Why do bad things happen to good people

A few months ago I taught a lesson in Elder's Quorum that had a story in it that didn't set well with me. It was about how a four year old girl without warning became critically ill and was hospitalized. Her father prayed and prayed, but she was not healed. She eventually died. The story was suppose to teach the lesson of "thy will be done," but it just left me feeling pretty low and empty. I left this story out of my lesson but continued to ponder on it. Could the taking of this little four year old been part of the plan. Is that what God wanted? Did he want her not to have the chance to learn and grow and become like him? Did he want to cause her family grief and anguish? Is that really what he wanted? As I continued to ponder on this, an idea came to me and that is what I'd like to discuss for a bit. What if that wasn't part of God's plan? What if it isn't what he wanted? Does God always get what he wants?

I came to the conclusion that God doesn't always get what he wants. He wants us all to live in such a way that we will become like him and return to his presence, but that doesn't always happen. He wants us to love one another, but that doesn't always happen. He wants us to serve one another, but that doesn't always happen. God doesn't always get what he wants because of agency. His children have agency, and because of this, they don't always listen. They don't always obey. I began to wonder, does this principle extend farther, beyond us? Does everything have the agency? Even the elements? If this were the case, then perhaps there are elements that are disobedient just as we are. Take a young four year old with cancer for example. God wants her to live. God wants her to experience all that life has to offer so she can learn and grow and become like him. God wants the cancer cells to stop their destructive presence. But if they have agency, perhaps they do not listen. Perhaps they do not obey. Could God force them? Can he force us? If God takes away agency, then he would cease to be God. Could this explain why some are miraculously healed through prayers and blessings while others are not? Sometimes the destructive presence (cancer cells, disease, infection) listens and obeys, sometimes it does not. It comes down to agency.

So, do things other than us have agency. Can they choose to obey or disobey. There are a few references that make a case for this.

In a discourse given by Brigham Young on Feb. 12, 1854, he said,

"There are multitudes of spirits in the world. Everything we see, and have a knowledge of, has got its own peculiar spirit, or else there is no life in it. The spirit constitutes the life of everything we see. Is there life in these rocks, and mountains? There is. Then there is a spirit peculiarly adapted to those rocks and mountains. We mark the progress of the growth of grass, flowers, and trees. There is a spirit nicely adapted to the various productions of the vegetable kingdom. There is also a spirit to the different ores of the mineral kingdom, and to every element in existence."

In the creation account in Abraham chapter 4, there are several verses that refer to things other than mankind that "obeyed"

(1) And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth. (2) And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters. (3) And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light. (4) And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness. (5) And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called night; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night. (6) And the Gods also said: Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and it shall divide the waters from the waters. (7) And the Gods ordered the expanse, so that it divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so, even as they ordered. (8) And the Gods called the expanse, Heaven. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and this was the second time that they called night and day. (9) And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered; (10) And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, Great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed. (11) And the Gods said: Let us prepare the earth to bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own likeness upon the earth; and it was so, even as they ordered. (12) And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed. (13) And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time. (14) And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years; (15) And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so. (16) And the Gods organized the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; with the lesser light they set the stars also; (17) And the Gods set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to cause to divide the light from the darkness. (18) And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed. (19) And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it was the fourth time. (20) And the Gods said: Let us prepare the waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life; and the fowl, that they may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven. (21) And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed, and that their plan was good. (22) And the Gods said: We will bless them, and cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas or great waters; and cause the fowl to multiply in the earth. (23) And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and it was the fifth time. (24) And the Gods prepared the earth to bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so, as they had said. (25) And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth the beasts after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and the Gods saw they would obey. (26) And the Gods took counsel among themselves and said: Let us go down and form man in our image, after our likeness; and we will give them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them. (28) And the Gods said: We will bless them. And the Gods said: We will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (29) And the Gods said: Behold, we will give them every herb bearing seed that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it; yea, the fruit of the tree yielding seed to them we will give it; it shall be for their meat. (30) And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold, we will give them life, and also we will give to them every green herb for meat, and all these things shall be thus organized. (31) And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and they numbered the sixth time.

It seems very clear that there are things other than man (and woman) that have the ability to obey...and hence disobey. They have a spirit. They are intelligences.
Man was "very obedient" in the beginning, but eventually, due to agency, fell. Mankind has continued to become more and more disobedient. Could this be the case with the rest of God's creations, including the very elements. Could this explain increasing disease and natural disasters?
All intelligences have agency. They can act for themselves (D&C 93:30). They have the ability to submit to the will of God and obey, or rebel and disobey. Some will obey and some won't. God doesn't want bad things to happen to his children. God doesn't want us to suffer in pain and anguish. God doesn't want four year old girls to die from disease. But because of agency, there are some things that just disobey. God with his infinite knowledge will work it out, but I don't think things happen the way he wants them to all the time. If our loved one wasn't healed or protected when we prayed and someone else's was, we don't have to wonder if God loved them more. We don't have to wonder why God abandoned us. He didn't. He does love us, every one of us. It's just some things obey and some things don't. It's just…agency.

Temple Musings

I remember from long ago signing in primary, that the temple is a holy place, a place of learning.

Also something you should know about me is sometimes I get a nervous stomach which requires me to find a restroom pretty quick. Recently I attended the temple and one of those nervous stomach situations might have occured.

During this time as I was pondering what I should do, I could not help but think, if the temple is a holy place and I end up going to the restroom, would that be "Holy Shit?"

Do you see what I see?

Ok. so it's getting so I can't watch movies with anyone anymore. My tough guy image is really starting to suffer. Here is the problem, I've begun to notice gospel analogies in everything, and they're always making me bawl. I know, if you're embarrassed about it, why are you telling everybody? Well, I'm hoping that if I get it out there then I won't be as embarrassed when someone catches me. Case in point. A week or so ago, I was at my parents house and flipped on the TV and TNT was doing there little back to back to back Lord of the Rings marathon. There was about a half hour left in the second one, so I decided to watch. Well, I'm doing just fine and then here comes this scene.



What a metaphor for the second coming. A time when everything has fallen into darkness. A time when wickedness abounds and hope is fragile. A time when the saints must gird up their loins, take courage and continue the fight.

"Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them." ( Aragorn, The Two Towers)

"Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom; behold and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord." (D&C 133:10)

“At dawn look to the east.” (Gandalf, The Two Towers)

“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matt. 24:27)

And when all seems lost, He comes.

"The Lamb shall stand upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written on their foreheads. Their enemies shall become a prey unto them, and it shall be answered upon their heads; for the presence of the Lord shall be as the melting fire that burneth, and as the fire which causeth the waters to boil. O Lord, thou shalt come down to make thy name known to thine dversaries, and all nations shall tremble at thy presence— Yea, when thou comest down, and the mountains flow down at thy presence, thou shalt meet him who rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, who remembereth thee in thy ways. And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places. For he shall make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God." (D&C 133:18,28,41,44,49,3)

So I'm right in the middle of the scene, tears streaming down my face and my Mom comes in. Well, I try to play the old something in my eye routine, but I don't think she fell for it.

Since TNT is doing their back to back to back Lord of the Rings, the third installment comes on next and I decide to watch it. There are several scenes that cause my tear ducts problems. And to top it all off, my Dad comes in a little way through and decides to watch it with me. Ughhh, you can only pretend like your scratching your face but secretly drying your eyes so many times. Then comes the scene that always does me in. Even the first time I saw it in the theater I was a mess.



How can one not think of the savior in this scene? "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" (Sam, The Return of the King)

There are lots of scenes through the Lord of the Rings trilogy that seem to cause my "allergies" (I don't think people are buying this excuses anymore either) to flair up, but the gospel metaphors don't seem to be limited to just fantasy movies about hobbits. I keep seeing them everywhere, all the time. It's reached epidemic proportions.

Anyway, do you have any favorite movie scenes that remind you of spiritual things?

Son of Righteousness, in comparison to the Lord of Hosts

Son of Righteousness, in comparison to the Lord of Hosts

As I was reading the scriptures today I read Ether 9:22,

“And after [Emer] anointed Coriantum to reign in his stead he lived four more years, and he saw peace in the land; yea and he even saw the Son of Righteousness, and did rejoice and glory in his day; and he died in peace.”

Having a passion for visitations of Christ I was pleased to see Christ visit yet another person, however as I decided to search for more examples of “Son of Righteousness.”

The footnote from Ether sends us to 3 Nephi 25:2, which is the same as Malachi 4:2, with the exception that the Malachi uses the word “Sun” in place of “Son” and a few extra commas. Now Malachi 4 is one of the chapters that Moroni read to Joseph Smith when he visited him, so these verses do pertain to our day specifically. But why? I will quote 3 Ne. 25:1-2:

“ For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.

In verse one above we see that the Lord of Hosts is speaking by the “saith the...” statement. Verse two begins with I assume the same voice of the Lord of Hosts by the “that fear my name.” Now this is where a new person comes in, the Son of Righteousness. I might me misreading this, but I think there are two people spoken of in verse two. One the Lord of Hosts and second the Son of Righteousness.

The only explanation for who this is just that the Lord of hosts is God the Father and the Son of Righteousness is Christ. If this is the case a simple word search for “Lord of Hosts” can give an look into something that we rarely talk about, the role of God the Father, verses God the Son. Lord of Hosts seems to be the destructive one with all the vengeance.

Another verse to support the Son of Righteousness as Christ would when Nephi talks about the Christ visiting the Nephities after his resurrection, be 2 Ne 26:9, “the Son of Righteousness shall appear to them, and he shall heal them, and they shall have peace with him...”

Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Thinking in Your Heart Verses Life Changing Moments

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...” Proverbs 23:7

So I have been living in the Netherlands for the last three months for work. While over hear I have been with out my family and home. I am looking forward to going home next week to see my family again. However, three months ago when looking towards my time over here, I was thinking great. Look at all I can accomplish by myself, I can lose 20 lbs., finish reading “Isaiah Decoded” and “In Sacred Loneliness” spend some time learning sleight of hand, in order to make a routine for a magic show.

Well now is my time to return and report, so to say. As far as losing weight, I think I have gained 10 lbs instead. I didn’t even open the books mentioned. (I did read “Mormon Scientist,” about half of “Rough Stone Rolling” and a few fiction books.) I I have only briefly worked on the sleight of hand.

So is it true that as a man thinketh so is he? Why when I desired so much change in my life, did I become fat and lazy instead?

One reason I will state up front is I never wrote down these desires on my own. I goal is if it not written down and studied is nothing more than hope. So the first thing I needed to do was be serious about change and write down goals for it.

But I want to broaden this topic to more than just the frivolous things that I listed above. It applies to any change that we want in our lives. Change to become better, what else can people do to change for the better?

A sign of the times?

I thought I’d post a few thoughts I had as I studied 3 Nephi 16.

The Lord seems to be talking about two modern day groups of people; the Gentiles, which are those people of European decent, and His people, which are those that are descendents of the Nephites and Lamanites. These would be the modern day Native Americans, as well as those indigenous people of Central and South America. I will now refer to them as Lamanites.

7 Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fullness of these things shall be made known unto them.

In the last days the gospel will be restored to the Gentiles.

9 And because of the mercies of the Father unto the Gentiles, and also the judgments of the Father upon my people who are of the house of Israel, verily, verily, I say unto you, that after all this, and I have caused my people who are of the house of Israel to be smitten, and to be afflicted, and to be slain, and to be cast out from among them, and to become hated by them, and to become a hiss and a byword among them—

The Lamanites will be persecuted by the Gentiles. There is definitely evidence of this as the Americas were settled and colonized.

10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fullness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fullness of my gospel from among them.

This verse is a little puzzling. I’m not sure if he is including Latter-Day Saints in with the Gentiles in general, or if he is exclusively talking about Latter-Day Saints that have the gospel, or if he is talking about those Gentiles that do not have the gospel. I tend to lean toward the idea that he is talking about Latter-Day Saints. The phrase sin against my gospel implies to me that they have the gospel and can therefore sin against it. They have turned from the fullness of the Gospel. I believe this has already started. We are right in the middle of verse 10. Oh, members of the church aren’t vocally denouncing the prophet. But remember what the Lord said in Matthew. In the last days “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” If this is true, then at the end of verse 10 it says that the Lord will bring the fullness of his gospel from among us.

Is the Lord bringing the fullness of his gospel from among us?
One example that comes to mind is the Time Magazine article. When President Hinckley was asked if the church still teaches that God the Father was once a man like we are he replied, “I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it. I haven't heard it discussed for a long time in public discourse. I don't know. I don't know all the circumstances under which that statement was made. I understand the philosophical background behind it. But I don't know a lot about it and I don't know that others know a lot about it."

Could this be evidence that the Lord is bringing the fullness of his gospel from among us? Could this be evidence that we are right in the middle of verse 10.

13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

The Lord says in these verses that if the Gentiles will repent then he will not let the Lamanites “tread them down”.

15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.

Here the Lord says that if the Gentiles don’t turn to Him (and I’m sure he means with their “hearts”, not just their “lips”) then he will let the Lamanites “go through among them” and “tread them down”. Are we in the middle of verse 15 also? I can’t help but think of the immigration issues facing the United States (Gentiles).

According to statistics released by Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, twelve Americans are murdered every day by illegal immigrants. Thirteen Americans are killed by drunk illegal immigrant drivers every day. Eight American children are victims of sexual abuse by illegal immigrants every day.

Illegal immigrants cost Americans an estimated $2.5 billion in Medicaid costs; $2.2 billion in treatment for the uninsured; $1.9 billion for food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches; $1.6 billion in the federal prison and court systems, and $1.4 billion in federal aid to schools.

The vast majority of illegal immigrants are from Central and South America. Could the previous statistics be examples of the gentiles being “tread on”

Now the point of this post is not a political debate on illegal immigration. The point is that I think there is good evidence that we can no longer talk about verse 10 and 15 in the future tense. I believe they are happening now. We have sinned against his gospel. We have rejected the fullness of his gospel. He has begun to bring the fullness of his gospel from among us. (verse 10) The Lamanites have began to go through among the gentiles, and tread them down. (verse 15)

I guess we had better pay attention to verse 13 and 14.

13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.
14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

Time for a little R&R...repent and return.

Truly united and the work for Zion.

During the past few week as the election has dominated the headlines, both in the United States and abroad, this scripture has often come to my mind, “And the Lord called his people Zion, because they where of one heart and one mind...” Moses 7:18.

Yes, the Democrats have won the presidential election, the Senate, and the House. Republicans are now weeping, but are we truly the United States of America. Offhand, I can think of two times in the last 50 years when, in my opinion we were “United.” One being a great time the other a horrific time. The first being in the race to put a man on the moon. Americans truly wanted to see this great achievement and see an American on the moon. The second time I think we were united was shortly after the attacks on Sept. 11 2001. For a short time after that Americans were humbled, people were nicer to others on the street, I believe it was a kinder gentler nation, for a brief short time we pulled together as a Nation and came up with the slogan, “United We Stand.”

But what about now, Democrats are going to blame Republicans, Republicans are going to blame Democrats. Independents, Greens, Libertarians are all going to blame a two party system. Now, it doesn’t matter who you voted for. Even if, like me, nothing we voted for passed or our candidates were not elected. Even if we disagree with how certain aspects are handled. We can not continue to do the blame game. We must pull together as a nation. What do we really need to do to unite as a people? As a country? As a world?

I really don’t want to turn this blog political, however these same things that apply in government, apply in church and believes. How many different churches are out there claiming they are correct? The readers of this blog certainly believe theirs is the correct church, but which aspect of it? Even among the church there are so many different believes and ways of thought, all rationalized and practiced. Mainstream Mormons verses the bloggernacle. Back row Mormons verses the Molly Mormon and Peter Priesthood. No caffeine verses caffeinated Mormons.

How far and what do each of us need to accomplish to establish a people of one heart and one mind? What are we to do to establish Zion?