(Art: Children of the World by Howard Lyon)I was reading in the scriptures today and these words stood out to me yet again:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours." (Doctrine & Covenants 78:17-18)
There are several things that can be gleaned from this scripture, but the one stood out yet again to me was that we are little children - spiritually speaking. I'll explain why, hopefully in a "chronologically" thinking order.
What makes us "us"? Can a piece of muscle (the brain) really THINK and REASON? Not alone, it can't. So what part is that of us that thinks, reasons, feels, understands, and grows in knowledge and hopefully wisdom? It is called Intelligence.
The world understands intelligence to be an abstract thing, and it is. But when I say we are Intelligences, I'm not speaking of that abstract thing. I'm speaking of our being. at the very core of our soul. Our intelligence has always existed. it has not beginning and no ending. This is the part of God, too, that has always existed, without beginning or end.
At one point, our Heavenly Father (and rationally, our Heavenly Mother) created our spirit bodies. Out intelligence entered that body, and we lived with our Heavenly Parents for eons in the pre-existence. We learned and grew, we loved, we sang, we became a little wiser, and tried to learn and become like our Heavenly Parents. However, our Heavenly Parents have perfected bodies of flesh and bones. How did they get those? And why? They got them from many eons ago when They, too, were on an earth and learned and grew and kept the commandments of Their God. The made covenants, they had experiences and trials, and grew much more in wisdom and faith. Having been valiant in enduring to the end of that earthly life, they gained Salvation (the immortality of man via Resurrection) and Exaltation (the quality of eternal life they chose through making and keeping covenants, repenting, and enduring well.) When exalted, their bodies were perfected and glorified. As part of that exalted station, they were able to have increase, and that is where they created the spirit bodies for these Intelligences, and we became their spirit children.
After learning as much as we could in that pre-existence, we then needed to come to earth so that we, too, could receive a body of flesh and bones, and have experiences and trials in this life which would offer us the opportunities to learn, grow, endure and choose between good and evil for ourselves. This was necessary in order to become like Heavenly Father and one day be able to live with Him in the highest of his "glories" (1 Corinthians 15) or "mansions" (John 14).
However, even though we are here on earth and "grow old" (as to earth life anyway), inside, our spirits are still children. Yes. Spiritual children that are still learning and growing. This is why deep inside we all the needs that we think only children have - the need to feel safe, the need to be loved, the need to be seen and heard and valued, the need to feel like we belong to something more than just ourselves, the need to understand that there's more to this life than just our bare existence in this world, the need to understand, the need for to cry and throw tantrums (no matter how "internal" or "private" they are), the need to feel happy, the need for peace, the need for "everything is ok, everything is under control, everything is going to work out just fine!" We are USED to having those feelings, from our time in the pre-existence. But we needed our bodies. We needed to be tried and tested and "schooled" in this great big, small, world we call Earth. And so here we are.
There is more to this true story, which you can learn all about here. But for now, I'm just going to focus on our being little children.
(The Plan of Salvation in a drawing) Somehow this though of being a spiritual "little child" is comforting to me. It is comforting when my God says that I have not understood YET how great things He has prepared for me. This is telling me He loves me so much, and desires so much to bless ME. That He has prepared such great things for me, and that ONE DAY I WILL understand. When I have grown and learned enough, I will understand and I will SEE it.
He then tells me that I cannot bear all things now. This is validation that He understands my capacity to bear things is not unlimited, and that He is not only aware of that, but is there ti help me through it. I can feel that in my soul. He tells me to be of GOOD CHEER and reassures me He will LEAD ME along. That means He will be there throughout the entire journey.
Then He assures me of His greatest blessings that ARE mine (not "will be"): The Kingdom is mine, the blessings thereof are mine, the riches of eternity are mine. And truly, if we understood fully what all of that encompasses, we'd be jumping at the bit to get there! Yet, there is only ONE way to "get there" - and that is through and with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer. By following HIS PLAN, by making and keeping covenants with HIM, and by enduring well unto the end by doing our very best one day at a time, we will safely arrive. We will find Salvation - the free gift of God to all mankind regardless of "worthiness" statues. We also have the opportunity (by choice and behavior) to find Exaltation - the conditional gift of God based upon our worthiness and behavior and repentance throughout our lives.
Those "mansions" and "glories" are already prepared for all of us. He understands that some of us will not 'want' to put in that effort, will not want to believe, will not want to repent, will not, for whatever reason, want to do what we need to do to gain eternal life (ie: exaltation), and so he has MANY mansions and glories prepared. However, for those who DO WANT to find that highest glory and mansion, He has prepared that too.
There is one thing to note: Our Heavenly Father lives in the highest glory - known as the Celestial Kingdom. And ONLY those who have "paid the price" here on earth (meaning repentance, making/keeping covenants in His temple, serving/loving others, and always trying to be the very best we can, doing the best to follow Christ and His teachings, will be able to endure that kind of glory. Otherwise we will not be comfortable there, and He will certainly not force anyone into that glory/mansion. If we end up in a lesser glory/mansion, we will not have His presence around us for eternity, and we will live with the eternal regret of having knowing "If I had only...." That, my friends, is what I call hell. It is a state of being, not a location, and no it's not filled with fire and brimstone, but it certainly will 'burn" as if it were. What could be worse than living an eternity with remorse that you wish with all your sould you didn't have?
But I digress. Back to the topic of being little children.
So what all of this did for me today, was made me then think how strange life can be sometimes. I have raised three children into adulthood. The two oldest have reached a time in life where they are fully on their own, and no longer in need of "parents" - though I recognize our calling as parents is eternal and never ends, yet that "parenting" does end, and it transforms into "counseling and supporting" along the way. But our youngest if not at that place yet where she is fully on her own. She is still learning and growing, still in College, and still in need of some parents along the way. She's in the "in between stage" of growing up. Not a child that needs parenting daily, but also not an adult who is fully on her own yet.
I marvel at the entire process of bringing children into this world who are 100% dependent upon others for sustenance and life and who then grow and learn as they go, and eventually 'fly the nest" - but at first it's only flying for a while, before they come back to the nest to "recharge" and until they learn how to fly and find their own place in the trees of this world. And then, one day they fly and never come back, They found their own tree, They learned how to fly for long periods on their own. They start their own nest. And as their parent, I begin to understand a little more about my Heavenly Parents, and the love they have for each of us, and how patient they've been, how loving and long-suffering they've been throughout all my stupid choices and how much they are still willing to reach out to me and help and support and counsel me! And it's impossible to not feel tremendous gratitude and thanksgiving for them and their love.
I feel safe in Heavenly Father's love for me. I feel safe in knowing that my Savior, Jesus Christ, loves me so much that He was willing to bleed from every pore (literally) and be crucified in an agonizing manner and then take up His own life again to resurrect, thereby opening up the doors of REPENTANCE and RESURRECTION for ME! And Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother were there, supporting Him and sacrificing FOR US, just as much, if not more, than what He sacrificed for us. And to know He would have done it all for me even if I was the ONLY human on earth! And that is true for YOU too. THAT is the extent of His love for each of us. Truly, I Stand All Amazed at the love Jesus offers me! (and my Heavenly Parents too!)
And perhaps the biggest thing that came to my mind, specifically in regard to my own family and children is something I wrote in my journal - which I think I'll share here:
I am part of this work. I have the blessing, opportunity and responsibility of holding callings, of ministering to others, of doing my best in my corner of the world to help His work move along. I feel I never do enough. I feel I should be doing so much more, but I am reminded that the greatest work there is on earth, that of motherhood, IS the work I’m doing, and that work doesn’t end when my children are “grown up”. In fact, it may be that the work of motherhood grows even more important when the children are grown and there is the opportunity for counseling, guidance, and friendship along the way. I have found that it is in our adult years that we come to realize the questions of the soul, and THAT is when we need and want our mothers, our parents, even more than ever. That is when we want to have them around and ask questions - how did they do it? What did life teach them? How can I learn from their wisdom? And yes, even the occasional “I wish I was little again and could just have my mama hold me and tell me it’s all going to be ok.”
How I LOVE my children! I am so very blessed to have them in my life and the opportunity to be their mother. What an incredible journey it is, and what an incredible miracle and blessing. It is truly my dream come-true. It's been the hardest thing and the most blessed thing. Where much is given, much is expected; and where must is expected, much is given.
That's all. Those were my thoughts today. You're welcome. :)
