Few There Be That Find It

First Steps

Life is a journey.
First: Begin with the end in mind.
Before you begin any journey you must have a destination.
Set your personal goal.
Decide what you want to accomplish.
Choose where you want to end up, and move towards it.
Learn what the options are, and make a choice.

Allow me to elucidate the options.

OPTIONS
1. Outer Darkness: The first option is a conscious decision to oppose growth. It is teaching lies and being destructive. It is the power of destruction. It is preventing growth. This power is an important one in the Universe because it gives people the ability to choose. It is real power! It means choosing darkness and shadows, and being comfortable in suffering.

2. The second option is doing what you like to do, living a life of selfishness. It leads to servitude, the lowest common man. It is only the power to do what you’re told.

3. The third option is being nice, and honorable. It leads to being creative, and having the ability to work with others to bring things to light, to engineer things that creators want.

4. The fourth option is following Christ, it leads to peace and rest, being angels to the gods, living among those who have the power of creation.

All foregoing choices are death, meaning you stay wherever you end up -- forever. The last option is different.

5. The greatest option is Eternal Life, which means ongoing growth, forever increasing in glory. This is the hardest because it requires constantly making, and losing, connections with others. It is also the hardest to find. “Few there be that find it.”

If you have chosen eternal life, read on, if you have chosen anything else, you’re done, and you can stop reading now.

After you’ve made the choice to achieve eternal life, you must take the steps to get there. You cannot get there alone -- it’s impossible. You can’t even get close. You can’t see it or understand it until you experience it first. You must know where you're going by understanding God.

Understand the Godhead:
Eternal Life is the life of God, our Father in Heaven. We go to Him. We speak to Him. We worship Him by seeking a connection with Him. As children we can grow up to be like Him.
Jesus Christ is the way to God. Without Him, there is no way for us to even communicate with God.
The Holy Ghost is our guide. The Holy Ghost speaks to our spirit, and we must understand that language.

Step 1: Connect with your spirit.
Your body is connected with the world around you with your vision, hearing, and other senses. By focusing on them you are unable to feel your spirit. The needs of the body scream like a little baby who is hungry. The spirit whispers. The senses of the spirit are quiet, and must be carefully and systematically connected to the body if you are to ever understand them.

Deny the body
By denying the sensory input from the body, you can strengthen the connection of the spirit. You will feel the spiritual connections more when the physical feelings aren’t being stimulated.
Fasting is a good way to do this.
Avoiding stimulation of other kinds such as comfort, excitement, sex, candy, adrenaline rush, coffee, alcohol, or other physical stimulation.
Pain is very good for making a connection with the spirit.
The more you avoid gratification of physical desires, the stronger your connection with your spirit.

Prayer
Taking your focus off of yourself and your own needs, training your mind to connect with God, whom you cannot see, will help you to feel. It can take years to learn how to pray. The basic lesson is changing from “I want” to “Thy will be done.” Prayer is not trying to convince God to give you what you want, but rather to find out what He wants you to do.  As you get impressions, write them down.

Meditation
Take time to be quiet. Listen to yourself. Choose a topic to think about, to wonder about, something you want to know or understand, and ponder on it. Listen to what is inside, and write down your impressions.

Read scriptures
The Book of Mormon is the best way to start. It teaches all the basics of the Gospel to both the mind and the spirit. As you read ask yourself what it is you can learn from this passage, sentence, word, phrase, or story. Write down your impressions.

Step 2: Follow the spirit
The impressions you’ve been writing are the whisperings of the spirit. They are connected with the Holy Ghost, who is God. Once you are in touch with your inner spirit, you can begin to listen and follow it. Choosing to do what you are impressed to do is a hard thing. People tend to do what they want to do, and what they have to do. Few do what they know they should do. Do what you know you should do. When you hear the voice of the Spirit of God telling you to do something, or not to do something -- follow it!  Those impressions are like gold, and will lead you to knowledge.

Step 3: Develop Faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ
Faith is gathering evidence. It is the substance that supports your beliefs. As you listen to your spirit, you will come to see that you are not where you want to be, and there is no way for you to get there. You are lost, and hopeless. So, you look around for a Savior, One who can help you get there. Jesus Christ has led the way. He takes you there. He takes you to wherever you want to go. Whichever choice you made, He will help you to achieve it. Without Him you cannot even take the first step. Without Him there are no steps, you are in a wasteland, a flat desert with nothing around, and your goal is ten miles over your head. Gravity binds you to the desert floor. You’re stuck. Jesus can lift you up. He is there. He has the elevator controls, and can take you out of your self-imposed prison. Follow Him. He knows the way. Seek Him, and learn of Him. Read the Scriptures. This will bring faith in Him, and you will then allow Him to help you.

Step 4: Repent
Humans like to skip this step. We feel like if God loved us He would take us just the way we are. He does love you, just the way you are. He created you as you are. However, He is holy, and different than you. You will not be comfortable with Him unless you become like Him. If you were dirty and smelled bad in a room full of people clean and nicely dressed, you would feel uncomfortable. In the same way, unless you change, clean-up your act, and be like God, you will feel uncomfortable in His presence. Repentance is the process of cleansing so you can feel comfortable in His presence. All your darkness will come to light. In His presence everyone will know everything about you, everything you think, and everything you have ever done. You stand there naked for the world to see. If you keep anything you want to hide, you will be uncomfortable. You must repent of ALL your sins.

Step 5: Baptism
Once you have no more darkness, you are ready to make a commitment. Because you are no longer a sinner, Jesus Christ can wash you clean of your past mistakes. Moreover, in being baptized, you are committed to bury your previous life, to sacrifice everything, to let the body and all that it desires die so you can rise up and be washed clean, living a new life in God. It is a simple and yet profoundly symbolic ritual. You will not understand everything about it even many years later. The commitment of this ritual is absolutely necessary for you to move forward, because it is the cleansing ritual that binds you to Christ. He is the Father of your re-birth.

Step 6: The gift of the Holy Ghost
After repenting of all sins, and being cleansed by water, you can receive the Holy Ghost, because the Spirit cannot dwell in unholy temples. Up to now you have had intimations of the Holy Ghost. You have received inspiration and guidance at times. You have had gifts given to you. You have had a witness and a testimony from the Holy Ghost. Now, however, you have hands laid on your head by those with authority to give the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is a commandment to receive the Holy Ghost as your constant guide through your life -- a guide to Eternal Life. The Holy Ghost tells you all things that you must do. All things. Every step of every day is given to you. You will receive other gifts - prophecy, revelations, visions, healing, and so forth. However, like any other gift, you must prepare yourself to receive it, by doing all of the former things. Then, you do the next step to maintain it.

Step 7: Take the Sacrament with real intent
The sacrament is a ritual that symbolizes how you may receive and keep the gift of the Holy Ghost. You take the body of Christ into your body, and His blood into yours. You become His child, flesh of His flesh, blood of His blood. He becomes your Father, and your Lord. If you remember Him always, do as He says, and take upon you His name, suffering for the sins of others, you will always have His Spirit to be with you. Each week you can remember Him, and re-commit yourself to follow Him, and to be His son. As you do this you will have comfort in the journey, in spite of sorrows or pain.

Step 8: Endure to the end
You have now started on the path to Eternal Life. From here, you have no other guide except the Holy Ghost. The Spirit will guide you on the rest of your journey. Nobody on Earth can tell you the way. It is straight and narrow, and is your personal path directed by God. If you quit, you don’t finish. Don’t quit. Don’t give up. Never give up. Stay in the race to win with all your heart. Quitters never prosper. They don’t reach their goals. In spite of all the hardship, pain, suffering, problems, and discomforts of following Christ, reaching your goal of Eternal Life is worth infinitely more. Every sorrow and difficulty you experience will lift you that much higher. Only those who endure the depths can reach the heights. The lower you go, the higher you rise. This is the joy in suffering. Jesus did it, follow Him to the end.

The Wall

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18

Jesus Christ allows me to love; without Him there is no love. Without Him I'm lost, alone, lonely. As I come close to anyone, I get hurt. My pride is hurt. My toes get stepped-on. I can be hurt in so many ways. Because I'm hurt, I pull back and avoid others, keeping me alone, and lonely. This is miserable. I blame others for my misery because I was hurt, it's only logical to protect myself. It’s their fault I can’t love her because I can't trust anyone, I've been hurt before. "Once bitten, twice shy." It's perfectly logical, and totally natural. If I get hurt, I'm going to avoid it in the future. The saying goes:

Hurt me once, shame on you.
Hurt me twice, shame on me.

Those around us will hurt us. The closer these bumbling creatures come to us, the more chances they will have to hurt us. Ignorance, selfishness, and even hatefulness will make them cause us pain. They will always cause us pain, and pain causes fear.

You're all just bricks in the wall!
As soon as I realize that I can be hurt, I immediately put up a wall to protect myself for survival, self-preservation, and protection. Fear builds the wall. I’m not going to let that happen. I don’t trust anyone. My protection is to not allow anyone to get close enough to step on my toes. However, to protect myself from one, I have to put up a wall that keeps everyone out.

Now, I”m miserable, alone, and lonely because I don’t trust anyone. I’m lost and alone. I have no love, no milk of human kindness. I can blame others all I want, but in reality, I'm the loser. All of my protection only keeps me miserable. My own walls make me miserable. I’m protecting my heart from hurt so I can never feel loved. Even though others love me, I can’t feel it because I’m blocking their love. The wall doesn’t block only some, but all. "Nobody loves me" because I can’t feel it. I might know in my head, but I can’t feel it. I’m lonely, alone, and miserable. Life seems hopeless, and I get anxiety, and depression.

"Heart wall" is a descriptive term for whatever blocks entrance into our heart. The Tongue of Angels uses the term, "hard hearted." It is the inability to love. The wall is made of fear. Some people have light walls with loose bricks, and others have steel-reinforced concrete walls that seem impenetrable. The wall prevents people from loving, and feeling loved, with all of the consequences:
Envy
Strife
Malice
Addiction
Back-biting
Adultery
Abuse
Divorce
Fault-finding
Lust
Shame
Greed
Hatred
...and so forth. All that separates humans from each other, all the devices used to quell the loneliness, and all we do because of shame come because of the walls we make. When people don't have a wall, they have a heart, they care, they love, and they feel loved so they exhibit none of the above behaviors.

Tear down the wall!
If I am to love, and be loved, I must desire love more than protection from pain. Every hurt, every pain, every scrape, every infraction is nothing compared to love. Love is the greatest. Love is the connection we have with each other. Love is happiness. Love takes all the misery out of life. Pain is temporary, but love is forever!

I have control over my heart wall because I build it, and tear it down by my choices. If I forgive and let go of all the pain I receive, I'll have no fear, and there will be no wall. The only way to love is to forgive. Nothing is unforgivable. Everything must be forgiven. If I hold a grudge against anyone, then I have a wall against everyone. If I hate anyone, then I hate everyone. “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:” (1 John 4:20)

Love begins with forgiveness. When I'm hurt, I can hold a grudge, and shut everyone out, putting up walls -- or I can let go and forgive. When all is forgiven, and forgotten, then there is nothing to come between me and you. We are free to love completely. We can give and receive love. We can be close. We can trust without fear, “for, perfect love casteth out all fear.” (Moroni 8:16)  Fear comes from being hurt. Forgiveness removes the memory of the pain, it is forgotten, and I'm free to love. There is no need for self-protection, or walls.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the way. He prepared the way. I can give every pain to Him. All that I suffer will be taken on by Him, and I can be free to love others. I can forgive them because He takes on everything. I don’t need to trust in anyone else. I can go into the fight without worry about getting hurt. He says:

"And their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield and their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me; and their enemies shall be under their feet; and I will let fall the sword in their behalf, and by the fire of mine indignation will I preserve them." (D&C 35:14)

The antidote to fear is courage, knowing that love will hurt, but I will heal. I can go back into life without putting walls around my heart, like a fighter goes into the ring knowing he's going to get hurt, but also has the chance to win. I can love freely, knowing I will be hurt, but staying soft and accepting suffering for the chance to win the heart of my enemy. The courage to love, is the courage to forgive every hurt, every pain, every loss, and every infraction, however big or small, and then returning without fear, without walls, without protection, without a shield to freely give, and receive.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” (Matthew 5:43-44)

I don’t need to trust my spouse, my friends, or even my enemies. I need only to trust the Lord. Through Him I can forgive, and be forgiven. I need to trust that He has taken on all my suffering, and will make everything right. I can courageously love without walls, without reservation, without holding back, without protection or self-preservation -- without fear. He will protect me. He will give me all I need. It will hurt -- life hurts -- but I will heal. My trust in Him is my courage. My belief in Him is my forgiveness. My faith in Him is my love. I can love, and be loved, because He can heal all my wounds.

"Ya gotta be cruel to be kind"

Gods save sentient beings. We have choice, and ignorance. Learning requires making mistakes, and experiencing evil, hatred, bad, loss, pain, and suffering. These are eternal, so we need to be saved. Everyone needs salvation from themselves. We know we need salvation. All that we do indicates that we know we need to be saved from our own ignorance, childishness - and stupidity. The gods are whatever we need to save us. False gods cannot save. We look for others to save us from loneliness.  Some seek a sexual connection. Others create an ego of goodness. We may numb our conscience with drugs, or feel like money can fix anything. So many of us bury our head in the sand and refuse to believe, thinking ignorance can save us.

For me, I need others to bear testimony of my goodness. I need my wife to say, “He’s a good husband.” I need my children to say, “He’s a good father.” I need my patients to say, “He’s a good doctor.” I need members of the Church to say “He’s a good Mormon.” I need Christians to say, "He's a good Christian." I need friends to support my “goodness.” My pride, my ego, my god needs this support. I protect my pride - at all costs. I have to, or I would have nothing. I see myself as a basically good person, and I want to continue to see myself as good. I need to protect my image. The image is a false god. My “good” ego is a false god which cannot save me.

I have an enemy, a patient who is threatening a lawsuit, and to publish to the world that I created pain - hurting instead of healing, and I feel extremely stressed. I’m in self-preservation mode. I’m being accused of being a bad doctor. It feels like I could lose everything! I need to protect myself. I feel so anxious about the possibility of losing the support of others - my pride - that I shake, and feel palpitations, I lose sleep, I can’t eat. My mind is racing from “defend myself,” to “attack my attacker.” I have to protect myself.

However, it’s clear to me after fervent prayer that I really need the ego to be stripped away - to be stripped of pride. I need to stop looking to others to feed my ego. The ego is very fragile and requires the support of others. It’s a building without a foundation, standing in the air, and will fall. It will fall, sooner or later. I cannot protect it. I cannot continue to put all my energy into supporting it. It needs to fall.

I only have one other option: to turn to God. The only true God. The only One who saves. Charity doesn’t protect herself. Meekness and lowliness of heart allow the exposure, pain, and loss without attacking back, or even getting angry. Meekness doesn’t kill the snake that bit me. I need charity. I need meekness. I need love. I need kindness. I need compassion. I’ve been bitten. My ego is being threatened. I need to NOT protect myself. I will meekly go into the loss of my pride. I will look to God to save me, instead of the opinions of others. In this sense, it’s the best thing that could happen to me, truly a gift from God. The attack on my pride is needed, for without it I would never learn these things.

My friends are my enemies. My friends support my ego. My friends tell me what I want to hear. My friends give me what I want. Those I like, who like me, require nothing of me, offering nothing but more of the same. I do not have to sacrifice, nor suffer, so I cannot learn to love, nor have charity. I keep my ego. I keep my pride. They support my false gods. My friends enable my addictions, and help me float down the river of pride to the gulf of misery and endless wo -- pushing me down to hell!

My enemies are my friends. Only my enemies help me to grow, to learn, to smash all of my false gods. My enemies help me on the way to Eternal Life by showing me my weaknesses. They teach me the lessons of life. They give me pain, sorrow, and grief. They teach me the ways of forgiveness and love. They make me whole. They make me turn to the Lord. Only my enemies prepare me to receive the gift of charity, the pure love of Christ. Suffering at the hand of an enemy is the path to salvation because it helps me to let go of the false gods. Enemies are a gift from God, the true God, the One who saves.

I need more enemies, and fewer friends.

Grace

Judas was chosen to be an apostle by Jesus for a purpose, specifically to betray Him.

Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him... Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
     (John 6:64,70-71)

Judas had a mission, and was chosen for that mission. He was told to do it, even commanded. Read carefully, did the Lord really command Judas to betray Him?

When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake.
Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him.
For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.
He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.
Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. (John 13:21-31)

Jesus specifically told Judas to do it, quickly, and he did. He did all that he was told to do. He was chosen for this moment. The other eleven apostles didn't know what it meant, but Judas did.

I don’t understand, why was he chosen to do a heinous crime? Why was he told to do it?  There was purpose, so Jesus could fulfill His mission. Is Judas Iscariot a hero, or a villain? Should we condemn or exalt him? For, without his courageous mission to betray the Lord, we could not be saved. Peter is replaceable; we would still be saved without Paul or John, but Judas was a necessary part of the plan. Without him the Savior would not have finished His work.

The Jews
Likewise, without the Jews willingness to take upon themselves the blood of the Son of God, we would be left without salvation. The counsel of the Jews was told by the High Priest (the prophet) that Jesus needed to die for them, to save their nation, to gather all of Israel, and for the world, that salvation may come to all. They needed to put Him to death.

Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.
Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.
(John 11:47-53)

The Jews were commanded by the High Priest to kill Jesus. It was their mission to slay the Passover Lamb. They knew He was sent from God, as confessed by Nicodemus:

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
(John 3:1-2)

Judas, and the Jews needed to perform this act so that the prophecy could be fulfilled, and the world could be saved. They did as they were commanded to do. In that sense, they allow us to be saved because Jesus had to die.

Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him—for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.  (2 Nephi 10:3)

What does “Behoove” mean?

Behoove: to be necessary or proper for, as for moral or ethical considerations; be incumbent on.  (Google Dictionary)

It was planned. The Jews had to fulfill their mission to crucify their God. Nobody else in the world would do it. Nobody else could do it. It was set up to happen this way. It was “necessary and proper.” Those people were specifically sent to Earth to that place and time to do what they did. For centuries priests had symbolically sacrificed the clean, white, unbroken lamb at Passover, now it was time for them to do the real thing. The law was fulfilled in them, ending animal sacrifice. He is the last sacrifice, and the Jews were chosen to perform it.

Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!  (Matthew 18:7)

Those who make offences are necessary for the Father's plan to be carried-out. If the Jews had worshiped Him and refused to betray and kill the Son of God, there would be no salvation for the world. The Pharisees, Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate, and Judas Iscariot had important roles to play, extremely important. In fact, they were central to the Father’s plan, even more so than Peter, James, John, and Paul. Their role was essential for Jesus Christ to become the Savior of the world. In that sense, we owe a debt of gratitude to them. If they had not done their part, we would not have the option of salvation. They fulfilled their mission in life, and because they did we’re all saved. In that sense, we could be more grateful to them than we are to those who wrote about them in the Bible.

Repentance and Grace
I don’t understand. Some are called to greatness, others to infamy. Why? Why did the Lord choose Judas to be infamous? Did Judas ask for the job? I don’t like the idea. He wasn’t chosen for salvation, but we’re all saved because of what he did. Thus, there must be another way to look at the situation. Perhaps Judas is just the same before God as Peter. Peter denied knowing Him, lying, and abandoning Him during His darkest hour,

And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.  (Matthew 26:75)

Judas, after realizing what He did, went back to repent, confessing that he had done wrong,

Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.  (Matthew 27:4-5)

Judas was finished with his mission as Peter was just starting his. Both are repentant. Judas is loved as much as Peter. Both are offered the same grace.

To give a modern contrast, Mother Theresa is offered the same grace as Hitler, and both have access to the same forgiveness. Perhaps, those who sin more, such as Judas or Hitler, are more grateful for the grace of Christ, as Jesus explained to Simon, the Pharisee.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.  (Luke 7:41-43)

If he repents, perhaps Hitler will love God more than Mother Theresa, if she repents. Hitler fulfilled prophecy in persecuting the Jews, who took upon themselves the responsibility of crucifying their God. In front of Pontius Pilate the Jews said,

His blood be on us, and on our children.
(Matthew 27:25)

And, indeed they did, as prophesied long before. God told them He would judge them, and afflict them.

...the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them...  (3 Nephi 16:9) 

And I have trampled them in my fury, and I did tread upon them in mine anger, and their blood have I sprinkled upon my garments, and stained all my raiment; for this was the day of vengeance which was in my heart.  (D&C 133:51)

The Lord says, "I have caused..." and "I have trampled..." He caused them to be smitten. Hitler was doing His will. They indeed became “a hiss and a byword” in the world, describing well the philosophy and actions of the Third Reich. Hitler did as he was instructed, fulfilling his mission -- and prophecy.

Often, those we consider to be the worst sinners are fulfilling prophecy, and doing the will of the Lord. They are part of the plan from the beginning.

But, grace is for all, even the "worst" of us. One verse of a hymn describes the situation of Judas, and the Jews, perfectly:

No creature is so lowly,
No sinner so depraved,
But feels thy presence holy
And thru thy love is saved.
Tho craven friends betray thee,
They feel thy love’s embrace;
The very foes who slay thee
Have access to thy grace.

        (O Savior Thou Who Wearest, by Karen Lynn Davidson, b. 1943. © 1985 IRI)

The fact remains that we are all offenders, and fall short of salvation. We all need the grace of God. Jesus offers His grace equally to all.

We’re all in the same boat.
We’re all offenders
We’ve all crucified our Lord.
We’ve all sinned.
None are acceptable before God.
We’re all enemies to God.

In terms of grace, the worst sinner is exactly the same as the greatest prophet. Those who betrayed Him, and killed Him, will stand before Him exactly the same as those who were His friends. All are offered the same grace - complete forgiveness. “The prisoners shall go free!” The grand design includes all. None are left out. No matter who we are, no matter what we’ve done doesn’t matter; the grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ is offered to all.

...and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.  (2 Nephi 26:33)

This is literally true! All are alike to God. It doesn’t matter who I am, or what I’ve done. It doesn’t matter if I’m black or white. It doesn’t matter if I’ve committed heinous crimes or bounteous charity. It doesn’t matter if I’m ignorant or lettered, we are all the same in the eyes of God! Peter had a vision that explained this concept to him.  The Lord said:

What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.  (Acts 10:15)

Subsequent events lead Peter to understand what the Lord meant:

Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:  (Acts 10:34)

We are all His children. He loves us all with an Eternal love, and offers every one all He has. Nobody is left out; no matter who we are, or what we’ve done, we’re the same. God offers His love, forgiveness, and grace to everyone!

The Straight Path

I have a friend who was having marital problems. When I told him that I have had similar issues, and have been working on them for over twenty years, he was shocked. "I don't want to go through this for years, isn't there a faster way?" He pleaded. I laughed, but realized that there is a shortcut for those who are humble.

We can take a direct route to Eternal Life. It isn’t a requirement that we wander for years, wallowing in sin, starving in the desert. The children of Israel had the option of going directly to the Promised Land, but they feared, and were consigned to wander in the wilderness with many hardships before their children were allowed to go in.

The key is humility.  Alma explains to a group of poor people that there are two ways to be humble -- by force, or by choice.

And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word? Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty.
     Alma 32:14-15

If we are humble because of our circumstances, we are blessed, even though we are forced to be humble, deciding to follow God. However, Alma explains that we are much more blessed if we seek the path and travel it by our own volition.  When we hear the word of God, and believe, we don’t have to be driven to obey because of circumstances of pain, suffering, poverty, hunger, loss, or a broken heart. We can choose a broken heart by making a willing sacrifice.

Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me. For I, the Lord, will cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yieldeth much precious fruit.
     D&C 97:8-9

There are two types of sacrifice:
     1. Those that are imposed upon us by circumstances over which we have no control.
     2. Those that we willingly give.

The willing heart is much more blessed, who only has the enticing of the Holy Ghost to guide him to let go of his natural needs, wants, and worldly desires, submitting because of the still, small, voice to everything the Lord gives him.

...he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
     Mosiah 3:19

Choosing the direct path to Eternal Life means doing everything the Lord puts in front of me, no matter what it is, and accepting it, even if I don’t understand it. It means not whining or complaining, comparing my sacrifices to that of others. It means turning to the Lord for my needs that I sacrifice. It means giving in to the still, small voice so I don’t have to be knocked over the head with pain or loss. It means remembering Him always, trusting in His love, like a little child trusts his father, putting my life into His hands, His wounded hands.

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.
     D&C 6:36-37

Making a willing sacrifice is following Christ, allowing the will of the Father in all things. That is His legacy. To suffer the will of God is to allow it. Jesus allowed the will of God always, living a perfect life, becoming the light of the world.

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.
     3 Nephi 11:11

Observing my friend's humility, I'm amazed at the progress he has made. He has submitted to everything, even though he didn't see the need, or understand the reason. He just does whatever is placed in front of him, willingly and fully, he has done things I never could have thought of, and the results are tremendous. I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel for them. Christ really does heal all wounds!

Dedication to Truth

What is truth?

And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
D&C 93:24

Truth is well-defined.  It isn’t nebulous or grey.  It isn’t different for different people, or in different situations. It doesn’t depend on the feelings or ideas of individuals. Truth is what it is.  It is entirely independent of the observer.  It exists separately from all theories.  Truth contains all the facts.  Truth is independent.

All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.
D&C 93:30

Truth exists independent of God, man and even intelligence. Intelligence is an entity with the ability to choose.  Man and God are intelligent.

Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
D&C 93:29

That which is enlightened by truth is intelligence.  God didn’t create it.  It exists independently, giving it separation from all else that exists. Because it is independent, intelligence has choice, and in choosing truth gives glory to God.

The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
D&C 93:36

The organization of intelligence that makes up God requires acceptance of, and dedication to truth.  All that is, is known.  There is nothing that is not known.  Thus, God knows all truth.

Why is it important to know truth?
When scurvy was epidemic among sailors for centuries, the doctors had a lot of treatments.  They would give potions, some including mercury and other poisons, bury people up to their necks in hot sand, and blow smoke up their colons.  They claimed these worked, and if they didn’t work, they just weren’t doing enough. In spite of such wonderful treatments, ships on long voyages would often lose half the sailors to scurvy.  When the truth came in the form of something simple, the doctors all said, “That’s ridiculous!  Nothing as simple as a lime could cure a disease as horrific as scurvy!”  It took fifty more years of dying sailors before the ships captains decided to defy the doctors and require lime juice on board every ship.  The scurvy stopped.  Dead.  The truth is that important.

Ignaz Semmelweis was a young doctor in the mid-nineteenth century who observed that the midwives had a much lower rate of infection and death than the doctors delivering babies.  He had a theory that the doctors were doing dissections on corpses and bringing something from the corpses to the mothers during delivery of the babies, and suggested the doctors wash their hands before a delivery.  The doctors persecuted him for suggesting they were the cause of childbed fever, but after a couple more decades of administering death to women, they finally relented, accepted the truth, and washed their hands, lowering childbed fever rates in Vienna dramatically.  The truth exists, whether we believe, or not!

Ignorance is death.  This may be immediately true for health care, but also applies to all knowledge.  It is life-and-death important to know the truth in everything.  Whatever we are ignorant of, whatever we don’t know will hurt us.  Only the truth brings life, peace, and happiness. Our connection with God requires truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  This is life, light, knowledge, wisdom, peace, happiness, love, and joy!

Can we know truth?  
Each of the circles below represent ideas, theories, and/or facts.  One is true, containing all the facts, and no untruths.

The single truth is defined, containing all that is true, and nothing that is false.  Everything else is not true.  There are an infinite number of false ideas for each truth.  If the purple one with the orange dot represents truth, then all the others are false.  Even the orange dot that is entirely within the truth doesn’t contain all the facts.  The light purple one may seem to be true, and even contain some truth, but it also contains much that isn’t true. The big circle that contains all of them, including all truth, is false because it contains all false ideas as well.

We study each idea and find that they are all possible.  We compare them, their merits and contradictions, but we can’t, by our own wits, determine what is truth.  We can weigh the evidence and make a decision, but our own observations are always colored by our beliefs.  Truth is independent of belief.  But, no matter what we do, we’re always going to have colored glasses on, and we can never see everything clearly.  Even if we’re told the truth is purple, we can’t be sure what purple is, exactly, first of all, because there are different shades that might be called purple, and second, we don’t know if the colors we’re seeing are the true color, or just appear that way because of our glasses.  We want to know things as they are, but we only see things as we are.  We’re all color-distorted.

“...a report to Congress in 1843 by Patent Office Commissioner, Henry Ellsworth... states, ‘The advancement of the arts, from year to year, taxes our credulity and seems to presage the arrival of that period when human improvement must end.’” (Wikipedia)

Also, there is no way to know what is truth because we cannot know if we have all the facts.  Ellsworth seemed to believe that human improvement was coming to an end. Since then technology has advanced beyond his, or anyone else’s imagination. Just when we have a theory that fits our facts perfectly, another fact comes up to destroy it.  Then, we’re back to ground zero, trying to come up with another theory to explain the facts.  If a fact is hidden, then we cannot know if any theory is true.  One nagging fact always exists, “we don’t know what we don’t know!” Some just take the big circle- -it’s all true!  Others just say, “None of it is true,” and quit searching. It’s a cop-out, and laziness, not helping anyone to know anything.  It still leaves us lost and useless.  We don’t reach Nirvana, Heaven, or life if we call false things true, or true things false, we just continue to live in ignorance. More smoke up the butt will not cure scurvy, nor will more mercury, or a new poison.  If there’s a fact missing, we wallow in ignorance as people suffer and die.

Does belief lead to truth?
Since we cannot know what is true, all we have is belief.  No truth can be found or understood by us for all of the reasons above so we continue to believe what we’re told.  We see what we believe, and throw out all facts that don’t correspond to our beliefs. Therefore, as soon as we define our beliefs we have cut ourselves off from all access to truth.  If we believe in the blue circle, then we have no chance of finding the purple one.  Only in the happenstance that we define our beliefs as the purple circle can we begin to discover truth, because we will see what we believe.

Those who don’t define their beliefs have underlying beliefs of which they are not aware. The first step is to become aware of our beliefs. Many don’t even know what they believe.  Becoming aware requires introspection, and help.  Many go to counseling to help them reveal their beliefs.  A good counselor knows what questions to ask to bring out beliefs and desires, or the heart.

Very often, those who don’t want to know what they believe, or who don’t want to change their beliefs, become skeptics.  Skeptics are those who question the beliefs of others, but not their own. To justify their beliefs and prevent challenge, they continually try to put down the beliefs of others, calling them false.  Mostly, they don’t know the truth, nor are they even aware of the actual belief of another, using vague generalities, having done no research, knowing little about the evidence, or lack thereof.  For example, atheists consider themselves skeptics, not knowing what they believe, using all kinds of straw-man arguments to attempt to prove that God doesn’t exist. They simply wallow in ignorance.

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”  (The Big Short, attributed to Mark Twain)

Truth cannot be found by skeptics because it requires humility, which is just the opposite of skepticism.  Humility is the ability to accept the beliefs of others, and question our own.  Seeking evidence that might change what I hold dear is a hard thing to do, making humility a rare trait.  But without humility we are doomed to ignorance.  We must be constantly questioning what we believe, seeking evidence for what others believe, and changing our theories.  This leaves us without a foundation.  This is the truth.  Life is not firm, it is not as we see, or even as we hope; life is different.  Our search for truth requires that we give up all we think we know.  Others have a different point-of-view, or different colored glasses, which could give us a different perspective in finding what is true.  Thus, being humble allows us to work together to discover truth that we could not know alone.

Why is truth so scarce?
First, there are an infinite number of possible false ideas for every truth. We can look at anything false as sin, because it is against God.

There are two sins only:
1. Ignorance
2. Rebellion

These are the only two things that keep us away from God, or truth.  If we’re ignorant, then we can’t keep the will of God because we don’t know it.  The only other way to sin is to know the will of God for us, but not do it.  By far, ignorance is the greater, or more common, sin, while rebellion is the greater, or worse, one.

Our beliefs prevent us from learning truth. Those who have the truth in front of them, but deny, neglect, or resist it are the worst kind of ignorance. Most humans prefer the Orwellian Ministry of Truth.

“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
― George Orwell, 1984

Nothing has changed since 1984.  The television is spouting these same slogans every minute, but we don’t always see it.  Our newest enemy is North Korea.  We can have financial freedom by acquiring debt.  Science has all the answers.  We want to be ignorant.  We want someone else to do the hard work of finding truth so they can spoon-feed us.  Sunday schools are filled with people who want someone else to do the thinking for them.  They believe so they don’t have to know.  It’s hard to be humble.  Both the skeptic and the believer deceive themselves due to laziness, and will never come to know truth.

Why is it important to know that God knows all truth?
Because we can never find truth for ourselves, we must have a standard of truth.  There is only one source of truth.  Thus, it is essential to understand that God knows all truth.  Only One who knows all truth can help us find truth.  God can never be surprised.  He knows everything.  He is in all things, and through all things.  There is nothing that He doesn’t know, so, if He tells me something is true, then I can be sure it is true.  He will never lie.  I’m not going to find another fact later that negates or precludes the truth that I know, because God already knows. He knows the end from the beginning. Without specifically receiving intelligence from God we can never know truth, but by receiving intelligence from Him, we don’t need to believe, we know.

Thus, access to truth requires a connection with God.  There is no other way.  There is no substitute, nor is there any second-best.  There is one truth, so whichever falsehood you believe is irrelevant -- it isn’t the truth.  False ideas are all the same.  We are often given a choice between two false ideas, and told that one of them is true.  Politics and religion is famous for this.  The Republicans and Democrats fight over which is right by accusing the other of being wrong.  Ironically, this is the only truth they both teach -- that the other is wrong.  False religions continuously fight each other, accusing the other of being untrue, and, again, they are both right.  Only God can tell us what is true.  There is no other way.  Everything, and everyone, else is suspect.  Only through a personal connection with God can I know what is true.  If everything presented to me is false, then only He can lead me to truth.  People just don’t know.  Even those who have a connection with God, and know truth don’t know everything, they can’t.  Thus, God is our only personal resource for truth.

How can we know the truth?
Work.  Read.  Ponder.  Pray.  Search.  Be humble.  Obey the truth that you know.  Dedication to truth requires constant vigilance.  Any idea we have is suspect, until we know from God.  “God told me.” is the only foundation we can have for truth.  Everything else is suspect, and may change as we get more information.  Thus, the largest part of our search for truth requires that we build a relationship with God, come to know Him, and develop trust in Him.  This is done just like any other relationship, through time, and shared experiences.  It takes time to get to know some one.  It also takes effort, as we try to discover who He is.  He will reveal Himself little-by-little.  He knows me from the beginning, I’m the one who needs to come to know Him.  Beliefs are irrelevant in the face of truth, and must be let go.  Without humility we cannot come to know Him.  Our search for truth must include a relationship with the Source of all truth.  While we can support each other, we each must seek truth on our own.

"Seek, and ye shall find."

Frustration

Growth is frustrating.  Change happens so slowly that there are no real steps, as such, only a gradual slope -- very gradual.  In the world we have clear steps, sort of, because we make them.  We have a school year with grades.  We have graduation.  We have birth, marriage, and death.  We mark events by our achievements, and happenings.  We celebrate birthdays, but we are really no different the day before we added another year.  So, in spite of our attempts to mark steps, growth is still a very gradual process.

We laugh at the two-year-old who thinks she’s “all growed up!” because she can use the toilet, and we say, “Honey, you’ve got a LONG way to go!”  We see children get frustrated that they don’t have the ability or privilege of the adults.  They want to be there.  They know where they’re going, but don’t want to have to take the long journey to get there.  It’s so slow.  It’s frustrating.

All growth takes time.  There are no shortcuts.  A five-year-old can pretend to be an adult, and indeed can imitate the adults well, but still has to take the time to become an adult.  The time element is a requirement for all growth.  We don’t suddenly know everything we want to know, but rather gradually learn everything.

Looking to others
The story is told of a young lad who asked Socrates to tell him everything he knew.  Socrates got up and walked out, and the lad followed.  He then walked down into a river, and the lad followed.  Socrates then grabbed the boy and held him under water until he was struggling for air.  When he brought him up, Socrates said, “When you want to know all that I know as much as you wanted air, then come and talk to me.”  Near the end of his life, Socrates said, “I only know that I know nothing.”  Sometimes all our learning only gets us to the frustrating place of realizing our own ignorance.

Moreover, we cannot give our growth to others.  A professor can impart information, but the student can take in only what he’s prepared to receive. Parents, teachers, mentors, and others may tell what they have learned, most of which is wrong, incomplete, or irrelevant.  We get tidbits of information from each other that keep us going on our own path, or help us to decide which path to take.  However, each must make his own journey, taking his own path, finding mentors who can help on one section, until one or the other takes a fork and loses us.  Our briefly shared paths bind us forever, but we journey on alone.  Our path is individual, and others cannot tell us which way to go.

Re-Birthday!
Where is the fanfare?  Where are the celebrations?  Yesterday, I was given to know that my heart has been changed, that I’m no longer steeped in sin, that my heart is on the Lord, instead of in the world.  It’s a momentous occasion, one worthy of my grandest party, and an annual celebration.  I have been born again.  I’m a new man.  But, I still look, act, and feel the same as I did two days ago.  On the outside, nothing has changed.  On the inside, I’m still me.  In my heart, the change has been gradual, VERY gradual, frustratingly gradual, compared to my expectations.  Which day do I mark?  Do I have more to go?  Maybe I’m not even there yet.  I don’t know what I don’t know so I don’t know if I can mark this in my calendar.  In fact, in August a year ago I wrote:

08/29/2016 Born Again
I have finally found what I have been searching for all of my life.  I am a new man in Christ.  I am a son of Christ.  I have taken upon me His name.  This day He has spiritually begotten me.  I am born again.  After so many years of seeking, asking, and knocking, I have finally found salvation through the Lord, Jesus Christ, and I can feel to sing the song of redeeming love.  I know Him.  I know He lives, and I know He has to power to save me from all my weaknesses, rebellion, and sins.

So, a year ago I received a knowledge that Jesus could save me, that He would be my personal Savior.  Now, I know that He has.  Each one feels like arrival, but that begs the question, "What is the next step?"  Where do I go from here?  It’s not about events, it’s about processes.  The changes are more like “Two roads diverging in a yellow wood,” than a 180-degree turn, or even a 90-degree turn.  The turn is a few degrees each time, such that there is little difference months, or even years down the road.  Now, a year later, I see that I have made another 2-degree turn.  How can we celebrate such a small step.  Like Neil A. Armstrong stepping down onto the surface of the moon, after a 300,000 mile journey said, “That’s one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.”  He had arrived, but could have been frustrated that it was just a bunch of dust and rocks, like the Arizona desert.  He didn't have to travel so far just to see another rock.  The “giant leaps” In spiritual growth, like any other, are really small steps.  It can be frustrating, if I think I should already be there, “all growed up!” as if there is a "there" to be.

Birth, and re-birth, are processes in the path of growth.  Taking your first breath, or your first step, is just one of many.  Learning is always a process that goes on forever.  Like all things in the Universe, there is a bottom of zero, but there is no top, no ceiling.  The apparent top is just a ridge over which we climb to see that there is more mountain to go.  The trail goes onward and upward without end, as long as we choose that path.  It’s only frustrating if we look ahead and want to arrive, to be there, to end the journey.

There is no end.  Acceptance of life as a continual journey ends the frustration of growth.  When we realize that there is no arrival, there is no stopping, there is no end, we can enjoy the excursion much more.  We no longer dread the path, hoping to arrive, asking continually, “Are we there yet?”  My answer to my children when we went on long trips was always, “Yes” To that question.  “No matter where you are, you’re there.” I would tell them.  We actually never arrive, we’re always traveling.  Ironically, what we want, arrival, is damnation.  Eternal Life is continual growth, we never arrive!  How wonderful!  Growth is excitement, change is interesting, learning is joyful, and progress makes life worthwhile.  Loving the journey is Eternal Life.  Rather than looking back and celebrating a small step, or a slight change in my path, I think I’ll look ahead and enjoy the road I’m on.  I'm going to turn right at the next fork, just to see where it goes.