I recently had a multiple hour instant messaging conversation with a man who had real issues with the concept that there could be more to reality beyond the five senses. It was his professed mission to fight against this madness we call the spiritual realm. His perceived existence began and will end with mortality. But we know that we are eternal beings and will live forever. Eternity is a long time. This knowledge gives us a vastly different outlook on life.

Earthly perspective

If your definition of reality extends to only those things that are obvious on the surface of life, like things you can taste, touch, and hear or see then everything you think about has to be locked within what can be experienced with the mortal body. This includes only what man can reason and conjecture from the surrounding environment.

Life in this perspective is relatively simple. We come into existence when we are born; we live a short life span then blink out of existence when we die. This means that the old adage of “eat, drink, and be merry” has every reason to be applicable in our lives. What more than the pleasures of mortality could there be if mortality is all there is?

This man I conversed with felt that anything outside of what was measurable by cause and effect was irrational and delusional. It was actually offensive to him. He claimed to be an atheist, but the more worked up he got the more he tipped his hand and revealed that he actually had a lot of knowledge of the gospel message. My guess is that he is an apostate. Apostates have a problem with letting go of the gospel they once embraced. Once rejected they feel a need to pursue with a vengeance anyone else who still clings to it.

Difference in perspective

The gospel of Jesus Christ lifts us out of the confines of mortality. Because we are taught that we are eternal offspring of an eternal being, God, our life span suddenly goes from being the length of a gnat’s life to lasting longer than the stars and galaxies themselves. In Psalms 102:24 – 27 David tells us that God lives forever, and that the stars in the heavens are temporary. God changes them like we would change our wardrobe.

24 I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations.

25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:

27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

It is almost mind blowing to think that God lives so long that he is continually changing the planets and stars of the sky out for new ones because they become old and die, but He does not. We, as His children are also eternal, and have lived and will live from everlasting to everlasting. In other words, we have lived and will live forever.

What difference does it make, knowing that we live forever? For one thing, life as we currently know it becomes almost insignificant compared to the eternal duration of our lives. What gives this short span of years in mortality real bite in the eternal scheme of things is knowing why we are here in the first place. The Old Testament prophet Abraham was taught by the Lord about His children. He also explained to Abraham why we are all here, and what the goal of being here is. Read the following verses in Abraham 3:22 – 26 then I’ll talk more about what is being said.

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

We began as intelligences. The exact nature of what we were as intelligences is not currently fully understood. Suffice it to say that the Lord took us and clothed us with spirit bodies. This is what He calls our first estate. Those who kept their first estate (or were successful in being obedient to God in their first estate) were privileged to come to earth, our second estate. Those of us who successfully demonstrate our obedience to God while in mortality, through faith in Christ, will receive eternal glory at the hands of our Father in Heaven, through Christ. Exercising faith in Christ to the end of our mortal lives is what it takes to “keep” our second estate.

So the reason we are here in mortality is to be proven or tested. We are here to show God that we will be obedient to Him under any circumstance. This estate is all about learning to have faith in our Father and His son, Jesus Christ. The reward for successfully demonstrating our obedience is eternal glory being added to us forever and ever. This makes our short time in mortality a very crucial and important time indeed. The rest of our eternal lives depends on how we behave in our few short years here. So much for the “eat, drink, and be merry” philosophy.

The philosophy that we are the offspring of an eternal being is Satan’s tool for frustrating our efforts. If he can get us to lose sight of why we are here, and focus our attention on just what we can see with our eyes, and forget what we can see with the eyes of our spiritual understanding through the Holy Ghost, then he has prevented us from being worthy of receiving the eternal glory our Father wants us to have. We will indeed have become just creatures of the flesh, and not beings of eternal significance.

When it comes to the spiritual world that exists outside of what we can measure through cause and effect, we cannot afford to become lazy or comfortable. Staying faithful to our reason for being here is what the prophets refer to as enduring to the end. We must remain vigilant in our efforts to be faithful to the covenants and commitments we have accepted by being part of God’s kingdom on earth.

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He has given us commandments, covenants, and the gift of the Holy Ghost to help us stay focused on why we are here. We have the light of Christ, our conscience to help us feel when we are getting off track or when we have done something that is just plain wrong in the sight of God, our Father. Christ’s atonement offers us the gift of repentance, a chance to truly change ourselves for the better.
God has not left us alone, nor has He left us without hope and reassurance. We have prophets. We have scriptures. We have answers to prayers in the form of personal revelation from God, our Father, as well has help from our brothers and sisters who are also trying to be faithful. There is plenty of support for us to find joy in. We just need to remember not to get too comfortable with our mortal status. We won’t be here long.

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