

When the spirit is in control, the body follows, there is unity within us.  The progression of unity is ultimately the same, and follows an Eternal pattern:

God the Father --> Christ --> our spirit --> our flesh

Each is progressively subject to the Lord above him, bringing unity within ourselves, and at the same time unity with Christ, who is one with the Father.  We are all One.  Now we can discuss how we actually achieve this unity.

And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit, or the Son to the Father, being one God, suffereth temptation, and yieldeth not to the temptation, 

When we subject our flesh, or son, to our spirit, or father, we become one with God.  The way we do this is by not giving in to temptation.  The flesh wants things that are destructive.  We want certain foods because of taste; we want comforts and pleasures; the flesh is lazy and wants to avoid work and effort.  All of these temptations are part of the flesh, or the son.  When the spirit is in control we will not give in to needs, desires, addictions, or wants of the flesh, rather we will choose to nourish the flesh and the spirit.  We will not give in to the lusts of the flesh, or temptation.  Also, we will allow all forms of discomfort of the body, including pain, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and so forth.  This is not to say that we should be completely Spartan or Stoic, beating the flesh into submission, but rather simply having the father (spirit) take control of the son (body).

but suffereth himself to be mocked, and scourged, and cast out, and disowned by his people.

The word "suffereth" is "to allow."  We will also allow others to mistreat us.  We will allow rejection of all kinds, and not seek the approval of our fellow-men, even our own families.

Love of Father
The metaphor is beautiful.  If we look at any father-son relationship we find love at the core and foundation.  Fathers love their sons.  The son is the heir to the father.  The father nourishes the son, provides for the son, and teaches the son to grow up and become a man.  A father wants the best for his son, but doesn't allow the son to wander aimlessly.  A loving father gives strict guidelines and rules, reproving his son when he strays from them, but lovingly bringing him back in line.

If we look inside ourselves and understand that we have two parts that are separate and distinct.  The flesh is like a child with wants and needs that must be addressed, while the spirit is like an adult that provides and teaches.  In order to become one, the child must be subject to, obedient to, and learn from the father.

Many people, however, allow the child to run their being.  They are as wild horses, roaming free with no bridal to tame them.  They are as two-year-old children just wanting, needing without regard to consequences.  It's like the inmates are running the asylum.  These indulge every whim of the body, being more and more destructive to themselves and those around them.  They have addictions because they cannot control themselves, there is no bridal, nobody is in charge.  The spirit has completely given up controlling the body.  They have absentee fathers, creating chaos.

When the father is in charge of the son, or the spirit is in charge of the body, the picture is just the opposite.  Everything changes.  There is control.  There is peace.  There is happiness.  There is civility.  There is unity and love.

A parent loves a young child by providing for needs instead of wants, and giving guidance.  When a child asks for ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the parent wisely listens, kisses him, and gives him broccoli.  Then, after a strenuous day of labor, they go get some ice cream.  A loving parent allows a child to roam, but when the child gets too close to the street, or any danger, the parent physically picks him up and moves him to safety.  The parent lovingly listens to all the idle chatter, the dreams and crazy ideas of the child, just allowing the child to be himself.  A loving parent also teaches the child to be clean, healthy, and independent.  Love is found in the parent making sacrifices for a child -- giving time and resources, setting guidelines, and not paying too much attention to temper, screaming, crying for wants.

Our spirit, or father, can do the same for our body, or son.  We can allow the body to be, allowing hunger, thirst, fatigue, or pain, at times, but wisely seeking relief when it's too much.  The spirit can look lovingly at the body as a two-year-old child that will have temper tantrums for wanting things, and just smile, waiting for it to go away.  Hunger lasts only a few minutes, we can wait to eat.  Desires for tasty treats, water, sex, relaxation, and other pleasures can be postponed, or put in proper order.  The "father" can tell the "son" when it is time to eat, what to eat, or when certain pleasures are appropriate.  Thus, we subject the son to the father, as Jesus was subject to God.  "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;"  (Hebrews 5:8)

Becoming One
The unity created by doing this is powerful.  We will be able to become adults in the full sense of the word, providing for others according to our gifts, helping many people.  Those who do good, however, are often not appreciated.  The prophets may get stoned, verbally and physically, in spite of the good they do, or because of it.  Again, Christ is the example:

And after all this, after working many mighty miracles among the children of men, he shall be led, yea, even as Isaiah said, as a sheep before the shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.  Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.

Ultimately, the spirit will ask the body to die so that they may become one.  It may be a painful death.  The body must be willing to die without complaint or objection because it is totally submissive to the spirit.

The process of subjecting our body to our spirit is exactly the same as the story of Christ and His Father, as well as our spirit to Christ.  Power is found in unity.  Each with separate wills must come together in order to receive power.  Jesus didn't want to suffer for all of mankind, but was willing because His body was subject to his spirit, or the Son was obedient to the Father.  The Father asked Jesus to do it, and He said, "not my will, but thine, be done."  (Luke 22:42)  In doing so, He allows all of us to become one with Him, and consequentially, one with God.

As Jesus Christ is completely obedient to God the Father, our spirits must be subject to Christ, and our bodies subject to our spirits.  This is the pattern of unity.  It is how we become one with the Father, becoming the children of God.  "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."  (Romans 8:17)  That we all may become the children of God is my prayer in the holy name of Jesus Christ.