My whole
college career can be summed up in that I’m trying to understand what nature
is. The basis of all the work I do for
courses and research has an implied underlying belief that there is a set of
inalterable laws that govern the universe, which we call nature. Of course our imperfect comprehension and
models of nature often fail to fully explain what is happening, but that is a
failure due to our misunderstanding of nature, and not a failure of nature
itself. The laws of nature are
impossible to defy.
Of course
this understanding of nature doesn’t correspond very well with our idea of
overcoming the natural man. Overcoming
nature by simply bypassing laws is about as absurd as jumping and refusing to
come down. However, the same laws that
pull us down are the laws that allow us to fly an airplane. This can be seen as overcoming nature and
though laws have not been defied, they are manipulated to our benefit. I believe the same principle applies to our
overcoming the natural man.
Naturally,
an object cannot act upon itself. Even
in taking a step, I’m not acting on myself but I’m actually pushing the earth, which
then pushes me back. This is a natural
law that governs not only literal movement but spiritual movement as well. Though God has commanded us to be proactive
and prepared temporally and spiritually he has never asked us to lift ourselves
up. In fact he strongly declares on
several occasions that the first shall be last and the last shall be
first. My personal favorite is in Luke
9:46-48.
Then there arose a reasoning among them, which
of them should be greatest. And Jesus,
perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him. And said unto them, whosoever shall receive
this child in my name receiveth me: For he that is the least among you all, the
same shall be great.
Among other
things, a child is perfectly dependent on others. The same ought to be true of ourselves. In Abraham chapter 5 verse 14, in speaking of
creation, God declares, “It is not good that the man should be alone,
therefore we will from an help meet for him.” Eve is of
course the help meet to Adam but it is clear today that it is not good that we
should be alone either. Even the achievements
of great men, though impressive and even admirable, are mere illusions if channeled
towards self-grandeur. Moses declared
after seeing the glory of God “for this cause I know that man is nothing”
(Moses 1:10). By natural spiritual law, one
cannot raise his or herself by any individual means. True he may seem to gain the world in
personal pursuits but as Jesus declared “what is a man profited if he shall
gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Matt. 16) The answer is sharp and clear, nothing.
However,
though we cannot act on ourselves, the Lord does expect us to act. In the scriptures we learn that men must be “anxiously
engaged in a good cause and do many
things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness” (DC 58:27). Often in describing the Laminates the authors
of the Book of Mormon calls them indolent and comments on their tendency to
plunder rather than work. The gospel of
Jesus Christ requires us to become more than we are, but how can this be done
if we cannot act on ourselves.
The answer
lies in the exploitation of another physical law that every action brings about
an opposite and equal reaction. Spiritually
that means that it is in helping others we can elevate ourselves. Returning to the previous quote, Christ
taught that whosoever receiveth a little child receives Christ. There is a beautiful paradox when a mother
bends over to pick up her child and is simultaneously raised towards heaven. We personally can only have an influence on
others, but there is an equal and opposite reaction that they will necessarily
have on us. In our humble and sincere
actions towards the low and insignificant of this life, we are simultaneously
turning in the opposite direction towards the greatest and most significant of
all, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Elder
Alonso of the Seventy recently taught in the Saturday morning session (October
2012) this principle. Speaking of the Lord’s divine example,
His was a life of service. When we serve our neighbor, we help those who
are in need. In the process we may find
solutions to our own difficulties. As we
emulate the Savior, we show our love to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus
Christ, and we become more like Them.
This is the
means by which we can overcome the natural man.
It is not coincidence that King Benjamin speaks so much of service in
his discourse (Mosiah 2-5), warning his people of the dangers of the natural
man. I am a far from perfect person but
I will live and hold to the belief that service in one form or another is the
only way that we can achieve anything worthwhile in our life.
I would
like to give one particular example. During
my (LDS) mission in Southern France the second city in which I served was the
city of Toulon. The area covered some of
the most beautiful scenery in the world.
My companions and I would joke about the fact that if Johnny Depp or
Brad and Angelina ever became interested in the gospel, it would be us that
would teach them. It was rare that we
saw that side of the world however, and we spent most our time in the dirty
port city, with all that that entails, where there were people to teach. On occasion however, we would venture out
along the coast line or inland through lush mountains. In my first letter home, I described the
natural landscape as taking the Wasatch Front and moving it to San Diego
beaches. It was incredible.
As my time
in Toulon was clearly coming to an end, there was a particular point on our large
map that I wanted to visit. It was as
far as our bus pass could take us ending at a sharp point along the coast line
which I was sure was a result of the rocky limestone ocean precipices characteristic
of the region. We never had a reason to
go out that far, but for my last preparation day, my companion and I planned to
go. As we were studying however we
received a phone call from a brother in the ward. This man was quite poor and lived alone in a
poorly lit shack not far from the most dangerous slums of the area. Grass didn’t even grow in there and the tall
brown buildings, scarred with broken and boarded windows, stood on desert dirt
littered with burnt cars. The scene
screamed more Baghdad than Cote D’Azur, and the sometimes hostile, always rude,
immigrant gangs only cemented the image.
This brother
was broken. He was in his fifties and
alone. He loved the church and the
missionaries were his best friends.
Recently he had broken up with is girlfriend, who was ugly as sin in
multiple ways. He was low. He was remodeling his shack and gave us a
call informing us that he needed the hand of “manual” people. I am the son of an investment portfolio
manager and my companion was a tap dancer.
We were not manual. But we knew
he needed us. Of course we bagged our
plans and went to help, ironically taking the same route we had planned to take, only getting off much sooner, and of course despite our efforts, we contributed
very little to his construction efforts.
We were closer to heaven there than we could have been anywhere else in
the natural world.
Other
examples of spiritual teachings found in the natural world abound. The existence of natural law does not mean
that we should succumb to its most base manifestation. Survival of the fittest is a law that causes
a reaction of greed, lust and competition in the world. The law that the fittest survive is true, but
through a better understanding of inalterable laws we can use this law to our
advantage. In Section 121 we learn that
the powers of heaven can only be exercised in righteousness and having bowels
filled with charity we can understand the priesthood power of God. This law allows us to not only survive in
this world but help those who don’t think they can. We ought to manipulate the evolutionary law
of the fittest so that we not only, by the power of God, are fit enough to
survive, but also to, full of charity, aid others, and with them stand in the
presence of God.
A soul
headed in a poor direction may declare that his fate is fixed appealing to
another natural law that an object in motion stays in motion. The overcoming of this law comes from being
acted upon by an outside influence, or in Benjamin’s words by yielding, “To the
enticings of the Holy Spirit, [and putting] off the natural man and becometh a
saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.” (Mosiah 3:19) A natural law
does not require us to be natural men.
Let us all heed the spirit and use the atonement, allowing both to
redirect the misbearings in our life. In
the same breath I hope that we can also be the outside influence at times on
those would otherwise be forever in a misguided motion.
One of the
most depressing natural laws is that amount of useable energy in the universe
is constantly decreasing as entropy increases. In short, the universe is falling apart. Even the scriptures tell us that all things are
to pass. There is a way to overcome this
and create something that lasts. Jesus
taught in John 12:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth
forth much fruit.” I hope that we can all bring forth fruit in others and be
willing to give our lives in the building of something that can never erode away.
I know that
we have a loving Heavenly Father who cares for us deeply. I know he has created an amazing universe and
the plan of salvation with the intent of bringing us happiness and joy. I know that the way to achieve this joy is through
service towards others. Our Savior Jesus
Christ gave the ultimate example, clearly showing that our relationships with
our fellow man are of most consequence.
He has promised peace in this world and a fullness of his joy in the world
to come, if we place our relationships with God and man in the forefront. Natural laws govern this world, which can
often leave us hurt, but there is a better way.
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
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