Alma 3-4

(September 15, 2014)

                Each time I read these chapters, I am against struck by the idea that we bring upon ourselves our own curses.  Curses, I am coming to understand, have a great deal to do with how we feel and whether we are progressing.  Our worldly situation really has very little to do with whether or not we are cursed, except perhaps in extreme circumstances.

                There are those who are wealthy and powerful, who are undoubtedly cursed.  They are cursed because they are miserable in their wealth and damned in their progression.  Likewise, there are those who are blessed in their poverty and adversity.  They are blessed because they are happy in their circumstances and progressing towards being more like their Father.

                This isn’t, of course, some idle matter – it is one of the most important principles in mortality.  We must learn to live after the manner of happiness, and that commandment is not conditional upon us getting our way or other people coming around to do things the right way.  No, it is up to us to learn gratitude (even in adversity) and happiness (even amid life’s reverses).

                With that in mind, it is only too clear how we bring upon ourselves our own curses.  We choose each day whether to be blessed by accepting the Lord and His Atonement, or to be cursed by denying the Lord’s Atonement in our lives and the lives of those around us.