With recent voting events happening and the ensuing events on blogs, websites, temple sites and lives... well, I've been thinking a bit. In talking with a good friend of mine who has seen much of the recent events first hand it seems as though truth has not prevailed perhaps as well as it should. With regards to prop 8 and its passing as well as laws set forth in AZ and FL, I don't believe this issue to be a matter of intolerance but more of a matter of defending laws that the Almighty has established. I don't believe this to be denying certain unalienable rights but defending eternal principles established long before this planet or you or I were created. The principles of why a family must be governed by a father and mother, the principles of why marriage between a man and a woman is important and vital are being dimmed in society by the clouds of seeming tolerance and acceptance. Clearly, the doctrine of family has escaped society. it is an increasingly hard doctrine to accept in today's society. If you want to know why in greater detail and in better words than these check this out.
I do not believe in a God who despises those who profess to be homosexual (or any sin for that matter). Rather, I believe in a God who loves all of His children, despite their choices. I believe in an eternal Father who tenderly desires all of His children to enjoy the richest blessings He has to offer. I also believe in a God who "cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance". but i also believe in a God who through His divine Son has provided and prepared a way for all of His children to become free from the bondage of sin. I feel that I, in a like manner, ought to show that love that God has for His children, my brothers and sisters, in standing for the truth, no matter how unpopular, because of the welfare of their souls. I believe that Christ is the way, the truth and the light and that no man (or woman) comes to the Father but by Him. The world may view Him as the unpopular way, truth and light, but nevertheless, He is the only way, truth and light.
The bottom line, for me anyway, is that people, myself definitely included, who live in sin, be it homosexuality, adultery, thievery, murder, lying, cheating whatever, will not live with God except they exercise faith, repent, enter into binding covenants through His Son, and continue obedient to the end. Because all souls, my friends, my brothers and sisters, are precious unto God and precious to me is why I stand for truth... and I don't care how unpopular it is or how much shame I may suffer for it because I do it out of my desire for others to be happy not because I am intolerant. I do it out of deep concern and near anxiety for souls not because of bigotry. I do it out because I love and not hate.
On a mildly different note... if a person wanted evidence that we are living in the last days... times when the restoration of all things would occur, times when sin would be spoken from the rooftops (D&C 1: 3), times when men's hearts would fail them (D&C 88: 91) just turn on the TV, look in the newspaper, and in some more challenging circumstances, let them look into their own lives and the lives of their family. I feel that the gap between those who will choose to follow God and those who will not will be getting ever wider. But, on the other hand I want to reiterate what a prophet of God has recently said concerning these times:
"This is a great time to live, brothers and sisters, and it is up to us to carry on the rich tradition of devoted commitment that has been the hallmark of previous generations of Latter-day Saints. This is not a time for the spiritually faint of heart. We cannot afford to be superficially righteous. Our testimonies must run deep, with spiritual roots firmly embedded in the rock of revelation. And we must continue to move the work forward as a covenanted, consecrated people, with faith in every footstep, 'till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.' ” (Elder Ballard, Conference Report Oct. 2008)
This is a great time to be alive. If there is any fear in my heart let it be swallowed up in the truth that I, along with every one else in this generation and in the generations to come, was prepared for this time. Daunting yes, but we were prepared to face these challenges be it financial, emotional, spiritual, square on. These may be my pioneer days where I face my own freezing Sweetwater rivers, my own Winter Quarters, and my own Martin's cove. Bring it on because there is so much good yet to happen. I feel, more than ever, that this is my time of proving whether or not I will be obedient no matter what happens. What side of the line will i stand on? When it comes time to decide between God and my friends, who will I choose?
Indeed, a glorious time to be alive.
3 comments:
Very well said.
Amen.
Well said, my friend. Did you quote the conference talk from memory since you listened to it half a million times? That would be cool if you had :-). There were protesters outside an LDS church in Seattle this past Sunday; I could hardly believe it.
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