The Gospel is Simple

[Anonymous]

I had a moving spiritual insight tonight as I was reading my scriptures. I read for about thirty minutes each day, usually at night before bed, and then I say my prayers. The gospel is simple folks. We are the ones who make it complicated. We all have our agency. We have a path laid out before us, we just have to follow it the best we can. We can choose to do good things, which move us further forward along the path, or we can choose to do bad things, which moves us backward along the path. That’s really all there is to it. This might sound like something that a TBM or hardcore Mormon might say, but it really is that simple. I know it probably seems silly for me to post something like this, but again, just something I wanted to share. It makes me smile It’s funny how easily we can forget this stuff when we get caught up in our day to day lives.

[Anonymous]

I’m glad you think so.

I guess the problem is when a group of men, an organization, an institution…makes it a point to micromanage it’s members lives by defining what is “good” and what is “bad.”

kmullin211984 wrote:

…We can choose to do good things, which move us further forward along the path, or we can choose to do bad things, which moves us backward along the path. That’s really all there is to it….

Unless you disagree with the prophet’s interpretation….example. Tea is bad. 10% tithing is good. In 1844 polygamy was good. In 2012 SSM is bad.

Anyway. I think your premise is correct, if one can just separate their conscience from what the church sometimes says and teaches, that causes cog dis and spiritual pain.

Do what is right, let the consequences follow….live by this principle…

kmullin211984 wrote:

…We can choose to do good things, which move us further forward along the path, or we can choose to do bad things, which moves us backward along the path. That’s really all there is to it….

[Anonymous]

I don’t think it is silly. I think there is truth in the idea that simplicity is a key to happiness. I believe most religions teach this.

The more we can find in our life that fits this, the better off we are. I often find when I play basketball, some nights I seem to be able to shoot well, pass without thinking, anticipate the opponent. It is a simple game on those nights. It is easy to succeed and real fun in those moments.

For some reason, those moments of being in the zone or in the right way, as hard as I try to replicate, just are not always there. Some nights, the game is hard, and frustrating, and not as fun.

Certainly many situations (mental illness as one example) are so complicated, there is no clear right and wrong to know how to move along the path. As President Kimball said,

Quote:

sometimes lives are so complex, conditions are so incredibly confused, guilt and responsibility are so diffused in so many ways that it is very, very difficult and it is not a clear cut issue of right and of wrong.

That is not to say I disagree with the premise, I just believe those flashes of inspiration, and those moments of enjoying simple gospel living are wonderful and good. But life is sure to test us with greater experiences to stretch our souls, and we can’t really expect the easy without the difficult, the simple without the complex, the happiness without the sadness. Life has it all. The gospel is a blessing, no doubt, but the Book of Mormon clearly teaches there must needs be opposition in all things.”

[Anonymous]

Those kind of Ah-ha moments are wonderful. It may feel silly to try and share with others what seems so simple and obvious, but too many of us get lost in the trees and forget to see the forest. It’s nice to occasionally get that view from 10,000 feet up, to get a break and a rest from slogging along in the mud and underbrush of our daily lives.

I had one of those kinds of powerful insights a few years ago. It made me laugh. I mean literally. I laughed out loud for a few minutes. And every time I thought of it for a week or so, I laughed again. It was a much needed break at the time from faith and life crisis.

[Anonymous]

I’m with cWald…that is a great and beautiful principle, however, there needs to be a serious wheat-chaff experience in the middle of it to get rid of the rubbish. What’s good, what’s bad? On the black and white…no brainer issues like Criminal Murder, Nake Stealing, Stark Dishonesty it is pretty clear. But when you get to things that are not black and white, that is where it gets complicated.

So, I agree what you say is true on the black and whites of life. But I find others try to impose their black and whites on you — that’s when it gets really complicated.

I agree with cwald that working off the basis of your own conscience is the way to go.

[Author]

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