I love math. It was my favorite subject in school. The only math problems that I can actually remember disliking were geometry proofs and long division. Perhaps I’ll make a post about geometry proofs someday, but not today. Today, the topic is long division.
You see, learning long division inflicts a degree of trauma on children, I think. Before you get to long division, math is pretty straight-forward and, more importantly, it is finite. I mean, you get a glimpse of the infinite with larger multiplication problems and place value, but you never really, actually deal with billions, trillions, and quadrillions at that point in your mathematical adventure, so those numbers remain safely tucked away in the recesses of your mind that are labeled “It’s ok if you can’t wrap your head around this. You are probably never going to use this, anyway.”
Even basic division seems benign because it’s just multiplication in reverse, right? Three times four is twelve; twelve divided by four is three. No problem.
And then comes long division.
It’s all innocent at first. The teacher gives the student an easy problem that seems pretty harmless—one hundred fifty divided by ten. It’s easy. It even has shortcuts. Just take off a zero or two. Then the difficulty increases. Two hundred thirteen divided by three. Slightly more difficult, but the student is still dealing with whole numbers, so he doesn’t suspect a thing. Now it’s time for remainders. Is there something left over once the dividend can no longer be divided equally? Don’t worry. You just write a little “R” after the quotient and write what’s left after that. Or don’t write the “R”. Just write a fraction. Either way, you’re done.
And then...
The teacher must disclose the awful, but necessary, truth. He must tell the student that, in order to get a more accurate answer, the student is, in fact, not done. He might not even be close to being done. You see, beyond the boundaries of the decimal point (and even the two places past the decimal point that you are introduced to when you learn about money) lies a potentially infinite set of numbers that you must discover through a long and arduous process before you can turn in your assignment or even go to the next problem.
I remember the moment in my education when I was introduced to one of these problems very well. I experienced the closest thing to a panic attack that I had ever felt to that point in my young life. I remember thinking, “What?!? I’m not done?!? You mean this could go on forever?!? *sigh* I don’t think I’m going to get to have a recess today!” It was traumatic, to say the least.
Fortunately, I grew to appreciate long division. I got to the point where the steps were easy and automatic. Long division enabled me to happily move on to, what I considered to be, more enjoyable, and even more difficult, applications of mathematics. Long division taught me that there are things that extend beyond the boundaries of our finite perception and that those things are not to be feared. With a good teacher and an undeviating trust in what he is trying to teach you, long division loses its anxiety-causing potential and I have found that this correlates very well with the doctrine of Christ.
My favorite passages of scripture regarding the doctrine of Christ are found in 2 Nephi 31-32 and in 3 Nephi 11. It is laid out very plainly in these chapters so that no one with an honest heart can misunderstand it.
31 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.
32 And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.
33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.
34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned. (3 Nephi 11)
When we first hear about the need for repentance and baptism, we go through a process of analyzing what we have heard and determining whether or not we should act on what we have heard. Essentially, this is what it means to act in faith-to hear God’s word and then act on it-and, as a result, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost bear record of specific truths that form a foundation for the challenges that lie ahead. Problem—>answer. This is like basic division facts. It is simple and straightforward and it seems to be pretty easy for our finite minds to wrap around.
10 And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?
11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.
12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. (2 Nephi 31)
We cannot follow Jesus without being willing to keep ALL the commandments of the Father and the Father commands us to repent and be baptized in the name of His Beloved Son, for which, if we do, the Father gives us the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is given to us to prepare us to “do the things” that Christ has done. “Things”, plural. We’re not done. We are just getting started. This is an invitation to move beyond basic division and into long division. Remember, our goal is to move beyond the finite and into the infinite and we do this by repeating the process by which we first obtained the Holy Ghost—by hearing the word of God and then acting on it. Over and over again.
It is interesting to note that those who embark on this journey into the infinite are given a warning:
14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.
15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved. (2 Nephi 31)
When we start out on our search for what is true, we don’t realize how long it is going to take or what the search entails, but we do need to realize that our growth in understanding will require diligence. Nothing less than “enduring to the end” will result in salvation. To begin, the Lord gives us things that we can handle. He invites us to endure to the end, but He doesn’t disclose all of the details of what that means. He only introduces us to a small part of the problem. Our degree of trust and obedience to him enables us to handle more and he then introduces new information to us. He generally waits for when we are ready and/or when we ask for it. You can stay where you are and use things like rounding and remainders and fractions to bring your search for the answer to a very comfortable close, but you will never be led to the more precise answer that will allow you to better contend with life. Christ has the most precise answers because of who he is. In order to obtain the most precise answers, you must become exactly like he is. You need to ask the Lord to be like a teacher who puts an infinite number of digits on the end of your dividend.
17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.
18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.
19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31)
See that? You are on a path. A long one. And you press forward along that path with a steadfastness in Christ, relying upon his merits, and having unshaken faith in him. Christ expresses the same sentiment in a different way:
37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.
38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. (3 Nephi 11)
We humble ourselves before Christ and obey his word (by being baptized), and then we receive “these things”—a witness of the Father and of the Son, and a baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost. After this, we must continue in our child-like humility and obedience in order to inherit the kingdom of God.
Our search for truth doesn’t end with a witness that our sins have been forgiven. It doesn’t end with a witness that we have encountered one truth. It doesn’t end with you joining a church or obeying a command. It continues the same way it began—with you obtaining God’s word and acting on it. To drive home the point, Nephi revisits this in chapter 32 of 2 Nephi:
1 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?
2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.
5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.
These verses are packed with information! What should you be doing after you have entered in by the way? How do you know you are on the path? You should be speaking with the tongues of angels. Angels should be speaking to you. You should be receiving the words of Christ from them. You should be feasting on the words of Christ. The Holy Ghost enables you to receive more precise answers from better and better sources until you are taught by Him directly.
6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do. (2 Nephi 32)
There is more to learn after long division, but a good teacher will know when you have mastered that skill well enough to move on to other things.
There are some people who have absolutely no desire to even begin a search for God. They are like people who hate long division. They would rather be doing what they would like to be doing without being inconvenienced by what God might ask them to do. They are those who are happy to be filling their lives with what they think is pleasurable, without a thought as to what God expects of them or what they are capable of.
There are many more people who have a desire to follow God, but only to a certain point. They aren’t actually willing to sacrifice everything and to do everything that God requires of them. These people are like those who don’t mind a long division problem, as long as they can use remainders, rounding, and fractions to bring the process of finding the solution to an end. They generally say that they love the Lord and that they want to be like Him, but most of the time just end up in some church that preaches their own idea of what that actually means so that they have to change very little of themselves, thinking that their membership in said church or their doing the things that the church instructs them to do will save them. But it’s not as simple as that, and coming to the realization that it is not that simple may cause some anxiety. Two plus two is not only easy; it is comfortable—just like the truths that you currently abide by—and it’s easy to convince ourselves that where we are is exactly where God wants us to be. But truths that don’t push us out of our comfort zone also don’t give us the ability to handle more complexity. You will need to know more than two plus two when faced with the challenge of solving a quadratic equation. The Lord knows this, so he pushes us out of our comfort zones over and over again by introducing us to things like long division that may seem challenging at first, but that will help us in the long run.
Some people have a desire to discover and act upon whatever truth God introduces to them. They aren’t looking to end their quest because they realize that God knows better than they do where that end is. These people are like those students who, realizing that long division is called “long” for a reason, determine within themselves to follow the teacher’s instruction until the teacher says that they are ready to move on to something else.