This Life—Part I

Speaking of pronouns, let’s talk about the demonstrative pronoun, “this.” Like many words, it can play the role of different parts of speech, depending on the context in which it is placed. Like all other pronouns, “this” plays the role of a pronoun when it takes the place of a noun, as in the sentence, “This is my favorite movie.”

But “this” can also function as an adjective, as it does in the following verse:

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God;… (Alma 34:32) 

What is it about “this” life that makes it “this life?”

Growing up, I was taught that it was the singularity of this life that made it “this life”—that you could say, “…this [singular] life is the time for men to prepare to meet God…” and that that would align with Amulek’s intention in making the statement. As my understanding of God’s character grew, however, that interpretation became untenable, especially in light of other things said by Amulek. Continuing, he says:

…yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. (Alma 34:32)

What is “the day of this life?” Does it have an opposite? It does. It is “the night.”

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. (Alma 34) 

Now if you’re paying attention, these verses should generate a lot of questions. Here are some you might ask: “Why does Amulek use the imagery of “day” and “night?” If he has already introduced the idea of “this life,” why doesn’t he continue, using “death” (overtly, anyway) as its opposite? Wouldn’t that be simpler? Is there something that would be lost on us if he did? What do we know about “day” and “night” that would expand our understanding about “this life?”

I’ll hit “pause” here to give the reader some time to ponder these questions before moving on to part II.

 

Never Assume Pronouns

You know, pronouns are so under-appreciated. They are these little words that hold so much hidden meaning. They stand in the place of the names of other, more specific people, places, things, and ideas whose overuse would make language much more monotonous if we employed them all of the time. For example, if I were to read you a story about a boy named John and I used his name every time I mentioned him in the story, you would probably beg me to stop after just a few pages.

Pronouns blur the repetition of specific information so that a reader or listener can move past being introduced to the same thing over and over again and can focus on other pieces of information that add depth and dimension to the story. Having been introduced to one thing, the reader can assume that certain pronouns refer to that one thing and can tuck that understanding away while he/she is introduced to something else.

There’s just one problem: a reader can make an incorrect assumption about what a pronoun represents, and because, in God’s language, specific nouns can symbolize many other things, the meaning of a pronoun can be even further removed from the understanding of the reader. Very quickly, one can completely misinterpret what God is trying to convey in both breadth and depth, at worst, or at best, he/she can understand something very superficially when, in reality, much deeper meanings exist.

Knowing this, one can very easily and effectively develop a fruitful strategy for scripture study: Never assume you know what a pronoun represents. You’re initial assumption of what it represents may be pretty accurate, or it might not, but pronouns, at the very least, provide an opportunity for you to check in with God and ask him if your understanding is less than what it could be.

And remember, there are quite a few pronouns. There are subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they), object pronouns (me, you, him, her, it, us, them), possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs), reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves), demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those), and more.

We really do ourselves a disservice when we gloss over these seemingly insignificant words.

Strait, Straight Up

What seems like an eternity ago, I wrote a series of blogposts on the topic of “the strait and narrow path.” If you haven’t read those, I suggest you do. I won’t re-visit them here. This blog will just share some follow-up thoughts.

First, the Lord wasn’t kidding or mistaken when he used the word “strait,” and not “straight.” It’s like driving around the Ozarks. Sometimes, a road is cut straight through one of the hills. Other times, the best road is built up over the hills, down in the valleys, or around a body of water. There are so many constraints, in both us and the world around us, and God knows how to navigate them perfectly. Not only does he facilitate safe passage through this world we live in, he also knows where the best overlooks and vantage points are—where everything around you is exactly what you need in that moment to teach you more about him, if you will let it.

Which brings me to my second point. I want to just briefly state how stupid the whole concept of “saved by grace” is. Is grace a thing in the gospel? Absolutely! Not going to say it’s not. Without grace, what a wretched state we would all be in! But this notion that works are not as necessary as grace is just inane! God doesn’t drag you along the path while you shout praises to him! He calls you to walk the path, and he makes you capable of doing just that because he has done it and has shown us the way. Those who have truly partaken of God’s grace perform works that are commanded by him. They don’t have reason to boast because they know that, without his guidance, direction, and example, they would still be floundering in this world instead of improving and becoming like him, which is the whole point of this life. God is good not only because of who he is, but also because of what he does (which is, actually, an extension of who he is, but I think it’s nice to tease those apart to make it more easily recognizable). He improves things, and his greatest miracle is to take us, who start as individuals unlike him, and to change our perspectives about reality such that they become like his and we become like him in all things. If you have ever tried to permanently improve the perspectives of another human being in a fundamental way, you know how difficult and painful that endeavor is, you know how great a miracle it is when you are successful, and you know how good God is for all that he does and for how long he does it. People are saved through a combination of grace and works, both of which we could neither experience nor comprehend were He not the source of both.

And that’s probably a good segue into the last part of this post. In the past, I have been accused of boasting of myself, and anyone who truly knows me knows that this is something I could never do with the understanding I have about God and my relationship to him. In fact, God showed me in a dream once how, without him, I was just a worm (an interesting topic for study, btw). Of all the things he has taught me, that was one of the easiest things for me to believe, and so I will end with a few of Ammon’s words from the book of Alma:

Yea, I know that I am nothing⁠; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things⁠; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. (Alma 26:12)