~ Highlight of the Day: getting to listen to Elias; a wonderful man, and a holocaust victim ~
The last two days have been fairly busy. Yesterday we all bussed down to the Red Sea for a snorkeling trip. We spent most of the day in the water, and didn't get back till 9ish.
Then instead of going to bed at a fairly decent time, my roommates and I had *brilliantly thought out* chugging contest. . . Every time we go on a field trip we get a 2 liter water bottle. Yesterday was no exception, and we'd been talking about doing a chugging contest with them for the better part of the semester. So we did it.
I can honestly say I have chugged two full liters of water, and held it down. . . for about a minute. I ended up losing a lot of my dinner in the process of relieving the pressure in my stomach . . . and I had to use the bathroom really bad in the middle of the night, and again in the morning.
So my curiosity in that particular ability of mine is officially fulfilled. I will not need to do that again. Ever.
On a more serious note, today our field trip took us to Yad Vashem, the most comprehensive holocaust museum in the world. The place is amazing, and very sobering. I don't think I could ever grow tired of reading about the people who lost their lives in the camps, or seeing pictures of their faces. I wish I could have spent the whole day there. . .
My Old Testament teacher had us read this before going, and I really got a lot out of it, so I thought I'd post it here:
“Misfortune and evil are not attributable to the will of God. We have it enunciated in the revelations to Joseph the Prophet, in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, that the Lord is greatly displeased only with those who do not confess or acknowledge ‘his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments’ (D&C 59:21). Many things occur in the world in which it seems very difficult for most of us to find a solid reason for the acknowledgment of the hand of the Lord. I have come to the belief that the only reason I have been able to discover by which we should acknowledge the hand of God in some occurrences is the fact that the thing which has occurred has been permitted of the Lord. When two men give way to their passions, their selfishness and anger, to contend and quarrel with each other, and this quarrel and contention leads to physical strife and violence between them, it has been difficult for me to discover the hand of the Lord in that transaction; other than that the men who thus disagree, quarrel and contend with each other, have received from God the freedom of their own agency to exercise their own intelligence, to judge between the right and wrong for themselves, and to act according to their own desire. The Lord did not design or purpose that these two men should quarrel, or give way to their anger to such an extent that it would lead to violence between them, and, perhaps, to bloodshed. God has never designed such a thing as that, nor can we charge such things to the Almighty. People become sick, suffer pain, sorrow and anguish. They linger for months, and perhaps for years, in feebleness of body and of mind. The question arises in them: Why does the Lord suffer it? Is the hand of God in that suffering? Has God designed persons to suffer? Has he touched them with his hand of affliction? Has he caused the evil that has come to them? Too many of us are inclined to think, or lean toward the feeble thought, that the illness that comes to us, the afflictions that we suffer, the accidents that we meet with in life, and the troubles that beset us on our way in the journey of life, are attributable either to the mercy or the displeasure of God. Sometimes we are prone to charge God with causing our afflictions and our troubles; but if we could see as God sees, if we could understand as he understands, if we could trace the effects back to the cause, and that truly, by the spirit of correct understanding, we would unquestionably discover that our troubles, or suffering, or affliction are the result of our own indiscretion or lack of knowledge, or of wisdom. It was not the hand of God that put affliction and trouble upon us. The agency that he has given to us left us to act for ourselves -- to do things if we will that are not right, that are contrary to the laws of life and health, that are not wise or prudent -- and the results may be serious to us, because of our ignorance or of our determination to persist in that which we desire, rather than to yield to the requirements which God makes of us.” (Joseph F. Smith, Improvement Era 20 (July 1917), p. 821, also quoted in Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, pp. 56-57.)
“To deprive an intelligent human being of his free agency is to commit the crime of the ages… So fundamental in mankind’s eternal progress is his inherent right to choose, that the Lord would defend it even at the price of war. Without freedom of thought, freedom of choice, freedom of action within lawful bounds, mankind cannot progress.” (David O. McKay, Conference Report (April 1942), pp. 72-73.)
“Now, we find many people critical when a righteous person is killed, a young father or mother is taken from a family, or when violent deaths occur. Some become bitter when oft-repeated prayers seem unanswered. Some lose faith and turn sour when solemn administrations by holy men seem to be ignored and no restoration seems to come from repeated prayer circles. But if all the sick were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the Gospel, free agency, would be ended. If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, only satanic controls. Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment or even death, and if these were not, there would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life and Godhood.” (Spencer W. Kimball, “Tragedy or Destiny,” Improvement Era (Mar 1966), pp. 180,210.)
“Critical to our knowledge of the plan of happiness is an understanding of the great governing principle of agency. A person does not have to spend much time in the schoolroom of mortality to realize that Heavenly Father’s plan does not provide for blissful happiness at every step along our mortal journey. Life is filled with harsh realities that tug at the heart and tear away at the soul. One cannot look at suffering, regardless of its causes or origins, without feeling pain and compassion. I can understand why someone who lacks an eternal perspective might see the horrifying news footage of starving children and man’s inhumanity to man and shake a fist at the heavens and cry, ‘If there is a God, how could he allow such things to happen?’ The answer is not easy, but it isn’t that complicated, either. God has put his plan in motion. It proceeds through natural laws that are, in fact, God’s laws. Since they are his, he is bound by them, as are we. I recognize for purposes we mortals may not understand, the Lord can control the elements. For the most part, however, he does not cause but he allows nature to run its course. In this imperfect world, bad things sometimes happen. The earth’s rocky underpinnings occasionally shift and move, resulting in earthquakes. Certain weather patterns cause hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and drought. Much adversity is man-made. Men’s hearts turn cold, and the spirit of Satan controls their actions. In foreseeing the day of suffering in our time, the Savior said, “The love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound” (D&C 45:27). Violence, immorality, and other evils run rampant on the earth. Much adversity has its origin in the principle of agency. We tend to think of agency as a personal matter. If we ask someone to define “moral agency,” the answer will probably be something like this: ‘Moral agency means I am free to make choices for myself.’ Often overlooked is the fact that choices have consequences; we forget also that agency offers the same privilege of choice to others. At times we will be affected adversely by the way other people choose to exercise their agency. Our Heavenly Father feels so strongly about protecting our agency that he allows his children to exercise it, either for good or for evil. The plan of happiness is available to all of his children. If the world would embrace and live it, peace, joy, and plenty would abound on the earth. Much of the suffering we know today would be eliminated if people throughout the world would understand and live the gospel. (M. Russell Ballard, “Answers to Life’s Questions,” Ensign (May 1995), p.23.)
