The following is extremely long. But I didn't want to seem a point grubber, so I am placing the entire article here as I wrote it. If it is too long to read I understand.
I consider 100 articles here to be quite an achievement for me. Sixty or so articles ago I had pretty much decided to toss it in, stop all together, and not come back. Those reasons are my own, and not infrequently are reinforced, but I chose to continue blogging, mainly because I found it was helping me think things through more clearly. I found myself not only writing articles, but thinking about things as if I were going to write an article, analyzing, articulating, and paying more attention to what was going on around me. This was a good thing, so I decided to continue, to push past that wall of apathy that I allow to stop me at times. Seems sort of silly to make such an effort at blogging, but I felt it was a personal victory that I wanted to attain on other levels, and my blog was just the catalyst for that.
So here I sit, composing my “landmark” article. Ninety-nine articles under my belt, ranging from my ramblings on music, family and home, personal relationships, random goings on in my life, some of my own prose, and a random political article here and there. As I was anticipating what I wanted to write about with #100 I thought back on my “Who is BlueDev” article. There were some things I mentioned there about myself, my beliefs, my family, that are very important to me. And while it was a bit unsettling writing about me so candidly, I also found it to be of worth. As I have been contemplating some new articles I wish to write as well, I felt my 100th could serve as a good backdrop to some of those. So, if you have managed to make it through all of this so far, well, here goes (finally).
I have numerous beliefs, many shared with others here, and some that are perhaps not as common. They are central to my life, to who I am and to where I plan on going. I try to live every day by those beliefs, but fall short very often. I screw up more often than I wish, and so I sincerely hope that nothing that follows comes off as pious. I recognize I have many flaws, but use my beliefs to try to work to overcome them. Hopefully, day by day, I make a little progress. The following is what gets me there. Finally, lest anyone think I am trying to force my beliefs on others, well, you chose to come and read. All are welcome to come and go as they feel fit.
I believe in God. I believe that He exists. I believe that He is omniscient, omnipotent and eternal. I believe that He is our Heavenly Father and created us spiritually before we were ever born. I believe that our spirit is eternal; we existed before we came to this earth, and we will continue to exist long after our mortal frames cease to be. I believe that God is more than love, more than an entity, more than a vague vapor that exists everywhere and nowhere. I believe that He has a perfect, glorified immortal body and that when The Bible states “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Old Testament | Genesis 1:27) that it is quite literal. I believe that He created this world for us, that we might come to earth, obtain a physical body, and learn to overcome our carnal, natural selves. And more than anything, I believe that, as our Heavenly Father, He has a plan for us, to allow us to return to His presence if we are faithful. He has a plan because of His great love for us. I believe He listens to our prayers, that he answers us when we exercise our faith in Him. But I also believe that, as much as it pains Him to see us err, He has given us the gift of our agency. He neither compels nor forces, only leaves it to us to choose to follow Him, of our own free will.
I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe that He is my Savior and my Redeemer. I believe that He is the Son of God, that He died for me on the cross, and that He was resurrected on the third day, overcoming the bands of death. I believe that He is a glorified, perfected being who now stands on the right hand of His Father, our Father, God. I believe that Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. I believe that justice and mercy are both eternal laws, and that when I transgress the laws of God that a price must be paid. I believe that Christ has paid that price through is glorious atonement wrought in the Garden of Gethsemane and again on Calvary’s Hill. I also believe that in order to receive the blessings of the atonement I must exercise faith. I must not only believe, but I must live in such a way that the atonement of Christ can have effect in my life, for as Paul taught “faith without works is dead” (New Testament | James 2:20). I believe that it is only through the grace of Christ that I may be forgiven of my sins and live with God again. But I also believe that to truly show that faith I must not just speak it, but live it, make it the very center of every day. I believe that only through Christ may I return to the presence of my loving Father again, and that the atonement of Christ is the central part of God’s plan for us, His children. I believe that Christ overcame the two deaths that separate us from our Father in Heaven, the physical and the spiritual. I believe that we all will die and we all sin. Christ’s resurrection loosed the bands of death, and we will all be resurrected and receive glorified, immortal bodies. I believe this is a gift to all of us. But I also believe that the spiritual death, the separation that comes about as a fault of our own personal sins, can only be overcome through our faithfulness.
I believe that anciently The Lord called chosen people to serve Him as His prophets. I believe He spoke with them “face to face” (Old Testament | Exodus 33:11), that He revealed His truths to them, and that He spread His word to the earth through them. I also believe that “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” (Old Testament | Amos 3:7). I believe those prophets revealed the truth of the gospel to God’s children here on the earth. Through them He prepared the world for the coming of Jesus Christ, and after His ascension into heaven His apostles continued to teach the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, I also believe that, as prophesied by Amos “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it” (Old Testament | Amos 8:11 - 12). Shortly after the time of Christ, the Apostle Paul reiterated this to the Thessalonians when he told them (speaking of the second coming of Christ) “for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first” (New Testament | 2 Thessalonians 2:3). I believe that this “falling away” came in the form of a great apostasy not long after Christ’s resurrection and ascension to His Father. The truth, in its entirety, was lost from the earth for centuries. Many truths still existed, still were taught, but not in their pure form, not in their entirety. I believe that, due to this apostasy, the power to officiate in the ordinances of the gospel was lost. This priesthood, this authority to direct and lead Christ’s church was lost from the land.
I believe that this necessitated a restoration of the truth. And as was done anciently, The Lord again called a prophet in our day and revealed the truth of the gospel to him and gave him that authority. I believe that that first prophet of our times, through whom the restoration of Christ’s church was carried out, was Joseph Smith. I believe that, as a youth earnestly seeking the truth, he retired to a secluded grove of trees and prayed to know the truth about religion. I believe that, in Joseph’s own words “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me . . . When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” (Pearl of Great Price | JS-History 1:16 - 17). As incredible as it may seem, I do believe that Joseph Smith was visited by God The Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and that, as in times of old, they conversed with him “face to face” and that through him the truth was once again restored to the earth. I believe that God has continued to call prophets in our time. I believe His love for us is just as great as it was in ancient times, and that we need His words in our times just as much (if not more) than in times of old. I believe that Gordon B. Hinckley is The Lord’s prophet on earth today, and that through him we can continue to hear the words that God wants us to hear, that we may return to His presence.
I believe that The Bible is the word of God. But I also believe that it has been translated time and again by well-meaning but uninspired men. And as such I believe that there may be problems with the translation, lost truths and meanings, and inconsistencies that have been propagated through the years. But I believe that God loves all His children and sent His words and messages to more than just those in and around Jerusalem. I believe that He led some of His children here to the American continent, and that He gave them His words as well. I believe that the prophet Joseph Smith, The Lord revealed his words to those on the American continent and that they can be found in The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. I believe it to also be the word of God, and that it teaches the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe that together, The Bible and The Book of Mormon teach us more fully the gospel of Christ and that “they shall become one in thine hand” (Old Testament | Ezekiel 37:17). I believe that God can speak to all His children and that He has said “Thou fool, that shall say: A Bible, we have got a Bible, and we need no more Bible. Have ye obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews? Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.” (Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 29:6 - 8). As Paul testified “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” (New Testament | 2 Corinthians 13:1). I believe that The Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ.
I believe that the family is the fundamental unit of the gospel. I believe that families are ordained of God, and that they have the potential to be eternal. When my wife and I were married (in the Bountiful, Ut temple) there was no mention of “Till death do [us] part”. We were promised that, if we were faithful to each other and the promises we made to our Father in Heaven that our marriage will continue after this life. That, just as our souls are eternal and we will be resurrected, our family ties can be eternal as well. I believe that, if we are faithful, my family will continue on through eternity, and nothing makes me more joyful than that promise. To be with my wife and our family throughout the generations, in the presence of our Heavenly Father is the greatest promise I can conceive.
Perhaps just as important as what I believe, though, is why I believe it. To be quite frank, I was raised with these beliefs. I have wonderful parents who were strict but loving. They taught me these things from childhood. But I knew that wasn’t enough. As I saw it (and as I see it), everything depended on the truthfulness of The Book of Mormon. Because if The Book of Mormon was true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I cannot imagine God revealing true scripture to a false prophet. And so I read The Book of Mormon. I pondered its words; I studied it together with The Bible. And when I reached the end of The Book of Mormon I read the promise contained therein: “Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Book of Mormon | Moroni 10:3 - 5). So I knelt myself down to pray, I poured my heart out to my Father in Heaven, and I asked Him quite plainly if The Book of Mormon was true. I exercised all my faith that God would give me an answer and He did. The Bible teaches us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (New Testament | Galatians 5:22 - 23). As I knelt in prayer I received an unmistakable confirmation of the truth through the Holy Spirit. I was filled with a joy that I cannot describe, a feeling of peace and happiness so great that I could not deny that The Lord was answering my prayers. Since that time I have continued to study, to pray, and to seek the truth about my beliefs, about Christ’s atonement, about Joseph Smith, about the restoration of the gospel, about modern day prophets. And each time I humbly seek the truth I find it through the power of the Holy Spirit. I take nothing I have been taught or believe on blind faith. I have always made it a practice of discovering the truth for myself, of gaining my own testimony of what I believe. And my wife and I teach the same in our children.
There are other beliefs which I hold, but this is the core, the most fundamental of my beliefs. To be honest, this is quite possibly the most difficult article I have ever written (and certainly the most long winded), simply because I am putting my most dear and sacred beliefs out in the open for scrutiny and to be possible reviled. But I would be a poor believer if I didn’t have sufficient faith in my own beliefs to stand a little scrutiny. There you have it. If you actually read this far you now know far more about me than I would have ever thought I would share. But I knew if I didn’t that I would regret it. I would love to hear what others believe and hold to be sacred if they should feel so inclined.