Although Who's Packing Your Parachute
was posted in December it was really a catch up post for November. December's post is below.
One of the Young Women Values –
Choice and Accountability – has sparked my interest. When embracing this value
young women of the Church promise:
I will choose good over evil, and will accept responsibility
for my actions.
Such a commitment requires
long-term dedication to the gospel and the Great Plan of the Eternal God (GPEG
– Alma 34:9). Learning to choose good over evil is a lifelong process.
Knowledge is the key to right choices. We cannot make good choices if, because
of lack of knowledge, we cannot recognize a good choice. I have used the
following quote from Mary Wollstonecraft before, but it seems appropriate here:
No man [or woman] chooses evil because it is evil. He [or
she] only mistakes it for good; the happiness he [she] seeks.
Mistaking evil for good is the
result of a lack of eternal knowledge concerning good and bad choices. Among
other things, learning to differentiate between good and evil is why we are
here in mortality. During the April 19,.2015
Music and the Spoken Word program
Lloyd Newell said this:
…progression is a process, and we resist putting undue
pressure and unrealistic expectations on others—or on ourselves—knowing that it
will only hinder growth and create frustration.
It is a
great comfort to me to know that the Lord does not expect me to become perfect
in one fell swoop. He knows that I will not always make the best choices. Rather,
He hopes that we will begin at the age of accountability (or whenever we become
converted to the gospel), when our accountability is very small, based on our
simple knowledge of the gospel. We begin to travel the return path to our
eternal Father by acquiring knowledge, spirituality, and testimony. Doing so
increases our accountability slowly and at a pace that we can accommodate. As
our knowledge increases, so does our understanding of what we must do to
progress. Elder Neal A. Maxwell, in his
book, Men and Women of
Christ, said this;
Paced progress not only is
acceptable to the Lord but also is recommended by Him. Divine declarations say:
"Ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now" (D&C
50:40); "I will lead you along" (D&C 78:18). Just as divine
disclosure usually occurs line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little
and there a little, so likewise we will achieve our spiritual progress
gradually (see D&C 128:21; 98:12).
In my mind, accountability is a
very complex doctrine. It seems obvious that a child of eight cannot be held
accountable for the doctrine of the new and everlasting covenant of eternal
marriage. Nor would the Lord hold a new convert accountable for that most
complex and beautiful doctrine, because a convert’s “age of accountability”
begins with their baptismal date. But those of us who have received the eternal
gift of endowment and accepted the very solemn covenants we made in the temple will
be held responsible for our actions with regard to these sacred things.
Accordingly, as we grow in knowledge
we grow in accountability, faith, and understanding. But rather than
accountability (properly understood) becoming a burden, broader and deeper
knowledge of the path to salvation propels us along the path to the celestial
kingdom with less and less deviation and more and more resolve.
As we grow in accountability, we
grow more able to shoulder the burdens of this life and we gain in
understanding of the joys of mortality and the world to come. But it is equally
true that we will not be held accountable for those things we have never been
taught, or did not understand – if we truly had no opportunity to receive them.
There are myriad nuances that must be considered as part of this doctrine. Luckily
for me and you, the Lord will be the judge of circumstances and opportunities
as they apply to our eternal progress and accountability.
It seems to me that accountability
is a gift rather than a burden. We are counseled to study, ponder, and pray
about the scriptures and the doctrines of the gospel. As we do so, we gain
eternal knowledge and truth. What follows defines for me four steps to the
freedom that the Savior talked about. As we gain knowledge, our accountability
increases. As our accountability increases, so does our ability to live our
lives in a way that pleases the Lord. As we please the Lord and use the knowledge
we acquire, our agency increases. The key to agency is knowledge and
accountability – the more knowledge we have, the more agency we have. Choices
are limited when knowledge is limited. When we
have knowledge, we have the ability to make good choices based on eternal truth
rather than our own mortal and flawed reasoning. Then we gain the freedom that
the Lord spoke of in John 8:32, when he said:
And ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free.
That’s why I see accountability as
a gift without which we could not obtain what we seek eternally. I see the
sequence leading to becoming free as follows: Knowledge, accountability,
agency, and choice, which leads to true freedom. As a matter of fact, all of
these are gifts bestowed upon us by our Father-in-Heaven; gifts which properly
used will lead us back to His presence.
But as we grow in knowledge, we
learn that constantly seeking knowledge and understanding and constantly
growing in righteousness and love for the Lord are responsibilities distinctly
defined and identified by the GPEG.
If we let it, knowledge can become
a burden that exerts pressure on our souls and stultifies our ability to gain
further light and knowledge. We find that we cannot raise our heads to look up
at the eternities, or even to look for the comfort that comes from true
knowledge of the joy and happiness that comes from the gospel.
This is another of Satan’s
counterfeits: “It’s too much. You can’t do it. You will never live the gospel
adequately. You are weak and wicked. You might as well quit now. Give it up and
just enjoy life.” Satan whispers to us daily of these things, but a true
understanding of our accountability and the great gift that it is brings
eternal joy rather than the despair that the adversary would have us feel.
Knowledge and agency without
accountability is anarchy and chaos. It would be impossible to achieve perfection without
accountability. Knowledge and accountability give us the ability to choose and
to repent. The adversary would have us believe that we need not be accountable for our actions. Anarchy and chaos are exactly what he seeks. But without accountability and agency, there is no progress. In 2
Nephi 31:20, we read:
Wherefore, ye must press forward
with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love
of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the
word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall
have eternal life.
Eternal life in the celestial
kingdom is “the good, the happiness we seek.” As we gain in knowledge by
pressing forward, seeking further light and knowledge, we will prepare ourselves
to hear the Lord say, at the judgment day, as he is quoted in Matthew 25:21:
Well
done, thou good and faithful servant.: Thou hast been faithful over a
few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of
thy Lord.
True eternal knowledge, together with service and charity, is the key
to this joyful approbation being pronounced upon our heads at the last day.
So at this Christmas season, let us
be grateful for the gifts of knowledge, accountability, agency, and choice that
God the Father has so graciously bestowed upon us, which leads to the fifth
gift of the true freedom of which the Savior spoke.
