A Mirage of Beliefs and Worships

In 1983, magician David Copperfield wowed a live audience when he made the Statue of Liberty disappear before their very eyes, even shining strobe lights through the open air where the Statue once stood to satisfy even the staunchest skeptics. Or did he?

Most magic tricks are illusions that rely on a combination of distractions, perceptual distortions and creative engineering. Copperfield employed all of these elements to deceive and delight his audience: the dark of night and two large pillars on stage restricted the audience's view, stage lighting and a fake radar system gave the audience false cues about what they were seeing, and loud music helped to hide a slow rotation of the stage and seating area. When the seating area had turned so that Lady Liberty was safely hidden behind one of the pillars, the curtain came up and spotlights confirmed nothing but open air. The audience, now disconnected from the reality of what they were seeing, applauded in astonished approval.

In the audience of a magician, we are delighted by the unexpected and the unexplainable. It's far less charming when, often without even knowing, we are confronted by illusions in our lives that have been creatively engineered to distort our perception and distract our pursuits. Like the mist of darkness in Lehi's vision, the world offers an abundance of false cues and figurative loud music that will ultimately disconnect us from reality and lead us down broad roads where we wander off and are lost (1 Nephi 8:23). In the midst of the mist we may unknowingly become blinded to true principles and deceived by errant thinking, social pressures, cynicism and doubt.

President Benson said it this way:

Without [Christ] we would be lost in a mirage of beliefs and worships, born in fear and darkness where the sensual and materialistic hold sway. We are far short of the goal he set for us, but we must never lose sight of it; nor must we forget that our great climb toward the light, toward perfection, would not be possible except for his teachings, his life, his death, and his resurrection" (April 1964).

Mirages are optical illusions that most often occur when light is refracted by hot air. They can be difficult to discern until we approach where they appear and discover nothing but a hot emptiness.

The mirages of the world are just as real in appearance and just as void upon arrival. The pursuit of worldly mirages can lead us far away from the person we want to be and the life we hope to have.

Consider, for example, the mirage of money. Most of the world's money today is found in the data banks of computers. The bank has a number stored for me and a number stored for you. If you think about it, that's really all you have-- a number. Our economies can function based on these numbers sitting on computer databases because we have all agreed to pretend the numbers we have are valuable. We accept addition for our hard work and subtraction in exchange for the things we want.

We are playing the same game whether our currency is a number on a computer, a stack of paper bills, gold and silver, or a 20-foot chunk of donut-shaped limestone as once used on the Micronesian island of Yap; there is little inherent value to any of these items-- it's all an awesome game of pretend we play our entire lives. In fact, it's so awesome and can get us so many things (even a trip to the Micronesian island of Yap) that it is easy to believe that a bigger number at the bank or a larger accumulation of those things will make us happy.

The trouble is, money isn't real in the first place. We made it up because it was easier than trading livestock and loaves of bread. We made it up to help us all get the food and shelter and services we need. We didn't make it up to make people happy; and those who build their happiness on money will find they are just as disconnected from reality and the real things that can really make them happy as someone in the audience of a great magician.

Like a dark mist or a mirage, much of what we encounter in the world is empty or contains too little substance to provide a foundation for real joy and happiness. Many build their identities on their academic or athletic achievements, only to find these are subjective and temporary. Status and fame are often fleeting. Recreation and fun lose their appeal when tragedy strikes and our hearts are heavy. Pornographic images cannot love us back. Video game victories are erased by a drop of water or a poorly placed magnet. Labels placed on us, whatever they may be, eventually fade and peel.

In 2001, Bishop McMullin warned of the mirage of worldly preoccupation with self. "The highs are counterfeit," he taught, "the lows are disparing. Love, kindness, personal fulfillment, and genuine self-worth are found in service to God and others, not in service to oneself" (An Invitation with a Promise, 2001).

Similarly, Elder Bednar has taught that "sadly, some [men and women] in the Church today ignore 'things as they really are' and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value." He continued:

Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, earbuds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person-to-person communication. Beware of digital displays and data in many forms of computer-mediated interaction that can displace the full range of physical capacity and experience (Things as They Really Are, 2010).

In these prophetic warnings about the mirages of the world we see that there are many ways we can be fooled into giving up what matters most for an attractive illusion. However these illusions may deceive our senses for a time, they cannot quench our thirsts for purpose, joy, love and belonging.

Prophetic teachings also teach us about what is real: Loving and kind relationships filled with service and communication, covenants such as baptism and eternal marriage, physical experience and a grounded knowledge in things as they really are enhance our lives and bring lasting satisfaction.

In Lehi's dream, the iron rod through the mist of darkness was the word of God. If we are lost in a mirage of beliefs and worships without Christ, certainly with Christ we are anchored in reality and receive a clearer focus on what we want most in life. Like watching a magic trick after we have learned the trick, we are better able to discern reality when we embrace the word of God in the scriptures, revealed through modern prophets and written on our hearts by the Holy Ghost.

Jacob taught:

The spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls (Jacob 4:13).

Ultimately, the spirit and the words of the prophets will lead us to our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the living water that can quench our thirst. He has blazed a trail through the mist and engraven the path upon the palms of his hands. Through his atonement we find healing and strength, love for self and others, compassion, knowledge, service, power, lasting joy and eternal glory. Though the world will offer innumerable counterfeits and illusions that leave us with only vacant space, holding to the word of God will safely guide us through this life and back to that God that created all that is real.

A Time to Prepare

In the October 2011 General Conference, Elder Ian S. Ardern delivered an address titled, 'A Time to Prepare'. It was an excellent talk worth reviewing again and again. In his remarks, Elder Ardern reminded us:

Time is never for sale; time is a commodity that cannot, try as you may, be bought at any store for any price. Yet when time is wisely used, its value is immeasurable. On any given day we are allocated, without cost, the same number of minutes and hours to use... What time we have we must use wisely.

Though it often seems like we own the time that is granted to us, the Lord has made it clear that he is very interested in how we use that time. He has instructed us to 'cease to be idle' and to be 'anxiously engaged in a good cause' (Alma 38:12, D&C 88:124, D&C 58:27). President Brigham Young taught that 'we are all indebted to God for the ability to use time to advantage, and he will require of us a strict accounts of [its] disposition' (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 286). Indeed, the Lord has said that 'he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father' (D&C 72:4).

While our choices certainly determine how we use our time, clearly our relationship with time is one of stewardship. The gift of time we receive from our Heavenly Father is also a responsibility and an opportunity to prove our ability to manage ourselves well.

In the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25, Christ taught us something about how stewardship assignments work. The master of the house gave three of his servants some coins to invest while he was away. Two of the servants had doubled the investments assigned to their care to the pleasure of their master. 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' the master told them. 'Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.'

The third servant hid the coin given to him in the dirt. The master of the house was angry with this servant's slothfulness and took away this servant's stewardship, casting him out of the house.

As the stewards of our time, the Lord has commanded us that we 'shalt not idle away [our] time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent' (D&C 60:13). We are idle when we are 'uninvolved in righteous works'. The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet explains a few of the reasons why: 'Idleness can lead to inappropriate behavior, damaged relationships, and sin.' It continues, 'One form of idleness is spending excessive amounts of time in activities that keep you from productive work, such as using the Internet, playing video games, and watching television.'

Elder Ardern had the same message last October. He said:

The poor use of time is a close cousin of idleness. As we follow the command to 'cease to be idle', we must be sure that being busy also equates to being productive... I sense that some are trapped in a new time-consuming addiction—one that enslaves us to be constantly checking and sending social messages and thus giving the false impression of being busy and productive... Electronic games and cyber acquaintances are no lasting substitute for real friends who can give an encouraging hug, who can pray for us and seek after our best interest.

Perhaps this kind of idleness--when hours are wasted while appearing or even believing we a busy--is more dangerous than the bored image of idleness as a void of activity. In a recent CES Fireside, Elder David A. Bednar shared a similar concern as Elder Ardern. He said:

Sadly, some young men and young women in the Church today ignore 'things as they really are' and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value. My heart aches when a young couple—sealed together in the house of the Lord for time and for all eternity by the power of the holy priesthood—experiences marital difficulties because of the addicting effect of excessive video gaming or online socializing. A young man or woman may waste countless hours, postpone or forfeit vocational or academic achievement, and ultimately sacrifice cherished human relationships because of mind- and spirit-numbing video and online games...

I raise an apostolic voice of warning about the potentially stifling, suffocating, suppressing, and constraining impact of some kinds of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls. The concerns I raise are not new; they apply equally to other types of media, such as television, movies, and music. But in a cyber world, these challenges are more pervasive and intense. I plead with you to beware of the sense-dulling and spiritually destructive influence of cyberspace technologies that are used to produce high fidelity and that promote degrading and evil purposes.

If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are. In essence, he encourages us to think and act as if we were in our premortal, unembodied state. And, if we let him, he can cunningly employ some aspects of modern technology to accomplish his purposes. Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, earbuds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person-to-person communication. Beware of digital displays and data in many forms of computer-mediated interaction that can displace the full range of physical capacity and experience.

 

In the Book of Mormon, Alma taught Zeezrom that though we all die, this life is a 'probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God' (Alma 12:24). Brigham Young taught that when we do meet God, we will be expected to give an accounting of that time. And Christ taught that if we are accounted worthy, we may be admitted into the 'joy of the lord' where we will be made 'rulers over many things' because of our wise stewardship.

Our use of time matters. With so many warnings to use our time well, we should be careful to put first the things that matter most, particularly our families and our relationship with our Heavenly Father. I join my testimony to Elder Ardern's:

I know our greatest happiness comes as we tune in to the Lord (see Alma 37:37) and to those things which bring a lasting reward, rather than mindlessly tuning in to countless hours of status updates, Internet farming, and catapulting angry birds at concrete walls. I urge each of us to take those things which rob us of precious time and determine to be their master, rather than allowing them through their addictive nature to be the master of us.

To have the peace the Savior speaks of (see John 14:27), we must devote our time to the things that matter most, and the things of God matter most. As we engage with God in sincere prayer, read and study each day from the scriptures, ponder on what we have read and felt, and then apply and live the lessons learned, we draw nearer to Him... 

Time marches swiftly forward to the tick of the clock. Today would be a good day, while the clock of mortality ticks, to review what we are doing to prepare to meet God. I testify that there are great rewards for those who take time in mortality to prepare for immortality and eternal life.