I'm just a good little Mormon boy who likes to shoot off at the mouth. Scripture, LDS church doctrine, LDS culture, LDS pop culture, Book of Mormon Stories, it's all here. I also like to make music, and that'll crop up in my blog, too.
Hawkgrrl, over at Mormon Matters, asked this question, along with a lot of followup questions that were, I suppose, designed to get you thinking about the big question. This is another one of those moments where I first thought I was going to just write a comment, but ended up writing a blog post.
One of her questions asks "Is there a God Threshold?" The idea is to ask if there is a point in the progression where someone kicks it up a notch and is then a God. I believe this is true. I think we all progress in our spiritual power and growth and at some point, some of us become in tune with all to the point that they are Gods.
For most of us here on earth, that means a lot of work, then death, resurrection, and more work. For Jesus, he got that way before he came here, and so, was a member of the Godhead.
Another question asks about making mistakes. It implies that if God is progressing, then he's making mistakes and learning. I don't see it this way. I think that the essence of achieving godhood is that of getting past mistakes. Understanding repentance so well that you transcend making mistakes.
Which leads me up to my final point. If He's achieved perfection, completeness, how does he progress? The answer in my mind is, He progresses through us. In the book of Moses, he says, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." if we are His glory, then His glory grows as we do. And so God progresses in glory, power, and honor by helping His children discover what He has.
Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.
There were a few things out on the 'net today that all kind of combined to make me think.
The first was a poll on Facebook that asked, "Now that Tiger Woods has apologized, do I forgive him?"
For me, that was a pretty easy question to answer. I can stand up and give a resounding "Yes! I forgive you!" Of course, that's not much of a test for me. I don't watch pro golf. I don't care who wins the Masters. I'm not going to buy an expensive watch because Tiger wears one. What Tiger Woods does or doesn't do has no impact on my life whatsoever. So, if he wants to mess it up by cheating on his wife, that's his business. If he can patch it back together with apologies and therapy, I'm happy for him.
So, I forgive him. Tiger can take that for what it's worth. I'm not the one whose forgiveness he should be looking for, anyway.
The article made a big deal about the fact that she's a Mormon, and lives clean. The article says that she's a perfect endorser. She's good at what she does, she's pretty, and she's clean. That means that she has no skeletons in her closet to jump out and ruin the reputation of the endorsee.
A part of me wants to give good kudos to her, and a part of me is proud that she's representin' so well. Another part of me is wondering if we should be putting so much focus on her.
On the one hand, it's cool when people are recognized for living the commandments. On the other hand, we often get really picky about that stuff, even to the point of pharasitical hypocrisy. If she were to fall, she'd be in big trouble. The article mentioned that she doesn't even do caffeine. What were to happen if she were *gasp* be photographed in public with a Diet Coke? What if the cola company were to offer her a multi-million dollar endorsement deal? Remember the flack that Kirby Heyborne got into when he did that beer commercial (even though he doesn't drink beer, and wasn't shown drinking beer on the commercial)?
All I'm sayin' is that when we hold people up as examples of greatness, it inspires us to do better, but it also sets us up for disappointment. We need to keep in mind that Tiger, Torah, and everyone else, is human. We need to emulate their good qualities, and learn from their mistakes. Then, not only are we not shaken when they fall, but we can be much more compassionate for them as well.
The third thing I read today was a quick little inspirational quote that someone posted on Facebook. It nicely summed up all I've been thinking: "A man does not have to be an angel in order to be a saint." - Albert Schweitzer
Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.
