And he said to him: “Truly I tell you today, you will be with me in Paradise.”- Luke 23:43, NWT
Did the New World Translation there because I was hoping it had some interesting translation here but alas, it does not. Oh well, that's not really the point.
There are times in my life were I didn't believe in salvation. There are times when I had vague notions that salvation could be a thing. There are times when I believed in salvation but for other people. I could call them to repentance, guide the way for them but not apply that to myself. And there are times when I embraced the idea of salvation. This post isn't about much, but maybe it's about how I got to those last times.
Today (and yesterday) were general conference and so the idea of salvation came up a lot. Salvation both in the sense of what is to come (resurrection and exaltation) but also how we can be saved now. How through the atonement we can reach peace now, salvation from the storms of the world. Yes, at the end of our lives we can hope to be in Paradise with Him, but more powerfully we can be in Paradise today, end of life hopefully far in the distance.
One debate in Mormonism is what it means to be in various kingdoms (or Spirit Prison vs Paradise for that matter). Are these physical places, merely mental states or something in between? I'm not going to answer that question but instead think about a related question. We're told that at Judgement Day, Jesus is our judge, advocate and jury. What does that really mean? My personal heresy (which may or may not be a heresy) is that the key relationship here is "advocate". With the veil removed, we ultimately sort ourselves to where we feel we should be, without out much judgement per se. It's not so much that our choices now determine where we go (though that is without a doubt part of it) but our past choices influence who we are in the future and where we are comfortable being. Salvation is in part helping us feel comfortable with choosing a better eternity.
As I've said on this blog before, I've spent the last decade quite miserable. Some of that was outside of my control (or at least I wasn't willing to take the actions where I could moderate it). A lot of that was by choice. I chose to be miserable, to wallow in self-pity and let my depression take control of my self-esteem, my feelings of worthiness. I chose to not seek help, emotionally or spiritually. I chose to push away people who saw something wrong. I chose to not date or even really build and maintain (some) friendships. It was the end of last year when I decided that I was fed up with choosing to be miserable and that it was time make the choices I needed to make to be happier (maybe not happy, there's still stuff outside of my control). Which I was still dragging my feet on until some sacrament meeting talks kicked me into high gear.
And that's where salvation comes in. I'm not in Paradise, far from it. But by removing some of my obstacles and setting my mind more at rest about eternity, facing the other problems of the present became a little easier. Admitting that yes I have a problem that I can't just face alone, smiling (or grimacing) my way through it. Just as I couldn't save myself, eternally speaking. Salvation is about the choices we make and don't make. The choice to reach out for help, just as the thief did. The choice to embrace His purpose in coming to earth.
For behold, this is my work and my glory-- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. - Moses 1:39
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