The Paths We Choose

If you were to plot the righteousness of the Nephites and Lamanites as a line graph, you’d get something like a sine-wave drawn over time with increasing amplitudes. We can see this in the cyclic nature of the Nephite society.

Leading up to the Savior’s appearance, which ushers in a great high point, you have the low point of the Gadiantons destroying the government. You have the righteousness following the Sign of His birth. Before that the imminent massacre of the righteous. And so it goes. I’ve wondered what the lesson there are for us in that.

One the one hand, I think we’re in that descent into wickedness which parallels the Nephites' path before the destruction immediately preceding the Savior’s appearance. We need to be mentally ready for the long haul. Several years ago, Elder Packer said in a conference talk we live in times where our children and theirs can experience joy, but in a wicked world.

One the other hand our lives I think are like the sine wave too. As we mature, so does our understanding and the consequences of our choices for good or bad increase over time. Mistakes as a child don’t carry the consequences of mistakes as a teenage youth. And those mistakes don’t carry the consequences of those of an adult.

The Prophet Joseph once made the observation about people’s life choices. He said most are content to live in the valleys where the path undulates. It never gets bad, but neither do they ascend the spiritual heights to see the true grandeur and majesty of God. But for those hardy souls who choose to ascend the heights, they will see great things — at the cost of great risk and severe trials. Nephi saw the Lord. Yet he also dealt with his brothers, Laban, the Arabian peninsula and an ocean. Alma had a war, Ammonihah, and the Zoramites. Mormon and Moroni both had a war and Cumorah. Abinadi, Noah’s court. Even the Savior had Gethsemane and Golgotha. Should we expect less?

Put another way, any athlete will tell you, you pay a price to become great. Spiritual growth is no different -- especially today.

Enos

One of the things which amaze me about Enos is how much time passes and how few men it takes to witness it all. When Enos finishes his record, 179 years have passed from the time Lehi left Jerusalem. That’s a lot of years covered by two and a half generations. I say two and a half because Nephi and Jacob though brothers have a few years between them. Nephi was an adult when Jacob was born. I wonder if Nephi knew Enos. Would I know my younger brother’s son?

What it does say is they lived long lives! It’s something to wonder about.

But the heart of Enos’ record are the four stages of his life journey. The first is what I’d say is normal: he goes about his life, but his guilt over weaknesses and his desire to know the things his father knew concern him. Eventually, it becomes an earnest desire which compels him to spend hours in prayer.

He receives an answer, which begins the second phase of his life: his concern for his family. At some time, he gets an answer about them which starts the third and a long phase of his life: his concern for his distant relatives, the Lamanites. After many years of praying and participating in missionary efforts to reclaim them, the Lord answers his prayers saying the record he is keeping will be preserved for a future time.

This begins the final phase of his life: his soul at rest, he spends the rest of his days preaching and prophesying to whoever will listen of the many things he’s learned, seen and heard. He makes the observation there are many prophets among the people. I wonder what happened to their records?