Faith is Not Blind - March 5, 2017

Jen P. taught the lesson this week on Faith based on the devotional given by Elder and Sister Hafen at BYU Hawaii January 24, 2017. You can find the devotional here https://devotional.byuh.edu/media170124.

Jen started off the lesson by sharing this quote:

“We are in the school and keep learning, and we do not expect to cease learning while we live on earth; and when we pass through the veil, we expect still to continue to learn and increase our fund of information. That may appear a strange idea to some; but it is for the plain and simple reason that we are not capacitated to receive all knowledge at once. We must therefore receive a little here and a little there.

He gives a little to his humble followers today, and if they improve upon it, tomorrow he will give them a little more, and the next day a little more. He does not add to that which they do not improve upon, but they are required to continually improve upon the knowledge they already possess, and thus obtain a store of wisdom.” Preparing for Eternal Progression Teachings of Presidents of the church: Brigham Young, (1997), 85-91, chapter 13.

We went through a simple, personal exercise of writing down some questions we have had about the gospel or church and discussed how some questions can really shake faith. There is comfort and peace when are certain about things. Conversely, uncertainty is uncomfortable but it is also a way for us to seek knowledge. God does not intend for us to know everything now. Knowledge is constantly changing over time. What people knew 2000 years ago was not the only information ever to be learned.

Here is the summary of the lesson points:

1. We need to learn how to face uncomfortable realities in order to grow. Therefore, the Lord not only comforts the afflicted; sometimes He afflicts the comfortable...If we don’t grapple with the frustration that comes from facing bravely the uncertainties we encounter, we will lack spiritual maturity.
2. At level three we are not just optimists and not just pessimists. We are open-minded believers who know that history and life are not always clear-cut and tidy, but our desire is to keep learning.
3. The choice to be believing at this level is very different from mere blind obedience. It is, rather, a knowing and loving kind of obedience. And instead of asking us to put aside the tools of an educated critical mind, this third level invites us to use those tools to make the status quo better, not just to criticize it.
4. When our idealism has been rattled by abrupt confrontations with realism, our attitude about what has happened is more important than what has happened. Elder Maxwell said that doubting” can either soften or harden hearts, depending on [our] supply of meekness.” Meekness, a softness of heart, keeps the seed of faith alive. When we let adversity harden our hearts, we choke the seed. But if we meekly retain our desire to believe--the attitude that first activated our experiment with the word--our believing heart lets the seed thrive. So when we are jolted by hard experiences, we have a choice. We can either close our hearts to God in bitterness or open our hearts to Him in contrition. By choosing to have a contrite spirit, we bring our whole souls to God and give him something to work with.
5. “I would not give a fig for the simplicity [on] this side of complexity. But I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”
6. The simplicity on this side of complexity asks very little of us. The simplicity on the other side of complexity asks everything of us. That’s why Holmes would give his life for it. T.S. Eliot called this, “A condition of complete simplicity/ (Costing not less than everything).”
7. Brothers and sisters, as we make our way through our complexities, if we don’t press forward by giving the Lord and His Church the benefit of our doubts and uncertainties, it won’t be long until we are unwilling to go down the road of faith and sacrifice at all--the only road that leads to the deep simplicity of wisdom and light. Complexity is valuable, even essential. But those who get stuck there will never know the simple yet profound joy of the Saints. “For ye receive no witness until after the trail of your faith.” Our tunnels of ambiguity are there to teach us, not to torment us. And there is light at the end of those tunnels; the Light and Life of the world. Faith is not blind. On the contrary, it is by faith that we consciously choose to grow through the complexity that lets us see with our eyes and our hearts wide open.