The Path of Mortality: A Thorny Way or a Road to Paradise

The obvious nature of our existence is that this creation in the infinite vastness of space favors our existence. This, our habitation is sufficiently supplied so that nothing necessary to the survival of its occupants would ever lack except by the tyranny of evil or by our own foolish choices. 

Mortals disagree over how this abundance of resources should be distributed or acquired. The self-evident law of the harvest clearly governs in spite of misguided man's attempted interference.

Our planet is barely a speck on the known map of the cosmos yet it is sufficiently large to obscure the nature of its placement. It is in and of itself a veil that dims the view into eternity and the infinite space around us.

Those with vision, however, are offered a revelation if they will see it when the stars on a clear night sky come into view. Deeper dimension and understanding have been revealed by powerful telescopes and the view of an endless array of galaxies. If the briefness of mortality doesn't give way to contemplation that opens the mind to the wonder of the endlessness around us then what will?

Contemplative souls can discern the self-evident truths of eternity and endless space. Who can look past the veil of mortality and see that destiny of death awaits and only one truth can govern supreme over all things beyond it.

Surrounded by vehicles, homes, and buildings of wood, metal, rubber, and glass we seek to control our environment and keep it constant. We seek to keep the hostile natural elements at bay.  We travel about this sphere with seeming indifference to these elements except when they do overpower our engines and buildings and throw us into the chaos of its hostility.

What mysteries have we yet to learn about ourselves, endless space, and the purpose of life? How do we contemplate the wonders of life and creation? When we do, what do we see?  Some Scientists have concluded that the materials of creation are billions of years old and have substantially proven that it is so.  The most likely scenario is that there is no beginning to the existence of elements, spirit or matter.

As occupants of the earth, mankind has only been capable of writing its history for six thousand years or so. Some of our greatest technological advances have only been made in the last 100 years.  Shouldn't this cause us to wonder why now and why so recent? 

Unreliable as the written history of the earth may as it is recorded, even more so the speculations of scholarly endeavors crafting narratives from the incomplete fossil records and other historical sources.

The history of the world most Christians contemplate begins with an event known as the fall.  What happened when Adam and Eve fell from the paradise of Eden? Did they gain opportunities or lose out on eternal paradise? Biblical scholars not understanding God's plan have declared that the fall was not what God intended to happen. 

Our first parents, however, were placed in a setting that God designed for them. Its purpose was so they could discover the reasons for their existence. They were not intended to live as innocent bystanders in a static garden, constantly intruded upon by a demonic presence, but as active participants in a dynamic world of opposition, a choice God wanted them to make on their own. 

The earth was designed to be an environment of continuous learning both through individual and collective experience. By divine eternal law and design, the plan, which included the fall and redemption was formed and implemented.  Adam fell that we might be and we are here that we might have joy.

Adam and Eve were exiled from the state of absolute dependence and innocence that limited their potential. Freedom of choice and their moral agency gave way to independence and knowledge, and this was according to God's will. Some misguided philosophers and theologians concluded that their fall was not the intended path.  Looking at the circumstances, however, how could mortality as we know it not be the path that God intended?

We have followed them by the billions into the mortality of this earth and so begins the test of life for all of us, to see if we will choose good over evil. We like they create in our image and likeness in families, which is the image and likeness of God.  

The beauty of the earth didn’t go away just because thorns began to grow in the earth.  Do people think that God loves his children any less because they are not in Eden? With agency and the capacity to build a meaningful life, paradise again comes into view through the gospel of Jesus Christ and the abundance of His creation. 

Even in heartache, dismay and a seemingly endless opposition with infirmities and perils, even in spite of the tyranny through the ages, hope and faith need not dim.  It may do so temporarily as we grow beyond our doubts, but renews again when we continue on the path revealed by God.

In our homes and communities, through work and knowledge, we can build a paradise of our dreams by following the covenant path or a nightmare of negative consequences in opposition to it. 

As husbands and wives, we are led to the covenants and ordinances of holy places wherein the principles of godliness are manifest. Families can be sealed to each other in bonds of affection.  When we are faithful these will never end, even though we or they step through the door of death. 

At some point in time and eternity, all people will have such an opportunity to love, to learn, and to know, and to choose to follow or not.  No one, however, will be forced to live after the manner of godliness.    

The obedient will proceed to ongoing learning and eventually to exaltation and eternal lives.  All who are born and die on earth and don’t follow the plan but don't deny the Savior will yet receive a resurrection, immortality and an eternal habitation, even a kingdom of glory.  Such is the love of God for his children.

We are here in this space, a place to act because of the love of our Heavenly Parents.  We are their children.  It is a family relationship.  Theirs is a ministry of creation. This is where eternal bonds of affection are created and nurtured, even pure love, eternal love.  This is the grand why of creation and the end purpose of the sacrifice they made.

They are inviting us to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ, back to their presence, and into a fellowship of family relationships beyond our comprehension except it be revealed to us through a real and unfeigned desire to know.  The Holy Ghost is a real power that helps us understand spiritual truth. 

For this reason, the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ have been restored to the earth and Temples are being built all over the world.  Living prophets know and reveal the eternal truths of our existence and the purpose of life so that we can know our relationship to God and the eternal nature of our soul.