Food for Thought: In Memory of Those Who Passed

A less gruesome look at the destruction...

Did you think this was a Veteran's Day post? Nope. That'll come hopefully later this week. I spaced on the opportunity to show my appreciation for those who served my country, but it'll be done, don't worry. :)

Many people have heard the news about the aftermath of the typhoon in Philippines. I've seen many unfortunate and sad images of the state people had to suffer. I'm not going to lie, they were depressing.

The very least we could do at this time is to pitch in whatever we can to help the victims. Whether you prefer money or substance, there's always the options of volunteering your time and toss in prayers (or moments of silence, whatever) for those people.

I think the missionaries will be very busy for the next few months. Naturally, deaths, diseases, etc. follow a catastrophe. People are either humbled by the experience and rediscover the love for their neighbors or curse God and be bitter (or die, which ever one comes first).

This reminds me of the many instances, especially on my mission, when I hear people ask something along the lines of "if there's a God, how could He let something like this happen." We've all heard that from somewhere. To some, it is the convenient excuse to pretend there's no higher entity in this universe. To others, it is one of life's most mind-boggling questions that's been asked over and over. When I was a missionary, I believe my only response to that was either sarcastic or bear my testimony, which was a routine procedure because I didn't know better as a late teen lad into his early twenties. If I were to give my best attempt today, I'll probably be more thought-provoking than I was before.

The following stream of consciousness will be my thoughts on the matter and in no way, shape, or form reflecting what other LDS persons may tell you. There will be some cynicism involved, so you've been forewarned.

It is my belief that much of the justified anger comes from not having a reference point in the universe. That is, why are earth (pun intended) are we here? I've met different schools of thought on this matter. The most prevalent was probably the roll of die by the universe. Essentially, Big Bang Theory and evolution without God because it would be foolish to believe God would utilize these two things as tools to sculpt the universe (sarcasm). When faced with catastrophic trauma, they usually dismiss the existence of a loving Being because it's simply illogical.

There's a loving God who cares about His children. However, one must first understand why we are on Earth. God has said, "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39). Part of us being here on this Earth is because of the Plan of Salvation. This Plan, in short, was for our own progression and learning. Part of this requires us to choose for ourselves whether we will do right or wrong because our God believes in liberty and freedom, instead of coercion (Abraham 3:25).

Many people don't know this, but we all existed before this life. We chose to come down to this Earth knowing the risks. It was established some of us may not make the best of decisions and would be lost eventually. To prevent that, the former Lucifer proposed to take the glory upon himself to enforce an absolute system where none can do wrong and return to God at the conclusion of mortality. That equates to no agency, the freedom to choose, whatsoever. Of course, God long decided that Christ, who would advocate choice, liberty, and freedom, would be the one to be the integral part of the Plan. To circumvent falling short due to sin, The Lord offered Himself as the one who atones people's sins. The rest was history as a third went against this notion and fell out with the now Satan. Basically, the war in heaven was fought over agency or our freedom to choose. As we choose and face the consequences, we gain valuable experiences to our eternal progression.

On a cynical note, it seems to me that those who reject this notion either believes God runs an eternal nursing home for the stupid or some sort of eternal socialist welfare program to cater the lazy. To them, there can only be a God if one of those conditions are met. No offense, I did serve in England, and applies to anyone in the world, I sometimes think some people have been on welfare for too long it's affecting their IQ.

So why the bad? The short answer is to create a contrast so we can know good from bad. Have you ever tried to explain to a child why something is bad and they just can't seem to see the picture until they live through it? Yeah, that's where we are at. Lehi taught this principle of opposites when similar issues emerged during his family's pilgrimage in the wilderness (2 Nephi 2:11). Many people underestimate the importance of knowing both sides of the coin through experience. Even the Lord Himself went through the mortal experience to prepare Him to be the ultimate comforter for all the trials we face in life (Alma 7:12). The allegory (well, actually a story by Boyd K. Packer) of describing what salt tastes like is an example of limitation of knowing about something without actually knowing how something feels.

Two of the main drive home points of being here on Earth are choosing to love God (Moses 7:33) and love our neighbors and ourselves (Mark 12:31). Jesus taught that principle Himself when he was approached and questioned. At the Waters of Mormon, we read about the baptismal covenant of mourning with those who mourn and comfort those who are in need of it (Mosiah 18:9). When someone is a victim, it is our duty to do what we can to be that support when we are able.

Back to being cynical... Does it ever occur to the naysayers that when someone's down and in need of a hand, it is the perfect opportunity to show love to our neighbor? Or is cursing God for something we signed up for best we can do? Each stumbling block in the path of humanity is another way to practice our virtues and grow spiritually as well as in absolute truths/knowledge of the universe. While God, on occasions, does wave His omnipotent hand and make things right, that is not always productive to our progress on Earth. Necessity has been one of the driving force behind scientific advancement and enlightenment. Many of us are able to help a neighbor because of resources or skills that we possess. If you ask me, I can't think of a more efficient plan to cover this many aspects of spiritual fundamentals in one lifetime than the way God has set things up. The knowledge we obtain in this life is crucial for our advancement in the next life after the resurrection (D&C 130:19).

To understand the points I've presented thus far, a humorous way to approach it for you, the audience, is to watch an episode of Futurama called Godfellas. It features Bender being the "god" of a tiny civilization and eventually meets the God Entity that taught Bender the balance between doing too little and too much for people, which always result in everyone complaining regardless of the outcome (see the whole Book of Exodus and Israelites reactions to all blessings and lack of them throughout the journey). So, the God Entity winds up letting everyone choose to do whatever unless he has to be involved. Basically, the only episode of that show that made me think about how we should put ourselves in His shoes for once. Like I've said before, this whole mortal existence is about education.

A very wise person once said, "we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)

Many people also scuff at the idea of prayer because it offers no substance. It's true, I don't just pray to my Heavenly Father and suddenly a bag of money falls from the sky. Please, dispute not because ye see not (Ether 12:6). Miracle is not always an instantaneous magical eraser of problems the last time I checked. It can be, but it's not always in an instant. You'll never know when or where someone will be placed in the right location to alleviate the pain of another. God doesn't cease to do miracles unless we stop believing that He does miracles (Mormon 9:19-20).

By this point, the best course of action is to do what you are able to or willing. That's one of the greatest things about this trial-filled mortality. The Lord consecrate our performance for our own good when act prayerfully (2 Nephi 32:39).

With that, I close my post. Cheers!