Forces of Creation: Truth

I believe that there are opposing forces in the world. From a religious standpoint, you could could call it "good" and "evil." Whether or not you believe in the existence of a loving, benevolent God or a lying, manipulative devil, there are creative forces in the world, and destructive ones. Because I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I call those creative forces "good", and the destructive forces "evil", but the essence remains the same regardless of what you call them.

Creating is an act of innovation and inspiration. There is virtue in organizing previously chaotic matter into something of substance, beauty, or ingenuity. For the most part, creations serve a purpose. God created the world for us to live on and be tested. Writers, composers, and artists of all kinds create in order to share their unique vision with the world, in the hopes that it might resonate inside someone. Architects, engineers, and innovators across all fields of science seek to make sense of unorganized information and matter. When used to uplift, inspire, and edify humanity, these are all forces of good. They are forces of creation.

However, one often overlooked means of creation - means of engendering good in the world - is how we interact with one another. The words we speak have power to either create or destroy. You can uplift someone by complimenting them, appreciating their contributions, or sharing something that inspired you. But with words, we also have the power to cut someone down, suppress their ideas and their voice, belittle them, and cause rifts in the way they perceive themselves and others.

Although I am a Mormon, and attribute my understanding of these opposing forces to my continuing enlightenment by God, I believe that this is something that anyone with an honest, open heart can understand. I have grown closer to God exponentially in the past two (ish) years, insomuch that the things that once bothered me and riled me up now pass along peacefully, and the ideals and practices I once scorned and resented now uplift and bring me strength. As such, I've found that as I grow closer to God, I see more clearly the way in which these forces of creation and destruction interact and lead us in varying paths.

Whoever you are, whatever your sexual orientation, your political views, or your religion (or lack thereof), I believe that you can be a force for good in the world. You can create and inspire love, order, and understanding across all canyons of differences. Just because someone is different from you in belief or practice does not mean that you must hate, mistrust, or scorn them. Such deeds are insidious acts of destruction which bring loneliness, misunderstanding, and often violence.

It is easy to be caught up in ourselves and point fingers at the world, saying, "Look what he did!" "Look at how terribly she treats others!" but so much harder to look inside ourselves and ask if we are any better. Oftentimes we can get so caught up in pointing out each other's flaws that we fail to see the virtues that could be built upon to add goodness and love to our lives.

An example of such lays in Dear Santa, a corny Christmas movie I recently finished watching that inevitably ended with the female protagonist getting the family she'd wished for. (Spoiler alert!) The movie begins when Crystal finds a letter to Santa from a young girl, asking for a new mother for Christmas. Crystal feels inspired, and through an admittedly awkward locating process, she positions herself to meet the girl's father, Derek. She and Derek begin a tentative friendship.

Unfortunately, Derek's kind-of girlfriend Jillian is immediately jealous of Crystal, and seeks for any and every opportunity to point out Crystal's flaws to Derek, ranging from "Oh, she can't cook," to "She never graduated from college." Eventually the Jillian stumbles across the letter from Santa while rummaging through Crystal's unattended wallet. She triumphantly shows it to Derek as proof of Crystal's dishonesty. He is, of course, dismayed, and breaks off his just budding romance with Crystal.

Is it true that Crystal deliberately positioned herself to meet Derek because she knew he was looking for a new wife? Yes. Did she lie about it? Yes, by omission. Therefore, Derek's "girlfriend" did not speak anything but the "truth" to him by accusing Crystal of deceiving him. But that's not the point. The point is that although it started out as a game for her, Crystal soon grew to really care for Derek and his daughter Olivia. Throughout the course of the movie we see continual proof of her earnestness, compassion, and kindness. She felt remorse for not telling Derek how she met him, and tried to tell him once, but outside factors intervened and she lost her chance.

Some may say that you cannot excuse a person's bad deeds by their good intentions, or by separate good deeds. I firmly disagree. While the person ought to be held accountable for their transgression and do all in their power to make the situation right, we must be careful to look into that person's heart before we cast a "final judgment." I'm not speaking of unlawful, jail-worthy things here; I speak of the smaller, seemingly trivial misunderstandings and slights that we encounter every day in our workplaces, schools, churches, and families.

In my religion, we speak a lot about the concept of faith: having hope in something that cannot be seen. Most of the time we refer to having faith in God, or in Christ, or in the power of prayer, etc. But it is also important to have faith in other people. No mortal being is perfect, and so we all have things we've done or said that could condemn us, if someone took the time to search out our flaws and compile them into one compelling, convicting case. What matters more is that we look forward to the bright future we could have. We must not choose ignorance of a person's virtues simply because of a perceived vice.

Orson Scott Card, also a Mormon, presents this quite gracefully in his Seventh Son series. Alvin, the main character, is a man of honesty who seeks only to create peace and harmony in the world. However, over the course of his life, many who are envious of Alvin's talents seek to dirty his name. They set both legal and physical traps for him and spread vicious and misconstrued rumors about him, thus causing many people to hate, revile, and seek after Alvin's life.

It is ironic, then, that I received a whiplash of doubt and hate after I expressed my excitement to meet Brother Card at a recent church event. Just like Alvin, there are vicious rumors spreading about Brother Card, engendering hate, judgment, and mistrust, dissuading people from ever wanting to read his books.

These are tools of destruction. They are aimed to disprove Card's integrity and discount the virtue of his writings. But they are wrong. As someone who earnestly seeks for truth and light, who seeks only to be inspired and uplifted, believe me when I say that I know integrity, wisdom, and compassion when I see it.

And thus we see another eternal law: what you look for is what you will find. Try an experiment with me. Go somewhere with lots of people, somewhere where you can sit and observe unobtrusively. Now take a moment to scan the crowd and count how many people are wearing orange. Write it down, remember it. Now, I ask you: How many people were wearing purple? No, you don't get to look again; that's cheating. From the data you wrote down from that initial glance, can you tell me how many people were wearing purple? Of course not! You find what you look for.

Thus, if you seek out misery, loneliness, and instances where you or someone else has been wronged, that is all you'll find. You'll find multitudes of evidence of everyone else's flaws and how they've hurt you and done you an injustice, all the while not even seeing the good that those people bring to your life. If you are looking to dig up bones about my past, Orson Scott Card's past, or even the origins of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you'll find it. Other people who seed destruction and hate goodness will always try to warp your interpretation of something virtuous.

But if you are an earnest seeker of truth and light, who wants to build other people up instead of cutting them down, then you will be able to perceive past the mists of darkness that obscure the integrity of good things. How is it possible, you ask, to find recognize truth? There is a passage in the Book of Mormon which perfectly expounds how to recognize truth:

"Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.

For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.

Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.

But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired by God.

Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.

For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night." (Moroni 7:10-15)

Let me repeat: "A bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water." Earlier in the chapter Moroni says, "For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also." (verse 5)

Basically, he's saying that the way to tell between good and evil, creation and destruction, truth and lies, is by looking at the fruits of the labor. Turning to an outside source for information on a person's integrity, especially when those sources actively seek to destroy that integrity, is as effective as refusing to interview someone for a job, and instead interviewing all their exes. Of course you're going to find negative things about the person. Would you hire or refuse to hire the man based solely on the testimony of those who hate him? Of course not! It's preposterous. The best way for you to know someone's integrity is to interview them yourself.

In the case of my favorite author, Orson Scott Card, I don't even bother seeking out the negative things people have said about him, because I've already "interviewed" him and found his character to be noble and uplifting. I "interview" him personally by reading his books, because they are the fruit of his character. An author cannot obscure their integrity or lack thereof in their writings. It will always shine through. I've found that through reading his books I am inspired to build up my family through patience and love, develop my own writing talents, and grow closer to God, the creator of all things.

If you're wondering about the validity of a person or an idea, look to see what it engenders. Do the people who love it spread creation or destruction? What about those who say it is nothing but a falsehood? Do they spread feelings of peace, joy, and love, or of strife, hate, and malice? Trust your gut. Trust the light that is in you to recognize light in others.

I cannot speak of this without mentioning the controversy which surrounds my own religion, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Perhaps some of you reading this question my convictions, question why I believe what I do. Instead of scouring the internet and believing every harmful thing said about my church, why don't you go to the direct source and find out for yourself? With an honest, open heart, seeking for truth, read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.

Moroni himself, at the end of the Book of Mormon, dares you to give it a try. He challenges,

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:3-5) Your internal compass - your deep desire to find truth amid the confusions and controversies that abound in these days - will connect with truth when you find it.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know it because I seek after anything virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, and in my seekings, the Holy Ghost has resonated the truth of the book in me. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints contains the fulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not bury my head in the sand by ignoring the forces which try to dissuade me from the goodness and creation I've found. Rather, I reject the voices beckoning from the darkness, because I've found the brightness of the noonday sun.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland exhorts us to love one another in a marvelous BYU address called, "How Do I Love Thee." I encourage you to read or listen to the entire speech, even if you aren't Mormon. Regardless, for my purposes here I only quote a small passage from his speech, in which he says,

"Think the best of each other, especially of those you say you love. Assume the good and doubt the bad. Encourage in yourself what Abraham Lincoln called 'the better angels of our nature' (First Inaugural Address, 4 March 1861). Othello could have been saved even in the last moment when he kissed Desdemona and her purity was so evident… This tragically sad Elizabethan tale could have had a beautiful, happy ending if just one man, who then influenced another, had thought no evil, had rejoiced not in iniquity, but had rejoiced in truth."

You cannot feel the warmth of the sun until you step out from shadows yourself. You can know truth for yourself. And in doing so, you will assist the forces of creation: creating harmony, love, and understanding between all peoples. I have faith in people. I choose to believe the good things about people. Am I perfect at it? Of course not. But I actively strive to seek out the good in others, even if it does not yet exist. For perhaps in my seeking, I can inspire them to do better, to turn from lies and darkness to truth and light. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.