“Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.”

- D&C 58:27

I wonder how much of my own time is a righteous cause. Hmm.

“Some people want to believe that free agency means there should be randomness in our Father’s plan — as if it’s important that we have the ability to surprise Him — even though, in my mind, that would undermine faith.

“However, to add spice to the discussion, let me throw a wrench into your example. D&C 137:7:  ‘All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God.’  By the same reasoning,  all who die without the opportunity to choose for themselves in mortality will be assigned whichever Kingdom suits them based on our  Father’s knowledge of how they would have decided had they been permitted to tarry.

“Too often we fall into the trap of believing that the only reasons we are here are to get a body and be judged.  But we are also here to gain experience. D&C 130:18, ‘Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.’ In a very real sense, we are not here to prove ourselves worthy of a particular Kingdom — our Father knew before the world was made which kingdom each of us would attain — but to prepare ourselves to serve in the kingdom we receive.  There would be no value in handing us the proverbial keys of the kingdom, even if we deserved them, had we not first been prepared to receive them.

“And yet, it would seem that some do not need this experience.  When I was young, I believed that the revelation of D&C 137:7 was unfair because it granted the Kingdom to people who hadn’t lived to earn it. But as I grew, I learned that we simply don’t yet know everything about that revelation.  Mosiah 29:12, ‘Now it is better that a man should be judged of God than of man, for the judgments of God are always just….’  The judgment of God will be fair and those who did not experience this life either didn’t need it or will yet receive it in another way — and whether my belief is right or wrong, I know that I will be judged fairly, and that is enough for me.”

- President Howick

In a later post, I will add some more commentary on the topic of our agency: why is it not “free agency,” how does the mere fact of having agency affect our salvation, and what does a truly fair judgment imply? Go read it.

“Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country.”

- Alma 60:36

Our founding fathers (of the United States) had this conviction. Imagine if today’s presidents did. Do they? I suspect not. If they cave to believe the corruptness of the people, then it’s not “politically correct” for them to have this conviction.

If a leader truly had this conviction, they would declare it; for it defines who they are, and they would not lie, being whole with integrity and revering God.

What if Clinton revered God? Obama?