Tuesday, July 29, 2014; 8:17 pm:
Last week I was in group meeting and we had a new individual show up. There are a couple stereotypes of those who come to group: those ready to work and those who only want to get it done and leave. This guy wanted to get it done and leave. I can't forget the words he first spoke when he was given a recovery manual and told he can keep it, "Oh, don't worry, I'll probably give it back when the steps are over." Everyone else in the room smiled and chuckled under our breath. We were all thinking the same thing: "Yeah, I thought the same thing when I came. He has a lot to learn."
If ever there was someone who needs the steps it is this guy. He skimmed the headings and determined he could pretty much skips the first three or four steps because he was already good and they were not "spiritual steps". He just wanted to get it over with and be done so he could go get his temple marriage. We carefully helped him understand how the recovery process really works.
It's incredible how sneaky Satan can be in tricking us into thinking we are righteous, clean, and on the right track. That is why the first couple steps in the process are so important in the first place. The recovery process is so much more than abstinence: it is recovery. Half the guys in group already have temple recommends and are still in the first five steps. Some have finished the steps and have started over again. This is a sign of a person in recovery. They are doing all they can to overcome the sin and not just avoid it.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Better Being Born Good or To Overcome Evil?
Tuesday, July 8, 2014; 7:33 pm:
I was playing a game and one of the characters in that game said something to the effect of whether it is better to be born good or to overcome the natural tendencies of being evil through constant study, prayer, and application. This is an excellent question. I think that this is truly the whole question of life, the universe, and everything though!
In the pre-mortal world, we were presented with two plans: God The Father and Christ's Plan, and an alternate by Lucifer (later Satan, of course). Lucifer suggested that everyone be saved, no matter what so that not one would be lost. This of course would erase our agency. We would not be able to choose what we do, we would be "born good", and there would be nothing we could do about it.
With Christ's plan (the original, unchanging, and eternal plan in the first place), we would be given the ability to choose. This would bring with it great blessings of knowledge and understanding. One of my favorite quotes from the scriptures comes from Mother Eve:
I discovered one day what it meant to have an atonement. It was through my struggles with the addiction and all of its effects that I realized how important a Savior really is. As it turns out, there are sins we can commit which we cannot, in this life, fully make recompense for. Only Christ can overcome those for us. No matter how much I try, no matter what I do, there is no way for me to travel back in time and undo my addiction from the beginning. It is done, it was committed. I can only repent, abstain, overcome, and rely on The Savior to take it away. That is the meaning of the atonement.
Had we been given Lucifer's plan, we would not be able to be "at one" with God at all. We would be miserable, or worse: eternally ignorant of the joy that comes from living a righteous life in contrast to what is evil.
So is it better to be born good or overcome evil? As painful, difficult, hard, annoying, and strenuous as it may seem, I choose to overcome evil.
I was playing a game and one of the characters in that game said something to the effect of whether it is better to be born good or to overcome the natural tendencies of being evil through constant study, prayer, and application. This is an excellent question. I think that this is truly the whole question of life, the universe, and everything though!
In the pre-mortal world, we were presented with two plans: God The Father and Christ's Plan, and an alternate by Lucifer (later Satan, of course). Lucifer suggested that everyone be saved, no matter what so that not one would be lost. This of course would erase our agency. We would not be able to choose what we do, we would be "born good", and there would be nothing we could do about it.
With Christ's plan (the original, unchanging, and eternal plan in the first place), we would be given the ability to choose. This would bring with it great blessings of knowledge and understanding. One of my favorite quotes from the scriptures comes from Mother Eve:
10 And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.--Moses 5:10-11
I discovered one day what it meant to have an atonement. It was through my struggles with the addiction and all of its effects that I realized how important a Savior really is. As it turns out, there are sins we can commit which we cannot, in this life, fully make recompense for. Only Christ can overcome those for us. No matter how much I try, no matter what I do, there is no way for me to travel back in time and undo my addiction from the beginning. It is done, it was committed. I can only repent, abstain, overcome, and rely on The Savior to take it away. That is the meaning of the atonement.
Had we been given Lucifer's plan, we would not be able to be "at one" with God at all. We would be miserable, or worse: eternally ignorant of the joy that comes from living a righteous life in contrast to what is evil.
So is it better to be born good or overcome evil? As painful, difficult, hard, annoying, and strenuous as it may seem, I choose to overcome evil.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Watching for the Monsoon
Thursday, July 3, 2014; 4:05:
Monsoons in Southern Arizona are an interesting thing. Year after year growing up I have looked out my window and enjoyed the relief the monsoons gave from the summer heat and dusty wind. I noticed that there was a daily pattern to them:
The day starts off bright with clear skies; no clouds in sight. By noon, the first wispy clouds have shown up. By around three the skies turn dark with splotches of blue sky. By four there are distance rumblings of thunder and sometimes flashes of lightning. The wind picks up. By five it pours. Sometimes it lasts as few as five minutes, sometimes hours (either way, the same amount of water might fall in both instances). Within another couple hours the clouds disperse once again.
Of course, there is always some variance like when it rains for three straight days and the roads flood out or when the clouds decided not to come in at all.
I was watching the storm today, and realized how close it is to worldly temptation. It may be the best sun-shiny day until the storm comes. There is a lot of warning for the storm, but I find it is difficult to notice since it typically rolls in over head without any sound. Gradually the daylight gets blocked out and I begin to feel comfortable. Am I comfortable with the temptation when it comes?
All of a sudden, without warning, the wind blows. I have time to seek shelter, but I tend to stay out in the wind to feel the cool breeze. A distant, soft, rumbling warns of the coming storm. Then the rain appears in sheets. It rarely sends warning droplets. When the rain hits, it's too late! I get wet instantly. The rain combines with the wind and it all seems to raining sideways! I can barely see the house from the street! Before long there is an eruption of electricity in the air!
Sometimes it lasts a short time, sometimes temptation lasts for days on end. But it always clears in the end. The adversary might make the storm look inviting to start, but it will grab me in the end and drench me if I do not heed the constant, gentle, rumblings warnings of the Spirit to get out of the storm! Thankfully, The Lord offers the towel of repentance when I slip into the indulgence of a storm.
Monsoons in Southern Arizona are an interesting thing. Year after year growing up I have looked out my window and enjoyed the relief the monsoons gave from the summer heat and dusty wind. I noticed that there was a daily pattern to them:
The day starts off bright with clear skies; no clouds in sight. By noon, the first wispy clouds have shown up. By around three the skies turn dark with splotches of blue sky. By four there are distance rumblings of thunder and sometimes flashes of lightning. The wind picks up. By five it pours. Sometimes it lasts as few as five minutes, sometimes hours (either way, the same amount of water might fall in both instances). Within another couple hours the clouds disperse once again.
Of course, there is always some variance like when it rains for three straight days and the roads flood out or when the clouds decided not to come in at all.
I was watching the storm today, and realized how close it is to worldly temptation. It may be the best sun-shiny day until the storm comes. There is a lot of warning for the storm, but I find it is difficult to notice since it typically rolls in over head without any sound. Gradually the daylight gets blocked out and I begin to feel comfortable. Am I comfortable with the temptation when it comes?
All of a sudden, without warning, the wind blows. I have time to seek shelter, but I tend to stay out in the wind to feel the cool breeze. A distant, soft, rumbling warns of the coming storm. Then the rain appears in sheets. It rarely sends warning droplets. When the rain hits, it's too late! I get wet instantly. The rain combines with the wind and it all seems to raining sideways! I can barely see the house from the street! Before long there is an eruption of electricity in the air!
Sometimes it lasts a short time, sometimes temptation lasts for days on end. But it always clears in the end. The adversary might make the storm look inviting to start, but it will grab me in the end and drench me if I do not heed the constant, gentle, rumblings warnings of the Spirit to get out of the storm! Thankfully, The Lord offers the towel of repentance when I slip into the indulgence of a storm.
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