The Science of Faith Part 1

The last few months I have been studying faith and how we can build it. As I was studying I began to notice how much science and faith were alike. I have decided to do a couple three blogs on what I have found.

Part One: Precision and Accuracy

My senior year I took a statistics class and was educated in the difference between accuracy and precision. Accuracy is how close you get to somethings true value. Precision is how often you get the same results over a period of time in the same situation. Both are vital to getting valid and useful results.  I was thinking about how this relates to our faith.

The Stripling Warriors-Alma 57:21

In order for our faith to bring us true results we must be both accurate and precise. We must make sure our actions match up perfectly with what we are asked to do; we must be exactly obedient or accurate. We must also place our faith IN Christ and not anything else. Only when we are accurate in our faith can we expect and have an assurance that God will do His part. Like a function or machine what we put into it directly correlates with what we get out of it and thus the more accurate our actions or Faith in Christ become the more we are able to receive the blessings of the Lord (1 Nephi 1:20, Ether 12:6) and feel confident in His presence (Doctrine and Covenants 121:45)

In addition to accuracy we must make our faith precise or in other words consistent. Over time our actions must continue to fall close to the mark or we will never be able to enjoy the long term blessings of faith. When our actions are consistent we reap the results of these actions shaping us to be not just act more like our Savior. In short, when our faith is precise we become precisely what we came here to be-more like our Heavenly Father.

I know that though faith takes self-discipline, hard work, and diligence that if we treat it with the same deliberateness, dedication, and carefulness as scientists do than we will receive powerful life-altering results. Faith really can change our lives if we pay attention to the small details (Alma 37:6-7) that allow us to be both precise and accurate. True faith will always bring us blessings-for we have the greatest scientist telling us so: God.

Additional Scriptures:

Accuracy: Alma 57:21
Precision: 2 Nephi 31:20, Mosiah 2:41
 

He Loved Me Enough to Turn Off the A/C

When we begin to forget God, He will stop the flow of
blessings so that we turn to Him again.

I have always admired my Dad's creative mind-except when he has used it to prove a point. The occasion that I am thinking of is a time when he, my mother, my little sister, and I were all driving to Vegas to see a concert. It was the middle of the summer in the afternoon and it was a scorching hot desert to drive through, but of course, it didn't matter too much due to the wonderful invention of air conditioning. Soon I was so comfortable in my backseat with a pillow against the window and my headphones in that I began to doze off. My poor Dad was driving and soon I wasn't the only one asleep-my mother and sister had succumbed to the comfort of modern travel. Feeling a little lonely I'm sure, he began to try to make small talk with us but his efforts were fruitless. We would each give him a sleepy one word response and fall back asleep. Soon he gave up....or so we thought.

All I remember was that slowly I began to get a tad on the warm side. Being sleepy it didn't seem to register too much. But as time passed I went from discomfort to hot to sweaty and miserable; miserable enough to wake up fully and inquire why it was so hot. I wasn't alone. My mother soon piped in "Hey Mike, why is it so hot in here?" I happened to look up just in time to see my Dad grin like the Cheshire cat in the rear view mirror as he said "Oh, does it seem a little warm in here to you?"

He went on to explain that he had tried to get our attention with the small talk but as none of us seemed to be paying much attention to him he decided to cut off the flow of air, hoping to sweat us out. I believe he also justified this act by mentioning it was also giving us an opportunity to feel like the pioneers must have when they crossed the United States in heat. Really, he told us, it was a blessing in disguise. 

And you know what-it was, because I was able to enjoy the rest of the drive getting to know my Dad better, something I would've lost had the a/c stayed on. This is the same exact way our Heavenly Father looks at things. There is a verse in Helaman 12:3 that says:

"And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence they will not remember him"

God will always wait patiently for us to awake and turn to Him

God knows what makes us most happy. He knows, like my Dad knows, that there a lot of things in life we can try to do to "pass the time" on our journey in life. But just as my Dad knows that falling asleep while listening to an IPod will never bring us as much joy as being able to have meaningful conversation with a loving Father, God knows nothing can replace the relationship we could have with Him. In those times when we seem to get distracted or forget or are too comfortable to talk to God He will withdraw the blessings that flow so easily into our lives. It is not out of punishment or anger but really out of love, for He knows that a little bit of hardship for a time is well worth the prize of remembering to call upon our loving Father-he knows that those blessings are far better than going through life comfortably distracted. And most of all, no matter how far away Heavenly Father gets from our minds, it is a comfort to know that we are never far from His-no matter how long we go without noticing Him. (Mosiah 27:30) He will never forget nor forsake us, and will do anything it takes to help us remember Him, so that we may be truly happy in this life.

The Grapes of Wrath

My father loves to make things out of our garden. From pickles to nuts to freezing green beans we have tried making many things from our garden. Usually our ideas stem from us growing way more than we would ever want of something (side note: never plant more than one zucchini plant unless you plan on making zucchini bread every day for at least 3 months). One year in particular we had far too many grapes. My Mom hopelessly tried to juice them but it was time-consuming and yielded very little profit. So, my Dad came to the rescue with a fool proof idea: raisins. They had to be pretty easy to make and they don't go bad very quickly so it was the perfect solution-or so we thought.
Turns out there are a few steps to making grapes; you have to de-stem them and then spread them out and then put some lemon juice on them before you set them out to dry in the sun. Pretty simple but surprisingly time consuming, especially with little home-grown grapes. We all soon were rather tired of making raisins, but we kept going as best we could. My Dad came in one day and saw our red rimmed eyes, bleeding fingers from de-stemming (that may or may not be an exaggeration), and the huge pile of grapes yet to undergo the process of becoming raisins and took pity on us. He proposed yet another idea: to just throw the grapes outside and without de-stemming them or putting lemon juice on them. We told him we didn't think that would work, we would be missing some key steps, but he told us he doubted it mattered much and that he was sure it would work and save us a lot of time and effort. So we did as he suggested, we simply unceremoniously placed the grapes on cookie sheets, covered it all with a sheet, and waited. Then we waited some more. Then we mourned the fact that for a whole week no one had been able to use any cookie sheets because they were all still outside. Then we waited a little longer. Finally, when the fruit flies showed up we decided it was time to throw the now rotting grapes away and reclaim our cookie sheets... Needless to say it had been a bit of a failure-though a well meaning and noble try.

In essence we are all grapes right now doing our best to become more like raisins (Christ and Heavenly Father). The steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are simple and easy to follow, but sometimes we seek to find an easier, shorter way. But just like a grape will never be a raisin without it undergoing a precise but simple process, we can never reach our potential without carefully following each step of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). Nephi, a prophet in the Book of Mormon said:
"wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved." (1 Nephi 15:14)
Let us each learn more about the very points of Christ's doctrine, so that we too can reach our full potential.

Brandin' Sheep

When we are baptized we make a series of promises with God-one of which is to to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. But what does it mean to take upon ourselves the name of Christ?
Maybe it is because I have been serving in Montana for "pert near" a year now, but as I was reflecting upon this part of the baptismal covenant the other day an image came to mind of sheep being branded into a flock. Before that moment that sheep may have been around the other sheep that the shepherd had, but it is when he is branded with the shepherds personal mark that that sheep is recognized by all who see him as a member of that specific fold. If that sheep is ever lost, stolen, or hurt anyone who finds it will be able to return it to his shepherd. Whatever that sheep does that others see him do will become a reflection of how others view his shepherd. And most of all, the longer that sheep lives among his fold the more he will learn to recognize the voice of his shepherd-allowing them to more perfectly follow his calls.
And that is how it is when we are baptized. We take upon the name-or brand-of Christ. Our actions will be seen by others as a reflection of Him whom we call our Shepherd. When we are lost, hurt, or "stolen" by the temptations of the world then others around us know where to point us back too. Through the ordinance of baptism we become recognized by Christ, others, and ourselves as part of the flock of Christ-just like a branded sheep.
And just as a brand does not last forever, we must "re-brand" ourselves every week by partaking the Sacrament and renewing that covenant we made with God. We cannot afford for our brands to become faded with time and the Sacrament provides us with the means of renewing that brand often, and keeping our thoughts on our Shepherd each week.
I know that baptism is one of the greatest blessings we can have in this life and that through this ordinance we really do enter the flock of God. In His own words there is "no other way"           (2 Nephi 31:21) to Him. His commandments are here to bring us joy and keep us safe, and baptism is no exception. His plan truly is a plan of happiness.

Additional Scriptures:
John 10:4, 14-15
Mosiah 26:18, 21-22

For more about baptism:
Bible Dictionary: Baptism

Broken Arms and Run-Down Houses

I think most of us have broken a bone at some point. Luckily for me I have only broken one once; my right arm. After watching some X-Games, at 10 years old I decided to become a professional BMX biker. Naturally, there was no reason to start small, so I grabbed my garage sale mountain bike, a small boulder, and a old piece of plywood to begin my training, because of course, there are few more stable ramps than homemade plywood/boulder ones. Wanting to maximize my height as I jumped, I set my ramp up at the bottom of a hill in my neighborhood. Soon I was speeding like an arrow toward that ramp, and given the crookedness of the top, I began to question the safety of actually going off of it. Panicked, I slammed on my brakes-my front brakes, at just about the time I started off the highly unstable jump. Then, the next thing I remembered was getting up, and looking down to see my horribly bent right wrist.
A kind neighbor helped me home and when I got inside my older brother asked what was wrong, because I was crying. I showed him my wrist and he immediately knew I broke it and went to call our mother. Not wanting to have to go to the doctor I said "it may not be broken, what if its not? Maybe we should just wait and see for awhile, it'll most likely be better tomorrow". Adamant my brother sat me down, called my Mom, and soon I was headed off to my Dad's office. After a few X-rays he was ready to set the bone. I however, was not. I didn't want anyone near my arm, let alone to set it. At first he offered a numbing shot, but as I have an intolerance to sharp things near my person, I declined. Respecting my agency he began to set the bone-it took about 3 seconds for me to yelp like a cat getting its tail ran over. Of course he got the needle out, numbed the arm, and was able to easily set it that time. Soon I was in my new cast and I went from feeling miserable to feeling like a war-hero. I looked at what I deemed as pure torture and had survived it and now had a cool cast to prove it. I couldn't wait for others to sign my cast.

Now before we get to how this relates to the gospel, I have one more story for ya'll to mull over. Well more of a scenario. Let's say we moved into a new home, and it needed a little TLC-picture "Flip this House". The electricity may not work, or the faucets may leak, or the painting job may be an ugly puke green. When we move into a home do we often say "well, it came that way, guess it'll have to stay that way"? Not usually. We may not get around to it, or have the money for it right away, but few would just decide it was impossible to fix those things.
Now for how these both relate to the gospel-
Broken arms: How often have one of us said to ourselves when we have a pain or an injury that we'll just wait and it will most likely get better? People may try to get us to go get checked yet we worry about insurance, time, what the doctor will say, convenience, or even worry nothing is wrong and we'll look weak by going in. As fatal and painful as putting off going to the doctor can be to our bodies, I am here to tell you that our spirits are no different. We all experience mistakes, trials, and hurt in life; in essence we all break our wrists. But just as a bone will never heal right without the touch of a master our souls will never be healed without being set in place by the Master's hands. Under Christ we are all "insured", for "salvation is free". (2 Nephi 2:4) All we need is a copay of faith and humility-a broken heart and a contrite spirit (Enos 1:4-8, 3 Nephi 9:20). He will never mock us for what we believe is wrong or call us weak for coming to Him. No matter how painful the process may be or how long the healing process may take it is worth it, and no matter how badly broken we are, we are always fixable-it is never too late. And in His mercy the Lord sends us His spirit (the numbing shot) to comfort us through the experience. Literally, we are never left alone, and once He is finished our spiritual casts can become a hope to others; our experiences and testimony of our healing can inspire others to go to Christ, and each signature we get just adds to our and Christ's joy as we bring others unto Him.
Run Down Houses-None of us come into this world perfect, and though we often expect ourselves to be, we never seem to believe we ever will be so. We look at so many other "houses" and see all that we aren't, and yet believe our own faults can never be made whole. We begin to say to ourselves "well that is just how I am" and think we are doomed to live in a "house with a leaky faucet forever". That just isn't the case. The Savior has commanded us to be "perfect even as [He] is perfect" (3 Nephi 12:48). We truly are expected to be perfect one day, and rather than discourage us that should make us very excited, for "the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." (1 Nephi 3:7). It is possible to make the needed "repairs" in us, in fact, we have everything in our favor to do so. The most exciting thing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it brings with it the good news that we are never stuck with how we came into this world but rather have every possibility of becoming everything we came here to become. All it takes is faith in and obedience to Christ and His Gospel. If we never thought the repairman could fix the faucet, would we ever call? And if we did would we follow the instructions he gave us to fix the problem? Similarly, only when we have faith that Christ can perfect us will we call upon Him, and follow His instructions He gives to us. I testify that when we do so we can become whole, complete, and perfected in Him.

Additional Scriptures:
Matthew 9:22
Mark 9:23-24

Perfectly Comforted and Comfortably Perfect

We have all had people come into our lives at the seemingly perfect time, whether it was to comfort, guide, stop us, push us forward, teach us, and even correct us. For lack of a better phrase I suppose we would call them our "angels" sent here to help us along our way. I had one of these in my life during my stay at college a few years back, and this person would always tell me something that I never understood, "remember I am not the one who is comforting you". Well, I am happy to say, that two or so years later I get it, due to an account in the Book of Mormon.

Alma and Amulek were two missionaries who taught the people of Ammonihah. The people of Ammonihah did not recieve them well, in fact, their scriptures were burned, as were those of their faith, and they were forced to watch. Then they were imprisoned. On top of all this, because of Amulek's decision to serve with Alma, his family and friends rejected him (Alma 15:16). He also forsook his fortune. In essence, he had lost nearly everything one can have in life; position, friends, money, and most of all, family. Personally, I don't know if I could make it through all of that. But at that critical time in Amulek's life there is a verse that I love, it says:

"Now as I said, Alma having seen all these things, therefore he took Amulek and came over to the land of Zarahemla, and took him to his own house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations, and strengthened him in the Lord." (Alma 15:18)
I love the phrase, "strengthened IN the Lord". Alma didn't neccessarily comfort/strengthen Amulek, the Lord did through Alma. When we are asked to "comfort those that stand in need of comfort" (Mosiah 18:9) we should be doing this through Christ, for He is the one that can perfectly comfort us. Otherwise, we will only provide a certain level of comfort and for only so long. But, if we allow ourselves to be a tool in the Lord's hand to "bind up the broken hearted" (Isaiah 61:1), then we, through Him, can provide perfect comfort, for He has already suffered all that he may "succor" (run to) us in our time of need. (Alma 7:11-12)

4th of July Thoughts

I have been thinking about Independence Day and all of the blessings of freedom I enjoy because of the brave men and women who sacrificed so much of themselves in our behalf. Because of them I enjoy freedom of education, speech, religion; I get to vote, decide what I want to be when I grow up, and more things then I could ever name. As I thought about all the things I have because of others sacrificing it led me to reflect on the Savior and all He sacrificed for us to be free.
In 2 Nephi 2:26 it says "and the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they re redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not be acted upon." (2 Nephi 2:26)
I know that because of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on our behalf, we truly can be free from all of our mistakes, guilt, trials, sorrows, tribulations, hurts, pains, and even our weaknesses. There is literally nothing He cannot make right, no chain He cannot break, no hurt He cannot heal: all it takes is us to turn to Him in Faith.
So, this week, as we think of all those men who have died to keep this nation free, let us also remember the one who died to make all men free.