16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3)
39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1)
**I feel it important to mention here that, even if you don’t believe in God, it is undeniable that we can observe forces at work in the world that fall into these two categories. You can look around yourself and you can see “life” at work and you can also look around and see “death” at work. Their existence should be compelling enough to motivate a person to find out about what (or who) sets those forces into motion.**
23 Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.
24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved. (2 Nephi 10)
Once we recognize and understand the relationship between the decisions we make and their inevitable outcomes, we are held accountable to God for the outcomes we affect through our subsequent decisions.
5 Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; he that knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience. (Alma 29)
With every increase in our understanding of what fits into these categories, we become truly free to choose life or death, knowing full-well that our decisions will lead to the consequences that the Lord has shown us.
30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.
31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you. (Helaman 14)
And now, I’m going to interrupt this post for just a few minutes and talk about math. :)
When I was in high-school, I tutored other students in algebra. I found it to be quite typical that, as soon as a good number of students started studying algebra, their level of enthusiasm about math dropped considerably. They were easily frustrated by the application of mathematical basics to more complex problems. This made no sense to me. I loved math and I couldn’t fathom what made it difficult for others.
What I eventually discovered was that, for every student I tutored, their frustration with and inability to understand algebra stemmed from a misunderstanding about how basic equations worked. Functionally, many children translate “2 plus 2 equals 4” to “2 plus 2 makes 4”. Young children naturally take in information from an “outcome-based” point of view. They learn that when you flip a light switch, a light turns on; when you touch a hot stove, your hand is burned; when you move in certain ways, you can walk, run, jump, etc. This is obviously valuable information and it is, rightly so, one way to look at basic math problems. (The word “problem” even implies that there is something that needs to be solved). But this can cause serious problems in higher math. Higher math is driven by the understanding of equalities. I found that it was much easier for students to understand algebra once they realized that it would be better to say “2 plus 2 is the same as 4”. Once they understood that equations were not declarations of outcomes, but rather a way to express numbers that were equal to each other, the student could then easily solve for variables by acting upon an equation as long as you did the same thing to each side of the equal sign in order to maintain the integrity of the original equation. It also made it easier to understand why “2+2=4” means the same thing as “4=2+2”. Saying “4 makes 2+2” doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but saying “4 is the same as 2+2” makes total sense.
So, what does this have to do with life and death? So happy you asked. 😎
It turns out that many truths can be gleaned from the scriptures using both the “outcome-based” and the “same as” thought processes.
39 O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal. (2 Nephi 9)
Did you spot the equation there? From an outcome-based perspective, to be carnally-minded makes, or yields, death. To be spiritually-minded makes, or yields, life (eternal life, at that). I think that Christians relate to this way of thinking the most because they view religion as an outcome-based endeavor. Believe in God and live his gospel here—>live in heaven after you die. Don’t believe in God and don’t live his gospel here—>live in hell after you die. Process—>outcome. And there is definitely truth to that, don’t get me wrong.
But let’s take another look at that verse from a “same as” perspective. Being carnally-minded equals, or is the same as, death. Being spiritually-minded equals, or is the same as, life eternal. Did you notice what happens when we take that perspective? Now we can talk about this in present tense. It puts the facts right before us in both space and time, which urges us to consider information in the here and now. From an outcome-based perspective, it would be tempting to put off trying to affect life or death because we don’t see those things as immediately before us. However, from an “equals” perspective, we easily see the immediate opportunity and necessity of affecting life and death because they are the same as the present conditions of being spiritually- or carnally-minded. Because they are the same, we can also reverse the equation and say that life eternal is the same as being spiritually-minded and that death is the same as being carnally-minded. “Life” and “death” are right before us—right now.
Now perhaps you are wondering what all of this has to do with Halloween (or anything else for that matter). Well, ask yourself how we, as individuals and societies, regard death. Or, to be more specific, is death something that we celebrate? If we celebrate death, and if death is the same as being carnally-minded, aren’t we actually celebrating our current state of being carnally-minded? I would suggest that this is the case. I would suggest that we celebrate death and being carnally-minded more than we realize. Our celebration of death is a sure sign that we have adopted carnally-minded ideas and beliefs, whether we recognize them or not. And so, it would be worthwhile to (1) cease celebrating death and (2) analyze our ideas and beliefs in order to determine which ones cause us to think it appropriate to celebrate death in the first place and then change those, too. (Hmm, kind of sounds like repentance, doesn’t it? 😏)
Halloween is an obvious example of a celebration of death, but, upon very close inspection, one will find that almost every major “holiday” either teaches, promotes, symbolizes, or depicts death—both temporal and physical. In contrast, the days set apart by the Lord in scripture as Holy Days do not celebrate death. While they address death as a necessary opposite, they teach, promote, symbolize, and depict life. They are NOT ends in and of themselves. Rather, they point our minds to the way of life eternal.
There are also less obvious ways in which people celebrate death. These ways appear to be so “normal” that it can be difficult to see just how harmful and abundant they are. They are increasingly being accepted by people in our society. It will be their undoing unless they repent. Only through repentance can the Lord teach people what truly leads to life and what truly leads to death in any given situation.
27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;
29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. (2 Nephi 2)
I have been completely flabbergasted by the fact that people will lament death when it happens—by disease, by war, by murder, by natural disasters, by suicide, or whatever—but they can’t wait to return to celebrating death and living principles that lead to death as soon as their lamentations wane. Please realize that, not only does this lead to death, it is death! They are the same! We live in a culture of death because we have strayed from God and the principles that he tries to teach us that give us life. The culture of death that surrounds us now is a sure sign that our ideas and beliefs do not align with God’s. Life, in the fullest sense of the word, can only be obtained through “...our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” (2 Timothy 1)