"While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet."
| --President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Forget Me Not", November 2011 Ensign |
Also, Salt Lake Tribune wrote an article a few days ago called "Mormons tackling tough questions in their history." It is very much related to the FAIR article I posted last time.
At my family Christmas party I had a discussion with one of my sisters about various gospel topics similar to the one above. It was sparked by this article. She talked about how she doesn't care about all the "why" questions (in relation to gospel discussions.) She said she is more concerned about whether or not something is "True." (I use capital "T" on purpose...this means it is a God given universal truth...that is another topic, but I don't have time right now to fully explain.) She went on to say "if it is True, then why does the "why" matter?" Man, this was a revelation of sorts to me. However, I continued to think about it, and for me the "why" is a small part of my coming to know something is True. I feel everything True has a logical explanation. I also accept that I may not be able to understand everything with my finite mind. ("...my awaysbhigher than your ways, and my cthoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).” But I feel that there is no harm in trying to understand. God gave us the ability to think and reason, why not use it?
I have been told that the "my finite mind may not understand" argument is a very convenient cop-out for Theists. It is true that it is convenient (although not really), but that does not mean that it isn't true. Try giving a 5 year old a school test about logarithms and when she fails and says "I don't understand this", don't go to her and say "That is a cop-out! That is just convenient for you to be able to say you don't understand."
However, I also discovered that I felt like my way was better than my sister's, and this is not true. They are just different approaches. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way my sister goes about her spiritual journey. While I don't have time to point out all the reasons, I actually admire my sister's faith. Some people would say "oh well, she is using blind faith and that is not smart", but I feel that by definition faith is partly blind. I am trying to think of a quick example. Here is one, but there is probably holes in the logic, but this is off the cuff to try and explain somewhat what I mean. If people are nice to each other the world will be a better place. I don't know EXACTLY why it makes the world a better place. I just kind of have an overarching feeling that it makes the world better. I don't know all the processes and minute details, but I do know it makes the world a nicer place. This overarching feeling is good enough for me. However, someone else might need to study it down to the nity grity to see why. Alright, pretty poor example, but it will have to suffice.
As long as someone comes to know something is True (and then acts accordingly) I believe they will be happy. It doesn't matter how they come to know it.
These are my random recent thoughts. I open to comments, as I am still on a journey to make this all make sense.
Anywho, I have some thoughts I'll post next time about "faith" as it is a topic I have been studying a lot lately. It is good to be blogging again.
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