Random Thoughts

A few random thoughts are currently fighting for "equal time" on the blog, so I'm putting them all out there at once.

Having a Bad Day?

It's no fun living or working with someone who's unpredictably moody. You know the kind. When you show up at the office and a co-worker says, "Stay away from so-and-so today!" So you end up walking on eggshells around Mr. or Miss So-and-So because they got up "on the wrong side of the bed." When confronted about it they inevitably blame their foul mood on someone or something else, or because they're having a "bad day."

What would life be like if God had "bad days"? ("Stay away from Heavenly Father today ... wait until He's cooled down!") I'm so glad that His mood -- meaning His feelings toward me -- is unchanging. He is always willing to make time and listen. And He never ever withdraws the offer of mercy and forgiveness when I've fallen short.

Mysteries

When we read a mystery novel, we do so with the expectation that by the time we get to the final page the identity of the villain will be revealed and his motives will all be explained. But what if we got to the end and found no answers at all? What if the author fully intended on keeping us in the dark forever? No sequel; no hint that the story will be continued. Only the finality of  "The End." What a lousy book! 

The man-made religions of our day offer a "storyline" that provides no answers. It surprises me that in spite of this they have so many willing followers. I mean they teach that people are supposed to accept the fact that there are lots of mysteries about God and that the answers to those mysterdies are unknowable -- answers to questions about who He is, our relationship to Him, where we came from, why we're here, and what awaits us after we die. Then they declare (with no authority) that it was never intended that men know the answers to these questions.

That was never what Jesus taught. In the Savior's great intercessory prayer to the Father, He said that the purpose of this life is for all men "to know Thee, the only true God" (John 17:3). Religions that claim there are unknowable mysteries act as if their version of the Bible says, "This is life eternal, that they might never know Thee."

Thank God for answers -- for revelation and living prophets.

When members of other churches hear our claims to having answers, it can be quite unsettling for them, as illustrated in the following story:

I had an interesting experience years ago as we were returning from South America on a ship. Three ministers were on board, and soon each one came to me and asked if there might be an opportunity to talk together to learn what the Mormons believed. One was a Methodist, one a Presbyterian, and one a Disciple of Christ.

We arranged a visit together and spent a pleasant hour, they asking questions and I giving answers. Our visit was warm, friendly, and congenial. After about the first ten minutes, they began to look at each other and say, "Isn't it interesting -- he has an answer for every question." And they repeated this comment over and over.

A day or two later the Methodist brother stopped to talk with me, saying, "I have been thinking of what you told us the other day. I think you know too much. I wonder if God wants us to know everything." I could tell that he was offended at my knowledge of the revelations. (Elder Wm. Grant Bangerter, General Conference, Oct. 1998. He's the father of Julie Beck, General President of the Relief Society.)

Being a "Therefore" Latter-day Saint vs. a "However" One

During Elder Boyd K. Packer's service as a mission president in New England, the mission headquarters were in Cambridge, next-door to Harvard University. He related the following experience:

Professors from Harvard University who were members of the Church invited me to lunch over at the Harvard Business School faculty dining room. They wanted to know if I would join them in participating in a new publication; they wanted me to contribute to it.

They were generous in their compliments, saying that because I had a doctorate a number of people in the Church would listen to me, and being a General Authority [an Assistant to the Twelve] . . . I could have some very useful influence.

I listened to them very attentively but indicated at the close of the conversation that I would not join them. I asked to be excused from responding to their request. When they asked why, I told them this:

"When your associates announced the project, they described how useful it would be to the Church -- a niche that needed to be filled. And then the spokesman said, 'We are all active and faithful members of the Church; however . . .'

I told my two hosts that if the announcement had read, 'We are all active and faithful members of the Church; therefore . . .' I would have joined their organization. I had serious questions about a 'however' organization. I have little worry over a 'therefore' organization" (from the biography of Boyd K. Packer, "Boyd K. Packer - Watchman on the Tower").

From time to time this story has prompted me to ask myself, "Am I a 'therefore' Latter-day Saint, or a 'however' one?" Try this: Divide a paper into two columns. On one side write, "I am a Latter-day Saint, therefore . . ." and on the other, "I am a Latter-day Saint, however . . ." then begin filling in the blanks. It can be a revealing exercise, revealing whether there are behaviors in your life that you rationalize, even though you've made covenants not to.

Unsatisfactory Explanations For Untimely Death

I am writing this one day after the tragic shooting of Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords. Several innocents died and many more were injured. Whenever incidents like these occur, someone inevitably steps up and says such a tragedy was "God's will." Here are two examples from the past:

Several years ago there was an article in USA Today about the high death rates among teenaged drivers. A former emergency room doctor was interviewed for the story. He said he "shudders to recall how some parents reacted to hearing their teens had just died in a crash. It was amazing," he said, "how many would say, 'I guess it was just his time.'"

In 2006, after the shooting of ten Amish girls in a schoolhouse, the following appeared in USA Today:
"There is a religious canopy over Amish life. They accept the killings as God's will and part of God's plan, however mysterious or painful . . . Underscoring the whole process is a vivid belief in a close, living God -- the unseen actor who controls every human tragedy and comedy according to a script that often defies understanding." That's not the only thing that defies understanding.

                                   

This is 9-year-old Christina Taylor-Green, the third-grader who was shot and killed yesterday in that terrible tragedy in Tucson. I wonder how much of a comfort it would be to her parents if you told them their daughter's  death was "God's will" or "I guess it was just her time."
Suggestion: Read Spencer W. Kimball's enlightening talk, "Tragedy or Destiny?"