In my experience as
a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I met men and
women from all different works of life and worlds. Construction workers,
stay-at-home mothers and fathers, artists, college students, drug addicts,
drunkards, aspiring inventors, poets, you name it. All with different stories.
Some of them were perfectly content with life. Others had just lost a loved
one. Others still were homeless, or suffering from addiction. Some were devout
Catholics, others of Protestant faith. Some were atheists. Some agnostics,
Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Bahá'i. Some sought us out, with deep, pressing
questions that weighed on them. Some avoided us like a plague. Some were
indifferent. Some simply did not understand.
In all my teaching
and sharing of scriptures with them, there was one thing I found, more than any
other, that bound them all together. Somewhere down the line I noticed that
each and every one of their doubts, fears, and pains boiled down to this: What's
this life for? Is there meaning, or am I just wasting my time here?
Members of the
Mormon faith have a very unique way of looking at these questions. I've thought
long and hard about how to explain this. Pay close attention, because
understanding this is key to understanding anything else I say, do, and
believe. I'll try to explain as simply as I can.
The
Athanasian Creed reads, "…we worship one God in Trinity, and
Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance
For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son and another of the
Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit
is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is,
such is the Son and such is the Holy Spirit. The Father uncreated, the Son
uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy
Spirit incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and
the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet they are not
three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three uncreated nor three
incomprehensibles, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible.
So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit
almighty; And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty. So the
Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; And yet they are not
three Gods, but one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the
Holy Spirit Lord; And yet they are not three Lords, but one Lord. For like as
we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself
to be God and Lord; so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say: There
are three Gods or three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor
begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten.
The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor
begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son,
not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits." (Taken from <http://www.reformed.org/documents/athanasian.html> .)
Similarly, the
Westminster Confession of Faith reads, in one part, "...
there is but one only, living, and true
God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure
spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most
holy, most free, most absolute…" (Taken from <
http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/ch_II.html>
.)
Now, before I continue, be aware that this I write
not to dissect various creeds and confessions, but to illustrate the
differences to help you understand. The bolded portions of the above texts are
the ones I want to focus on. Other beliefs exist, but I use these two as
illustrative of my own personal experience with others' views of God.
To give a very generalized summary, most people I met
viewed God as distant being, impossible to understand, uncaring, and completely
unconcerned with human affairs.
But this is not so.
In the spring of
1820, the 14-year-old Joseph Smith was living in a region of New York that was
rather active religiously. Being a young boy and concerned for the welfare of
his soul, he began a search for the church he should join. After some time and
reading James 1:5, which reads "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given
him.", he decided that in order to know for himself the truth, he could
only turn to God.
As a result of this,
he had a vision that completely changed the way we view God. Going into a
forest near his house one morning by himself, he knelt down to pray. Later
recounting the experience, he wrote, "
I
saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun,
which descended gradually until it fell upon me...When the light rested upon me
I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing
above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said,
pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Copied from <
http://lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=1&topic=testimony>
.)
Allow me to point
out the differences between this singular experience and the beliefs of the
time. Note that there were "two Personages" that appeared as
separate, visible beings with bodies. Not only that, but they came down from
heaven to answer the question of a 14-year-old boy with no real education who
lived, essentially, in the middle nowhere at the time .
Stop and think about
that. God isn't some distant unknown. He has a body of flesh and bone, much
like ours, but glorified. He is the Father of our spirits. We are of a divine
heritage, sons and daughters of the Most High God. He is your Father. Just as we
have fathers in the flesh, so too is there a Father of all spirits.
You are a child of
God, not in some vague, incomprehensible way, but in a very real and
understandable way. God knows you. He loves you, perfectly. And just like any
good father in this world, He wants to give you all He can. He is a real,
tangible being that understands your doubts, pains, and fears, and more than
anything else, wants you to be happy. Just like any good father on earth would
want for his children. He is kind with us in our faults, our weakness, and our
impatience. He listens to everything you tell him, and His only desire is to
help you make it back to Him. God is love.
