Advice To An Exile--Me!

In the Old Testament we find a letter written from the prophet Jeremiah to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. I love this letter and consider it a letter to me because just as the Jews were exiled from their home, I have been “exiled” from my heavenly home and can learn much from Jeremiah’s advice. These Jewish exiles have been taken captive to Babylon where their captors hope to assimilate them into Babylonian culture and make them friends of the empire instead of enemies. They are in a foreign environment and experiencing many things that they consider shouldn’t be, and are unable to keep many of the traditions and commandments they know should be.


From Jerusalem Jeremiah writes this letter urging the people to make the best of the situation. He tells them to “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them” (Jeremiah 29:5). To be happy they need to accept the truth of their new surroundings, to concentrate on what they can do not on what they can’t do. He goes on, “Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace” (Jeremiah 28:7). In other words, don’t fight the truth of your new reality. Learn to live the best you can within that reality. Make peace with your new world.

Then Jeremiah says to them, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (KJV Jeremiah 29:11). The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible translates that verse as, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”

That’s what we have—a future with hope. We are foreigners in a telestial world, but God has a plan for us and His plan is for our best good. We will experience things in this world that we have been taught “should not be”—things that will not be part of a celestial world, but instead of fighting against them, we can accept them as telestial truths and then deal with them in the most celestial way possible knowing that “all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another” (D&C 90:24).

Clarification on Yesterday's Post

Today I need to clarify some things from yesterday. 

There is no way a few paragraphs can ever cover all the bases on a topic like why bad things happen. I do not think we cause all bad things to happen. As I’ve written in other entries on Good News! this is a telestial world and in a telestial world there are such things as weeds, abuse, diseases, death, destruction and all manner of natural disasters that cause us problems and sorrow—not to mention the bad decisions other people make. What I was trying to say is that in the midst of all this telestialness, I believe God will always be prompting us how to deal with it in the very best way possible. Sometimes that means we will be guided to avoid the problems and adversity. Sometimes it means we will be strengthened to endure the problems. Sometimes it even means that the adversity is giving us the opportunity to help in the Lord's work by being an example to others. In any case, adversity if endured well will always word for "good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28).

What I was trying to say yesterday is that we need to listen more. I didn't say that adversity happens because we do something bad. I do not believe that.  I said that sometimes the Lord is prompting us to do things that would help us avoid future adversity but because we aren't listening we are unable to avoid it. But whatever the situation, whatever the outcome, whatever the reason, we will be better off if we listen and follow the Spirit. That is what I was trying (and failed) to say: we need to listen better to the Spirit. 

Telestial life keeps us occupied with worry, stress, anxiety, fear and even positive things like excitement, expectation, and busyness. But life becomes easier and better when we learn to break through that mental chatter and listen and follow the Spirit.

PS Thanks to all of you who left comments or emailed so that I realized I hadn't adequately stated what I meant! I hope this helps.

It's the Telestial Truth

When we live in Truth we realize that we are spirit children of God. That means we have a spiritual identity and heritage and roots that are not of this world. This is something we often sense in joyous fleeting glimpses. But in the meantime, we must deal with things like gravity, kinetic energy, and other laws of a physical, telestial world. But what gives us the most trouble aren’t the physical laws, it is the laws of human nature that belong to a telestial world that cause us problems.

Other people’s negative behavior vexes us. “They shouldn’t be doing that!” We shout to ourselves. But at those times we have to step back and realize that while that isn’t right in a celestial world, we aren’t in a celestial world. We are in a telestial world and those things happen (and there for are Truth) in a telestial world.

The big test of life isn’t to identify what shouldn’t be done by others. The big test of life is for us to learn to live a celestial life in a telestial environment. Just think . . . If you can live a celestial life in this wicked environment, how amazing and easy it will be in a celestial environment. 

So when you are vexed with all the things and people and experiences that shouldn’t be, stop and remember that all you need to be concerned about is what you should be.

Musings on the Olympics

I love the Olympics—especially the stories of courage and love that are highlighted during the games. But I always feel an acute hurt for the athletes who work for years and years and at the crucial moment make a mistake that costs them a medal. It all seems as much a case of luck as it does skill. But that’s not so different than everyday life. We have all had those kinds of experiences when no matter how well prepared we are things go wrong in the crucial moment and we fall flat.

In the Olympics only one person in each event can win gold, only one wins silver, and only one wins bronze, but hundreds of others have wanted, waited, wished, worked and failed to make it that far. That is the nature of competition. That is the nature of telestial life. But, thank goodness, celestial life is much different.

As I watch the tears and the dashed hopes in the Olympic games this year, I have been reminded that the greatest feat in life, the opportunity to return to live with our Father in Heaven, is not a competition. Everyone who runs that race will win. This isn’t a race that only the first person over the finish line wins. This is a race that everyone who endures will win. The only way we will fail to make it is if we give up and refuse to run the race. There is no bronze, silver, and gold in the race to Eternal Life—if we simply keep trying we will all be gold medalists!

Telestial Cultural Shock

I’m excited about all the comments you’ve left about what you are grateful for. Just reading them fills me with good, positive feelings. Thanks.

I’ve been very busy the last two weeks. I am starting another series of the Living in Truth Workshops. This time I’ve developed a four-page handout to go with the classes and I think it will help to convey the ideas better. I do appreciate all the comments and suggestions all of you have given me that have helped me refine these principles. Thank you.

One of the first people to read a rough draft of a chapter and offer suggestions was my son-in-law, Ferg. In the chapter I explained how sometimes in life we feel a strange disconnect or dissonance that is difficult to explain. For example, one of the things that causes this disconnect is time. Sometimes time goes so fast and other times it goes so slow, but if you stop and ponder on time, it seems like an unnatural thing. I think the reason is that our spirits lived a long time in a state where time did not exist and now as we travel through this mortal world based upon time, it isn’t natural to us. It is like a fish being out of water.

After Ferg read this chapter he sent me a note saying that he called these kinds of experiences Telestial Cultural Shock. I loved that phrase! It summed it all up so well, and it is now part of the book. As you go through your week, pay attention to the things you encounter that are part of a Telestial world that will not be part of a Celestial world. There are many and it is a good exercise to recognize them for what they are. As you discover them, leave a comment about what you discover.