The Purpose of Life and Living

At The E-Center - West Valley City Utah

Enduring to the End

And the Dangers of the Obedience Test

Why are we here?  What is the purpose for all creation?  Actually, those fundamental questions can be answered simply; to learn.  But what are we here to learn?  Hmm... there are as many answers to that question as their are people, past, present, and future... and it takes a complete lifetime to answer it just for ourselves.

One thing I believe we all have in common is that our Eternal Father wants us to gain practical knowledge.  You know, the kind that helps us develop common sense... not just book smarts.  There is no sense in learning anything if we don’t understand what it means and how it effects us personally.

This type of practical knowledge requires active learning, that is to say, learning by doing.  Human beings are terrible messes but we are messes by design.  Getting messy, taking chances, and making mistakes are all required to uncover the secrets behind morality’s do’s and don’ts.  It’s the why’s and not the what’s that grant us wisdom.

Now, I am not saying we shouldn’t learn from other people’s mistakes when we can.  I’m just saying we all have our blind spots... those areas of our psyche where we just can’t look ourselves.  In those select situations, we can only see what’s real and right and what’s not through error and repentance.  That just defines us as human.

I know there are a lot of different ideas out there as to what the act of “repentance” really entails.  The etymology of the word only confounds the issue.  Conceptually, it’s actually astonishingly simple and quite contrary to what we have been lead to believe.  Repentance is the act of learning from our mistakes... no more, no less.  No deal making with God.  No expressions of guilt and remorse.  And certainly no periods of probation.  True repentance is a joyous realization and, in the very real sense, IS the very act of learning itself.

If we understand the principles of progression as outlined in the Plan of Salvation, we know the active learning process never ends until perfection is achieved and it is predicated on choice.

Choice is synonymous with free agency.  Now, this is really important... to have free agency, we must have real choice.  The choice between right and wrong... good and evil... eternal life and everlasting darkness aren’t real choices.  Who would chose wrong, evil, and everlasting darkness?

For proper and healthy learning, there must be viable options in which we may operate to work out our own salvation.  We must learn to live honestly, question openly, and repent candidly free from judgement or reprisal.  In essence, we must be allowed to repeatedly step beyond the comfortable and into the unknown to grow in wisdom and spirit knowing the only wrong choice is not choosing.

Good intentions aside, religious institutions always risk robbing us of our free agency in exchange for the “safe” harbor of orthodoxy.  They promise a pre-determined plan to exaltation; the hard work done, the trail blazed and paved, convenient road map provided.  Basically, all that is left for us to do is subscribe and follow... “enduring to the end” as if everything we need to know has been laid before us.  Our only dues for such a service is our obedience.

Like shopping the supermarket meat counter and calling it hunting, there is a disconnect.  The what’s become more important than the why’s.  Uniformity of thought and action become prized above the human tendency to question and explore.  Error and repentance take on a negative connotation.  The cycle of learning is broken.

God does not reward blind obedience.  Lower animal life can be trained to do all sorts of things.  As His offspring, He wants much more from us.  Life is not about obedience.  It isn’t about surrendering control of one’s life to the whims of anyone... oddly, not even God’s.  We all hate a Yes-Man.  God wants us to mature and think for ourselves.  He wants us to uncover the truths behind the commandments.  If we just learn the rules and live by them, we risk missing the whole point of living.

“What’s right for most people in most situations 

isn’t right for everyone in every situation!  

Real morality lies in following one’s own heart.”  

~ Portia Charney

A Cyclical Approach to The Plan of Salvation

Front Garden - South Jordan Utah

What Happens After Death

And How Much Do I Really Need To Know

The allegory of The Plan of Salvation is as elaborate as it is inspiring.  Prophets, general authorities, and church scholars have been expounding on it for more than one and a half centuries now.  There’s a lot more to take in than what appears within the pages of The Principles of the Gospel, that’s for sure.  But after all that has been said and done, it does still boil down to the same familiar story; three general epochs; pre-existence, mortal life, and immortality... all designed for one end; the perfection of humankind.

Contemplating a simplified analogy for what is generally understood of the plan, I guess the pre-existence can be thought of as grades K-12.  Mortality would be the SATs.  And immortality, naturally, is everything there after.  We’d receive our mortal “SAT score” which determines the eternal “college” or graduate program admitting us.  We then spend eternity reaching our potential within the measure of that assigned glory.  Now, I don’t know about you but this seems like a complete waste of eternity if those in the lower glories were unilaterally prevented from progressing at some point.

As perfect offspring of the divine, we all have the same end potential and the same end capacity.  Allowing for our unique personalities and talents, it’s sensible to conclude we may not all progress at the same rate.  Given the awesome length of eternity, I don’t think that should be a problem.

Perhaps we have misunderstood the true nature of the separate degrees of glory.  Instead of limiting progress by being some “final reward,” they cultivate progress by being part of our next evolutionary step.  Divisions of advanced, average, and remedial students would be allowed to continue their progression unimpeded in an environment expressly tailored for their success.  Far from being a “final” anything, they are simply transitory opportunities of continued growth.   The end goal still being, after untold eons, the absolute perfection of humankind... all humankind.

The final judgment, said to occur after this life, isn’t as “final” as some would like us to believe.  Perhaps it’s more of a debriefing/goal setting session prior to the next round.

There is a cyclical nature to existence and learning... like the refiner’s fire where you heat and cool metal over and over to temper it making it stronger and more flexible.  I believe our lesson plan is personally tailored to each individual and life is a repetitive process of slow advancement that keeps on repeating until all of life’s lessons are finally learned.

Now, I’m not willing to espouse a belief in reincarnation as commonly understood.  I prefer the term “multiple” or “plural probations” as it was occasionally referred to in some early writings among the saints.  How that actually works is probably infinitely more complex than I can or care to understand.  Equally irrelevant is knowing if this is my first probation or not.  All I know for certain is this is far from being my last.

Beyond an understanding of our infinite opportunity, concerns regarding the mechanics of progression need to remain focused on our current condition.  The staggering feat that remains ahead of us requires our constant and active participation.  Perfection doesn’t just happen.  It requires an eternity’s worth of knowledge and practice.

“Mindfulness is the aware, balanced 

acceptance of the present experience.”  

~ Sylvia Boorstein

The Road to Exaltation

Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

The Freedom to Pursue Gnosis

I hold strong to the belief that free agency is paramount to our pursuit of peace and happiness... not only in this life but forever.  I may sometimes adopt the absolutist’s speak when sharing my beliefs.  I am absolute but only in the limiting confines of my own faith and my own belief.  My thoughts are not intended to correct or challenge your viewpoint.  Their sole purpose is to share my perspective with you so that you may know and understand me.  It is all done in the spirit of mutual respect and a deep seated faith I have in pluralism.

In the context of faith, I define pluralism as a belief all humankind may and, more importantly, should worship how, where, and what they may. I rejoice in this.  May we celebrate our differences, acknowledge our similarities, learn from one another, and compete in good works.  I reject the hope or belief that one faith will someday become ubiquitous among us.

I reject it for one critical reason.  There is no meaningful choice in such a plan.  To be "meaningful," there needs to be far more choices than just those between right and wrong.  Without this choice, there is no reasoning out and no exercise of faith... and without those, there is no learning and no progression.  The Plan of Salvation collapses in on itself and existence becomes meaningless.

I consider it sinful to impede the process of self-discovery required for true spiritual progression by negating the thoughts, opinions, and beliefs of another in favor of our own.  Sharing is not an act of insistence.  The insistence that for me to be right all others who disagree must be wrong is shamefully erroneous in philosophical terms!  To dictate to others what they should or should not believe is an exercise in unrighteous dominion.  And to call another to repentance skirts blasphemy.

I have long hesitated to share my beliefs because of the language of faith I inherited... a language of absolutes is the language of sectarianism and orthodoxy.  It’s something I can not escape.  I have yet to learn to articulate any other way... I may never learn.  My sincerest apologies should I ever offend you or your cherished beliefs.  I know first hand the harm such a thing can inflict.