Mormon Direction

Living the life of a Saint is not an easy task, because we are asked by the Lord to live spiritually, not worldly. We are to abide in the principles set forth in the gospel. We are to move ourselves away from the wiles of the flesh and remain chaste and virtuous.

To add to this daunting task, we received the Word of Wisdom from God which addresses the more simple things the world enjoys on a regular and daily basis. You know these things; liquor, coffee, tea, cigarettes, etc.

With all that we are tasked to do in order to remain a Saint, pure and virtuous, we must contend with the natural desires that come with mortality. As we move along, at times with much effort, we have our wishes and desires for things of the world. We are not human if these desires are absent.

These are for riches, for pleasures, for comforts, for importance and all things the world promotes and entices us with. We being Saints, still live in this world with everyone else and we can find ourselves wishing for things that we should not, asking for things we should not ask for, and wanting things we should not want.

…but, in comes the thoughts that may say, “what harm is this thing we want, for it is minor and of no consequence” or the old adage, “just this once”.

Be careful what you wish for, because if that thing you desire and wish to have is sinful, disobedient, of the flesh, or against gospel principles, or simply not good for you, then that thing you wish for will open the door and draw to you the equivalent spiritual state in which that thing exists. Does this mean it draws to us that “spirit” of like nature or disposition? – Yes it can.

The Word of Wisdom, for example, tells us to refrain from any consumption of alcohol. The purpose is for better health and to ward off any dependency on this substance. If we “desire” or “wish” to have wine or glass of beer, wanting of something that we are asked not to have, what spirit does this draw to us as a result? Not a good one.

It is the desire, not necessarily the substance, that brings to us that spirit and spiritual state, but depending on that thing which we ask, that thing in itself can be a bad thing, such as smoking. When we couple the desire with that thing which is also bad, this then brings to us the spiritual state and even the spirits that only serve to degrade our spiritual life. What we then draw to ourselves, our life and experiences, is the lower end of spirituality. A place that can deteriorate our faith, bit by bit. This, without even getting what we wished for.

It can be hard, at times, to comprehend the spiritual nature of things when we are caught in that wish and desire for that worldly thing. This is where having knowledge of what is good and not good can help. To remember what can come of such desires and wishes will help to say “No” and walk away from it before it takes hold.

Sometimes, some wishes are promoted by some shortcoming or need within you. An old pattern or habit that seems to nag. The problem occurs when this “wishing” becomes a mainstay in your life, constantly wanting that thing that you should not have. This is not temptation that is at work, it is a deeper inward problem that needs addressing, for this constant wishing carries on no matter if you are aware of it or not and has an affect on your choices in life.

For example, an addiction to cigarettes. A person can ignore the desire by keeping busy, but when he/she rests, then comes that desire, the wish to have that “one cigarette”. The thoughts, feelings, urges, desire and “wishing” pulsates through, seemingly to have a life of it’s own. This can be hard to deal with.

So what can be done?

For the occasional temptation or wish of things not good, do what has worked for you before to remain faithful. If you are not sure what has worked, then, if you can, remove yourself from anything that has triggered that wish and set yourself into a place (in mind and/or in body) where you can ponder on God. This then redirects your feelings, heart, mind and even that desire to God to help you.

If you have some difficulty with that wish or desire, as if it is nagging and keeps coming to mind, then pray to get help to overcome that constant desire or wish. Seek help from the Bishop who can help or refer you to someone else who has the needed experience and knowledge. Always remain focused to the Spirit for that constant help. That is the purpose to the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Journal the experience and feelings you have and as you enter this into your journal, ask God to help you overcome. This one, you will need to work it through.

One of the important skills in this is the ability to know whether this wish or desire is good or not. A desire to be closer to God is good, for example. A desire to have the cigarette or drink is not good as the opposite example. When you can recognize the good wish from the bad, it will be easier to deal with it. The difficulty exists where there is confusion on whether this wish is good or not, as that confusion can cause you to allow the problem to remain unresolved.

“Unresolved”?

Yes, a desire or wish that has nagged and repeated itself, bringing you upset, unsettledness, sorrow, emptiness or any negative state of mind and heart will likely relate to something that has gone “unresolved” in your life. The desire or wish can be something you chose to seek as a means to resolve or satisfy, but since the wish remains unfulfilled, it nags on. In this case, the need to identify what this wish or desire represents will be an important step to resolving it. The Lord can help you with this. Depending on that the real issue is, you may be able to take the appropriate steps to resolve it yourself. All you need then was to recognize the symptoms for what they were.

In life, we are given the experience of opposites, so that we can learn the difference between good from evil. As there are good wishes and desires, there are also bad one’s. The unfortunate part is that Satan has influenced the world to confuse the line between good and bad, which caused us grief. Alas there is always hope and God can help redefine those blurred lines so that we can learn to know what is truly good from bad, a good wish from a bad one so that we can draw to us the good spiritual things. In that we are then blessed.

Amen