Several years ago I worked as a transcriptionist in a pathology office. A miscarried 15-week fetus came down to the lab. The physician describing it invited me to come back to the lab and look at it with him. The developing baby was beautiful -- absolutely perfect in every way. As he began the evaluation I could see at 15 weeks all the organs in perfect place, every feature accounted for, tiny fingers and tiny toes. She was a masterpiece. At that moment I thought of my God and the perfectness of his plan. I thought about how life COULDN'T have happened by accident. I thought that if there was any evidence that there was a God in Heaven and a great Creator, this would be it. To my surprise, at that same moment the physician I worked with said, "This ALMOST makes me believe there could be a God". I realized then that faith was a choice. Looking at life with an eye of faith is something that is learned. The more you practice seeing things in that way, the more you see evidence of a loving God who loves each one of us. I see the result of my faith and my beliefs all around me. I've seen miracles in my life and the life of my family. I've seen people change, hearts soften, relationships mend, and love extend as a result of this faith and belief.
Although faith is a choice, truth exists whether we want to find it or not. I believe our choice and one of the great pleasures of life is to discover what the truth about God and about life is for ourselves.
Scientifically, truth develops constantly. The truth about the universe in the 1600s was that the Earth was at its center and stationary. In 1633 Galileo was actually sentenced to house arrest for teaching the "anti-biblical" belief that the Sun was stationary and the Earth revolved around it. In my lifetime, scientists thought our galaxy was the only one in space, but scientists have discovered the immensity of space and just a fraction of what lies within - their estimates conclude that there are more than 170 billion galaxies. Just as scientific truth continues to be built upon, spiritual truth will develop in much the same way.
I believe there is a God in Heaven and a Great Creator that has all truth. He already knows the immensity of space and everything that science continues to prove. He knows me and he knows you and he understands our strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes all we will understand is the big picture, but God knows the details. Just like in science, discovering spiritual truth takes time. It takes thought, effort, an honest heart, and a desire to really know. It takes work and faith and as a prophet in our Book of Mormon states, it even takes "experimenting upon the word. (Alma 32:21-41)" If we petition to learn it, God will make his answers known to us and we will be enlightened as to His reality. Scientific truth isn't obvious. Spiritual truth won't be either. We have to look for it. Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers and these answers come to our mind and our hearts after we pray, follow inspiration, and listen.
I believe there is a God in Heaven and a Great Creator that has all truth. He already knows the immensity of space and everything that science continues to prove. He knows me and he knows you and he understands our strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes all we will understand is the big picture, but God knows the details. Just like in science, discovering spiritual truth takes time. It takes thought, effort, an honest heart, and a desire to really know. It takes work and faith and as a prophet in our Book of Mormon states, it even takes "experimenting upon the word. (Alma 32:21-41)" If we petition to learn it, God will make his answers known to us and we will be enlightened as to His reality. Scientific truth isn't obvious. Spiritual truth won't be either. We have to look for it. Spiritual questions deserve spiritual answers and these answers come to our mind and our hearts after we pray, follow inspiration, and listen.
The LDS church sends missionaries throughout the world to share these truths, but their message isn't "believe me" or "believe the Mormons" or "believe our prophet". It's "here's our message, find out for yourself". I love that we can know eternal truths for ourselves - that we don't need scientists or presidents or even prophets to tell us about God. We don't need theologians to access Him or hear His voice. He's watching over us and waiting for us to discover Him. We may not know or ever understand all the details to some of our questions, but God will answer us as we sincerely seek him and follow him.
