Promises Promises

[Anonymous]

Just to give cwald a chuckle , I’ll add to roy’s comment that the main difference between Mormonism and most other non-LDS-Christian denominations in regard to roy’s experience is that Mormonism accepts the minister’s interpretation as being totally possible (that the Holy Ghost can and will witness of truth wherever it is found, even in another denomination’s services), while most of Protestantism would not grant that same consideration to Mormon services.

Yes, we take the idea to a completely different level – but that isn’t a categorically bad thing, since one of the levels to which we take it is much more inclusive and universal. Again, many members might not say it readily, but pretty much every member I know would agree with me if I had a chance to say it to them directly “in the right way”.

Just sayin’.

[Anonymous]

bridget_night wrote:

Who knows why things happen the way they do, but each person has to follow his own impressions and find out where they lead. If they bear fruit, it must be good.

Amen. Well said. :thumbup:

It seems that if the promise is that the spirit will speak the truth of all things…one has to be open to accept the answer.

The difficulty is when the answer isn’t what was scripted from the Mormon perspective. It is then that there must be another reason for the mixed signals. “Are you having problems with porn? Are you breaking the word of wisdom? Are you reading material that would drive away the spirit? Did you not have real intent or were you not sincerely seeking answer from God as opposed to your pre-conceived notions?”

But perhaps our resident parser can correct if I’m wrong, but that isn’t what the promise states. It states the truth will be told to us when our heart is sincerely asking. So, who knows why things happen the way they do, but we can’t discount another person’s experience because it didn’t match our experience, or our expectations for others.

[Anonymous]

I wish it worked that way. It would be nice if you could really count on blessings. It would be great if you really needed something all you had to do was ask and it it would happen. Sadly the world does not remotely work that way. It is all random and there seems to be no divine blessings attached to anything. I can create my own blessings. If I exercise and eat right I will feel better. If I work hard I may prosper in the land. There are things that we can effect ourselves but they are not divine. I think this is a big mistake members make today. Because noting ever really happens as promised they take the most trivial occurrences and make a big deal out of them and turn it into a promised blessing. I can say something like, I just felt like reading another chapter in the Book of Mormon this morning, then on my way to work I saw an accident. Just think, if I had not read that extra chapter and been delayed I would have been in an accident. Members do this all the time to connect blessings to obedience or righteous living. Problem is we never talk about all the times that bad things happen for no apparent reason.

It really is prideful in the extreme to talk about all your blessings for obedience when your neighbor is suffering for doing the same thing. If there truly were a correlation to blessings and obedience everyone would do it. If everyone who paid tithing became prosperous everyone in the world would become a Mormon and pay tithing. The evidence would be there and people would gravitate to obeying whatever principle in order to receive the blessing. The fact that people do not obey or pay or whatever is evidence that these blessings are not forthcoming as promised, at least in a literal way. If you want to put your nuanced apologist spin on things you can always find a reason to believe blessings are pouring out on you.

Still believe it or not I have hope. I hope I am wrong and I hope God actually cares. I hope someday it is evident to me that there really are blessings.

[Anonymous]

Quote:

It really is prideful in the extreme to talk about all your blessings for obedience when your neighbor is suffering for doing the same thing.

Amen.

[Anonymous]

Cadence wrote:

There are things that we can effect ourselves but they are not divine. I think this is a big mistake members make today. Because noting ever really happens as promised they take the most trivial occurrences and make a big deal out of them and turn it into a promised blessing.

I pretty much agree with you, Cadence. I find it interesting, though, that faith helps one trust that even when some things don’t happen as expected or as promised, that it is OK, that it is the will of God, and therefore some value for letting things not happened as promised.

So perhaps it doesn’t change or effect the outside world at all…but with faith, some people find their lives are enhanced believing these things are happening for a reason, and that there is a purpose and an order to this universe, so they don’t feel so alone or insignificant. That faith is not “wrong”, because sometimes good things do happen…sometimes people do miss the accident for reading scriptures. But it is not a fool-proof formula that always works. So it requires faith.

It requires the individual to decide on the story to build and to believe. These promises have worked for a lot of people for a lot of generations. They have also probably failed the same number of people. IOW, the story can be very useful…unless, of course, you don’t find the story useful. :think:

[Anonymous]

I think what someone else said earlier was correct. Going about fulfilling duties or obeying commandments with a sense that God owes us something is totally wrong. Skeptic that I am, I always wonder about people that try and tie EVERY good event that passes their way as if it was a direct blessing from the Lord, when frankly it would have probably happened regardless. But, I think there is something very healthy about being able to recognize the good that comes into our lives and give gratitude for it. It helps free us from the chains of pride and entitlement.

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