Grace Versus Dualism

Because I have spent so many years in the field of industrial maintenance and building engineering, I find that I usually view things in a somewhat different and more pragmatic way than do others. As a result, I sometimes gain insights with a different slant from the norm. Such an insight came recently as I was attending services in celebration of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Holy Day of Atonement.

The Sanctuary, in which we were seated, was very comfortable. The air conditioning was doing an excellent job. The discussion was on the love of God and that perhaps “His punishments” were really our own personal inflicted misgivings as we chastise ourselves because of our own disobedience.

Recently I had been reading a book about the dualistic nature of religions. By dualistic I mean the elements of reward and punishment, heaven and hell, right and wrong, good and evil. The question arose in my mind that perhaps not all opposites are equal or even real. In dualistic thinking, there is a harshness, which seems to be excessive if we truly accept that God is loving and that He is a father. The idea that a loving father would deliberately condemn a son or a daughter to a lake of fire and brimstone, to burn forever without ever being consumed, is irrational. A father loves his children and wishes for them the very best. A father is long-suffering and patient, over indulgent and compassionate. At least that is the “ideal”, which we believe a father should be.

If a father is vengeful, hates the child as well as the misdeed, meters out extreme punishments and is incapable of forgiveness, we say of that father, he is mentally ill and desperately in need of therapy.

God on the other hand is not only a father but He is also all-powerful, all knowing, all loving and perfect. I do not believe that He is in need of therapy. So where does this dualism in our religious thinking come from? To answer this question I need to share a short and hopefully simple explanation of a principle of physics.

On a hot summer day, we all enjoy going to a shopping mall or a movie theater because it is cold there. If someone happens to be standing beneath an air conditioning vent they might exclaim, “Just feel that cold air pouring in”. But cold does not exist. Cold is not a quantity that can be packaged and poured out when needed. Cold is merely a term, a name which we have invented for a condition of the absence of heat. Heat on the other hand is a quantifiable substance. In physics, we measure heat in British Thermal Units or BTU’s. When we feel BTU’s pouring into us, we say we are getting hot. When we feel BTU’s pouring out of us, we say we are getting cold. It is the presence or absence of BTU’s which we refer to when we speak of hot and cold.

So it was, that as I sat in that sanctuary, with the air conditioning doing an excellent job and hearing a discussion on the Love of God that I discovered a possibility. Perhaps the opposite of reward is not punishment but only a “lack of reward?” After all, we believe that the greatest reward God has for us is the Celestial Kingdom. Lesser rewards are the Terrestrial and Telestial. Why then could not Outer Darkness be a place of no reward instead of a place of punishment?

Light is a quantifiable substance. We can measure light. We have an idea of what the composition of light is. We can define light in terms of physical quantities. Darkness on the other hand is not a measurable quantity. Darkness is the absence of light. It is not something we can package and on demand produce to counter the presence of light.

Love is also quantifiable. It can be felt! It radiates. It makes changes. In the book, “My shadow ran fast” by Bill Sands, the author, tells of an experience where he was able to witness the intensity and power of love. The author tells about Warden Duffy who was a remarkable man, one who truly loved the prisoners in his care. He believed that even the most hardened criminal could be changed through the effects of his love for them. Warden Duffy practiced what he believed and never allowed armed guards to protect him as he walked the prison yard with the prisoners. Because the prisoners could feel the love the Warden had for them, protection was never needed. Bill Sands tells of the many times he watched the other prisoners, men convicted of violent killings, and saw in their faces the effects of the love coming from the Warden as he passed them by.

I cannot imagine God withholding His love from any of His children but I think it is conceivable that He might withhold His approval. If, as one of His children, I do not feel worthy of His love because of the way I have chosen to live, and knowing that His love is actually a radiation of great power, it would be excruciatingly painful to me if I were to be in His presence. Outer Darkness would relieve me of the pain, which His love would cause me. But without the radiation of His love, I would not be able to grow and develop. Over some period of time, I might convince myself that I do not need His love but this would only be a defense mechanism. It is His love that nurtures us just as light nurtures a plant. With this thinking it appears that “Outer Darkness” is not a place of punishment and condemnation but merely a place of refuge for those who do not feel they are worthy of God’s love.

Many years ago, when I was a college student and a lot younger, I drove my car to New York City from Utah for the Christmas vacation. I had five passengers who were sharing the expenses and helping with the driving. On our return trip, we found ourselves driving through New Jersey. We needed to connect to a particular highway that would take us West instead of the Southerly direction we were going in. Several times my passengers asked me, “are you sure you are on the right road?”

Along with being young comes a tendency to believe that the world revolves around us and that we are always right. I was no exception. Of course we were on the right road. Why would I be on the wrong road – I wanted to get back to Utah just as much as did my passengers.

Eventually, after four hours of travel, the car needed fuel. I was forced to stop at a service station. At the insistence of my passengers, I inquired how I could hook up to the highway we needed to get us home. The service station attendant said, “You can’t get there from here!”

I asked him, “Why not?” He explained that we were on a peninsula and there was no bridge or ferry.

He said, “You’re going to have to turn around and go all the way back so you can pick up the right road!”

That was an expensive lesson. It cost us eight hours of our valuable time. Those eight hours were a terrible waste, all because I was too proud to concede that I might have been wrong. Not only did it cost me, it also cost the people who were with me.

With my new found questioning of the dualistic nature of religion I cannot help but think that there is a wonderful gem of truth in that story. Often, we go down a particular path in life, convinced that it will take us to a specific destination. God knows that it won’t get us there and gently nudges us, trying to get us to re-think the course we are on.

Eventually we will discover that there is no bridge or ferry and we cannot get there from where we are. We must turn around and go back. We must go all the way back to where we first deviated and there make our course correction.

God does not punish us for having taken a wrong turn. He does not punish us for having traveled so far off of the correct path. But it has cost us in lost time, lost experiences, gained hardships and hundreds of other pluses and minuses. The natural consequences of our deviations are ours to live with and sometimes to suffer from.

For many years I have been fascinated with NDE’s or Near Death Experiences. It was Doctor Raymond Moody who first collected and published peoples near death experiences in book form. His book “Life After Life” was a huge success and many such books followed.

In many of the accounts, people tell of a “life review” which they experience immediately following their “death” experience. In nearly all such reviews, the most common question asked of them is if they have learned to love other people. That question was phrased in many different ways but the central core was always about loving others. No one ever reported being asked about their business prowess or the academic accolades they received.

In the New Testament, the book of Matthew, chapter 22, we read the following:
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

According to the words of the Lord as recorded in the book of Matthew, all the commandments are dependant upon loving God and loving our fellow beings. If we would only live our lives according to those principles, just think of how our world would be.

Several nights ago, I attended a concert of a choir with which I was a member. We sang in the Logan Tabernacle. While being positioned on risers at the front of the tabernacle, I had the vantage point of allowing me to watch a small group of women seated in the balcony. Two women in particular caught my attention. The older of the two women appeared to me severely retarded. Her companion appeared to be several years younger and totally absorbed in the care of the other.

Because they appeared to be so close in age and because the younger woman was so overly solicitous of the other, I assumed they must be sisters.

Throughout the concert, the younger woman continually kept in physical contact with her companion. Sometimes it was placing her arms around her and giving her hugs or kissing her on her cheek. Occasionally she would caress the older woman’s face with a loving touch or whisper into her ear. Sometimes she would lay her head upon the older woman’s shoulder while encircling her with a loving embrace.

As I watched these two women, I could not help but remember the words of the Savior: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
(New Testament | John 15:13) This younger woman radiated love, tenderness, compassion, understanding and caring. Such love and devotion is all encompassing and all consuming. She was in fact, dedicating her life to the other. If only all people could show such love and dedication to one another.

After the concert, I went up to the balcony to speak with this woman. I told her I had been watching them and how deeply touched I had been by her actions. Her response was one of embarrassment. I was curious to know what relationship they shared and so I asked. To my great surprise she explained that she worked in a “sheltered” home for the mentally retarded and this woman was her charge and responsibility.

As I have rehearsed this experience in my mind, I can not help but think that the two women who had sat before me would pass their life review with flying colors. The one, by virtue of a damaged brain would be free from criticisms and sin. The other appeared to have met and exceeded all expectations.

In the past, I have contemplated the expanse of Gods kingdom. The scriptures tell us it is infinite. I have trouble contemplating infinite – especially when the theology of the church specifies there are many gods – each with their own kingdoms and dominions. In fact, if any of us ever achieves godhood, we will have our own individual areas of influence also. It is only natural then that while I contemplated the vastness of the realm of the gods, I wondered where outer darkness was. If God’s radiation of power is infinite and fills the immensity of space, where is there room for Outer Darkness?

Several thoughts have come to me. There is the possibility that the term infinite is actually a noun. I believe there is a real possibility that the kingdom of any god has as its expanse, the radiation of his power or presence. In a parsimonious existence, god’s dominion, his kingdom’s infinite expanse, would be the extent of his radiation of power to envelop his creations. The more creations, the greater the expanse. The problem then still remains, if there are many gods and each has varying dimensions to their own kingdoms, where is there room for outer darkness?

A number of years ago I read an article in the Readers Digest about experimentations being done with the human brain. They found that the brain actually secretes various chemicals based upon the psychological mood. For example, when one is angry the brain secrets a specific chemical which causes multitudinous reactions in the body. The emotion of love triggers the secretion of a different chemical and its associated reactions in the body.

From my own experience and from the words of the prophets, I have learned that how we live can either enhance or hinder our communication with the Lord. The usual advice given is, “If you want to be in tune with the Lord you must live your life as He has commanded”.

In the book, “Return From Tomorrow”, the author, Doctor Richey, tells of an experience he had of seeing disembodied spirits in various conditions or states. One such group was filled with hatred and rancor toward each other. Had they possessed physical bodies they would have been in mortal combat but in their ethereal or spirit form, they were unable to physically hurt each other though they continually attempted to do so. While they were in their combatant state, beings of light hovered above them, patiently waiting, in hopes that they would be noticed and allowed to assist them in overcoming their rage. But until those enraged spirits were able to make a change for the better within themselves, they were unable to see the beings of light.

Somehow I do not see God sitting at a giant computer controlling the amount of communication each of us gets based upon our performance. What makes more sense to me is that His radiation of power, His thought consciousness, permeates his creations and I, as one of his creations, can determine how much of His power I am able to tap into. I think that our brains actually manufacture chemical filters which can either enhance or inhibit our use of Gods radiant power. If this concept is correct then outer darkness may be a place within ones own soul where we have blotted out any reception of that Holy Spirit.

Although plants require light to live, if a plant is placed in the dark, it will grow exceptionally fast for a season. Its rapid growth is a mechanism built into plants for the purpose of seeking its life-source, light. If one places a seed in soil, the moisture and warmth of the soil will cause the seed to germinate. As the tiny seed sends forth its roots and shoots, its energy to sustain growth is limited. The newly germinated plant must find light if it is to be able to sustain life. If the seed is planted too deep within the soil, it will die because it has expended all of its life-force without finding light.

If we are capable of generating chemical filters to inhibit our reception of the radiance from God, is it possible that those who have chosen to block out all of God’s light will someday cease to exist because they have expended their own life-force? Perhaps this is what Brigham Young had in mind when he taught that the second death was the disillusionment of the body and spirit into its eternal form of Intelligence so that the specific identity or intelligence could try again rather than be lost forever.

My sister used to call me on the phone and query me as to what was wrong with the idea of reincarnation. To her it seemed very logical and she thought there was great merit to it. Some of what she said seemed to make a lot of sense. After all, one of the purposes of our coming to the earth is to gain experience. And I would say that one lifetime is not long enough for us to gain all experience. However, the only real objection I could find in reincarnation was that it removed the need for the Redeemer. In reincarnation, we keep coming back and living our lives over and over, until we get it right, until we have perfected ourselves.

When I have gone through a particularly trying time and seen my testing, and my frustrations, and my learning coming to fruition, I have gone to the Lord in prayer and thanked Him for the growth experience. Then I have offered to do it all over again if I could learn as much the second time around. Much to my chagrin He has taken me up on my offer though the specific elements of the test are different this time and I have difficulty identifying the principles He is trying to teach me until the test is completed.

There are many truths which we may find in folklore, superstition, dogma and traditions. Many are cloaked and disguised within their present telling. For example: Ponce Deleon came to the New World seeking the Fountain of Youth. He believed that by partaking of its waters, one would live forever. Why did he come to the New World seeking it? Could it be that he was actually seeking the Tree of Life and the reason he came to the New World was because the Garden of Eden had actually been located here instead of in Mesopotamia?

In the theology of the LDS Church, we speak of three kingdoms of reward and another place or kingdom referred to as Outer Darkness. In the Roman Catholic Church, they speak of four kingdoms: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory and Limbo. Each believes in four kingdoms.

The onus of the graduate’s modern-day “Cap and Gown” are the ancient Temple Robes as is also the fashion design of some men’s hats. Hidden truths are all around us, hidden in subtleties disguised in folklore and superstition.

At one time, in my early twenties, I worked for a pipe organ builder named Wayne C. Wayne had been born into a polygamous family when polygamy was still legal. He shared many fascinating stories with me. His doctrines were sound and his testimony sure. Wayne had an inquisitive mind and he was slow to condemn an idea which might traverse uncharted beliefs.

One day as we discussed the myriad possibilities for the creation of mankind, Wayne shared a most provocative story. Wayne had an older brother who had died shortly after birth. Wayne’s mother grieved for the loss of her son for many years. Although she had more children following her son’s death, her living children were unable to console her loss.

One of Wayne’s cousins was a visionary. He had the gift of the sensitivity of the spirit. Visions into the spirit world were common for him. And so it was that on one particular night, this cousin found himself in the spirit world where he met and talked with Wayne’s older brother.

The cousin explained to the dead brother that his mother had grieved for him for many years and was yet grieving. The brother explained that he was very busy in preparing for his calling and that his mother must stop her grieving. Questioning him further as to the nature of what he was preparing for, Wayne’s brother stated that he “Was preparing to become an Adam”.

As Wayne told me that story that was the first time I had ever contemplated the possibility that someone might be able to come to an Earth more than once. After all Wayne’s brother had been born and had lived a short time. Now, according to the cousin, he was preparing to go through the experience of mortality a second time and possibly, even a second physical birth.

I have searched the scriptures to see if there was a definitive statement limiting mankind’s journey through mortality to only one time. I can find nothing where the holy writ precludes more than one mortal experience. Hebrews 9:27 is often quoted in defense of man making the mortality experience just once but the whole chapter is making the argument that Christ died once for our sins as the fulfillment of the old law of “blood sacrifice” of animals. In the Old Testament, repeated sacrificing of animals was required but Christ was the final sacrifice of all men, for all sin.

Edgar Cayce was a nineteenth century psychic who gained great fame through his “readings” of people. Many of the physiological treatments his readings prescribed for peoples ailments were later vindicated through scientific discovery.

Many who went to Cayce were preoccupied with the idea that they might have lived a previous mortal existence and wanted verification of such. The Cayce files are filled with transcriptions of readings Cayce gave for such people. In reading those files, one gets the impression that many people do not attain sufficient growth and development while upon the Earth as mortals so they are given another chance to come again to try to gain greater self-mastery and personal growth. The movie, Defending Your Life, used that very premise.
One Edgar Cayce story was particularly interesting to me. Edgar Cayce had been traveling by train. For some reason, the train was going to have a “lay-over” for several hours. Cayce found himself in a town in a state where he had never been before. Having several hours to kill, he decided to search for a local barbershop and have his hair cut.

The barbershop was crowded and Cayce found it necessary to sit and wait his turn. While thusly seated, a young child climbed onto his lap and began speaking to him. The child’s father immediately removed the child and apologized to Cayce for the intrusion. Then turning his attention to his child, the father said, “We mustn’t bother the man”.

The child’s response to the father shocked Edgar Cayce. The child said, “It’s all right father, that man and I were hungry at the river together”. You see, several years previous, Edgar Cayce did a reading of his own life and/or previous lives. He discovered that in a previous life he had been in an American pioneer party that had been attacked by Indians. They had been forced to the edge of a swift river. The Indians laid siege for an extended period and the pioneers all starved to death. Cayce had never revealed that information to anyone. Only he and his scribe knew of the incident yet here he was in a town he had never been in before and a young child there made a specific reference to information contained in that reading.

Could it be that the “doctrine” of reincarnation has a tiny seed of truth hidden within it? Is it possible that some spirits are so intent on gaining personal growth and development that they sought special permission to go through an earth experience more than once? I don’t know the answer but the question is stunning and thought provoking. Inasmuch as we have come to the Earth for the purpose of gaining experience and developing self mastery, could we not multiply our efforts through repeated journeys rather than only this one blink in time?