Talk in Draper Sac Mtg (2019/01/27)

Subject: How opposition in all things has helped me know better the Savior and his atonement.

Draper Jan 27, 2019

 

Does opposition in all things help you better know the Savior and his atonement?

 

Lehi introduced the phrase ‘opposition in all things’. Before we read what he said, let’s evaluate the meaning of the word ‘opposition’. The ending of ‘-tion’ means a ‘state of being. The prefix ‘op-’ is a variation of the prefix ‘-ob’, which means “against, or facing”. It can have a ‘negating’, adversarial meaning. But I want to focus on the meaning of ‘facing’. The root of ‘pose’ is to place a body in a specific form or place. Like this: pose

 

So together, we have the state of placing a body in a form or place facing another body.

 

In the late 14century, opposition was used “as an astrological term for the situation of two heavenly bodies exactly across from one another in the heavens.”

 

You and I are in opposition to each other – we are in positions that are facing each other. Except the Bishopric – they’ve got my back.

 

In 2 Ne Chapter 2 Lehi gives his dissertation on the subject of opposition in all things. I’m going to read, condense, elaborate and paraphrase.

 

2 Ne 2: starting at verse 7.

7 … [the savior will intervene for] those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit;

10…. [people will be judged by the Lord according to], the ends of the law which the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement—

Here he begins the details:

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, … righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. [Which would make,] all things a compound in one [parapharsing: everything would be the same, which would make it ] as dead, [just like an inanimate object is ‘dead’, like a rock] having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery...

12 [An then], there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. And that would… destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes [which we know from Moses 1:39 is to help mankind achieve exaltation and eternal life]…

13 …no law, [means] … there is no sin. … no sin [means]… no righteousness…[without]…righteousness there [is] no happiness…[nor punishment nor misery, ie consequences for being wicked, so-chaos can reign] … if these things are not [if there is no righteousness nor happiness] there is no God. And … we are not,…all things must have vanished away.

14 …I speak for your profit and learning…there is a God, and he hath created all things,

15 …to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, [to achieve this ]… it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.

16 And so, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. [which is the supreme principle of our agency] However, man could not act for himself [unless he was given a choice of]… one [thing] or the other.  

Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Simply put, if you eat this fruit, you will die.

 

The opposition choice was:

Don’t eat of the fruit and live forever as you are –

Or-

Eat of the fruit and end up dying (but that will let you have a family)

 

18…[so Satan comes and highlights the choice they have to make, with a little alteration of the truth so it seems more enticing]..Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die,[pfh-that’s so rediculous] [instead] ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

19 And after Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit they were driven out of the garden

20 [to grow food, have a family, live,…. pull weeds, etc.] that they might repent, [putting them in a] state of probation, and their time was lengthened,…

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not [eaten] he would not have fallen [out of immortality and into mortality], but he would have remained in the Garden of Eden. And [everything would have] remained in the same state in which they were … forever...

23 …they would have had no children; wherefore they would have … had no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin…

25 [He then tells the point of our existence here] …men are, that they might have joy. [Keeping in mind Moses 1:39 that God’s intent is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life-to be as he is. To make sure this happens, more explanation is given by Lehi…]

26 …the Messiah cometh to redeem the children of men from the fall….[which ‘fall’ caused them to] BECOME FREE forever, KNOWING GOOD FROM EVIL; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, [except] by the punishment of the law at the… last day ….

28 … [so now, we are in a position where we are] free to choose liberty and eternal life ... or … to choose captivity and death, ...

 

I hope it is clear that in order to bring about our exaltation and eternal life, we must have the opportunity to choose it. In order to choose it, we must have options to choose between. It won’t work if all your options are the same. If all your clothes are bright orange jumpsuits, you never get to choose what color you are going to wear-it would a choice prison. So we had to be in a state where we have options that face each other, are different than each other, or in other words, oppose each other.

We definitely struggle with things in our lives; I don’t want to minimize that some can be exceedingly difficult. Brother Back stated it so well last week: “Success and progression are sometimes directly correlated with discomfort.”

 

My proposition is to enhance our paradigm. Look at ‘opposition’ in your life not as adversarial, or a struggle.   Look at it as a situation in which you have the privilege of making choices that face each other.

 

Look at opposition as opportunity. We have the same prefix of op (facing) and the suffix –unity, meaning ‘a property of being one’. The root word ‘port’ is a harbor, or haven. Original Latin meaning was an entrance. So we have the entrance to a harbor or place where we bring things facing or against each other into harmony or unity within our life.

 

Without this blessing of ‘multiple opportunities’ in life, we would have no choices, and therefore no agency, and no growth. We already individually decided against that plan when Lucifer presented it to the Council in Heaven.

 

So here we are in a mortal life full of opportunities to choose. As 2 Ne 2 states, we could not know joy if we never know misery.

 

We began working on our talks 2 weeks ago. Last Monday we had an… um… ‘opportunity’ suggested to us to sell our two houses and move into a smaller third home for convenience of other people. We didn’t like the suggestion and I felt frustrated about how to approach this. My thoughts at work kept being distracted to it. Then I remembered my talk. I thought, this isn’t an adversarial situation. This is merely an opportunity to make choices. That took the pressure off my thoughts so I could concentrate and wait until the evening when Ken and I could discuss the idea presented to us. If you are curious, no, we are not selling either of our houses.

 

When I got to my first area on my mission, I was so excited. I tried to do everything my trainer told me. And, she kept telling me what I needed to change, sometimes quite critically. Four months into my mission, I realized we had a big problem. I kept doing things that made her upset.  One day while tracting on a long country road, she said out of the blue, "I hate you and everything about you!" She rehearsed to me that previous companions had all said they hated her and had asked our mission president to be transfered.

 

I wanted to do the right things. I decided I would not ask him for a transfer, and I would try my hardest to let her know she was loved by at least one person. By the time 6 months came, I was pretty worn down. Any sense of self-value I was quite demolished. She talked about the struggles in her family, and that they would frequently threaten each other with knives.  I feared that I would wake up one night to see her coming in my room brandishing a butcher knife from the kitchen. By the 7th month, I was praying she would get transferred. When she was transferred, I hid little notes in her luggage reminding her of all of our good times.

There is a secret ingredient to this story.  In the MTC, I had been so moved by all I learned and by the Spirit, I felt to repent and prayed for forgiveness and for humility. I am very grateful I did. I needed them both. The relationship with this companion was similar to a previous relatinship. I now had the opportunity to improve my way of interacting. In the process, I became aware that my 'good' self-esteem was not real but an illusion.  I saw the Lord carving away disillusions. Because I was leaning on him, he helped me correct my awareness of myself. Both of these helped me repent and purify myself.

 

I later learned this companion was bi-polar. I also learned that she told one of her following companions that I had admitted that I hated her, and I had been asking our mission president for a transfer. But, it was not in vain. Even though I didn’t know to look at it as an ‘opportunity’ as I have described today, I took the opposition and tried to make the best, most Christ-like choices. I especially appreciated opportunity for repentance and improvement.

 

The follow up on the story is I seem to have required the Lord to walk me through this process another 5 or 6 times before it took any root.

 

To summarize: Difficulties or opposition is an opportunity to make choices. As we lean on the Lord during these ‘choices’ periods, we can purify ourselves by repenting, which is the process of using the atonement of Jesus Christ, which brings us to be more like him, which is how we truly know him. John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

 

I have come to know and have deeper gratitude for my Savior. He has held my hand multiple times as I have walked through a purifying fiery furnaces of opposition, or opportunity. I can see the two opposing conditions I was in. Like Eve, I can say, “Were it not for my transgressions, I never should have known good and evil, and the joy of my redemption…”