Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to converse with a number of individuals about various turmoils, worries, fears, and the like in their lives. Over the duration of my conversations with them, I have come to not only the conclusion that there is a great deal that I've learned from each of them, but that the things that they are / were experiencing are more closely tied to each other than they realize. The common link that I have found between each of these situations is the topic that I wish to address in this post.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf summarized the eventual continuation of my post in his talk from General Conference October 2008's Priesthood Session titled "Lift Where You Stand." That in mind however, I wish to address the underlying point before his - and that is to discuss the understanding of where exactly an individual stands, or rather, the recognition of such. In doing so, this will allow us to lift where we stand, but in ignorance of such, we allow our lives to be governed by chaos, confusion, and utter lack of trust in anything or anyone that could potentially bring us to joy and allow us to move forward and progress in our lives.
Let us consider the scripture from Matthew 16:15-19 in the New Testament which reads:
15. He saith unto them, But whom say yet that I am?
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Note here the identification of not only the status of Simon Peter, but also of Christ himself. We must remember that despite Christ's innocence, he was mortal as we all were. Inevitably he had stresses upon him, he had doubts, and a plethora of other emotions that he dealt with. I'm sure Simon Peter's statement in the Bible was just as much of a recognition of Christ's status as the Christ as it was to the Savior himself - in reminding him that he was the Christ and he had a much greater mission to perform yet in his mortality, and though things were tough, that he had a grander purpose than they all understood. Though Christ understood that he would have to perform the miraculous sacrifice in the Garden later on in His ministry, we know that through modern revelation and observation that even He could not anticipate the pain that he would endure at that time.
Nevertheless, despite the risk of pain and the depravity of a world that would reject His teachings and ultimately sacrifice him inhumanely, Christ was not only willing to accept the pain and risk that he would endure, but he did it with charity in his heart and prepared his chief disciple for the continuation of His word following his sojourn in mortality. Concurrently, with his recognition of the divinity of the Savior and His mission, Simon Peter was also not only recognized as a successor to the kingdom of heaven on earth, but was also reminded of where he stood at that time and where he had the potential to stand in the future.
Though we may at times lament the trials that come upon us and suffer from the carnal lusts of the flesh or the natural-man emotions of pride, fear, and rejection, we will find that oft times these situations are placed into our lives - not as the result of an inhumane, vengeful God, but rather through the wisdom of a loving Father in Heaven who recognizes that there are times in this life when we need to be reminded just where we stand in the grand scheme of things and the potential that we have within each of us to attain to the highest blessings which He can offer us.
Consider if you will the situation of a young woman that has encountered much pain and turmoil in her life. She has recently left home and with that hopefully a past that she has struggled to overcome for some time. In arriving at her new location she has found a young man that she is interested in and appears to be equally interested in her as well. As the relationship develops, she finds herself worrying about things from her past, and the revelation of such to this young men that she fears may drive him away for good and with it invite more heartache and pain that she had hoped to avoid.
Consider another separate situation of a young man and a young woman who have recently met and have realized an attraction to each other. Together they feel a sense of belonging and commonality, but apart the young woman feels fear in not knowing if she's good enough for the young man. The young man worries about potential other missed opportunities with other young women, or if the young woman is attractive enough for him - mainly based on what others think of her. Each of them have fears about moving too fast - not because of the physical nature of the relationship - but the willingness to commit to another individual so quickly despite the fact that they feel right about doing so.
Finally - consider the situation of a mother whose kids have moved out of the home. She feels a sense of disparity because she doesn't have the closeness of a family in her home anymore. Her husband is out of the home at work all the time; she has ailments that don't allow her to do all of the stuff that she would like to do, and a family that is less than cordial to her at times, leaving her to seek solace in other places. She gains acceptance in online games, and other social networking venues as a means of sharing her feelings and reaching out to others. She struggles daily in her own mind to discern ways to reconnect with her family and deal with the ever-mounting stresses of life.
In each of these situations, seemingly unique circumstances govern the forefronts of these scenarios, but there is much common ground to be found with all of them. To each of these individuals I would exhort them to spend a little time getting to know themselves. Further, I would remind each individual of the uniqueness and overlying power of the Lord's Atonement for each of them. Too often we think of the Atonement as simply a remedy for sin and wrongdoing while failing to recognize its healing power in relation to those, as well as its equalizing balance on our minds, and the penetrable effect that it can have on our hearts in softening them and allowing the Spirit to come forth and dwell within each of us.
We all sin and make mistakes, but it is a measure of our maturity and understanding of the Lord's Atonement which allows us to fully put it behind us and move forward in our lives. Such things such as past dealings that have been repented of, cognizant poor decisions, willful rebellion, and pride all effect us in ways similar to junk foods on the human body, but in more of an internal sense. The empty spiritual calories that each of these generate pile into the body and build up in areas that over time become ugly to us and others. In a sense we become spiritually obese to the point where it becomes difficult for us to carry out the most spiritual tasks of breathing and enjoying the spirit around us. Additionally we become so burdened with the weight of such that we often live in the past with regret for picking up that extra weight and our inability to cope as we should.
Rather, it is a spiritual exercise for each of us to invoke the Atonement in our lives and spiritually tone our bodies to the point where we are spiritually fit. Oft times this may mean putting off some things that we currently enjoy in our lives. Do we spend too much time playing games, watching television, or participating in empty activities that leave us not only unfulfilled but with regret for not having been more productive with our time? Do we shy away from others because we are afraid of being hurt or worn down by their actions or opinions? Do we date the prettiest or most handsome opposites because it is what is most convenient? Do we give up on relationships or commitments because we don't think they look right or we don't have the knowledge to know how to build them properly?
We may each do some or all of this, but if we properly invoke the Atonement in our lives, we will be able to find the balance necessary to do things we enjoy, to have fun, and to find the greatest potential in our lives. As with the modern-day food pyramid, and the word of wisdom - we need to let the bread of Christ's gospel be the base of our lives, with His manna from heaven and the herbs of wisdom that we have to obtain each day be the main parts of our spiritual diets. There is nothing wrong with taking time for one's self, or having doubts at times, or enjoying games or other activities, so long as we understand that those things are to be used sparingly, and that we must work to equalize out those spiritual impurities that we might sometimes ingest.
The Disney character Pumbaa in the movie The Lion King said it wrong when he said "you gotta stick your behind in your past." Timon immediately corrected him, and said that we need to put our past behind us, but I sometimes wonder if we all do a little bit more of the former instead of the latter. Have we each become spiritually obese to a point where we are unable to pull our behinds out of our past? Further, if we are concerned with our past, are we truly able to embrace our futures? I say to that - no!
We must recognize that the past is in the past, and leave it there. If there are things that we need to take care of from our past, then we need to do so quickly and with the penitence of young child, but after it has been placed in the past by the necessary authority it needs to be left there. If we are still holding on to those things, it is impossible to discern where we currently stand because we are obviously not where we should be in the present. We travel as spiritual herds, but sometimes we have to stand alone because of what we know to be right. No matter the case, we must recognize where we stand if we are to eventually lift others and if we are to attain all that God has promised to us.
Upon this recognition, we must realize that we have to keep trying. We are going to encounter those instances in life where our past may sneak up on us and try to invade, but through the recognition of the Lord's Atonement, we can overcome those things. Should we encounter those individuals that we fear may be unable to overlook that, we must either move on our place our faith in the Lord that His Charity will prevail in their hearts. Charity is not a passive thing or something we attain to - but something that we are and that we hold. We may reach a point of charity at some time in our lives, but it is only momentary because the natural man causes us to lose that rather quickly. With that, we cannot claim to have it just because we have had it once, but rather must strive to continually keep it. The Lord's Atonement is such that we can enjoy those tender mercies that will allow us to partake of levels of faith, hope, and charity in our lives so that we can grow and progress towards our ultimate goal of complete charity towards others. In doing so, we are able to fully claim the blessings which the Atonement has to offer us. Our falling short of this does not mean that we are a failure, but rather means that we must continually press forward and frequently rededicate ourselves to doing the will of the Lord.
Spiritually, we cannot be in two places at once, for this defies the law of Spiritual physics. Thus, I encourage everyone to evaluate where you stand right now so that you can know where you want to go in the future!
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