The Bridge of Perspective

Growing up a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah was great.  Knowing there was a Savior and a Plan not only gave me hope through the day-to-day struggles we all face, but also the strength to face my personal weaknesses and conquer mighty obstacles unique to my life. I also found peace and guidance through faith, prayer, and Priesthood blessings. Experiencing this great hope, joy and peace lit a fire within my heart to share it with others and led me to invite my friends who were not members of the Church to Primary and led to many discussions with them about faith, both mine and theirs. None of them were baptized, but all of them joined me once or twice to church or a Primary activity.  I enjoyed including my friends and sharing my faith with them, as well as learning about their beliefs. Inviting others to join me in activities that bring me joy and sharing knowledge and experiences that have strengthened me has continued to this day.

While attending BYU, I was awakened to a harsh reality: there is a great divide in almost every aspect of our mortal experience. This is not just good vs. evil; this permeates all aspects of our lives. I witnessed the split between political ideologies, competitions between different fields of study, etc., and the great “Utah Mormon” vs. “the Mission Field” divide (which is a huge pet peeve of mine, but I’ll save that for another day). Up until then, the divide I personally experienced was BYU vs. U of U. There is a healthy side to competition, and an ugly side. This ugly side reared its head more often than I liked. Members of the Church looked down on my faith and church activity because I was from Utah. The description of the Church and its membership in Utah was foreign to me and in no way resembled my personal experience. It really frustrated me to hear these generalizations of “Utah Mormons” based on rumors or limited experience in Provo (which, by the way, was full of young members of the Church from all over practicing their religion without parental guidance for the first time).  At the time, I wanted to tell them to get out of Utah and go somewhere they actually liked; we didn’t want them here any more than they wanted to be here. As an adult, I see this from a different perspective. Many of these young adults were doing just that: young “adulting,” aka spreading their wings as they further discovered their identity.

Much of my time nowadays is spent reading. I read scientific studies, essays, blogs, news, social media, Church publications, and find time for an occasional novel for the sake of turning off my mind for a time. As I read, I develop an opinion on the subject matter. In order to round out my opinion or become better informed, I seek out reviews of said publications or comments on social media. It helps me see things about the topic I failed to see from my limited experience and enables me to identify biases, my own included. I also look for other research on the topic or, if reported from a secondary source, search out the original source and read the references I am able to access. In my experiences and research, I have concluded that not even the scientific method can lead to irrefutable conclusions or proof. This life is colored by our individual experience and biases. While there is no way to completely rid ourselves of either, we must recognize and acknowledge our biases as we interpret information. There is research to back opposing sides of almost any argument and we tend to side with the one that feels right to us, the one that matches our experience and biases.  Even widely held beliefs and time tested theories have been “disproved” by the scientific method just to turn around and be “proved” by the same method. This, I believe, is by Divine design. We are not intended to have “proof” of everything. We are to walk by faith. This faith encourages us to do what we know in our hearts is right and upon doing so, we gain knowledge stronger than the scientific method alone can provide. It is difficult to deny what we have personally experienced or witnessed.

Why do we, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, seem to rely on “feelings” over “evidence”? As for me, as I study, I rely on the source of all Truth: Heavenly Father. There are too many evidences (science) and witnesses (faith) to deny His existence. When confronted by those who see my faith as blindness or a lack of thought, I relate to Jacob when he was confronted by Sharem in Jacob 7:5:

           

            “And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many

             revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things;

             for I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had

             heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to

             time; wherefore, I could not be shaken.”

Without going into deeply personal experiences, I am a witness. I have experienced the Gospel of Jesus Christ in actual, tangible ways I cannot deny. When confronted by a great divide in any aspect of my life, I turn to Heaven and seek for answers. As the answers come, my heart and mind find agreement and peace in them. I gain knowledge and wisdom and a better understanding of my personal relationship with God. That relationship is one of love and acceptance and encouragement. It enables me to reach out to those on the other side of any issue and strive to better understand their experiences and ideas, thus enabling me to love them as they are. When I choose faith in God, I choose peace and love and do my best to extend the same opportunity it to others.