Many of you who read my blog are close friends and know where I stand on spirituality and religion. I am an active, participating, fairly orthodox member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am a seventh generation member on both sides of my family. Mormonism is my culture my heritage, my ethnicity.
I hope this doesn't come across as preachy, sentimental, or saccharine. My spirituality, my faith, and my religion are a large part of my identity, my culture, and my social interaction. I find it perfectly appropriate to ruminate on this aspect of my life. I have titled this post "Some of My Beliefs, Part 1," with the optimism that there will be other posts like this.
I hope this doesn't come across as preachy, sentimental, or saccharine. My spirituality, my faith, and my religion are a large part of my identity, my culture, and my social interaction. I find it perfectly appropriate to ruminate on this aspect of my life. I have titled this post "Some of My Beliefs, Part 1," with the optimism that there will be other posts like this.
- I believe that God is my father. I don’t know how he can love all of his children, but I know that he loves me. I have a spiritual mother. I don’t know much about her and that sometimes makes me sad. Every once in a while I feel homesickness and longing for a place that I hardly remember. The word that best describes this feeling is saudade. Tenho saudade do céu.
- Life is a probationary period in which I have a body and free will. The choices I make determine my course in this life and in the life to come. Although I believe my works strengthen my faith and that my faith is manifested through my works. But I am saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. He has already paid the price for my sins.
- I have felt the power of the Holy Ghost. I believe that the gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred upon me after baptism.
- There is a lot of symbolism in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in the religious structure of the Church. Repetition and ceremony can foster an ideal state for meditation.
- Knowledge leads to understanding, which leads to respect, which leads to admiration, which often leads to love.
- Faith is a choice. I choose to believe. I choose to place my faith and devotion in this religious system. I continue to choose to submit my will to God’s will, as obstinate as I am.
- Free agency is the greatest gift God has given his children. I respect the choices and actions of others as long as they do not infringe upon my ability to choose.
1 comment:
In a court of law, people are innocent until proven guilty. I have chosen to use a similar method for thinking about the church. In my faith, the church is true until proven false. In court cases, one tiny possibility can open the door for innocence to be declared even with a mountain of evidence suggesting someone is guilty. This tiny possibility is the door that we walk through as a society to make sure that we don't convict people who are innocent. In the same manner, we should not "convict" the church of being false unless we know "beyond reasonable doubt" that it is false. We may think the church is true, or we may think the church is false, but we cannot declare it to be one way or the other. This is where faith comes. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, not seen. With faith, we can face all truth that is currently available about and surrounding the church, and with "hope" believe in those possibilities, those doors that are open, that give us a way to believe and to live accordingly. It is highly unlikely that information will ever come to light that will prove "beyond reasonable doubt" that the church is or isn't true. For this reason, a decision is required. I personally have chosen to believe, despite the evidence that could suggest otherwise. I do this because I see it as the most likely approach for overall happiness in this life. I can live with hope of an eternal family, hope of redemption, hope of celestial glory. In doing so, It becomes easier to live a life on the moral high ground that leads to a better life and a better society
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