Roughness in the plan of salvation

The imagination

When I was little I played with a broom and a stick and I became a gentleman. For me, the important thing was that my cape, which was a towel, would shake with the wind. In those days, we imagined everything because the world was very different from our dreams. We only had the imagination to create our games.
Some people think that imagine corresponds to the early age. Finding roughness in the plan of salvation is an exercise in part of imagination.

By the way, I recognize, that the imagination sometimes receives many suggestions from other bordering borders, which for prudence, I will not mention. More volatile materials are needed to create new things. Something like a bronze sphere that works with faith. Or less flashy things like an arrow of a straight stick.

We heard Nephi,  «And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters. « ( 1 Nephi 17:17 ) Accusations similar to those of his father «And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart … « ( 20 )
The word imagination comes from the Latin imaginatio ,  that is, action and effect of forming a mental figure. The imagination coupled with good sense can result in the construction of hermetic ships or new thoughts.

The Lord speaks to us of the power of the imagination «… And he shall be led in paths where the poisonous serpent cannot lay hold upon his heel, and he shall mount up in the imagination of his thoughts as upon eagles’ wings.»  ( D & C 124: 99 ) To compare it with the wings of an eagle is really powerful and imaginative.

A celestial tool

From King David we heard advice to his son Solomon regarding his imagination  «And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. «( 1 Chron 28: 9 )

He understands all imagination of our thoughts. We can approach her confidence through our imagination, because she is the one who conceives the works of our faith. In this way, our imagination develops a vision of our faith.

In Nephi’s vision, he recognizes the tree he had heard from his father on several occasions. Nephi had reproduced it in his imagination. «And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty… »  ( 1 Nephi 11: 8 )

Nephi knew that the tree was similar to the one his father had seen, because his father had created a vision in his mind of the properties of the tree. Nephi imagined it and then wanted to see it himself.
To convey a vision, we must first imagine it and to that we must dedicate time and effort.

Other strange states

Sometimes I experience turbulence that leaves my faith marker close to zero. In those moments I am able to observe my religious constitution and my faith from a distance, something like the building in which I live. At first I was worried about those moments of doubt, because I thought they were not right. Now I understand that it is the roughness of the gospel. These fluctuations in faith, make us understand that we make a transit and not a camping in the plan of salvation. As we see in Lehi’s dream the path to the tree is accompanied by «natural» accidents.

On rare occasions, and similar to the previous, I totally lose the meaning of life. It is usually when I make a sudden stop in an intense activity at work or in another environment. The first times this happened to me, as a teenager, I felt terror. I experienced a perfect void without the ability to take on reality or make sense of it. When this happened, I thought about God and asked him to rescue me from that hell. Or I tried to think about my family and in that way, try to make that thought suck me out of nothing. But everything was far away, it was not. I had to wait for my mind to «connect» again with my surroundings.

Learning in opposites

Over the years, I realized that in that terrible state there was something I did not quite understand. Then I started looking for it, but I could not produce it. It arrived when it arrived. But I did learn to keep it longer and find what was there.

In those moments, I have the impression, of contemplating the world without being illuminated by any light. As if the motor of my soul stopped and in that inertia I heard the rolling of an empty reality. I have been able to be aware, without being stunned by the beginning’s panic, of something surprising to experience (not to say).
I perceive that we have an identity and it is independent of the world. Unique and built before the world and our circumstances. But we need a sphere where to dwell. As I gradually return to the normal state of consciousness, I notice how all aspects of my life gradually fit together and make up my life with its meaning again.

Although some readers may find what I say alarming, we should not worry about temporarily losing our sense of reality. That loss teaches a lot, because emptiness is what gives content to everything else. Without that emptiness there would be nothing. Touching that invisible cloak is like poking your head into an unsuspected celestial dome. And in it value the light that «And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;» ( D & C 88:11 )
Lost the fear of that ancient abyss of my youth , I consider now those moments as revealers.

Some imaginations

I really believe that I would be a very consistent unbeliever. I am endowed with great empathy with them. I know how they feel and could think as easily as they do. The problem is that I have a lot of imagination and I also know what vacuum is.
I can imagine how the earth felt before being illuminated by the light of Christ. Perhaps it was empty and desolate , perceiving that it had an identity. When suddenly Jehovah proposed a plan to him, that other waste  and empty worlds described it as » the crazy imaginations of a heart …» ( 20 ) There are people like those worlds, unable to cross the desolate waters that cover them.

From that darkness of the earth, all that plan of vegetable and animal life, rivers, valleys and oceans sounded like pure fantasy. However, the earth trusted in that light that shone out there. And he began to imagine too.

The teaching of the vacuum

There is no argument more invincible than emptiness, to retreat into the thin atmosphere of a vanquished spirit. And live a life of the abyss class in its empty and desolate way.
But there is that light again, lighting a seven day plan of salvation. And I can acquire the reason of the waste worlds and think «Why am I going to believe such a story? Believe because there is something shining out there? »

However, when you approach him, when you follow his voice. Then you feel vibrate within you the deep constitution of your nucleus. And then the plates of the sleeping soul open up. And they come out into the light, bubbling like incandescent lava, the hidden creatures of your interior. Never pronounced, never imagined by another. And you realize that you were in the dark and that the light you thought you had was darkness. Then the vapor of your faith rises and showers like rain the simple beliefs that others judge as vulgar little birds of the field.

Being endowed with reason, nevertheless it is heavy in its density and inhabits the everyday, the present. Adored in the temple of our century, she is jealous of all devotion to other gods. In contrast, eagle wings are needed to go back and imagine the great mystery of restoration. With reason alone, we can not beat the arguments of our faith. They will not raise us.

A dream

Two years ago I had a dream. I dreamed that I was swimming in a river and I approached a boat that had a very tall mast with a huge sail. I knew that ship was the gospel. In the dream he had to reach a destination with him. However, the height of the mast and its sail frightened me. I was afraid of the force they were transmitting and I was afraid to get on and lose control of the course. I decided to take it by road because I was familiar. While walking the signs were familiar to me. But as I moved, the ship fell apart. Looking in the distance I saw a river. The sun reflected in its waters and shone in the distance. I knew then that he was not acting correctly. I should have trusted the sails and the wind.

The gospel proposes to deal with the contradictory. He invites us to leave the small dark sea where we were born. It tells us about a kingdom that is not of this world. But this world is all we know. It tells us that faith is the knowledge of true things that are not seen. Two contradictions in the same sentence. The great test of our faith was carried by the angel Moroni. Without this documentary proof, there is only the testimony … of our faith, invalid in any court on this earth.

The fear of getting on a boat like this is natural. But I learned to listen in a vacuum since I was young. Not to fear it. And sometimes our faith is like a momentary vacuum. Close your eyes and implore in the dark, listen to our thoughts go into silence. Many times we are afraid to touch that celestial sphere, the fear of the incomprehensible. To stop walking on our feet and start navigating in a strange, otherworldly element.

Roughness in the plan of salvation

The elasticity in the joints is achieved with the pain of stretching and the contraction of the effort. It is in this small contradiction of movements that our body maintains the correct posture and its permanence in time. Achieving well-being, therefore, requires opposites in permanent interaction. However, many consider that only rest guarantees well-being.

Uncertainty or doubt are also tensions known to all, whether we are believers or not. But many think that the ideal state exists only in certainty and that is where happiness lies or at least a less ambitious variant such as tranquility.
However, faith places us before the veil and the uncertainty that accompanies it. Being before what we believe and do not see puts us in a permanent tension with the articulation of common sense. The natural man does not see in this activity of faith any utility for his movements, all horizontal.

The constitution of Job

We find in Job a man residing in the certainty of his prosperity and in the justice of his actions. Subjected later to the contradiction of misery, we listen to his words.

«Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. « ( Job 3: 3-5 )

Given this attitude, he receives the rebuke of his friends Elifaz, Bildad and Zofar. In it we notice a rigidity of thought, in which the straight line between causes and effects does not fit . Therefore the logic of Eliphaz cuts like a knife any hope of Job and ours, that is not based on a flat way of understanding salvation.

«Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?« ( Job 4: 7 )

These believers, only from their own bonanza, are unable to understand the articulation of pain in life. In this case in the case of his friend Job, who, being a just man, suffers in his misfortune all the evils attributed to the wicked.

Like those bad comforters, many of us see a fineness and softness in the story of the plan of salvation easy to explain and attractive to see. But that then does not correspond to the roughness of reality on a personal scale. A faith of this nature remains only as long as our circumstances float in the general story of the gospel. But in the face of local adversity, we will ask ourselves: how can this be?

The paradox of the world

In the case of Job, he recognizes this paradox of the world and receives the benefit for the soul

«Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. » ( Job 23: 8-10 )

In these words Job admits his uncertainty to understand all things, but retains hope.
That first pain expressed by Job on the day of his birth stretches his soul like that of Enoch who, seeing the wickedness of the world, «and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook.» ( Moses 7:41 ). to Enoch «And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh « ( 47 ) and in the same way he declares.

«For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God« ( Job 19: 25-26 )

It is these contrary states of the soul that give Job victory over his initial condition of unbroken rest. Now with his soul painfully extended, he increases his ability to understand the complex geometry of the plan. Understand then that under the general plan, there is the rugosity of each life and the learning that comes with emptiness and pain.