Written for Our Day

The cycle of wickedness came to my mind the other day. So many times in the Book of Mormon we see that a prophet was born to raise up a righteous people, who are then blessed with prosperity and abundance in all things and they dwell in happiness; THEN their hearts become set on the prosperity, they become proud and maybe take personal credit for the abundance, willfully rebelling against God--and then they fall. They lose their happiness and all of the other blessings from God. 

Many people blame the prosperity for the wickedness of the people. To me, this makes no sense; it's counterproductive for the Lord if you think about it. If His purpose is to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man, why would He bless them with something that inherently will curse them and cut them off from eternal life? No, the wickedness comes from the pride of man. If we don't stay plugged in to our foundation, even Jesus Christ, and keep Him in our hearts at all times, we are in danger of cutting ourselves off, for whatever reason, be it pride from riches or envy of riches or whatever choice we make to steer us away from the straight and narrow path.

So then I began to wonder how people can be so quick to forget where their blessings come from and turn against God so readily. Of course no one reason is all inclusive, but I had a realization that often times this change of heart arises within a new generation who maybe wasn't around during the times of struggle or whatever else brought them to total dependence on The Lord. Maybe the ease of the life that was handed to the new generation by their parents who were happy to give their children a blessed life--one better than their own--created a disconnect between them and God because they lacked the insight that comes from situations that are sometimes needed in building a testimony. This natural cycle comes in part, then, from this imperfect world where we live, mixed with a sense of entitlement that comes from not really understanding opposition in all things. 

This thought then led me to a question: the young generation of today, we have been told, is a chosen generation, saved for this time to lead this world in preparation for the Second Coming of the Savior.  This generation has also been born into a time of great prosperity--probably the greatest this world has ever seen--and it really is no secret that they have a tendency to be very entitled. We don't have to look very hard to see that God is being edged out. So how do we as parents and leaders keep this cycle from happening to our youth? If it has happened over and over in history, what is it that we are to do to keep it from happening in this all important time of our time on earth. It's basically our last chance to "get it right" and prepare a world that is worthy for the Savior to come, and the responsibility seems to lie upon our youth!!I don't believe that avoiding prosperity or denying these blessings from God to our children is the right answer--I believe denying blessings from God is a form of being offensive to God. 

I almost felt a sense of anxiety as I thought about what seemed to be a huge Catch 22. 

But then... 

the peaceful thought came to my mind, "Teach them about history" to which I replied, "HOW??!!!" 😫😫

 It actually took a day or two for the answer to come as I was explaining this "awful realization" to my friend after we had done a session together in the temple. THE BOOK OF MORMON WAS WRITTEN FOR OUR DAY. 

I've read this, known this, and thought I understood this for such a long time, but I guess I hadn't really internalized the real life actual truth of what it meant. 

In my family, we have read (slowly) through the Book of Mormon about 12 times with our kids. It is a huge part of our family routine and tradition. But have we really taught our kids the truth of all of the principles taught therein? Do our kids know that they have the power because of these histories that have been written about the cycles of wickedness and of prosperity to choose to change this cycle? It's a CHOICE!!! And knowledge brings the power to choose righteously. This is a huge blessing and a relief to my heart. It is also a huge responsibility. 

Two-thirds of kids are grown and "past the point of parental teaching" but with the last two, we still have a chance. But even with the other three, has the opportunity truly passed? I'm not saying the other three haven't learned or understood this already or that they won't figure it out later on if they have not, but I need to remember my responsibilties as their mother to do all I can through example and testimony and love to help bring them to a realization of the power they each hold to lead this world to God. Knowledge is power.