Agency

Studying in the scriptures today I came upon a quote and found insight that I feel is important...I don't know if I will be able to find the words to express that insight - but I will try.

In the Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:18-19, the Lord tells Abraham that intelligence is eternal, even if one intelligence is greater than another, it has no beginning and no end. The Lord also states that He is more intelligent than all. That caused me to ponder, especially after having read a statement by Neal A. Maxwell that what the Lord knows is "vastly more - not just barely more - than the combinations of what all mortals know." The scripture Abr. 3:19 at the end says, "I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all." Prior to reading Elder Maxwell I had read that in a relative way - that obviously the Lord was the most intelligent of all of Heavenly Father's children. But with a closer reading to the words, "I am more intelligent than they all" and Elder Maxwell's insight I am awed even more by the knowledge and intelligence of the Lord and humbled by my lack of it...He is more intelligent, more wise, more knowledgeable, more anything than all of us combined - all of the smartest and brightest that ever lived and ever will together. How often do we put our hopes and dreams and confidence in a group of "the smartest or brightest" rather than in what the Lord says? How often to we put our faith and confidence in ourselves rather than the Lord? Talk about arogant!

And - how the Lord became more intelligent than us all, and how his noble and great ones became such is interesting too. President Joseph Fielding Smith said, "We know they were all innocent in the beginning; but the right of free agency which was given to them enabled some to outstrip others and through the eons of immortal existence to become more intelligent, more faithful, for they were free ot act for themselves, to recive the truth or rebel against it." Agency. Agency is key. With agency they chose to learn, work, and exercise their faith. By utilizing their agency with diligence and faith they were able to grow increasingly like their Father in Heaven and as we continue to do so we become like Him.

As I consider this process I see the insideousness of what is happening in our society now. The move towards socialism and communism is an effort to take away the agency of man, cloaked in language of compassion and mercy. Take the health care fraud that is being perpetrated - we are being told that this is compassionate and merciful and that if we oppose this legislation then we are hatemongers and hateful. In reality - the effort to make us all alike, regardless of our differences, makes us all "common" and gives no opportunity for our freedom, to choose for ourselves - and eventually - as money runs out and outcomes become more planned then more and more of our freedoms are slipping away because others are choosing what and how and when and why things are done - rather than us. Increasingly we are choosing to allow someone (the government) to make choices and plans for our care, and our choices and decisions are becoming less ours and more limited, until there is no choice at all. And this is just the tip of the iceberg...in every corner of our society there is a push to make us into a "nanny state" with a cry that the choices, legislation, policies, etc. are for our good, that we don't know better or that someone needs us to do this or that because they are weak, infirmed, or unable to do better. And when we accept these premises we are giving up our rights - is this not just like Satan in the war in heaven? He would take care of us, he would help us, not everyone was strong and so this would be the most compassionate way, yada, yada, yada. If that plan had prevailed our agency would have been gone and our opportunity to grow and become like our Father in Heaven with it. When someone is telling us what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, we no longer have agency. We no longer have the freedom to waste our time playing video games or some other mindless activity or to choose to study the scriptures or serve our fellow man. We no long have the freedom to develop the talents we choose or learn the things that we want to learn because someone else is choosing what we should do. Slowly we are enslaved and have given up our rights to become the best we can be, like our Father in Heaven. The Savior and those noble and great ones used their agency to become such - choosing liberty and eternal life. We are being asked to give up our agency for a mess of pottage and I fear that too often I have done just that, oft times unknowingly, but gratefully I have had the prophet and the Holy Ghost to lead me back and away from danger.


Today is Phil and Hannah's anniversary. Number six. It is so amazing to me how quickly time flies. Especially now. I remember that while we were living in Kentucky we came to Wanda's place for Christmas. This was the year before Phil and Hannah were married. Phil was living with Wanda and Robert and he was pretty excited about going "caving" with a friend and his sister. I had a inkling that this was important - but how important I wouldn't learn for another 8 months. By this time we had moved from Kentucky to Colorado and Phil wanted to know if he could invite a friend home for dinner. He had played things pretty close to the vest with Rich and I - but Desi and Cherstin were pretty sure where things were going - they were with them in the singles' ward, at institute, at family home evening, Denny's, IHOP, and Village Inn, etc. and they were pretty sure that Phil was head over heels and they thought that Hannah felt the same. They were right. How blessed we are to have Hannah in our family! She has blessed Phil's life and ours and blessed us with two adorable little guys, Orion and William. Happy #6 you guys!