Endure to the End

[Guest]

I've always been taught that the commandment to "endure to the end" was referring to remaining obedient after we've repented of something.  It gives the impression that we are able to complete a repentance process and get to that point where we are "over it."  Then we need to just keep ourselves away from it so we don't backslide.

The past few months have made me believe that, while the above may be true, there is an alternative way of looking at this commandment.

What it if is referring to something that is more encouraging to the backsliders?  I know that I've got my own demons and my little devils to deal with.  Many of them I've had since childhood.  Recently, both my daughter and my son  came to me with problems they were having and they asked how they can keep trying to change these issues when they didn't seem to be making any progress.  How could they hope to ever win?  It occurred to me that I'm much older than they are, and some issues I've got don't seem to be getting any better.  And it ain't for lack of trying.  So, I didn't know if I could offer them any hope.

But as I prayed for something insightful to tell my children, the prayers were answered.

• Old sayings: It matters not that you try and fail, and try and fail again.  It only matters that you try and fail, and fail to try again.  Other similar sayings.
• The Lord gives us weakness to make us humble.
• Endure to the end.

Through all those thoughts, it occurred to me that I knew no better than my children that I'd ever be rid of all my demons no matter how hard I try.  But there came the new meaning of endure to the end.  Not only is it to mean that we stay away from that which we have fully repented of.  It means that we need to keep trying no matter how often, no matter how spectacularly we fail.  We continue in repentance and humility.  Enduring for me has meant that I keep trying to overcome my weaknesses even if I continually fail throughout my entire life.   But I keep trying.  I keep failing.  Then I keep trying again.

I called up from my memory this poem.  As I read it again, I shed a few tears.  This is my life over and over again.  But I keep trying.

Quote

The Race

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face, 
    my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race. 
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well, 
    excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell. 
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race 
    or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place. 
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son, 
    and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire, 
    to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire. 
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd, 
    was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.” 
But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip, 
    the little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped. 
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace, 
    and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face. 
As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now. 
    Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.

But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face, 
    which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!” 
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all, 
    and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall. 
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win, 
    his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again. 
He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace. 
    “I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”

But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face 
    with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!” 
So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last. 
    “If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!” 
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten... 
    but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again. 
Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye. 
    “There’s no sense running anymore! Three strikes I’m out! Why try? 
I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought. “I’ll live with my disgrace.” 
    But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all, 
    for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall. 
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place! 
    You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!” 
So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit, 
    and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit. 
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been, 
    still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win. 
Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again. 
    Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place, 
    head high and proud and happy -- no falling, no disgrace. 
But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place, 
    the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race. 
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud, 
    you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd. 
And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.” 
    “To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”

And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face, 
    the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race. 
For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all. 
    And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall. 
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face, 
    another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”

    ---Attributed to Dr. D.H. "Dee" Groberg

 

[NeuroTypical]

Yep - endure to the end certainly has meaning for people in various situations.  The recovering addict.  The person with a terminal diagnosis deciding on a treatment path. The poster who started that thread about how his felony conviction is making life hard for him a decade later.  

[NeedleinA]

This always comes to mind when I hear "endure".

Quote

D&C 121:8 And then, if thou endure it, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

Not so much what I think our Father in Heaven is looking for.
Here is the correct version of the scripture (not the altered one above), notice the difference:

Quote

D&C 121:8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

Enduring it "well" I think is were we find a good majority of the blessings. As we look for the blessing in our weaknesses, trails and tribulations we can grow the most. That growth spawns the blessings. Many people can simply endure things - if for no other reason than a survival instinct. The better version is taking it a step further and enduring "well". What can I learn? How can I grow? How can I turn this weakness into a strength?

Your kids are lucky to have you as their father @Carborendum, I mean it.

[zil]

"Endure to the End" as a phrase was coined shortly after the translation of "the Isaiah chapters".  It enjoyed a resurgence in popularity not long after they published War and Peace.

Edited December 1, 2017 by zil

[Guest]

3 hours ago, zil said:

"Endure to the End" as a phrase was coined shortly after the translation of "the Isaiah chapters".  It enjoy a resurgence in popularity not long after they published War and Peace.

It is found in many places in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, actually.  The scriptural wording is "endure unto the end."

And I found this:

https://www.lds.org/youth/article/how-to-endure-to-the-end?lang=eng

Pretty cool.

Edited December 1, 2017 by Guest

[zil]

9 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

It is found in many places in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon, actually.  The scriptural wording is "endure unto the end."

And I found this:

https://www.lds.org/youth/article/how-to-endure-to-the-end?lang=eng

Pretty cool.

Stop ruining my fun with your facts!

[Sunday21]

14 minutes ago, zil said:

Stop ruining my fun with your facts!

Know just how you feel!

[brlenox]

For years I had considered the placement of the Book of Ether in the Book of Mormon.  Deferring to the chronological time based paradigm magnified by our mortal priority of advancing from infancy to mile markers predicated upon the passage of time, at 8 baptism, at 12 priesthood, at sixteen dating, at 21 a brief foray into the joys of cream based rum drinks, to 24 a mission etc. Each event is marked by a near instant glance forward to the next event predicated upon the passage of time. Limited to my time based paradigm, I wondered way as the oldest book it was not put first.  One day sitting in high priest group, somebody referenced the phrase " I Nephi having been born of goodly parents" and I was gently carried away in a moment of spiritual reflection.  I did not know it prior but in that moment I knew that if I looked at the very last verse of the Book of Mormon I would see something that would explain my question of Ether.

Moroni's final words were:

Quote

 

Moroni 10:34

34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

 

So where the very first verse in the Book of Mormon is about birth and the beginning of life, the final is about dying and leaving this mortal existence and I realized that in just one more way as the Book of Mormon was reflective of so many truths it was also ordered in such a way as to be reflective of the life of a single individual and their progress to return to the Lord.  It goes from birth, to coming to the Lord and then the life that will be endured by all as they battle Alma's wars and forces of evil in tumultuous soul trying ways.  They will advance with each victory and as they mature they will draw ever closer to the events of the Brother of Jared, where established in the faith and unmovable in their testimony of Christ they may have such an opportunity to either literally or otherwise be noted of the Savior as worthy to come into his presence and have their calling and election made sure.

And then ... while Ether represents a period later in life when one has been tried and found faithful, there is still Moroni. Though in our lives we hope to have so great an experience as the Brother of Jared, one of the themes of the Book of Moroni is an over arching reflection on his 30 years of wandering.  Moroni is the "endure to the end" model of our existence. Though our lives should reach so great a pinnacle as found in the book of Ether it is the reality of a life that in the majority of individuals they must continue beyond the event and endure to the end managing the end of life trials and the vicissitudes of aging while we each one endure to the end.  It does seem that as we grow closer to our Lord and find our lives marked by his visage in our countenances that it becomes increasingly an act of enduring and enduring and enduring until the day "30" years later that we can finally leave this life having endured to the end and as Moroni, finally enter into the "rest [of] the paradise of God". 

Edited December 1, 2017 by brlenox
For the want of a comma

[Guest]

8 hours ago, brlenox said:

For years I had considered the placement of the Book of Ether in the Book of Mormon.  Deferring to the chronological time based paradigm magnified by our mortal priority of advancing from infancy to mile markers predicated upon the passage of time

That really is a very meaningful insight.  Thank you. 

How would you characterize the positioning of Mormon, Ether, then Moroni?

[brlenox]

2 hours ago, Carborendum said:

That really is a very meaningful insight.  Thank you. 

How would you characterize the positioning of Mormon, Ether, then Moroni?

Mormon, to me simply represents one of those near overwhelming dark, dark, times in our life.  The battles shift somewhat but are still battles.  However, as spiritually matured individuals the role we play in the battle shifts.  It is not the foot soldiers or the infantryman that form the mass of Alma's faceless armies but Mormon has become the head figure in the fight against evil.  It is not that he is fighting the battles of personal growth and personal conquest but he has become filled with a need to marshal the Lords forces to help others as best as he can.  While he may fail in the moment, that is not what is marked by his role - a charitable one that does not want to see any lost in the battle to the darkness that attempts to crush and destroy. He has conquered his Goliaths and now wants to assist others in conquering theirs. 

In this thread several are discussing the same thing, that process of enduring the myriad influences that God incorporates into a lifetime to move us through each stage.  We are all in varying degrees of still fighting the personal battles that beset us and we must endure to the end of that process.  However, some will succeed enough in their personal battles that they can move beyond and whether in official capacities or otherwise they find themselves standing between those still trying to move forward and the adversary who would mow them down.  So while each of us is in a different place in the process, some still engaged in the battles for our own souls and others hoping to preserve the souls of others, it is simply the perspective of our current location that speaks to the differences of where our heart is in the process.

There is a distinction in the personal suffering one feels when their heart has shifted from the concern for ones own spiritual welfare and the more burdensome concern for the welfare of others - it is burdened by a profound solemnity and concern.  It not as cut and dry as it sounds in a 5 paragraph write-up, as we are all playing parts of these roles from the very beginning.  As parents we find ourselves very motivated by the concerns for our children's spiritual growth but that is one of the ways that we are prepared to look outside of ourselves to the needs of others until like Mormon we suffer in profound ways of eternal concern for any of Christ's sheep that need protection.

I only know somewhat of some of these experiences, but it has been my observation that certain key experiences of our interactions with Christ are quite often proceeded by very trying and dark periods such as Mormon endures that bring us to the point of what we see in the Book of Ether and we are bathed in light. Then as discussed before, we still must continue onward as does Moroni enduring his remaining years.

I will say that the analogy breaks down if we get too tedious in trying to wrap excessive specifics into the interpretation.  It is the general overall feel of each stage that mirrors the types and shadows of our own lives and these general themes become us - it is no longer Mormon, or The Brother of Jared , or Moroni but it becomes me and it becomes you and the pattern the Book of Mormon is illustrating in this perspective is simply one life.  It is the life of the reader and there may be variations on a theme within our lives that seem unique to us as individuals but the overall battle and ambition for righteous accomplishment is manifest in just the right way for me to find my individual place in the process as couched in the stories of the Book of Mormon and anyone else to see their own life mirrored in its pages just a clearly and specifically as if it was tailored to the individual. In this way, it is very much our own story which hopefully does not stall and veer out of the narrative because we became to tired or mired in sin to continue to endure to the end.

Edited December 1, 2017 by brlenox

[Guest]

On 11/30/2017 at 9:44 PM, zil said:

Stop ruining my fun with your facts!

That's the second time in as many days that someone said I nit-picked at people's statements.

On 11/30/2017 at 9:59 PM, Sunday21 said:

Know just how you feel!

That's the third time!  It MUST be so.  I'm a nit-picker.  So, that's where my kids got it from.  I thought I was the only one who found it annoying.

Edited December 5, 2017 by Guest

[zil]

1 minute ago, Carborendum said:

I thought I was the only one who found it annoying.

You find yourself annoying?

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, zil said:

You find yourself annoying?

Actually, sometimes...

BSF, my self-awareness is hit or miss.  It sometimes takes someone putting the mirror up to my face about 1 to 2 inches away for me to see.

Edited December 5, 2017 by Guest