Since the 4th of July is this week, I wanted to
focus my remarks on freedom. The more I
looked into it from a gospel perspective, the more I realized that more than
being a free nation, the Lord wants us to have freedom from the bondage of
sin. We can many examples in the
scriptures where good and righteous men have enjoyed freedom from sin and yet
were still subject to the earthly bondage of prison. A few examples include; Joseph of Egypt,
Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Peter, Ammon, Joseph Smith and even our Savior
Jesus Christ.
Of course this leads us to ask, “Why does God allow bad
things to happen to good people?” I certainly don’t claim to have all the
answers but I have noticed in my own life it seems that when I have spiritual
time outs and am left with my own thoughts, I am better able to focus on my
relationship with the Lord. When this
relationship with him is built stronger it fills my life with guidance, purpose,
meaning and direction.In Marion G Romney’s talk, he said…
“The issues have changed since the time of Lincoln, but the multipurpose use of the word liberty and its synonym freedom has not changed. The sweets of liberty about which we usually speak may be classified as (1) political independence, (2) economic freedom, and (3) free agency.
I would have us strive
for that liberty which comprehends all three of these freedoms, and more. I
would have us strive for a freedom of the soul to which they all contribute. I
would have us attain that blessed state foreshadowed by the Prophet Joseph
Smith when he said, “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall
thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.” (D&C 121:45.) One who
enjoys such liberty is, in the words of Jesus, “free indeed.” (John 8:36.) He
is possessed of perfect liberty.
[W]hile political
independence, economic freedom, and free agency may contribute to liberty of
the soul, they do not guarantee it.”He goes on to say…
“While perhaps it is seldom, if ever, contended that either political independence or economic freedom alone brings perfect liberty, it is not, however, uncommon for free agency to be considered as synonymous with freedom of the soul. And it is true that the God-given right to choose one’s course of action is an indispensable prerequisite to such freedom. Without it we can scarcely enjoy any type of liberty—political, economic, or personal. It is one of our greatest heritages. For it we are deeply indebted to our Father in Heaven, to the Founding Fathers, and to the pioneers. God gave it to man in the Garden of Eden. (See Moses 7:32.) The Founding Fathers, under the Lord’s inspiration, wrote a guarantee of it into the fundamental law of the land. And the pioneers, led by the inspiration of heaven, gave their all to perpetuate it. Surely we ought always to be alert in its defense and willing, if necessary, to give our lives for its preservation.
Free agency, however,
precious as it is, is not of itself the perfect liberty we seek, nor does it
necessarily lead thereto. As a matter of fact, through the exercise of their agency
more people have come to political, economic, and personal bondage than to
liberty.”
In his talk he gives many examples from the scriptures of
people who enjoyed these freedoms (political, economic and personal) but
through their exercise of agency, lost them.
In the end he shares with us what he believes to be the perfect law of
liberty…
“Many years ago, while
riding through Cleveland, Ohio, on a train, I saw on a building the inscription
‘Obedience to Law is Liberty.’ With the proper interpretation of the word law,
we have in this inscription a statement of ultimate truth. By inserting three
words, it is made to read, ‘Obedience to the law of Christ is liberty.’ (See
D&C 88:21.) This is not only a statement of the perfect law of liberty, but
also a statement of the way to perfect liberty.”
I also really enjoyed the words of Elder F Enzio Busche, who
said…
“What then does it
mean to be free? Freedom means to have matured to the full knowledge of our
dangerously many responsibilities as a human being. We have learned that
everything we do, and even say or think, has consequences. We realize that too
long we have believed that we were victims of circumstances.”
He also speaks about how our covenants make us free, when
speaking of the baptismal covenant he said, “We
gladly will submit ourselves into this covenant, knowing that there is a big
difference between mere desire and covenant. When we just desire something, we
will work towards achieving it only when convenient. But when we are bound by a
sacred covenant, like baptism, we are learning to overcome all obstacles
through obedience, and in so doing we will be blessed with the presence of the
Spirit and therefore eventually with achievement. We are beginning to become
alive as we take, knowingly, full responsibility for our own life and as we
stop blaming circumstances.”
In closing he says, “Jesus
Christ wants to empower our lives, according to our own righteous choices, to
that dimension that, through our faith and our doings, the circumstances whose
prisoners we were in the past will eventually change. In the Book of Mormon we
learn that the Redeemer monitors our lives, together with a multitude of holy
angels.
In this freedom that
we have received in our time, through our understanding of His divine plan for
us, we stand in our full responsibility. Let us always stay close to the
loving, caring hand of our Redeemer and our Savior to find safety and joy. I
say this in deep humility.”It has been interesting to think about how we create our own prisons/bondage for ourselves despite the amazing levels of freedom that we do enjoy here in this great country.
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