All Suffering has Purpose
"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It
ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as
patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all
that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our
characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God...and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven."
(Orson F. Whitney, in Dennis D. Flake, "Orson F. Whitney's Philosophy of Education," p. 96; see also Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, p.99)
9 comments:
OF Whitney was an awesome fellow.
True. However, the problem I see with these types of comments is that makes it sound that you "must" go through trials and tribulation to get where you want. That is one way to get there but there is the path of pure joy as well. Have I done that? No, but I know that possibility exists.
Moreover, Elder Todd Christofferson, Ensign Nov. 2009, p107.
"They should not have to learn by sad experience that "wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10)
Efren, I wish it were true that we didn't have to pass through sorrow to build our character, but the two are inseparable. And we don't have to sin to have sad experiences since even Christ experienced extreme trials and tribulations. Even our Father who now resides in Heaven experiences the sorrow of rebellious children and is capable of shedding tears.
This quote reminds me of my favorite supervillain from comic books whose superpower was to absorb the energy or power of anyone who hit him, making him stronger with each blow. I interpret this saying by OFW to mean that faith is the key to superheroes (like us?) obtaining that same superpower.
The thing that most people do not understand, is that you get to control the way you feel, because you get to choose the thoughts you think. Most people think that they only have the option of responding to the circumstances that surround them. And that's what makes them attempt the impossible, which is to control the circumstances around them, which only feeds their feeling of frustration and vulnerability, because it doesn't take very much life experience to discover you can't control all of those circumstances. But you can control your feelings by means of controlling what you put your attention into. And when you control your feelings, you've controlled everything that has anything to do with you. To me, "sorrow" is a the description of a feeling that implies that you have chosen to look at what makes you feel sorrowly or otherwise sad. To build your character through sorrow is one way (a hard one) and it is okay with me if you want to do it that way. I choose what I call the easy way, as D&C 20:22 says. I make a concious decision of where I put my attention even as Christ did. At least that is my dominant intent in all of my conversations.
So for me, the superpower of faith is achieved by consistently putting your eyes on the good and off the sorrow. The consist use of agency to chose (look) at the right and/or good is what will make up your moral discipline, this according to Elder Todd Christofferson of the Twelve. I certainly agree with this Apostle.
I read an article yesterday by President Monson, entitled: "Be of Good Cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." It is now published in the May 2009 Ensign. The messsage is somewhat similar to what you are saying.
kinda reminded me of Pres. Monsen's old talk "Attitude of Gratitude"
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