Theory, not Doctrine: Intelligences, Glories, and Gods

Disclaimer: I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This post is a personal understanding of the gospel, it is not doctrine or teachings of the church. This is a current interpretation and I believe these ideas will probably change over time. Please comment and help me know where I have gone wrong.

I had a good discussion with my brother the other day about how I can believe in the church despite the follies of people in it and past teachings. It gave me the opportunity to express my unique beliefs. This is hopefully the first of a few posts describing my current understanding on some rarely talked about topics in the church and how they shape my beliefs.

The question posed to me that introduces the topic was "Why do you believe that only people of your faith get into the best part of heaven?" My answer was "I don't think everyone wants to be there." This through him for a loop, he couldn't believe that anyone wouldn't want to go to the best place.

Intelligences

A question that is asked of many religions is "How can people be evil if God is good and God created people?" The answer to this is that God did not create us out of nothing.

The Law of Conservation of Matter says "energy can be transformed from one form to another, but can be neither created nor destroyed."  We believe that the essence of a person is eternal-like energy; it cannot be created or destroyed. That is why we can live forever after this life. We were always eternal, we were just in a different state. It cannot be created or destroyed. That essence of each of us is referred to as an "intelligence". See this lengthy article.

When you create a table, you don't actually create it, you organize it from other materials. The term the church uses for that transformation/creation is "organization". In the same way, we believe that God did not create our spirits before this world. He took "intelligences" and organized them into spirits, "creating" us.  Then He took space dust and organized it into a planet, then He organized, most likely through evolution, a body that could hold a spirit which is where we are now.

The reason that there are evil people is that God took "intelligences" that have always existed and set them on a path to become more like Him. 

Glories

The Church's teachings on the afterlife are different than that of other Christian faiths. Instead of Heaven and Hell, we believe that there are Kingdoms(degrees) of Glory.  They are, in best to worst,  the Celestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom, Telestial Kingdom, and Perdition. Perdition could be considered hell and everything else heavenly. Perdition is pretty impossible to get into, so let's not worry about that and just talk about the Kingdoms.

I believe that God, Heavenly Father, loves all of us more than we can imagine. I don't think that He wants anyone to go to hell. His goal is for us to become the best that we can be. If we don't want to be the best that we can be, He still wants us to be happy. That is the purpose of the kingdoms of glory. I believe that depending on where we are in our progress to becoming more like God is how we get sorted into the degrees. I don't believe that the Telestial Kingdom is there to torment the people that were bad. I think that the people there would be completely unhappy being surrounded by the goodie goodies of the Celestial Kingdom. God made the Telestial and Terrestial Kingdoms as a place for people whose hell it would be to be in the presence of God all the time, being eternally tortured by their guilt. Those kingdoms are places for them to exist.

Gods

People of my faith have sometimes been referred to as "Godmakers". I would like to flip that and change the idea to be that God is a God maker.

My belief is that happiness comes from helping others and that God is perfectly happy. Caution, blasphemy ahead. I believe that God at some point was probably another "intelligence" just like every unorganized intelligence. I won't even guess how He progressed to the point where He became God. Now that He is God, He is in a unique situation where he knows how perfectly happy He is, and wants to share that with as many being as possible. That is where we come in.

I believe that God has a body similar to us. That he took intelligences and organized them into spirit bodies. Those bodies were given a choice to follow His plan. Those that agreed are those who have and will receive bodies, us, in order to become more like Him.

What does it mean to become more like God? I think that as intelligences we couldn't interact much with anything else. We have spent eternities only caring about ourselves. God is giving us the chance to change that, to be less selfish. He gave us sprit bodies so we could communicate with other spirits and start caring about others. We currently have bodies and no memory of our previous selves. This gives us an opportunity to make choices on our own to either stay selfish or to gain charity.

Every day we get opportunities to choose others instead of ourselves. Each commandment teaches how to focus less on ourselves. I say charity instead of selflessness because I think we still need to have self-care and be sufficient enough to take care of ourselves, but once we get the basic needs covered we start to help others. I think marriage is part of the plan because I have learned to put my wife's needs in front of my own often, and it brings me joy. I think I will experience the same when I have children. Everyone says seeing your children progress is the best joy that you can attain.

In the show The Good Place, spoiler alert, I think Tahani was the only one that actually made it to what we would call the Celestial Kingdom. Everyone else made it to where they were happy and then moved on. Tahani was never happy with just finding happiness. She chose, rather than moving on, to join the beings that are helping others find happiness. That is what I consider "God making".

To answer the original question of why I think that not everyone wants to go to the highest kingdom of glory is that not everyone wants to become charitable/selfless. God knows that like in the Good Place where only Tahani wanted to end up helping others, He gives everyone a place where they can be happy even if they don't want to devote their everything to others. Intelligences are selfish and Gods are charitable. He wants us to be like Him, but is happy in knowing that he has made every intelligence happier than where it started.

TL;DR

I believe that God knows that the way to be the happiest is to make others happy. We have always existed and always will exist. We were once intelligences. God organized our intelligences into spirit bodies, becoming our creator, and the current plan of giving us bodies and trials gives us the opportunity to become more like Him, perfectly charitable. His highest goal is for us to become as happy as He is by becoming gods, charitable beings that want to progress other intelligences. If we don't want to do that He has a place for us to be happy-ish anyway.

Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms

I found this recipe years ago on pinterest: https://www.bakeat350.net/2012/12/chocolate-peppermint-blossoms.html . This is a copy in case the site ever stops working. The pictures were missing this week so I go worried. These taste like Christmas.

1 & 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa (such as Hershey's Special Dark)
1 & 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, cut into chunks
1 & 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar for rolling
Hershey's Kisses 

Line cookie sheets with parchment.  Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and extracts, beating until combined and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.

Gradually, add the flour mixture, beating on low just until combined.  The mixture will be very sticky.

Place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Use a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon) to scoop generous teaspoons of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Place the powdered sugar on a plate.

Gently roll each ball of dough through the powdered sugar until coated.

Place back on the cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes, until puffed and crinkly.  (Meanwhile, unwrap the Kisses.)

Remove from the oven and immediately press a Hershey's Kiss on top of each hot cookie.  Press firmly, so that it doesn't pop off.  Let the cookies sit on the sheet for 1-2 minutes, then remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

God loves me specifically

Today I had a quick reminder of how God loves me individually. Today I got to church a little late, hence I was in the foyer for the sacrament. They didn't bring the bread out so I thought, well that is too bad, maybe I will go to a later Sacrament or just strive to be on time next week. Then someone came out with the water. I told him they didn't bring the bread so don't worry about it. He left. Then to my surprise he came back with someone else. They had the bread and water at the same time. I have never seen that happen, and didn't know if it was allowed. There were only two of us in the foyer, but an exception was made for us. I felt loved so I thought I would share.

Marriage and the Government

I am tired of the fight about marriage. I don't like that states made decisions and then the high courts just say they are invalid. That is annoying and demoralizing. People will always fight and the government will always complicate things, so here is my solution:

TAKE GOVERNMENT OUT OF MARRIAGE

Marriage is religious instititution. It always has been and it always will. It differs by culture and belief, but that is fine. What is not fine, is marriage being regulated and forced by those who do not care about people's culture or beliefs. If 'Separation of Church and State' says I cannot pray in a public school, then the government should not be able to define a marrige.

Here is the solution:
1. Make all government joining of people civil unions.
2. Base government benefits solely on civil unions.
3. Let people get married in their church later if they want to.

That is the only way the governement isn't infringing on the rights of religious or non religious people. It is time people stop fighting over offending everyone and just solve the issue.

Time Commitment of a Good Latter Day Saint

I thouroghly believe that if we do the little things in that we are told to do at church, we are happier in life. What does it mean to do the little things? Let me list them out for you.

Daily: (20 minutes)
Prayers (Morning, Evening, Meals... always): 10 minutes
Reading Scriptures: 10 minutes

Weekly: (6 hours)
Church: 3 hours
Home Evening: 2 hours
Calling: 1 hour

Monthly: (8 hours)
Home/Visiting Teaching: 2 hours
Being Home/Visiting taught: 1 hour
Temple attendence: 3 hours
Ward activity: 2 hours

I know that I am ignoring travel time, and this would be doubled for a bishop, but for an average member this should be a good estimate.

Here is a break down of a year: 365 days, 52 weeks, or 12 months. Check out these calculations.

Total Yearly = (Daily * 365) + (Weekly * 52) + (Montly * 12)
Total Yearly = (.33hr * 365) + (6hr * 52) + (8hr * 12)
Total Yearly = (120.45hr) + (312hr) + (96hr)
Total Yearly = 528.45hr

Average Montly = (Total Yearly / 12)  = 44hr
Average Weekly = (Total Yearly / 52) = 10hr
Average Daily = (Total Yearly / 365)  = 1.5hr

I guess that an hour and a half daily might sound pretty intense, but is it really for your happiness. Lets take a quick look at percentages because I like those better.

Yearly Percent = (528.45 / 8670) = 6.10%

What that means is if you give up 6% of your life, your are a devout member, and most likely will be happy. That 6% might actually seem kind of steap, but it isn't even a 10th, and we know when we pay our tithing, God moves mountains to make that 90% more useful than the 100% would be otherwise, so why can't he do the same thing for our time.

Let me end by mentioning some other yearly percentages:
33.67% - Sleep (8 * 365 / 8670)
23.99% - Work (8 * 5 * 52 / 8670)
18.10% - TV = (4.3 *  365 / 8670) (source)
21.72% - Digital= (5.16 * 365 / 8670) (source)

In conclusion most Americans spend three times as much time daily watch TV that it would take to be a great member of the church. That is really sad. I hope that I can give up a bit of internet or tv time to be a good healthy member of the church.

Boxtops

I collect boxtops! When I see someone throwing away cereal or anything else with them I grab them off the box. When they bring snacks in to work, I pick them up and collect them. My wife can vouch that they are always falling out of my pockets or wallet or car or pretty much anything of mine.What I don't understand is why people throw them away. I don't have anyone specific that I usually give them to, but I collect them anyway. I have given them to friends with siblings and now my boss with kids. His kids love me for getting them a pizza party or something.

I would say in the about 2 years I have been collecting them I have collected and given at least $50 worth of boxtops. I know that isn't too much, but if everyone did the same thing, schools would have enough money to buy supplies. I know I sound like some depression aged person in saving things before throwing them away, but people, Stop Being Lazy, stop being unobservant and just save them. There are always kids who want them, even if you don't know any. If all else fails just go to an elementary school and donate them, or volunteer with some kids, they could use the support.

Final message: Save boxtops, be observant and love children.

I am getting married in the morning.

I invited most everyone on Facebook, but if you want to come, fill out this form.

I am engaged and going to get married really, really soon. 15 August 2013 to be exact. Most people will wonder what the crazy I am doing, getting married in less than a month after getting engaged, well here is the story. I have been working on this for a while, it just hasn't felt complete, so I apologize for the length.

Let me just preface this whole story by saying Celeste is a saint.

In June Celeste and I were at a point where we were not progressing in life. We had been at the point for  a while so we decided to make a choice, get married or break up. I think for most people that is a really easy question, but for me I wasn't sure. I took some time, wrote in my journal, fought some doubts away then went to Celeste and said "Let's get married." Either that day or the next we decided a date and a temple and started some planning.

This shouldn't have been as huge a deal. We have now been dating for over a year and a half and we were almost dating for a few months before that. When it comes to knowing each other we know each other very well, and have had to work through so much together. The problem has been my self esteem.

Over the last year, I have had a few problems. I have had struggles in school, relationships and more. The worst part was when I was in a depression. I didn't have myself tested so I don't know if it was a real depression, so sorry to those that actually struggle with it, but I had it as much as I could. I didn't know how to handle my feeling so I turned them off. I had the worst time sleeping every night, because going to bed meant I had to face the next day. I was never suicidal or anything, was just lost and every day was kind of hard. It really took me down in school and life and I left me blank. I didn't realize it had happened till I started to come out of it. I reconciled what I was afraid of with my feelings so I was able to start healing.

Like I said, Celeste is a saint. For some reason she stuck with me when I was in a really low place. She just loves me and watches out for me forever. Me being the stupid grumpy boy that I am, instead of just accepting her love, started to resent her some for watching me fall into a depression and not having helped me out, or even really noticed. I didn't realize she had her own struggles and I was just really selfish. I didn't realize my resentment or how mean I was until I went to the temple one day pleading for an answer on if it was the right thing to marry her. I was able to see that marriage, while I was holding all those bad feelings, was a terrible idea. Since realizing my inner problems I was able to heal more and let it go.

During most of the summer I have been seeing a therapist. I wanted to talk about having been in a depression and make sure I didn't fall into that trap again. Also how to not let anxiety control my life in school or other aspects. I learned a lot. I learned that when someone imposes a deadline on me, I fight against it for no reason. I really hate deadlines. I learned that I can do little things for my anxiety, like setting my own deadline before the imposed one, and I feel better about it. When that isn't a possibility if I just push through the first bit of my anxiety it goes away. I just need to fight instead of run. It is hard, but I am working on it.

That brings me back to how I am the worst fiance ever. We had set a date and a temple: August 15th, Mount Timpanogus. Since that was a deadline I fought against it for no reason. Mostly have told myself that I just wanted a "yes" answer for my prayers for me to feel good about the decision. Since I was doubting every day, I am not sure if the answer would come anyway.

Pretty much every step of being engaged has been hard for me and therefore killer to Celeste. Like I said, she is a saint. Ring shopping was scary for both of us and I just couldn't find a ring that I thought was what she would love. It took forever and ever for me to buy her the one she has. Little decisions, like who my groomsmen would be, to match her bridesmaids, were hard. I only have two best guy friends, everyone else was just details that I didn't want to think about. She was left almost alone to plan a marriage because I just couldn't handle it and would shut down when I thought about it. When I thought about her, I was fine and happy, but when I thought about marriage, I was just petrified.

The first change to actually bring me on board was making announcements. I was being my annoying self and trying to participate with what I could and at the same time save money. The cost of a wedding really scared me. I have worked really hard to have some savings and no debt, giving it all up for a wedding was really hard, and harder than it should have been for someone I love. When we were working on announcements, like other times before, when I was trying it just wasn't working out. Everything was just meh and not happy. Then after hours of being annoyed, almost giving up, and having had to take an air break outside a few times, I just did it. I stoped being held back by limitations and just made it my own. I am really good at things sometimes and it worked out. (Note - Vistaprint is great if you make the announcement before on Indesign or something, but it is really hard to make it on their site then have it look classy and original.) I did it and I felt better. I felt like marriage was finally possible and I could do it.

I was still searching for an answer from God confirming I was making a good decision and not just being stubborn. While reading the scriptures I found Helaman 14:30 "for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free." The feeling that I received with it was that Heavenly Father trusted me. I was still not sure if that was a yes, but it would be fine if that was my decision.

Seeing that therapist was really good for me. He loaned me a book called "Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts", which helped me understand that a lot of the things I was scared about between Celeste and my relationship were just normal differences between men and women. Also that a lot of the things that I was doing in the relationship were hurtful to her. I was able to open up better and even argue better, to be productive rather than just hurtful. At least I thought so. I need to do a refresher, but it helped.

I am going to take a minute and complain about living in Provo. The LDS culture is sometimes overwhelming. Marriage is talked about too much. I have done it too jokingly to friends, so I cannot complain too much, but it is still too much. Since about two months into dating, every single day till the day we were officially engaged, Celeste has been asked "how long till you are getting married", "has he asked yet", "why are you still with him if he isn't moving forward". People really need to understand that we have our own timing. I am a little behind in most things, but I get there eventually. It hasn't been fair to her to have to have that much stress and pressure every day.

Well I am done with bummer stuff and ready to be hopeful and happy. Celeste has a special power. Whenever she sees me she smiles. It doesn't matter whether she is mad or happy. Every time I walk in there is a smile on her face. That right there cannot be bad.

I have had a negativity problem. I have focused on the little dumb things that aren't perfect instead of the good things that are there. I have been scared because none, seriously almost none, of the things we like are the same. We both make compromises on everything because when she says something or I say something we both do not agree and have to find somewhere in the middle. It has helped us learn how to deal with little arguments, but sometimes left us both feeling like we didn't get what we wanted because we are trying to be nice to the other, with something they didn't care about. Communication is key and at the same time hard. We try so hard not to offend the other.

Getting engaged was harder than expected. I was scared and my creativity low. Also like usual I was afraid to ask for help. When we were in California for the 4th of July I tried. We went to take a ride on the hot air balloon in the Orange County Great Park. It would have been nice to propose in California in a hot air balloon. Well that didn't work out at all. Trying to get there I got lost and circled the park driving for over an hour not being able to find the entrance. They need to make it easier to find. Then when we finally got there, the weather had gotten too windy so they stopped running the balloon only 15 minutes before. I could have taken that as a sign from heaven that getting married was a bad idea, I might have at the moment, I think God just wanted me to be sure.

How I did ask her to marry me is this. We went to the moonlight ride at Sundance. Then we came home. I was super nervous, but eventually I got out the words "going on adventures is fun, but who you come home to is what really matters." Then I proposed. She got the biggest smile and I put a ring on her finger.

Last night I Celeste got out her endowments. I got to be with her at the temple. She was nervous and I could see it. I loved seeing her there and being there for her. I really love that girl.

I am still surprised that I am marrying someone who is afraid of change, and doesn't like technology, but I think we are going to have a great journey together.