The Goal is to be like Him

*Mark Mabry, photo

It's near midnight this Sunday.
And though my head should be firmly upon my pillow,
my mind is still reflecting upon the past week's events.
Three events, no, Four events in succession
are tumbling 'round and 'round
as I try to settle them down.

The first, was the passing of Mitchell Jones--
the little boy whose story I came upon
and my mother heart resolutely says I must never forget.
He and his family are the personifications
of
grace and courage.
I want to remember them
"all the days", as my Nana says.
His parents' testimony of heavenly things
has strengthened my own
and like the many others who've been touched
by their family's journey,
I have re-examined my own faith and beliefs
about the eternal nature of God's children.
We are Spiritual Beings having a Mortal Experience.
 I know this for my self because the Holy Spirit has taught this truth to me.

On Tuesday afternoon,
my youngest two children came home from school
quite upset from yet another assault on their faith
from another student who rides their bus.
It's been going on since last fall
when this young boy learned that my children
and two other students who also ride the bus,
are Mormon.
This young man identified that he and his family
go to another church, specifically the Lutherans.
Now, my husband was raised a Lutheran in his small hometown
Choteau, Montana,
where, if you walked into Trinity Lutheran Church
on First Avenue,
you would see a beautiful glass mosaic artwork
his mother made as a gift to the church
she was raised in,
and raised her family in...
traditions that blessed their lives.
Not a tradition of Trinity Lutheran Church
was the practice of demeaning the other members of their community
who chose to express their faith in other religions--
including the community of Mormons in their midst.

But, those days are long gone.
Those days of mutual respect, civility,
plain ol' reverence for sacred things.

So this young man who calls himself a "Lutheran"
has, for months,
decided to use his liberty at will
and tell my children that because of their faith,
they're going to Hell.
We've been practicing the
"turn the other cheek" thing for months.
We also tried the
"say nothing and walk away"
"try to teach him the truth about what we believe" things--
but those efforts have been unilaterally shoved off;
he declares forcefully back to my children
that their leaders lie to them,
that they don't really know what it is to be a Mormon,
that they are deceived
and in the end,
they're going to Hell and live with the Devil
forever and ever amen,
according to what his pastor and parents have taught him.

This past Tuesday,
my youngest, Arianna,
hit her breaking point.
She'd had enough of this boy's ignorant, hurtful words.
And after yet another assault at the bus stop
at the school,
well, let's just say,
the bus monitor caught it on film.
She got on the bus,
went to the very last seat of the bus,
and her older brother, who was on after her,
went and sat two seats ahead of her.
Then,
the tormentor plopped down in the seat between them
and continued his harsh condemnation--
"You Mormons believe you're going to be gods and create your own planets!", he scoffed.
His words directed not only at my kids,
but to the other two LDS girls on the bus.
It was so rude and cutting,
that two other students who are not LDS
told the boy to "shut-up",
but he didn't.

Ari, who has never ever reacted,
stood up and slapped this boy on the arm.
The boy stood up to retaliate,
and immediately, Joseph, who was sitting in front of him.
stood and pushed the boy back into his seat,
guarding his younger sister.

The boy reported the "slap" to the bus driver,
and both Joseph and Ari gave their own accounts
before getting off the bus in front of our house.
By the time Ari got in the front door,
tears were flowing.
She was not only upset at the boy,
but I think it shocked her self
that she could be pushed to hit someone like that.
Joseph was just as upset, though not crying, asked
"Why do they hate us?"
"He said we believe we're going to be gods and have our own planets."

Kent and I looked at each other,
tried to comfort our children after they'd both felt bullied.
What should we do next?
Well, I went up and called the Supervisor for the Transportation department
of our school district and left a detailed message.
We'd had enough.
Our kids had had enough.

The next morning,
I got a call from the Supervisor and related the events.
He shared what the bus video revealed--
and without the sound,
it looked like my kids had started it.
But, fortunately, the bus driver figured something must've been going on
at the bus stop before the kids got on
and after hearing our side,
with the witnesses' names given,
it was clear that this young boy was bullying
not just our kids, but the other LDS kids too.

I told the Supervisor that someone needed to teach this young boy
that even if he doesn't understand a faith different from his,
he doesn't have the right
to harass those that follow that faith.
He agreed and they have fixed this boy's behavior
with a small discipline.
Which, is sad, because he is only expressing that
which he has been taught
by his religious leader and his parents.
Shame on them, I say.

Now, what I want to share is this:
Yes, Latter-Day Saints believe that in following Christ,
in keeping His commandments,
we can become like Him.
In Matthew:

48 ^aBe ye therefore ^bperfect, even as your ^cFather which is in heaven is ^dperfect.

Notice, this was given as part of the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus is teaching this to his disciples and followers.

The next time Jesus says this,
it is after he is a resurrected being,
and then, he says to become perfect, even as his father and he
are perfect.
Perfection comes after the resurrection.
That's after this life.

That means that while our mortal experience ends here
in a physical death,
our soul lives on.
And it is not so that we can sit on clouds,
playing harps and singing praises for all eternity
to our Creator.
We are evolving beings,
progression is natural.
Our Heavenly Father did not create millions of beings
simply so that we can come to this earth,
die and return to His presence so that we can
sit at his feet all day long and sing hymns.
What a waste that would be!

In Paul's letter to the Romans 
he wrote Romans 8:

 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

We are children of God.
And if we so choose to follow Christ,
we are entitled to receive all that He has.
So yes,
we believe that our goal is to become like 
our Savior and our Heavenly Father.
Look, when Jesus spoke to his disciples about becoming like him,
he wasn't talking about dressing like him,
wearing robes and sandals.
He wasnt' just talking about consecrating their lives to preach the "Good News"--
He was declaring His Divinity and wanted them to 
BECOME like Him.

The fact is, 
all of us are divinely created to become like our Father
and inherit all that He has been blessed with because He is our Father.
When you come to know that,
it is not a blasphemous notion,
not a sacrilegious hope,
it is not taking away from the glory and grandeur of God.
It is acknowledging that WE BELONG TO HIM.

The other thing I just wanna say,
and I have taught my children is that 
it is not a good Shepherd that teaches his flock
to be afraid of or to bash the teachings of other churches.
I am grateful that my most favorite leader of
Woodvale Baptist Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina,
Reverend Glen Self
was a good man. 
A godly man.
His message was love.
It is because of him
that when I was introduced to the LDS church,
I knew I could go to God in prayer and ask Him
if what I was learning was true.
He said "It's true. Hold on."

Now, it has been my experience that many other churches
preach against the LDS Church with ferocity--
their livelihood depends on keeping the benches full.
and they'll use whatever means they can to do just that
including fear and ignorance.
Our Bishops are not paid.
They have their own jobs in the world.
My current bishop works for Fed-Ex.
My last bishop was a dentist.
The one before that, a plastic surgeon.
Before that, a lawyer.
I share that to show that that's why you won't hear
the bashing of other faiths in our meetings.
Not from the pulpit.
Not in the classrooms.
It's not in our curriculum to teach anything 
but doctrine of our own faith.
Our pews are full because,
like coals that glow warmer when they touch other coals,
we too, recognize the need to rub shoulders with our 
brothers and sisters at church.
None of us are paid to show up,
clean up,
set-up or serve in the building.
We come because we follow Christ.

Lastly,
I got to witness the baptism Saturday night,
of my good friend Peri's husband, B.
What a sacred experience to witness someone 
take their place in His Kingdom.
B. was just beaming as he came out of the water.
Oh man, he was so happy and a little emotional as he shared
his journey to the font that night.
It has been a careful and thoughtful,
one-step-at-a-time journey.
In the end, he chose to take his place and begin his own discipleship.

Baptism, while common in the church when our children turn eight years old,
is a huge deal for an adult convert.

I was just 16 years old when I took my place.

It was the single most important decision I have thus made in my mortal life.

The greatest choice that has blessed with abundant ripples of goodness

I could have ever made.

*Mark Mabry, photo

Do you feel that way about your faith too?  

Oh I hope so.

It is just the best way to go through this life.

Teach your children what it is to be a Christian,

what it is to follow Christ. 

Teach them the Golden Rule.

Teach them that true discipleship means serving, and lifting others

in their daily lives.

Teach them about love and charity.

Teach them that They Belong to Him

and the Goal is Heaven.

I AM HIS.

My goal is to become likeHim.

Want to learn more? Check out Mormon.org