Beyond the Veil

[Elphaba]

Before I begin I want you to know I am an ex-member of the Church.

It was a talk given by Elder H. Wallace Goddard. It is called 'A Heavenly One-on-One', and describes in detail his thoughts of the conversation we had with our Heavenly Father before we came here to earth.

In my mind I picture a time some ages ago when Father called you and me--each of us individually--to an interview, a Father’s Interview. He looked on us with love and shared His appreciation for us: “I love you, Dear One.”

.>snip<

“Let me show you something.” He opened our minds to see every hour, every minute, every second, every hiccough of our personal mortal experience. After all, He is not a person to sneak big surprises into the small print of our mortal contracts. In my opinion, He showed us every single thing we would experience in our mortal education from the pains of birth to the anxieties of death and every struggle in between. We were sobered.

. . . .

At this point our eyes were big with disbelief and tears coursed down our cheeks. We slipped from His arms to our knees “You would do all that for me?”

. . . .

I don’t recall any one teaching this version of Brother Goddard’s talk. So, is it his speculation only, or is there some doctrine indicating his concepts are the way it was?

I feel that God’s whole purpose, His goal, His destiny, is to enable each of us to enjoy all His blessings. He has provided a perfect plan to accomplish His purpose.

I understand people who did not receive the gospel will do so in the Spirit Prison.

But to say “to enable each of us to. . . “ seems self-aggrandizing to me, especially since ninety-plus percent of world’s population will never hear the gospel on earth. (I’m guestimating that number; however, I think it is accurate, or close to it.)

Okay, it just occurred to me. Are you speaking only of Latter-day Saints?

There is not one of us here today who He has not blessed, even if we take the selfish act of only counting our birth.

Why is it selfish to count your birth?

Does Heaven have tissues?

Elphaba

Edited September 13, 2008 by Elphaba

[Moksha]

Perhaps to know what's happening on Enish-go-on-Dosh and Obliblish.

[Moksha]

Just a peek into the pre existence to see what it was like....thats it nothing else just a peek....:)

If I saw what things were like there for a day, I would most likely be a real killjoy when it came time to speculate here at LDS.net.

[silver_bowtie]

Well, that was clearly a mistake. My sincere apologies to OP for steering this thread into a different direction than intended.

I don’t recall any one teaching this version of Brother Goddard’s talk. So, is it his speculation only, or is there some doctrine indicating his concepts are the way it was?

At the very beginning of his talk he says, "In my mind I picture a time some ages ago when Father called you and me..."

It's just his thought, his idea, his surmising, of what may have happened. Nothing more. There is no associated doctrine that indicate his concepts are what happened before we came here.

But to say “to enable each of us to. . . “ seems self-aggrandizing to me, especially since ninety-plus percent of world’s population will never hear the gospel on earth.

There's nothing boastful about this statement at all. When I say that I feel that God’s whole purpose is to enable each of us to enjoy all His blessings, this doesn't just apply to LDS only. It applies to everyone who has come before, living now, or will come to pass.

Why is it selfish to count your birth?

It's not selfish to count it. It is selfish to stop there.

[Elphaba]

At the very beginning of his talk he says, "In my mind I picture a time some ages ago when Father called you and me..."

It's just his thought, his idea, his surmising, of what may have happened. Nothing more. There is no associated doctrine that indicate his concepts are what happened before we came here.

Thank you. I just wanted to know if there were some doctrine involved I was not aware of, or did not remember.

There's nothing boastful about this statement at all. When I say that I feel that God’s whole purpose is to enable each of us to enjoy all His blessings, this doesn't just apply to LDS only. It applies to everyone who has come before, living now, or will come to pass.

Okay, boastful (or self-aggrandizing) is not the right word, as it is not what I meant.

I think this example may help: Members of Islam do not believe in the Christian god. So, if God is blessing them, how would they know it was from God, and not Allah, the god of the Qur'an? And is it wrong for them not to do know they are from God, which, of course, they wouldn't?

And I would ask the same question of other non-Christian faiths and beliefs.

I understand what you meant about "selfish" as it applies to members of the Church. I don't understand it as it applies to members of other faiths.

I am not asking the questions to prove anything. I think it's an interesting concept, and would like to know how it applies to all people while they are still mortal.

Elphaba

[Prodigal_Son]

I'd love to see the conversation where Father told me what He expected of me while I was down here.

[WANDERER]

To know God more fully of course.

Oh yeah...well it would set to rest any doubts...(I'm not LDS...).