The more things change, the more they remain the same

April 15, 2012

In 1965 I got married to my bride, Jean, we finished up my stint in the US Navy, moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, began our odyssey through a spate of universities including Arizona State in Tempe. It was there that I met a marvelous lady professor, Mona Campbell. She was one of the many people I have known in my life to really stimulate my thinking. As I recall she had lived in Snowflake, Arizona until she reared her family. Then, at the insistence of her family, she took a couple of classes in college to build her confidence and stop vegetating. From there she determined that she would get an associate, then bachelorette, masters, and when I met her she was completing her doctorate and soon accepted a teaching position in Hawaii. In her Educational Psychology class she posed the question, “Is there anything absolute . . .that lasts forever?  I quipped, sure, GOD. You could hear the wheels fall off as the class pondered this delightful morsel. Surely no one in this enlightened day and age would be so bold as to declare God a reality.

Fast forward to the present and what is our political, social, mental, and spiritual prose today? Exactly the same! Look closely at the rhetoric at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry. Look at the Children of Israel only a speck of time after their rescue, care and keeping by God. Try to put your life into the mix during the dark ages, or during the time of spiritual awakening protests, spawning the reawakening of the spirit to God’s love. Question people who would castigate anyone who dared to believe; to hold religious services of their personal perspective; to believe in an eternal God that loves us, and despite our continued lack of faith and belief, continues to hold us dear.

I have witnessed some of the brightest, most distinguished people on the planet wander off the strait and narrow path leading to eternal life. The errors in thinking come the exact same way they did five thousand years ago. Just a little addiction here; a little pornography can’t hurt anyone. The slick color underwear advertisements could well be the devil’s carrot. How about some nice pleasant, prescribed drugs, taken just a little too freely? How about freely available smut on television showing literal orgies to young impressionable children on America’s Got Talent?

This is not a global war. This is a personal, one-by-one war. We all know our personal sins and temptations better than anyone else on this planet. It is incumbent upon each, individually to set our personal record straight. Mormon, Catholic, Jew, Muslim, Methodist, Baptist. We must all eventually go to that God who gave us life. There we will open our personal book of life and declare ourselves unworthy to enter his presence because we are not perfect. The rest is up to God and his infinite grace. We see this from many different points of the spectrum, so we take it on faith that God is fair, just, and will minister justice and mercy. I personally believe that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be made whole and ready to enter his presence. That though our sins be scarlet, we can return to his presence. I believe that we have abundant opportunities to rub shoulders with other imperfect people during church services, participate in spiritual communion through the Sacrament; share in His word through listening to current Prophets and other spiritual leaders, reading scriptures about the struggles God’s children have had throughout the centuries, and generally feasting on the Words of God.

In a recent discussion with a friend, we determined once again, that you can’t stand still. You either continue along the iron rod, or you look longingly at the swarming teams of people in the fancy, spacious building and slowly but surely, work out of the embrace of the Savior and right into the arms of old Scratch, himself.

I am going to try to do better. I am going to set my sights on being with my bride throughout this life and the eternities in the house of God

God bless us all as we work to serve each other and love our Maker.

Duane Jacobs, Grandpa, father, uncle, cousin, brother, and friend