“if ye have
sought to do wickedly"
-few of
us seek our evil. You will find very few
people, even of those engaged in the dregs of wickedness and evil, who will
concede that they are pursuing or promoting wickedness. We are astoundingly effective at
self-deception. Even the definitive
despots –Hitler, Mao, Ghangis Kahn, Stalin, Pol Pot, Caligula and the like- set
their actions in the virtuous context of some great good (political reform,
social equality, nationalism, scientific progress, individual liberty,
religious evangelism -there is no
rational that has not been levereaged for the defense of some great diabolic
deed) . Accordingly, we may quickly
dismiss this phrase as “not applicable” to ourselves. Sure, I have my weaknesses and have
periodically fallen into sin but I have not SOUGHT to do wickely. The more honest truth is that we do cling to
our pleasurable sins. There is some
food, some activity, some judgement, some attitude which is so satisfying to
this physical body (which includes emotionally, mentally, socially as well as
physical) and which prohibits the unobstructed and intimate association with
the Holy Ghost that we “cannot” banish it from our life. It is just too hard for us to change, we
enjoy what it provides us, we are too afraid to let it go… whatever the reason,
we seek that action, thought or philosophy.
The truth is, if we are not seeking God’s will, we are seeking wickedly
and this can happen without our committing or omitting any of the so called
major or commonly acknowledged sins (like adultery, lieing, envying,
worshipping materialism). Wickedness is
much more sophisticated and subtle than we would like to admit.
“your
probation”
-one of
Satan’s lies is to make men think that mortal life is an end, not a means. It is the destination rather than the
qualifying stage that will determine our future destination. These two different perspectives will lead to
very different strategies of how to act while here. The idea of a probationary period is a
perfect description of our current condition.
If, however, there is no realm after this one (and, correspondingly,
none prior to it) then this is the “be all” and “end all” of our
experience. Why should we not maximize
our pleasure in an all-out orgy of physical sensation and self-interest? That is the only rational conclusion when operating
under the assumption of no God or divine purpose of life.
“cast off
forever.”
-our
actions, decisions and behavior in this short time/state of probation determine
what our eternal condition will be. How
can such a short time have consequences that will endure forever? It almost seems illogical and even
unfair. In the end, however, those are
irrelevant estimations since we cannot change the terms of the
arrangement. The important thing is that
we are aware of the stakes involved. It
does inform us, however, as to the nature of the probabtionary experience. If all of eternity is to be based on what
happens in this short eighty year span, the nature of the assessment is
critical. I am talking about the rigor, validity and reliability of the testing
instrument. It must be robust: testing
us in a variety of settings; exploring our reactions on a breadth of topics,
allowing for growth and learning while in the process of the assessment itself
and then re-testing to discover growth and improvement. It must be gradual in nature (questions and
situations becoming increasingly more difficult). It must be fairly scored across an infinite
variety of subjects. There must be
sufficient knowledge of the material in order for the assessment to be applicable. There is a time limit involved which
introduces the element of efficiency.
This assessment is “timed” however we are unaware of the quantity of
time we have to complete it. All of
these elements must come together and provide a sufficient measure of our
performance such that the results can be 100% accurately generalized from a
short time to an infinite future. Its
predictability must be perfect.
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