LOOKING BACK TO ‘NORMAL’ vs. MOVING FORWARD

LOOKING BACK TO ‘NORMAL’ vs. MOVING FORWARD

Isn’t it amazing how quickly things can change?! Change can be scary and/or wonderful and it is mostly based on our perspective and where our focus lies.

I had a wonderful conversation with a friend awhile back right as all of this Corona-virus chaos began and feel compelled to organize a few thoughts which can hopefully help us shift our perspective and offer a few rays of light and hope in the troubled world we have very suddenly found ourselves in.

We find ourselves in a unique time in history. It is a time in which the world as we used to know it and were comfortable with has drastically changed in a very short amount of time. It is a time of uncertainty and insecurity as health, employment and financial stability and world economies seem to be teetering on the brink. We have been “kicked out of our rut” so to speak. But if we open our eyes to analyze what is happening, and seek to understand, then getting out of that rut may actually be a very good thing.

In the rut, we were stuck. Stuck in old habits and guided by the well-worn down worldly routines which only seemed to be getting deeper and perhaps in a downward direction. Perhaps we were even in a spiritual rut of “routine” going to church mode of worship, and going through the temple out of habit instead of being changed for the better by such practices.

Now we are suddenly up out of the comfortable, lulling into security rut and find ourselves bouncing around an unfamiliar path to what may seem like an uncertain future.

Our initial tendency may be to look back, and hope and pray that things go “back to normal” as soon as possible. But looking back may be the entirely wrong thing to do.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, our prophets and apostles have been literally pleading for us to make changes in our lives for the past several years. They have implored us to seek “higher and holier” ways of living and looking at life. They have sought to help us implement changes in our homes and hearts rather than looking to the buildings and classes of the Church for direction in all things, and instead “seek to be taught by the Lord Himself.” They have shortened meeting times and encouraged us to more fully keep the Sabbath holy in our own homes. We have been encouraged to “repent daily” and make sweeping changes so that we can “do better and be better”.

Now we suddenly find ourselves in a situation in which we cannot worship together on Sundays, nor go to the temple with any regularity of routine, and even many of our missionaries are being called home from service in sharing the gospel we love. And the natural man or woman inside us longs to go back to the comfortable and familiar mode of worship and guided progression offered to us by the ruts of the past. But consider where we stand in the history of the world, especially considering the imploring call of our prophet to “prepare ourselves and the world for the Second Coming of the Savior.” We will not get there nor prepare ourselves sufficiently through the comfortable ruts of the past.

Consider the story of Lot’s wife as found in Genesis 19. As they were being mercifully delivered from and led away from the evils of Sodom and Gomorrah, she wasn’t looking forward towards the bright future of freedom from sin and worldly wickedness, but instead “looked back … and became a pillar of salt” (Genesis 19:26). We might even consider that her looking back and longing towards the comfortable, worldly ways she had previously known caused her to be transformed into “salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men” (D&C 103:10, Luke 14:36-38). The Lord himself, when speaking of the last days stated, “But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot…” (3 Nephi 15:16).

So perhaps the Lord doesn’t want us looking back towards the worldly ways of Babylon in which we have been living, but instead looking spiritually and temporally forward towards Zion and preparing ourselves and the world for His Second Coming. Perhaps we shouldn’t be looking to governments, political leaders and worldly financial institutions and wondering how they will clean all this up and save us from this situation. Instead, perhaps all of this can and should be viewed as a loving opportunity the Lord has provided us to turn towards and look up to Him, who is mighty to save.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14

Surely He doesn’t want us lumbering downward, stuck in the ruts of the world which seem to have been spiraling downward with its lost and changing moral compass. Instead, perhaps He is pulling us upward and allowing us to look towards and rely upon Him alone as our literal Savior and Redeemer. He has, at least not yet, brought down the full measure of the prophesied calamities of the last days, but has instead shaken us, lifted us out of our comfortable ruts and is giving us another chance to change, while calling out, “Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. 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” (D&C 6:35-37).

In the time which lies ahead, we will not find deliverance from political policies and worldly leaders. History is laden with secret combinations and errant trust in the arm of flesh.

There is and always has been only ONE SAVIOR and REDEEMER to whom we can look for salvation and deliverance. Can you hear Him? He is calling each of us to awake and arise from our slumber. He does NOT want us looking back, nor seeking to get back to what was normal and telestial. He is calling us upward and forward towards the glories, protections and peace which can only be found in and through Him and within Zion, where He has always dwelt.

The path of the temple shows us the covenant path which take us there. Yet even in our worship there we have often turned the divine into routine. Now that our ability to worship there is at least temporarily suspended, can we perhaps see what we have been missing all along?

“One might say that the gospel train stops at the front steps of the temple. We must walk into the temple and from there into Zion. We might liken the temple to an image of the world, and the Church as we know it being on one side of a bottomless canyon that is too wide and deep for any mortal to cross. On the opposite bank is Zion with all its attendant glories, including the presence of Deity. Spanning this vast divide like a mighty bridge is the great latter-day temple with the entrance on our side of the chasm and its back door on the far side opening into Zion. In this image millions of people enter the doors of the temple, participate in holy ordinances, make sacred covenants, and then return to the same door they entered and reemerge into Babylon. Figuratively speaking, the challenge to those who would become Zion in their own lives is to find the power and the knowledge offered in the temple, and instead of returning to the telestial world, to leave by the opposite door into Zion.” – (John Pontius, Triumph of Zion, pgs 13-14)

Can you see it? Can you see how the Lord is shaking us out of the ruts of Babylon, so that we can more clearly see the covenant path of change which will take us into Zion and His presence?

picture by Simon Dewey

Going back and seeking a return to normal is to retreat back into Babylon, which is destined to fall and fail, utterly and completely. There is no safety or security there! All of its falsehoods and instability have been shown in a mere few weeks of time.

Don’t look back! Don’t wish to go back to normal! Look and step upward and forward to the prophesied destiny which awaits the righteous in the glories of Zion in its fullness and resplendent magnificence! It is time to finally make the sweeping changes in our hearts and souls through His divine personal guidance.

He has always been waiting for us there in Zion, and is bringing about His loving and long-suffering changes in the world to allow us to see how fragile telestial things truly are. He is allowing us the opportunity to see more clearly and with His grace, finally make the wonderful journey home.

picture by Yongsung Kim

The Prison in our Mind – A Lesson from Narnia

The Prison in our Mind – A Lesson from Narnia

I have to admit, that as an avid reader throughout my life, I had never read all of the Narnia tales, by C.S. Lewis, from start to finish until just recently.  All of the tales in their entirety and put together in one story is a masterpiece of spiritual and scriptural analogy which has so many incredible and worthwhile gems regarding the Creation, overcoming mortal challenges, staying true to the cause of righteousness, maintaining one’s honor, discovering the divine within yourself, and enduring through trials and receiving the growth which can only come from them.

The final book in this series, “The Last Battle” also has so many important parallels and lessons about the last days, staying true to truth and not succumbing to false prophets and clever deceptions of the adversary, and being able to trust in the Lord to the bitter end, no matter what darkness is raging around you.  The glorious ending to the story describes what we all are seeking and longing for!!! (but that is another post all in itself, which I will save for another time).

What I wanted to comment on today was a small particular part of the story near the end.  There is a particular set of people (dwarfs in the story – which may represent their spiritually diminished condition) who will not believe anything whether good or bad.  They only believe and trust in themselves.  Even as the miraculous final events and terrible destruction are happening around them they remain in denial, despite the main characters’ efforts to help them come into the Light of understanding.

Their situation and story can shed some important light into the gift of agency, and why sometimes our efforts to help can fall on deaf ears.  And why even the Lord sometimes cannot reach them because of His respect for that agency.

As the others are trying to help them understand what is happening, the dwarfs reply, “How can you go on talking all that rot?  Your wonderful (Savior) didn’t come and help you, did he?  And now – even now- when you’ve been beaten… just the same as the rest of us, you’re still at your old game.  Starting a new lie!  Trying to make us believe…”

The Great Lion Aslan (who represents the Lord Jesus Christ) then arrives on the scene.

Some of Aslan's followers plead with Him to help the dwarfs, much in the way we may plead for our loved ones and friends who cannot seem to see the truth.

Aslan replies, “Dearest, I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot do.”

He then personally calls to the dwarfs, who because of their spiritual blindness cannot see Him and still seem to think it is a trick, “Hear that?  Their trying to frighten us.  …Don’t take any notice.  They won’t take us in again!”

Aslan then miraculously and kindly provides a multitude of bounteous blessings for them, but in their spiritually darkened state, they cannot recognize the blessings for what they really are or from Whom they have been provided.  Instead they complain and begin to fight amongst themselves, more concerned that others around them may somehow have something better, and in the end they justify their errant behavior with the claims, “Well, at any rate… we haven’t let anyone take us in.  The dwarfs are for the dwarfs.” (Or in other words, we will live for ourselves and only for ourselves).

Aslan then provides a remarkable explanation to His loyal friends.

“You see,” said Aslan.  “They will not let us help them.  They have chosen cunning instead of belief.  Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out.  But come children, I have other work to do.”

I think there is a remarkable truth to be learned from this exchange.  And that is that despite all our prayers and efforts, and even the loving call of the Lord Himself, there are some who will not let themselves be open to help.  They may, at least for the time being, be past feeling.

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep praying for them or trying to help them when we can, but it also means that sometimes we need to trust them into the Lord’s care and His divine timing, and make sure we are still moving on with the “other work” He has for us to do.

And probably the most important lesson we can and should take from this exchange, would be in how we can apply its lesson to our own lives!

What parts of our own hearts are still sealed up from the Lord?

What parts of our flawed logic and limited understanding may be creating a prison in our own minds, which doesn’t allow us to see the Lord’s hand and countless blessings in our lives?

What parts of our soul are so fearful with being misled and lacking faith, that we are so afraid of being “taken in” that we cannot be “taken out” from those limitations and into greater spiritual light and truth, and Yes… even a deeper personal relationship with the Lord Himself, who stands by ready to receive us?

Perhaps part of that limiting and blinding fear comes from the fact that we worry what the Lord will think of us when we actually do meet Him and we have to face all our follies and indiscretions and imperfections before Him.

But if we are seeking to do our best and trying to improve, that fear is completely unfounded and untrue.  For as the faithful Lucy from the Narnia stories declares to one of her worried friends, “You’ll find it will be all right when you really do.”