If one where to ask a Sunbeam to draw a picture of a woman by the sea, one wouldn’t expect to see a creation like that of Konstantin Razumov (example: White Dressed Woman). But, would one ever expect a mature, sophisticated Konstantin to draw a stick figure and pass it off as art?
I’m going to see if I can knock off a couple of posts/snippets on this theme: why I haven’t matured further in my knowledge and understanding of the gospel?
The answer must include self-imposed limits. It isn’t that I haven’t studied over the years. Still, the hunger/thirst for knowledge wasn’t there. I didn’t understand all the mysteries, but laughably, I “understood enough.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, during one temple recommend interview, a leader emphasized that “we have eternity to learn all that we need to know.” Then there are the other voices: “all is well,” and “just stay in the good ship Zion.” Implicitly, it will deliver you to the highest degree of the Celestial. Enjoy the ride.
Yeah, right.
I was pretty comfortable abiding in that culture. I could teach and testify stick figure doctrines with confidence. I was never challenged for it.
Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me.
It pains me to think that I had not just wasted my time, but inculcated that very culture in the lives of my children, my students, and my brothers and sisters in the gospel. When I wasn’t teaching, I was tacitly approving, if not encouraging. I was an infectious disease carrier. How fortune we are that Christ’s atonement is infinite.
One is most susceptible when one is proud, arrogant, ignorant, and relishes the company of other similarly infected souls. Guilty on all counts.
Are you similarly infected?
- If your response to this is, “this guy has lost his bearing/footing,” then your probably are.
- If you are thinking, “how would I know,” then you probably are.
- If you desire to respond, “well, I think…,” then you probably are.