by S3 » Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:15 am
I hadn't read this thread until I saw it brought up recently in another. I'll share what I've experienced with respect to faith in God. I'm happy to answer questions as the answer I have is incomplete, but I hope that you'll think my lengthy writing is worth the effort of reading for the value of the information I attempt to convey. On the other hand, maybe I'm nuts to expect anyone to read all of this. It's hard enough to phrase a good answer to a good question, but to respond to all of the questions that then arise from any given answer, things quickly become, well, I don't want to say complicated. I mean the most eloquent and knowledgeable are often confounded when faced with explaining the most pure and simple truth. At this point I think it's important to start by saying that believing without "seeing" is necessary sometimes. This is hardly the beginning of what I'd like to tell you, but it's important nonetheless. Also, I write what I write for the sake of the truly curious, not for the sake of contention or to prove anyone right or wrong.
In the past, despite my faith, I have wondered whether or not God is responsible for everything that's wrong with the world. There is a common misconception about God, which is that, being all powerful and all understanding, God must hate us because he chooses not to compel all of his creation to be perfect. Right away, the first thing I think is that true happiness can only exist when we choose to live for it. I don't think it can be forced on us whether or not we're perfect. Of course, the very existence of happiness means that there must be unhappiness. If we are free to choose happiness, then unhappiness must be an option as well. Why would anyone choose not to be happy? Simply put, there are many lures and distractions throughout life, as we all know, and there's often much confusion about which path will lead to happiness. Some people are weaker or in worse circumstances than others in certain ways, and, in order to reconcile this fact with the idea that God is just, we have to accept that he knows more about us and our eternal nature than we do.
Things I've learned about the true nature of God have come to me over years of study, prayer, and diligent practice of my religion. As a young child I was raised Buddhist. Specifically, I was a member of the Sokka Gakkai branch of Buddhism. My mother nurtured my spirituality by teaching me basic principles, and she introduced me to the concept of a higher power and explained that some believe in one god. I wasn't interested in this one god throughout most of my childhood. I thought that it was presumptuous to believe in one being who could have created everything. Everything is infinite, and in order to create everything you'd have to first conceive everything, and that alone I still cannot fathom. I've since accepted that the immutable nature, infinite knowledge, and omnipotence of God is something I must take on faith, but at least I can say that I've never found any true evidence contrary to these propositions.
I grew up under the significant stress of being born to a 15 year-old girl whose lover bailed. I was unconsoled by my mother's belief system and confused about where my consciousness came from, where I was going, and why I was here. I taught myself something akin to praying without knowing anything about prayer. I didn't know to what or to whom I was addressing my questions, but I pondered aloud and silently the meaning of my existence until one day I felt something speak to me more powerfully than anything I'd ever encountered. I can't accurately compare the feeling to anything that may be experienced through the 5 senses. It was a combination of many potent emotions: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, trust, acceptance, safety, and desire to do good. I didn't know how or why at the time, but I knew that the message I received from the missionaries that taught me was really truly the answer to everything I'd asked for so long.
The message they shared began with the identity of God and took place over the course of several weeks. My heart was open thanks to the spirit that moved me whenever they taught, (the feeling I described), and I left behind my prejudice against the unfathomability of God as the creator of everything. They confirmed to me that God is all powerful and all knowing, but I was also informed that he is ultimately perfectly just and fair with every one of us, and that he loves us with a pure and perfect love. Each soul is one of his spiritual progeny, not simply his plaything, but an actual heir or heiress to his kingdom. I learned that we ourselves have the potential to rise to the same level as our creator, our Father in heaven, so to speak, and that life in these trying circumstances as mortals is one of the essential steps in the divine plan for our eternal progress. I found out that death and sin have been conquered for each of us. I learned about the consequences of selfishness and pride and the necessity of a change of heart and deeds for good when we err. I learned about essential covenants tied to symbolic rituals performed with divine authority, such as baptism, and I learned about ways to remain steady on the path of true and lasting happiness. There was more that they taught me, and I didn't doubt any of it as long as I felt the Spirit confirm what they said.
This is the background I come from. Since then I've had trials, like everyone does, but I believe that the opposition we face exists for our experience and benefit and will be overcome if we endure faithfully, even if we have to endure it our whole life long.
The doctrine I adhere to teaches that there is a state of extreme suffering after death for those who focused only on themselves during mortality, and there is mercy and joy for those who sought to do the best they could with whatever spiritual truth they had been given in life. That state of suffering, hell, isn't endless, but it will feel that way to those who die in denial of the often difficult principles of sacrifice, humility, and charity. There's a better place free from the trials of life for the unrighteous to go to when they're one day resurrected after their suffering. That place is at least 1000 times better than this mortality, yet it pales like starlight in the sun when compared with the reward the righteous will have. Such an end doesn't seem indicative of a hateful god to me. The suffering of the wicked before the rescue is only due to their perfectly self-conscious state, it isn't some metaphysical vengeance from God.