Darkness of doubt, roller coasters of reality, clouds of confusion and storms of skepticism.
Does this not describe the world we live in? Does it not paint a picture of our feelings as human beings sometimes?
I know that at times I am weighed down by the world's distorted image of life and happiness.
How do we escape? How do we break free of the bars that are so often portrayed to be closing us in?
It was a gloomy Monday afternoon, and I was pondering these things. I felt a desperate desire to be on the pursuit of truth, but a confusion of questions flooded my mind.
I was anxious to know how to be at one with myself and God. I wanted to know how I could be apart and unique, but also unified and one with those around me.
So, I started my search.
In the Hebrew alphabet, the first letter is Aleph. As I learned about this letter, I learned it had a deeper significance than just a Hebrew word for the letter "A". It symbolizes One-ness, God, Unity, the Beginning, Uniqueness and Completion.. It means Leader, Power, Strength. The letter itself is made out of 2 yods and a vav. The vav signifying a nail, and a nail signifying Christ.
I felt like this led me to a key: Christ. Through Christ, we can become true to ourselves through His grace, and also unified with others because that is what we do when we are true to ourselves.
But that led me to another question. How is being unified with others an outcome of Christ's atonement?
At-one-ment. One simply needs to split up the word to realize it unlocks the source of unity.
But how?
In Moroni 10:32 is says:
Yea, acome unto Christ, and be bperfected in him, and cdeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and dlove God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God
And in verse 33:
And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye asanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the bblood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your csins, that ye become dholy, without spot.
According to this scripture, it looks like we must deny ourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all our might mind and strength, and that is key to sanctification, perfection, and ONENESS.
So how do we deny ourselves of all ungodliness?
That, I believe, is a matter of diligence, practice, humility and faith.
If we deny ourselves of all ungodliness, we are ridding ourselves of pride.
Pride, is the fear of man, and since faith is the opposite of fear, we must cast out pride and fear with faith.
So, we must have faith, trust God and get ride of our pride, so we can steer ourselves by the light of His will. Charity is an act of Faith.
As we do that, and use the atonement when we make a wrong turn, then we can become at one with God, those around us, and ourselves.
I've also found that the Lord, and nature like to work in circles.
The circle also represents 1 and wholeness. It is the shape that holds the most space, with the smallest perimeter. I think this could represent the simplicity of faith and its power will be more beneficial than any other way of living.
What is life without hope? And what is hope without faith? And what is faith without God?
And that leads us back to the beginning again. Like a cycle!
Here's the circular principle that has covered and rounded out the answers:
So, we must Love God first. We show that love through Coming unto Christ, serving others and using the atonement when we fail and lose sight of our purpose. Stronger now, we can become more at one with God, others, and ourselves, and we can better show our love for God, by coming unto Christ and serving others and using the atonement when we fail and lose sight of our purpose. Sound familiar? That's because its a cycle!
And it all revolves around Faith. If you truly Love Him, you will trust Him, and that is what faith is.
Once you trust Him, you can let Him guide you, and as you do His will, you become one with Him, and if you are one with Him, you serve and become one with others, because that's how you show you are one with Him. Do you see the cycle?
It really all comes down to having the same purpose. If you and Heavenly Father have the same purpose, you are one.
This scripture illustrates that principle nicely:
D&C 35: 2
I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was acrucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will bbelieve on my name, that they may become the csons of God, even done in eme as I am fone in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one.
Believing in His name, comes with having the same purpose, because when you act on that belief (or faith) you are showing that your purpose is aligned with God's.
And that is the solution to being free and being at one. Following these truths will allow you to be in the world, but not of it, although so much darkness might be trying to penetrate you. Just remember to use your unique individual talents to amplify the Lords purposes, and you will find peace and oneness with the Lord, those around you, and yourself.
