I believe that everyone, sooner or later, needs to learn how to stand on their own two feet, needs to learn how to be independent of everything beneath the celestial world (D&C 74:18). The only dependence worthy of having is dependency on God. Any other will eventually turn into an addiction. And things that you can be addicted to are not admissible into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Becoming independent is hard work. It takes faith, it takes determination, it takes courage, and it's oftentimes a lonely path. It's done in the anguish of your own soul, far away from pulpets and firesides. It's done on your knees and in your humble heart, and not where you are seen. It's done entirely between God and yourself, a sphere where no person or earthly institution should be allowed to interfere.
When I think of this concept of becoming independent, I find there's a parallel in giving birth to babies. The baby has grown and matured in the womb and is finally ready to breath with its own two lungs, and see with its own two eyes, feel with its own two hands. The process of birth is lethal for both the baby and its mother. Despite this fact, God has designed it to be this way. I believe this is indicative of how it is to become independent, or in other words, born again.
Both the mother (i.e. the thing, place, group of people, organization) and the baby (you) experience pain when you are born. The mother had less pain when you still were in the womb, and might have chosen it to be that way forever if God hadn't designed it to be otherwise. And you might also have chosen to stay in the safety of your mother. Nevertheless, we do know, that this isn't possible. And I believe it's a spiritual impossibility as well.
I would like you to expound upon your last sentence. This was great food for thought...I an taking it in and digesting. I agree, the only dependency we should have is in the Lord.
ReplyDeleteWhat we make of spiritual independence differs from person to person. The Central Europe Area Presidency has spiritual (and temporal I must add) independence as one of their goals for this year. In my mind this has a special meaning, but I don’t believe it’s shared by the leaders of the Church.
DeleteIf we look at the instance where Jesus came to the boat of his disciples walking on water, Peter decided to let go of the thing that he felt provided security - the boat. Russel Ballard speaks of this often - stay on the Old Ship Zion. Still, Peter had to leave the boat to come to the Savior. I believe that Peter realized he was safer next to Jesus, standing on the water, than he was in the boat.
One thing we can take away from this is that the boat is man made and can be crushed by the waves or the rocky shore and that we need to be willing to leave it (and every other man made thing) in order to come to Jesus. If we don’t, we will never experience his gentle arm around us, buoying us up above the stormy waters and we will miss out on the experience of being saved by his grace.
It’s tempting to rely on the arm of flesh, or anything made by man, i.e. idols. I believe that the Church, the leaders, the temple, the ordinances, the family and our perceived righteousness can be idols. It’s hard to see and to accept since these things are good. And that’s the challenge, to see the good idols that we worship. Those are the hardest ones to let go off, because the idol is perceived to be ”God” or an extension of him.
I don’t know if this was the kind of expounding you asked for. If I was out of line, please ask me a more pointed question and I’ll answer it to the best of my ability.
Love!
Grymt bra skrivet. Tycker verkligen om din metafor.
ReplyDeleteTack L! På något sätt tror jag att du och andra kvinnor har ett annat förhållningssätt till metaforen. Jag förstår den i mitt huvud, men ni har upplevt det.
DeleteWow. This (mother-infant example) is a really great analogy for those of us who believe that we cannot rely upon any mortal for the words of life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post.
Thank you Linda for reading and taking the time to make a comment!
DeleteI just read your reply and am still thinking on it. Interesting analogy... I think you're right to a degree. Anything man-made can lead us astray if we lose sight of it's purpose. If we think just going to church is going to get us to the Savior, or just attending the temple is going to make us an eternal family. We need both of these things but they are nothing if we are not using them to help us grow closer to the Savior. I must constantly remind myself that my heart must be open to hearing the voice of the Lord when he calls me. This I can only do as I strive to keep my covenants and listen to the prompting of the spirit. I have taken away something a little different from Peter's experience
ReplyDelete28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
You see, it was leaving the ship that caused him to see the boisterous wind, on his own, without the protection of the ship and his brethren, it was then he was afraid, his eyes were on the Savior but it wasn't enough, the Savior then put forth his hand and led him back to the ship, the wind ceased and they all worshipped Him. It was within the confines of the ship that they ALL were able to recognize who Jesus was, the Son of God. The church, the temple... These are places in which, if we come to worship Him, to get to know Him, to love Him, to have Faith in Him, that we will ALL say "Of a truth thou art the Son of God".
Independence is a fine line, the Lord refers to us as His sheep, the biggest difference between a sheep and a goat, is a goat will not follow a shepherd willingly. A sheep knows His Master and will follow Him, willingly. That means I must choose to follow, I must use my agency to have faith even when it may look like it is the wrong direction I must stay with the flock AND kept my eyes on the shepherd, while uplifting, encouraging, finding, and gathering the rest of the flock. I do believe there will come a time when we must have a solid foundation built upon Jesus Christ, to withstand the storms ahead. We must beable to stand firm in the faith when everyone around us is falling. That to me is what spiritual independence is. When we will not let any "man" to push us over but be led by the spirit. I think the members of the church in East Germany experienced this. They had to stand firm in the midst of the storm going on around them, without the church, because it was not offered them, but those who did flocked to the church doors when the opportunity arose. Spiritual independence is what we need to prepare for and we do this by partaking of the sacrament and attending the temple... To receive revelation that will continue to aid us in our preparations, so that when the mighty winds, the shafts in the whirlwind, the hail and mighty storms that the devil sends we will have "a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." The church and temples have been built by man under the direction of our Savior. It is how we use them or abuse them that makes them idols, and that is done independent of our leaders. I use these tools given me by the Savior and my Heavenly Father to help prepare me for things to come, I use them in conjunction with my savior to help me come unto Him more fully. I think it is when we forget the Savior and His atonement and become ungrateful that these things become idols. I think it is safe to say that no one would wish to stay in their mother's womb forever or that a mother would wish to skip the pain of birth by having you forever in their womb. (Just as mother Eve understood this... She could have stayed forever in the garden knowing no pain or joy, but she understood that one of her roles as mother was to give opportunity for all of God's children to be born. ). But as any parent, at some point, you must send your children into the world with what you have taught them and pray that they too will come to know what your have discovered. But a mother and father leaves doors open so that if they have questions, or need protecting from the storms, or are seeking counsel or added strength they know where to come. The church and temples are houses of the Lord. His doors are open, all we need to do is come in, humbly seeking Him and sincerely asking, ready to receive and He will give. That is spiritual independence.. When we come unto him, willingly, sometimes alone, because of our faith in Him, not because of someone else, or fear of consequences, but because we have taken the time, to humble ourselves, to know Him, to Love Him and in doing so have felt His loving arms embrace us, His hand outstretched to us and seen The power of His love displayed in our lives because we chose, independent of what the world was telling us, to follow Him.
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