The chapters in the reading this week are perhaps some of the saddest in the whole Book of Mormon. It’s a story about the decline of a people and a society into annihilation and destruction. What caused this? Why did it happen? Mormon tells us that the people refused to repent, or refused to choose to change and become better.
Initially, when he saw their sorrow, lamentation, and mourning he was hopeful. He thought that God would be merciful again to them and that they’d choose to repent and become better. They would become more Christlike. However, that wasn’t what happened. Instead of becoming humble and being sorrowful unto repentance, they exhibited “the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always suffer them to take happiness in sin.”
Mormon states, “they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives.” He remains sorrowful because he “saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually; for I saw thousands of them hewn down in open rebellion against their God . . .” I thought this was interesting because it implies that there was a point of no return. At some point, the day of grace was passed. God is always merciful, so it probably isn’t Him that determines that the day of grace is passed. Instead, it seems to imply that after having been given repeated chances to change and repeatedly choosing open rebellion, and repeatedly choosing to harden their hearts there is a point of no return.
Mormon helped deliver the people from their enemies three times, but they refused to change. Another interesting part to note is that his people weren’t “the good guys.” They weren’t a righteous people, but they were still given repeated chances to change and become better. They chose not to repent/change of their sins/detrimental behaviors. Mormon told us that “behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked; and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished; for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed.”
All throughout the reading this year I’ve noticed how often the book references people being stirred up to anger, or stirred up to bloodshed. Being angry and murderous wasn’t something inevitable. The anger and desire for revenge and genocide of an entire people was something that some deliberately stoked. A very small number of ill-intentioned people had a drastic and devastating effects on this society’s trajectory.
When we try to examine what we might learn from this there are a few lessons. We could hope that if a few ill-intentioned people can change the fate of entire societies we could hope that the opposite was also true. We could liken these scriptures unto ourselves and examine whether we are allowing others to stir us up to anger. We must be self aware and exhibit self control as individuals. There are those who would stoke our emotions and stir us up to anger today. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to become pawns in a larger societal game. It isn’t to our benefit, and it isn’t to society’s benefit. We must be masters of our own fates and be conscious of what we are choosing.
Jordan Peterson wrote about the “degeneration of Nihilism” in his book 12 Rules for Life, and spoke of the dangers of wallowing in negative emotions like anger. There’s a predictable progression that individuals or societies follow when they entertain destructive thought patterns and negative emotions. If we allow ourselves to be consumed by these emotions, the pattern of degeneration ends in the same place. When we dwell in anger, we become bitter, and bitterness makes us resentful. When we become resentful, we become cruel, and crueltyis a step on the path towards homicide, and homicidal feelings lead to genocial feelings.
If that’s one end of the spectrum of human emotions, then it seems like the other would encompass love and charity, or the redemption of Christ. In the Sunday School I attended today the teacher talked about the 5 point doctrine of Christ, which was faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Confirmation, and Enduring to the end. Essentially this means that first, we have belief in Christ, in a perfect example of love and goodness. We have the standard to which we aspire. Then we have repentance. Repentance is a religious word that basically means change. We change and choose to become better when we know better. Dieter F. Uchdorft said that “True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment.” Repentance is a tool and a gift that can elevate us above our natural tendency towards degeneration. Baptism is an outward commitment to follow Christ, and confirmation is a gift of guidance and help bestowed on those who commit to follow Christ. The final point in the doctrine of Christ is to endure to the end, or to always seek to improve.
I think we’re all on the spectrum of human emotions working our way towards Nihilism or Redemption. Repentance is the act of changing direction when we realize we are descending towards Nihilism instead of Redemption. The Book of Mormon gives us a broad overview of a people who cycle through periods of degeneration and redemption. The reading today chronicled this people’s last descent into nearly complete physical destruction. The story can serve as a warning to us. Is it possible to live in peace and prosperity when we are on the degenerative path? It certainly seems like physical destruction and murderous behavior may be an outward indication of where we as individuals or societies are on the spiritual spectrum of destruction vs redemption. Clearly, it's better to be aware of this spectrum, and choose a path towards love and charity rather than hate and genocide.
Jordan Peterson wrote about the “degeneration of Nihilism” in his book 12 Rules for Life, and spoke of the dangers of wallowing in negative emotions like anger. There’s a predictable progression that individuals or societies follow when they entertain destructive thought patterns and negative emotions. If we allow ourselves to be consumed by these emotions, the pattern of degeneration ends in the same place. When we dwell in anger, we become bitter, and bitterness makes us resentful. When we become resentful, we become cruel, and crueltyis a step on the path towards homicide, and homicidal feelings lead to genocial feelings.
If that’s one end of the spectrum of human emotions, then it seems like the other would encompass love and charity, or the redemption of Christ. In the Sunday School I attended today the teacher talked about the 5 point doctrine of Christ, which was faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Confirmation, and Enduring to the end. Essentially this means that first, we have belief in Christ, in a perfect example of love and goodness. We have the standard to which we aspire. Then we have repentance. Repentance is a religious word that basically means change. We change and choose to become better when we know better. Dieter F. Uchdorft said that “True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment.” Repentance is a tool and a gift that can elevate us above our natural tendency towards degeneration. Baptism is an outward commitment to follow Christ, and confirmation is a gift of guidance and help bestowed on those who commit to follow Christ. The final point in the doctrine of Christ is to endure to the end, or to always seek to improve.
I think we’re all on the spectrum of human emotions working our way towards Nihilism or Redemption. Repentance is the act of changing direction when we realize we are descending towards Nihilism instead of Redemption. The Book of Mormon gives us a broad overview of a people who cycle through periods of degeneration and redemption. The reading today chronicled this people’s last descent into nearly complete physical destruction. The story can serve as a warning to us. Is it possible to live in peace and prosperity when we are on the degenerative path? It certainly seems like physical destruction and murderous behavior may be an outward indication of where we as individuals or societies are on the spiritual spectrum of destruction vs redemption. Clearly, it's better to be aware of this spectrum, and choose a path towards love and charity rather than hate and genocide.
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