Ether 7-8

(December 21, 2013)
I have always had a Panglossian approach to the world that has served me well – I can say (intellectually, if not emotionally) that we live in the best of all possible worlds.  The Father has taken each of us, His children, and placed us where we need to be in the world to best serve others (and, by extension, where we can be best served).  Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, He has placed each of us like a piece on the table in its perfect and proper place to fit the pattern He has designed.  We have curves and cutouts, but these He has used according to His great design.

When we see thing such as the prophets being given free range in this chapter to teach the people, and the corresponding success, there are two different ways to look at it.  First, the decision to open the country to the prophets resulted in more people being saved at this time.  I have problems with that intellectually, because that would mean that there were others who could have achieved Exaltation but for the fact that they were born in the wrong time in the wrong place.  The other way to look at it is that the Lord had a plan and the prophets were meant to preach to the whole country and He placed the right child on the throne and the right children accross the country and the right children as prophets to save those of His children He had given to Christ according to His plan.

I find the second a more intellectually consistent position, but it is not without its difficulties (I understand why Pangloss is derided – we still have to rescue those around us).  When we see the blessings of the Lord around us, we must remember and be grateful for them with the understanding that everything happens according to the Father’s will – He is not surprised by what we do or don’t do, and by knowing us He knows everything.