I had an unexpected conversation with a student after class yesterday that left her in tears. They were good tears, the kind you get when you realize there is meaning to life, a God in heaven, and a way out of the despair to a place of hope and peace. Just exactly why it's unexpected is because of who and what I am and do for a living.
Most students will tell you that their professors don't believe in God or at least care little for Him. Ask the students in biology, and they will report that we can't possibly because we teach evolution rather than creation. Well, for my part, creation belongs in philosophy and not in science because I know nobody with enough actual power to recreate creation so we can study it.
Oddly enough, it came up as a fluke. We were discussing what we normally do during the week after class ended, and I told them that I also go to church. Apparently, this surprised the students. From there, the conversation quickly turned.
We live in a world governed more by fear and greed than by faith. Even as the fearful ungodly and the greedy preach to us about charity and compassion, the former secretly hopes everyone else will be discredited, demoted, and ruined. Far too many among us are experts not in charity and discipline but rather in the uncorroborated accusation, the confidential report, the pretended alliance, and the stab in the back. A thin crust of endorsement for good manners and respect and equality sometimes erupts and the scalding lava of hatred spews out.
Consequently, many of the decent or normal people feel dejected and depressed. Beset by the effects brought upon them when other people misuse their agency, they wonder if they'll ever have peace, be happy, or see a change in their stars. Many of them lose whatever fragile faith they have and turn to drugs and fornication, desperate for an escape from a world that seems bereft of hope. That's where I come in.
From the ether, they find a professor who not only believes with his lips but also believes with his footsteps. I explained to the students how I have learned there is a God, how I have learned to listen to His voice and how I have benefitted from following His counsel. One young woman began to cry. She told me in an email late last night that she finally realized that although she felt she didn't need God let alone know where He was, she discovered after our conversation that He had been there all the time waiting for her to lend Him an ear.
As I told my students, it's been a somewhat trying year. Several things have combined to hedge up my way. As I have sought God's counsel and acted accordingly, even when I wasn't sure it was a good idea, I have seen myself brought through the rough seas and stormy winds to a land of promise. In dark times, God has carried me through to a place of light and joy.
For a long time, many of the people I know have struggled. They find themselves like we were last weekend in the cave, squeezed between two layers of rock, crawling on their stomachs, scraping against the floor and ceiling, hot and tired and worn as they desperately crawl toward that small flicker of light that indicates a way out. See, you don't have to be overtly wicked and evil to be distant from God and trapped by the rocks. Sin is technically just opposition to the will of God.
Just as resistance to God is service to the adversary, resistance to sin is service to God. When we insist we know the way or have a better way or decide to disobey God's counsel, we are trapped. It hedges up our progress. Sure, sometimes obedience to God short term appears to damn us, but sometimes you must go backwards in order to go forwards. Try that sometime in a cave. When we back away from things and places we know will hurt us, we put ourselves in a position where God's voice or hand or mercy can reach us.
One of my favorite pictures of Christ knocking at the door. Notice there is no handle. He cannot come in unless we let Him. When we do not listen to God, live in a way that's nothing more than 'going through the motions' for show, and do not care whether or not His word reaches us, we miss out on the opportunity to realize what He has planned for us.
God's work will be done, it will be done well, and it will be done on time. Most of the time, no matter how hard we try, we can't mess it up. Sometimes, we can at least temporarily screw things up for our part in it. That's where the Atonement comes in; it allows us to return to the straight and narrow and partake of all other opportunities God has for us from this point forward.
Rather than let other people govern by greed and fear, govern your own life with faith. Learn to hearken to the voice of the Spirit. I testify that talent will give you peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.
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