Between the Lion and the Unicorn

J B Priestley makes an analogy in his book, Thoughts in the Wilderness, about the nature of this life. He says that the Lion lives in and commands the world of “dreary conformity.” Except that instead of honor, the Lion gets “shrugs, jeers, sniggers and roars of laughter.” He is chained up while we mortals try to impress everyone with our knowledge. Meanwhile the Unicorn, “old but timeless, potent in its magic” represents the heavenly realm where we are empowered to be boldly imaginative as we proclaim that honor, right and “truth that is beauty are neither dead nor undefended.” I believe that when Christ comes again, he will bring with him a new ideal that was only imagined in Camelot and laughed at in Don Quixote. His realm is like a Land of Unicorns. (Priestley/Root)

This essay is going to focus on neither the Lion nor the Unicorn but the space between the two. “Now there must needs be a space bewixt the time of death and the time of the resurrection.” (Alma 40:6) This space, or Spirit World, allows for period of reflection before the redemption and resurrection. It is the nature of this space that I want to explore. Some of my sources are religious and some are secular. 

Jeffrey Olsen, in his book Knowing: Memoirs of a journey beyond the veil and choosing joy after tragic loss, speaks of his own near death experience and this is how he described what it felt like to be out of the land of the Lion, “Was it Heaven? I didn’t know, but it made my earthly existence seem like a foggy dream. What I was experiencing was far more real, far more tangible, and far more alive than anything I had ever known.” (Olsen, ch 5) This personal experience shows us one difference between mortality and the Spirit World. The spirit of man leaves the mortal body and enters a world that is peopled with others who are deceased and they are all waiting for the redemption to come. I believe they are essentially in another dimension on this Earth and that they can see mortals but they are without physical form and so mortals cannot usually see them.

In his book Lilith, George McDonald explores the redemption of a mythical princess Lilith. The main character of the book encounters Lilith in an imaginary world betwen life and death that harks back to a “Spirit World.” She is resistant to any kind of change from her devilish ways and so she remains while those who have submitted to the will of the Creator are at “rest” in the House of Death. 

The first third of the book Lilith is very confusing and necessarily so. Without confusion, the reader cannot understand that the dead in the “Spirit World” are not sure why they are there and what it means to “rest.” They are not necessarily emotional although some are wreaking havoc as usual just like Lilith. The dead enter the “Spirit World” just as they are. “And not one hair, neither mote, shall be lost, for it is the workmanship of mine hand.” (D&C 29:25) The good and the bad are all still identifying character traits of the dead.

Lucifer, the dragon, has cast a shadow on the mortal world but he is not able to influence the dead. The dead may identify more with Lucifer’s mantra than Christ’s. “Lucifer is this accuser. He spoke against us in the premortal existence, and he continues to denounce us in this life. He seeks to drag us down. He wants us to experience endless woe. He is the one who tells us we are not adequate, the one who tells us we are not good enough, the one who tells us there is no recovery from a mistake. He is the ultimate bully, the one who kicks us when we are down.

If Lucifer were teaching a child to walk and the child stumbled, he would scream at the child, punish him, and tell him to quit trying. Lucifer’s ways bring discouragement and despair--eventually and always. This father of lies is the ultimate purveyor of falsehood and cunningly works to deceive and distract us, ‘for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.’

If Christ were teaching a child to walk and the child stumbled, He would help the child get up and encourage the next steps. Christ is the helper and consoler. His ways bring joy and hope--eventually and always.” (Renlund) People tend to think along one of these lines about themselves and others as an expression of what they were taught or how they were treated.

As the book Lilith progresses, we come to understand why Lilith has not gone to her “rest.” In a conversation between Mr Vane, a mortal recently arrived, and Lilith we see her resistance. 

Lilith speaking: “I will be what I mean myself now."

Mr Vane: "If you were restored, would you not make what amends you could for the misery you have caused?"

"I would do after my nature.”

“You do not know it: your nature is good, and you do evil!"

"I will do as my Self pleases—as my Self desires."

"You will do as the Shadow, overshadowing your Self inclines you?"

"I will do what I will to do."

"You have killed your daughter, Lilith!"

"I have killed thousands. She is my own!"

"She was never yours as you are another's."

"I am not another's; I am my own, and my daughter is mine."

"Then, alas, your hour is come!”

“I care not. I am what I am; no one can take from me myself!"

"You are not the Self you imagine."

"So long as I feel myself what it pleases me to think myself, I care not. I am content to be to myself what I would be. What I choose to seem to myself makes me what I am. My own thought makes me me; my own thought of myself is me. Another shall not make me!"

"But another has made you, and can compel you to see what you have made yourself. You will not be able much longer to look to yourself anything but what he sees you! You will not much longer have satisfaction in the thought of yourself. At this moment you are aware of the coming change!”

“No one ever made me. I defy that Power to unmake me from a free woman! You are his slave, and I defy you! You may be able to torture me—I do not know, but you shall not compel me to anything against my will!"

"Such a compulsion would be without value. But there is a light that goes deeper than the will, a light that lights up the darkness behind it: that light can change your will, can make it truly yours and not another's—not the Shadow's. Into the created can pour itself the creating will, and so redeem it!"

"That light shall not enter me: I hate it!—Begone, slave!"

"I am no slave, for I love that light, and will with the deeper will which created mine. There is no slave but the creature that wills against its creator. Who is a slave but her who cries, 'I am free,' yet cannot cease to exist!"

"You speak foolishness from a cowering heart! You imagine me given over to you: I defy you! I hold myself against you! What I choose to be, you cannot change. I will not be what you think me—what you say I am!"

"I am sorry: you must suffer!"

"But be free!"

"She alone is free who would make free; she loves not freedom who would enslave: she is herself a slave. Every life, every will, every heart that came within your ken, you have sought to subdue: you are the slave of every slave you have made—such a slave that you do not know it!—See your own self!” (McDonald)

In this dialogue we see a woman who has made up her mind to be evil even though she was created to be good. She is resistant to the Creator who can see her for who she really is and redeem her back to her good self. We see, “Our reluctance to give away all our sins--thinking, instead, a down payment will do. Likewise, our reluctance to let our wills be swallowed up in His will--thinking, instead, that merely acknowledging His will is sufficient!” (Maxwell) This is not a trivial thing. The will is a force to be reckoned with and controlling it is Lucifer’s greatest wish. The Creator asks us to offer to align our will with His.

The people in the Spirit World who are not at “rest” are those who “have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—“ (Alma 40:13). The shadow of the dragon can’t influence them but they have a spirit of the devil within themselves because they have chosen it. “There is no evil that [Jesus Christ] cannot arrest. All things are in His hands. This earth is His rightful dominion. Yet He permits evil [in mortality] so that we can make choices between good and evil.” (Ezra T Benson) In the Spirit World, the dead are in the Creator’s reality. They may not, however, be happy about being in His presence and so they aren’t immediately ushered into the Land of the Unicorn.

The space between death and the resurrection is a time for the soul to decide whether or not to accept redemption. The revelations say, “Strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am--not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.” (D&C 67:10) The choice is ours. “Freedom of choice is a God-given eternal principle. The great plan of liberty is the plan of the gospel. There is no coercion about it; no force, no intimidation. A man is free to accept the gospel or reject it. He may accept it and then refuse to live it, or he may accept it and live it fully. But God will never force us to live the gospel. He will use persuasion through His servants. He will call us and He will direct us and He will persuade us and encourage us and He will bless us when we respond, but He will never force the human mind.” (Ezra T Benson)

The Creator sends messengers into the “Spirit World” to convince the souls of men to humble themselves. “And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.” (D&C 138:31) Mr Vane, in Lilith acts as a messenger. He carries Lilith against her will to Mara, the moon, and she tries to illuminate for Lilith the truth about herself. After all her efforts, Mr Vane carries Lilith to the House of Death for further help. Despite the good intentions of others in Lilith, submission is an individual choice and true redemption is in the hands of the Creator. In the Spirit World, there may not be a Mara or a House of Death but there is a space. “As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.” (Romans 11:28) Lilith and others like her are “beloved enemies.” They have lived in the land of the Lion and they seek to manifest in themselves the power of God. But they have not accepted the truth nor acted in love. When they see the truth, they wish for annihilation, but annihilation is not something they have the power to do. Only the Creator knows how to disintegrate physical things. He said that the spirit of Man is intelligence and that it “was not created or made.” (D&C 93:29) “Annihilation itself is no death to evil. Only good where evil was, is evil dead. An evil thing must live with its evil until it chooses to be good. That alone is the slaying of evil.” (McDonald) The messengers speak of redemption but the evil will must choose to be good or suffer.

The Creator will come in the morning of the resurrection and call us to arise. “But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light.” (Eph 5:13-14) The Creator will infuse us with His light and all that was damaged or broken will be renewed and receive a measure of the Glory of God such as we are willing to accept. The timing and the environment in which we wait are His. The messengers come from Him. We hold the choice to submit in our hands.

Sources

The Bible

The Doctrine and Covenants

The Book of Mormon

Benson, Ezra T. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson. Intellectual Reserve, Inc. 2014.

Maxwell, Neal A. “Encircled in the Arms of His Love.” Ensign, Oct 2002.

McDonald, George. Lilith, A Romance. Chatto and Windus, 1895.

Olsen, Jeffery. Knowing: Memoirs of a journey beyond the veil and choosing joy after tragic loss. One Now Holdings, 2018.

Priestley, J B. Thoughts in the Wilderness. Heinemann, 1957.

Renlund, Dale G. “Choose You This Day.” Ensign, Oct 2018.

Root, E Merrill. America’s Steadfast Dream. Western Islands, 1971.

My Thoughts on “Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians”

I recently listened to a Think interview (10 Jan 2018) where the author of Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics discussed her new book on the history of the sexual revolution in America. In the interview, R Marie Griffith, explained that Protestants and Catholics were both generally opposed to birth control until a Catholic priest took a stand and then Protestants were galvanized to support birth control just because it was opposed by Catholics.

In many ways, the debate in the public square over sexuality and social justice continues to galvanize people. I have observed how same sex marriage has not been an issue people put out of their minds. Instead they take sides and defend their position with very little common decency. There appears to be no middle ground in today’s debate.

If as Marie Griffith has written, that the sexual revolution fractured American Christianity in the 1920’s, than it is amazing that, in contrast, these social changes are unifying American Mormons. Our position on permissible sexual activity limited to heterosexual marriages and chastity before marriage has not changed. In fact, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have strengthened their resolve to defend the position that sexuality is a divinely authorized privilege by which the unborn spirit children of a Heavenly Father are welcomed into this Earthly mortal life. All varieties of sexual deviancy which included adultery, prostitution, pornography, sexual abuse and perversion are unauthorized uses of the physical body and we will be held accountable for our actions in a post-mortem interview with our Father God.

How to Accept God’s Grace

The notion common to most Christians is that you accept God’s grace by declaring your belief in Him. This comes from Romans 10:9 which says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (KJV)

My understanding of grace is that it is applied by a loving God universally to his children in the form of a full restitution of the physical body after death, a full restitution of broken hearts and (conditional upon repentance) a full restitution of sin.

I believe that in order to accept God’s grace I have to do more than say “I do” but I have to “do what I say.”

What you send out will come back to you

Day 11: It isn't a Sin to be Weak

This is Day 11 in a challenging new series of posts. Each post will focus on a way to increase spirituality, focus or efficiency in dealing with life. Each post will provide a speech or essay to read, a 5 question quiz and a personal challenge statement or goal. The hope is that through self-directed learning and some coaching from me, you will grow in refreshing new ways.

This life is a test. None of us is perfect at any time during the test but we can overcome many things and increase our capacity to feel joy. Our weaknesses can lead us to fall into sin, but "God can use human weakness to teach, strengthen, and bless us." Understanding our capacity and our potential can help us to have realistic expectations for this life. Working towards our potential, we will need to call upon the grace of God to augment our efforts. This essay discusses the difference between grace and repentance and how to use both on our journey. 

1. Read the Essay:

Essay

2. Take the Quiz

Quiz

3. Personal Challenge Statement: I will respond to the reality of my weaknesses with humility and faith. I choose to replace fear and shame with humility and faith.

4. Goal: Make a plan to develop humility and faith.

5. Dig Deeper: "Faith is More Than Belief"
"Grace Needed in the Kitchen"
"In Confidence is Your Strength"

Day 10: A Mighty Change

This is Day 10 in a challenging new series of posts. Each post will focus on a way to increase spirituality, focus or efficiency in dealing with life. Each post will provide a speech or essay to read, a 5 question quiz and a personal challenge statement or goal. The hope is that through self-directed learning and some coaching from me, you will grow in refreshing new ways.

I have many choices. I also have troubles that oppose my state of peace and joy. As I walk in step with Christ he lightens the load I must carry, removes my desire for evil and changes my weakness into strong characteristics. This is how my faith in him grows. I see the change inside my heart. To learn more...

1. Read the Speech:

Speech

2. Take the Quiz

Quiz

3. Personal Challenge Statement: I am turning away from evil by faith in Jesus Christ

4. Goal: Choose three ways to take tiny steps towards a closer relationship with the Lord.

5. Dig Deeper:
"Do You See Small Enough?"
"You Can Have What You Want or You Can Have Something Better"
"True and Perfect Worship"

Breaking Every Bond

A person in bondage used to mean slavery.  The bond was anything that took away their freedom.  God cares about people who are enslaved. This post is about breaking the bonds that enslave us spiritually.

Here’s how it works.  God calls people who are already free. They come together as a church to gather those who are enslaved. They take the message to the east and the west, to the north and the south any way that they can.  

Everyone who comes together must be obedient as best they can and exercise faith. In Sabbath-day worship, God pours out his Spirit upon them. This strengthens them to do the work that will break the bond. Worshiping together and feeling God’s Spirit begins to weaken the bond but it is not enough.

Everyone has to go out into the towns and villages around where they live and preach repentance. This will bring more people into the fellowship of the saints who need to be freed. But more importantly, the message of repentance inspires those that teach it to use it. The process of repentance breaks bonds.

Satan seeks to destroy people by enslaving them and taking away their choices. People who begin to choose to obey God’s laws begin to evict Satan from their lives. The truth is that it is very hard for an enslaved person to keep God’s laws. The Sabbath-day worship provides the momentum needed to enable people to do just that.

Through a combination of all these things, together with the protection of the vulnerable who are making changes, will break every bond (in time). In the meantime, all of us must visit the poor, the needy, and the fatherless and do all in our power to alleviate their suffering. Organizing such visits so that everyone visits between 1-5 families sure makes it easier to cover a lot of ground.

The freedom that God has planned for us is not possible if we keep ourselves aloof from the church. Because freedom comes with time. The church offers us protection but it also gives us a way to help others break their bonds of slavery. How can I expect to only be the recipient of God’s gift of freedom? First I must serve, by teaching the process to others, alleviating their suffering and living in obedience to the laws that are prerequisite to freedom.  Then I will be set free myself.

The process of becoming free happens on an individual level and among people working together in the same community.  The church may be global, but the work is done as a small scale. How can I be free just by being part of a global organization? I have to work among my congregation and those that live in towns and villages around me. I have to worship on the Sabbath to strengthen others. If my community is too large, the poor and needy might get lost and forgotten. The breaking of bonds requires that the poor and the needy be found and assisted. The message of repentance has to be taught (not by someone else — but by me and not just at church but in one-on-one interactions).

If I attend church and find that the majority of the congregation is not free but actually enslaved in some way, I will not be surprised. This is what a congregation should look like.  The members should be talking about the baby steps that are making them more free every day. If everyone is listening to one person and no one even knows who the poor and the needy are in the congregation than the process of breaking bonds has not been organized or begun.

I believe that the bonds Satan uses to enslave us include:

addictions

pornography

adultery

anger

unforgiven hurts

abuse

dependance on welfare

mental illness

divorce 

dishonesty

and many other things.

If you have been enslaved by any of these things you will know how important one-on-one interactions and the protection of community are in recovery. I hope that this post helps explain why and how the church also plays an important role in recovery. This post doesn’t spend much time on the process of repentance but that is the one-on-one relationship with God that ultimately frees us. I just want to emphasize that God is not going to free us just to see us fall back into a deeper pit.  He loves us too much to free us in an unprotected environment where Satan can exploit our vulnerabilities. If you are surprised that God has not freed you yet, maybe you haven’t thought about how loving it is of him to wait until you are in a safe place before he cuts your bonds.

The source for the idea behind this post is D&C 44

Do You See Small Enough?

I been thinking about the repentance process and my last post talked about some of the BIG changes that repentance can bring about in a person’s spiritual progression.  I gained additional insight today as I was listening to a horse trainer explain how basic maneuvers are repeated with the horse until the amount of pressure to the reins can be reduced to just a few ounces of pressure and yet the horse responds. Horses learn very quickly but often the trainer fails to get the results he wants.  This is not because the lessons are difficult for the horse or difficult for the trainer.  This is not because the horse is somehow unable to achieve that level of mastery.  The reason that the trainer fails to achieve the desired results is that the trainer stops repeating the lessons.  The trainer stops because he or she doesn’t see the smallest changes.  Every repetition of the exercise produces smaller and smaller results.  This is logical. The horse becomes better at the exercise and responds quicker. The trainer sees big improvement at first but does the trainer continue to see the subtle changes in behavior, attitude and stance?

Amyloplasts

In the repentance process, the biggest changes occur first.  As the spiritual progression continues, the changes are smaller. Each repetition brings a quicker response, a more submissive reaction and a humbler stance. God being infinite can see infinitely small changes.  He is the Creator and his designs reach all the way down to the atomic level. In God’s training methods, we can expect to see repetition.  We might even wonder why he is repeating a lesson that we feel we have already mastered.  What is the purpose in this uniquely challenging Earth experience? 

As we repent, we show submission and humility.  We can choose to accept the changes or we can choose to distance ourselves from God and avoid his correction.  C.S. Lewis’s great quote gives insight into the purpose to God’s training and our acceptance of his correction.  He said, “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”  (Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity.) The process of repentance does change us in large structural ways but it also changes us in the details of our souls. Do you see small enough?

Hohenschwangau Castle, Bavaria

The best way to benefit from repentance is to choose to make corrections rather than having correction forced upon you by the circumstances.  Any person can choose to become more spiritual by designing a course of action that includes regular study, meditation and prayer.  Any person can choose to become more charitable by engaging in a service project that takes 20+ hours to complete. The choice to engage in faith-building activities is a choice to repent because changing from a habit of less engagement to one of more engagement entails progress.  Personal growth will happen and within a short time the new self will be significantly improved. As a mentor of youth, I often give them a set of exercises to do that will result in these kinds of changes.  Being young and easily influenced, they do the exercises without knowing why or how it will change them.  As adults, we are less likely to be mentored in this way, however we can learn from and adapt the programs designed for youth to our own purposes.  Begin today on a self-directed exploration of your faith and commitment to our Heavenly Father. I promise you it will be worth the effort.

Programs for Youth

Faith In God

Personal Progress

Duty to God

Awana

Focus on the Family's Spiritual Development Program

This video is about why parents take a leadership role in mentoring kids spirituality

Image credits: All photos are in the public domain and available on Pixabay

Four Stories about Repentance plus My Own Thoughts

Enos was a guy who had grown up in a religious family but he hadn’t thought much about it.  He attributes his father to what he does know.  When he finally started to feel that “hunger” to know, he took the opportunity to pray in private while out hunting.  He says he prayed all day.  And when night came he was still praying. He doesn’t specify what exactly he was praying for or about but he heard a voice that gave him a sense of Divine forgiveness and his “guilt was swept away.”  He asked the Divine a question, “How is it done?”  This is truly the essence of repentance stories.  How is it done?  What does it feel like?  When is it over?

God’s answer to Enos was: “And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.”

This answer is very similar to the kinds of things Christ said when he healed a person.  Repentance is a process that makes a broken, damaged, corrupted person whole.

Lamoni was what we would call an indigenous man who was a minor king since his father was still alive and reigning in a different part of the land.  He believed in “the Great Spirit” which is a common belief in native peoples of America.  He was taught about Christ and he believed what he heard completely.  However, his culture valued prowess in war and he had recently killed some servants who had lost his sheep to plundering villagers.  So his past actions conflicted with the new value system and he was worried about the repercussions.  In this story Lamoni falls to the ground and remains unconscious for a period of 48 hours during which he experiences the Divine and is taught the truth.  Wouldn’t that be wonderful if we could all have a personal experience with the Divine?  The only reason I can think of why Lamoni got this when most people don’t get it is that he was a king and had the ability to influence many people by virtue of the leadership position he held. The kind of Divine manifestation Lamoni had is not the major takeaway.  What is instructive is that his unmitigated faith led to a complete change in his character.  He went from a leader who routinely punished small offenses by death to a leader who had “no desire to do evil” and was willing to bury all his weapons of war in the ground and give up his life before committing another murder.  That commitment was tested and he and his people did experience a war where they refused to fight.  Who do you know that has made a commitment to shun evil and been true to that commitment when their life was in jeopardy?

The third story is about a man named Alma.  He grew up in a religious climate and chose to fight it.  “He was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities.” The fire of rebellion gained strength especially when it got social approval from other people. His father was understandably concerned and began to pray for him. In a Divine manifestation much like that which Saul/Paul had in the New Testament, an angel stops Alma in his tracks.  He describes his repentance process, “I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit…Nevertheless, after wading through much tribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God.

“My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more.”  The great passion with which he attacked the religion is redirected to a passionate testimony of how God frees the soul from the bondage of sin and leads it into the marvelous light of truth.

In the fourth story, Ammon talks about the great anger that motivated his actions before he went through the repentance process.  He was a friend of Alma in the third story and witnessed Lamoni’s change of heart in the second story.  He explains how God’s justice should have resulted in eternal despair for himself and his friends. Instead Ammon took the mercy offered him to repent and change his ways. His anger was dissipated. His life took on new meaning. In addition, the same process that he took personally, he also witnessed in the people of Lamoni who he says “were encircled about with everlasting darkness and destruction; but behold, he has brought them into his everlasting light, yea, into everlasting salvation; and they are encircled about with the matchless bounty of his love. For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren.” (Alma 26:15, 32)

The repentance process is one of change from dark to light, a shift from bondage to freedom, a shift from despair to purpose.  In the traditional sense, it implies a wrong action on the part of the repentant person.  In my opinion, repentance is a generic process that neutralizes the wrong actions of anyone whether I did them or someone did them to me. If I feel any bitterness or bondage, and I’m willing to face it and work through it, the atonement of Jesus Christ can and does dissipate my anger and hurt.  Allen Bergin described the process of repentance as a person who came “before the Lord in mighty prayer and confessed fully and frankly exactly what they had done, step-by-step, intention by intention, they began to realize more deeply how they had betrayed the Lord who loves them; how they had violated their own ideals as followers of the Savior; and how they had betrayed, in many cases, sacred covenants. This self-examination is like psychotherapy in that the process of spiritual reform requires overcoming defenses and accepting painful self-awareness. It is an exercise in honesty, guided by the spirit of truth. This is not an easy thing to achieve.”  I have noticed in my personal introspection that my desire for evil often is tied to an injury I received. In my repentance, I have experienced the bondage of sin break under the light of truth and the desire for evil shift to a desire for goodness.  I want to emphasize that walking through the gall of bitterness is often a part of the repentance process. On the other side of this proximity to “death” is the matchless bounty of God’s love. The fear of “death” is real but if you understand that what is dying is the corrupted part of yourself, then you can walk with confidence the path that burns it out of you. I testify that the result of repentance is wholeness. If you run away from repentance you may end up in an addiction which is a flawed attempt to assuage guilt and pain without resolving it.  There are a hundred ways to run but only one way to be free.  Ultimately a personal experience with the Divine is essential.  I believe faith in Jesus Christ and participation in the nuanced repentance process is the only way to experience lasting peace in this life.

Watch a video about the repentance process here

Additional Scriptures on Repentance

• Matthew 9:10–13; Luke 13:3; Ezekiel 18:30 (repent or perish)
• Alma 7:21 (no unclean thing can dwell in God’s presence)
• 2 Corinthians 7:9–10 (godly sorrow)
• Mosiah 4:10–12 (steps to repentance)
• Isaiah 1:18; Mosiah 26:28–32 (repentance brings forgiveness)
• D&C 58:42 (sins remembered no more)
• 2 Nephi 9:23 (repentance necessary to salvation)
• 2 Nephi 2:21 (repent while in the flesh)
• D&C 19:15–20 (the Lord has commanded us to repent so we will not have to suffer as He did)

If you liked this post you might also like What It Takes to Turn Around

Credit:
Allen Bergin, Psychology and Repentance. BYU Speeches. 1994.
Image used with permission