This post is not my normal silliness. It rambles a bit, but it's about something that I'm very passionate about. It is not a post that makes people feel warm fuzzies usually. It is also about my church. If you choose to skip this one, I will not hold it against you in any way.
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| This painting... |
The name of this post comes from the name of a painting in a Doctor Who episode. The painting isn't really a painting, it's a kind of alien (Time Lord) art that takes an actual moment in time and freezes it exactly as it happened. This is the picture of the protagonist's (The Doctor's) homeworld being lost in the last great battle between his race and another, the Fall of Arcadia. He is left the only member of his species, the last of the Time Lords. There are many things that I love about this episode and this show in general, but allow me to give a brief synopsis of some of the key points of this episode and why I chose to use it as the title of this post:
WARNING, DOCTOR WHO SPOILER ALERT, DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!!
The Doctor sealed this war in a time lock, using a great weapon, saving the universe, burning his own species. The war was tearing the universe apart. The Gallifrey High Council receives a message, Arcadia has fallen. The Doctor has stolen a device that will destroy his people and the enemy troops but save the universe. But the device is sentient and leads him on a journey that ends up giving him a different solution.
For those of you unfamiliar with SciFi or Doctor Who the above paragraph probably made no sense at all. No matter, the ending has the moral.
The Doctor is a title, a name chosen with a promise. That promise is to save, to heal, and to give hope. The Doctor does something impossible and incredible because of that promise. He comes up with a plan to save his world. He sends a message that Gallifrey, his homeworld, stands. He ends up saving everything because he stands true to his promise. He can't remember that he didn't destroy them all for very complicated, timey-wimey reasons, but he saved it nonetheless. That's why his name is the Doctor. Healing, hope, no cruelty, no malice, kindness, peace.
The painting is revealed in the end to be called, "Gallifrey Falls No More." Meaning that his plan worked, against all odds.
So why am I so worked up about this? Because the Doctor stood by what he knew was right, even when it seemed like there was no alternative. He took a stand, even when the future was murky (an especially uncomfortable feeling for a time traveler).
This post is a stand. It's a very roundabout way (those who know me know that sometimes I take a long time to get to a point, and sometimes I don't make it very well, but this is who I am :P) of talking about what is going on around me right now.
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| This post is really about these people. |
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A "Mormon," as it were. There is a lot of media right now about my church and various social issues. This is my way of saying where I stand right now. I believe that this church is led by Prophets of the Almighty, Living, Loving God. I believe that He guides His church through them. Whatever the issues of the day are, now or in years to come, I will stand by those Prophets, whoever they may be. It will be considered old-fashioned at times. It will be considered brilliant at times. I don't really care. When they say things are changing, I will embrace the change. When they say that things are a certain way, I will stand by them. Why? Because I believe that God will put His church into whatever position He wants it to be at any time. Will they make mistakes? Probably. They are human and fallible, same as all of us, but God will make His way known somehow. I am willing to trust Him and them in patience. Policy may change or it may not. Doctrine that I thought I understood may be shown to be more complicated and I may need to deepen my understanding, or it may stay the same. Whatever the path that this church leads, I will trust these people. Questions should be raised by those who have them, but once a question is raised to those who need to hear it, I will wait patiently for the answer and accept whatever that answer is at that time. If the answer changes later, I will embrace that fully. I believe this is God's work and that, in His own way, He will make things right.
I will love everyone, whatever their decisions may be. That is my task, none other. Those decisions may lead them to disagree with and even leave the church. I will be sorry to see them go, as I know the happiness and joy that is to be found in the Gospel. I choose today to "trust in the Lord with all [my] heart, and lean not unto [mine] own understanding..." That includes His prophets. I sustain, support, and trust them. I lend my voice as one for them.
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| hmm... |
I'm sorry if this means that I sound bigoted, brainwashed, uneducated, misogynistic, patriarchal, evil, hateful, or whatever else you may think. I felt that you, dear reader, should know this about me. I am all in. I made that promise years ago. I will stand by it. I trust that, by so doing, the Kingdom of God, as Gallifrey, will fall no more. I believe that is the only way to ensure that. I may not understand everything. I may not have all the answers. There will be things that trouble me. I will stand by this Kingdom and Church no matter what happens.
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| Yup |
I took a name too, with a promise, years ago. It was His name. As part of that promise it was to trust in God's timing. He is God. He loves us all. He will give us all that will be for our good. I trust His leaders completely.
This painting means, to me, to do what is right, no matter the personal cost. To take a stand and to stick by it, keeping the promises that make you who you are. To stand for something even when nobody else believes it will make a difference.
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| No More |
I'm sorry if this didn't make much sense. Such am I, sometimes. I'm doubly sorry if you took offense to anything I wrote. I don't mean to give it. I just want to be clear that this is where I stand.
To those considering leaving, please stay. Please trust that it will clear up in the end. I don't know how, but I know it will. I need you in this church. Please don't leave.
Nice post. I haven't ever seen Dr Who, but the story is interesting. The animated gif of the picture is cool, too. Reminds me of the new "dynamic perspective" feature on the Amazon phone (which you should really check out if you haven't yet!) :)
ReplyDeleteI think there might be a bit of a false dichotomy here, though. I'm not sure I would agree that believing, supporting and sustaining the Prophets requires that we drop questions once they've been quietly asked to those who need to hear them and then wait patiently for an answer. In fact, at times, I think that believing, supporting and sustaining the Prophets requires us to be persistent about some questions.
I think there is considerable scriptural evidence to support this, as well. Take for example the story of the Zelophehad's daughters. When Moses gathered the children of Israel in the plains of Moab to count them, assign inheritances and expound the law of levirate marriage, the five daughters of Zelophehad (who had recently died; leaving his family with no inheritance under the law as he had no son) gathered in front of the door of the tabernacle to petition that Moses change the law to give them an inheritance (see Numbers 26, and 27:1-4).
Numbers 27:2 tells us that they presented their petition before Moses, Eleazar (the high priest who succeeded Aaron), all the Israelite "princes" and the entire congregation. Rabbinical scholars disagree on the timeline implied by 27:2. Some interpret the verse to mean that the daughters approached the congregation first, then the princes, then Eleazar, then finally Moses in succession. Others interpret the verse to mean that they stood before all of them at one time. I think either interpretation is fascinating, especially in regards to recent events, as the daughters' petitioning was either very persistent, or very public (essentially being held at the front door of the tabernacle during that generation's version of General Conference).
Moses brought the case before God, who spoke unto him, saying, "the daughters of Zelophehad speak right" (Numbers 27:6). God dictated to Moses an amendment to the law, and the daughters of fathers who died without sons were thenceforth eligible to receive inheritances.
Likewise, consider the story of the Canaanite woman with the possessed daughter at Sidon (Matthew 15:21-28). The woman first approached Jesus and begged him to heal her daughter. Her first petition was ignored. She asked again, and her second petition was met by a very strong rebuke. It was only after asking a third time that Jesus replied "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."
There are similar examples in the Church after Christ's death, too. For example, it was only after Paul and Barnabas raised "no small dissension and disputation" in Antioch about the continued necessity of circumcision, then went to Jerusalem where they continued with "much disputing," that Peter revealed the end of the law of circumcision. (Acts 15:1-11)
I think there's quite a difference between asking God for an answer and pressing his prophets for clarification on a point of doctrine... and telling God (and his prophets) what that doctrine should be. Following the prophets, as Curtis has promised to do, doesn't mean that you drop all your questions. It means that you stop trying to tell the prophets which answers you want and ask them for God's reply instead.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post, Curtis. I've never seen Doctor Who connected to church doctrine on revelation before. :)