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The home teachers were over and we were discussing the latest First Presidency Message, “Saints for All Seasons”. My home teacher discussed some adversity that he had gone through in his life, and how opening up to the Lord helped him through it. He then asked me if I had gone through anything. I told him about how I had suffered through some anxiety and depression issues during my senior year in high school, and how I had made the decision to go to community college and work a part-time job instead of leaving for a mission or BYU right away. I then furthered explained to him that the Lord had provided me an opportunity to get a generous scholarship and a job so I can earn money and save for a mission, and that my small personal revelation led to the right decision for me. He was somewhat baffled, and asked,”Did you really feel the Spirit confirm it to you?” And I looked him straight in the eye, and said, “Yes.” And then he laughed, “I probably would have had a completely different answer, but if that’s what the Spirit told you, it must be true.” I just found it really funny how personal revelation can be totally different from two different perspectives. I struggle with those who feel free to question someone’s personal revelation. I have known many men who delayed a bit before serving a mission for various reasons as they followed their personal revelation. These are great men which leads me to believe they made a tremendous contribution on their missions. 🙂 Quote:I just found it really funny how personal revelation can be totally different from two different perspectives.
Yes, and that is one of the things I love most about our theology. We don’t always accept it (on both ends of any issue), but it’s there in spades. If we can accept that everyone has the right to live according to the dictates of his or her own conscience, it would solve SO much.
Even if you question someone else’s, they are the ones who have to own having followed it. That’s the only caution with personal revelation as with all choices in life. It’s ultimately up to you what you do with it. I don’t respect it when people say they are following personal revelation, then they don’t like how it turned out and take zero accountability for the same. It’s still your life. This post reminded me of a RS lesson about a year ago. The discussion was going on about women who had stayed at home because the prophet said to do so. Three of us raised our hands and shared personal revelation we had had that we needed to have a career, and that we had followed that path. It was well received by everyone because it was personal and they could feel that it wasn’t a threat to them.
When people say they have had “revelation”, I believe they are saying “I had an idea”. I also believe they are learning to distinguish between revelation and non-revelation. In fact, most of my interactions now with people, and the claims they make, decisions they make, requests they make of me as a form of learning. I believe that most of the people who claim to have had revelation will look back on what they felt they should do, and classify some of the ideas as simply bad ideas they confused with revelation. To add to SD’s comment, I think all of the following are often what is meant by personal revelation: 1) conscience, 2) superstitious signs, 3) what we want to do anyway, 4) instinct or gut feeling, and 5) duty we adhere to with mixed feelings. hawkgrrrl wrote:To add to SD’s comment, I think all of the following are often what is meant by personal revelation: 1) conscience, 2) superstitious signs, 3) what we want to do anyway, 4) instinct or gut feeling, and 5) duty we adhere to with mixed feelings.
I have to agree with Hawkgrrrl (not that I usually don’t). Since my own crisis of faith was brought on partly because of such a personal revelation, I have come to believe that real revelation exists but it’s very rare. That said, it does bother me when someone else questions a person’s personal revelation. It is
personalafter all, and therefore only directed at that person. hawkgrrrl wrote:This post reminded me of a RS lesson about a year ago. The discussion was going on about women who had stayed at home because the prophet said to do so. Three of us raised our hands and shared personal revelation we had had that we needed to have a career, and that we had followed that path. It was well received by everyone because it was personal and they could feel that it wasn’t a threat to them.
This gives me hope because that’s not the way it is in our area in at least two of our wards. But it’s good to know that elsewhere, members are accepting that others can have personal revelation to this particular situation.
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