Why Eternal Progression?

[Guest Mores]

On 12/7/2019 at 7:27 PM, askandanswer said:

I can't figure out how we're going to deal with the sense of overload, or boredom or fulfillment that often comes from repeating the same experience too many times. In mortality, no matter how great, enjoyable, fulfilling, fun, exciting, or whatever, an experience is, eventually we tire of it and what to stop and take a break. Or, looking at a similar concept, when a person who was miserable no longer becomes miserable, the not feeling miserable becomes the new norm and not feeling miserable is no longer enough to bring peace and contentment. When a person starts to feeling happy, if they feel happy for long enough, happiness becomes the new norm and feeling happy is no longer enough to bring them peace and contentment. And when they start to feel really happy, then..............ad infinitum. There is something about mortality that means that no matter how good the conditions are, or what those conditions are, or how much we are enjoying them, we eventually, sometimes even quickly become accustomed to new conditions of living and are no longer happy with what we had, and want more. I wonder if the same principle will apply in immortality, and if not, how this tendency to quickly become bored or no longer satisfied, will be dealt with. 

I'm really sorry to hear this.  It sounds ... really depressing.  Have you never really felt the touch of the Divine?  Have you never had the windows of heaven opened to you?  Have you never felt to sing the song of redeeming love?  Have you never had the image of the Lord in your countenance?

If so, do you feel so now?

I truly believe that if you're going to simply analyze it from a practical, temporal, and sociological perspective, you're just going to get depressed into a cesspool of existential sophistry.

The love, joy, redemption, and divinity one feels from having the Spirit truly touch you is what motivates, inspires, and enlightens.  If you feel that, you'll understand what Eternal Progression really is about.  And it's not about anything you just posted here.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Mores

[anatess2]

On 12/7/2019 at 8:27 PM, askandanswer said:

 Or, looking at a similar concept, when a person who was miserable no longer becomes miserable, the not feeling miserable becomes the new norm and not feeling miserable is no longer enough to bring peace and contentment. When a person starts to feeling happy, if they feel happy for long enough, happiness becomes the new norm and feeling happy is no longer enough to bring them peace and contentment. 

 

10 hours ago, Mores said:

I'm really sorry to hear this.  It sounds ... really depressing. 

Yes, it is really depressing.  And when I was young, I used to think that - If only I could get to America, I will be very happy.  Then I got to America.  If only I could make $15/hr I would be very happy.  Then I got $15/hr.  If only I could buy a house... then I did... etc. etc.  I was young and stupid.  But then I grew out of that phase.  I now have a 3,000 sq ft house that I enjoy but I'm facing the reality of my children leaving the house and I realize that the house is not what makes me happy it's the people in it.  So, now I'm trying to convince my husband that we need a 2-year plan of building a towable house so we can go wherever the kids are and not worry about their wives kicking us out of their house.

My father's teaching now makes complete sense - my father lived his life such that if the house burns down, the very first thing he is saving after the wife and kids is his address book.  He has this very important book that has the names, addresses, and phone numbers of every single person he knows - he keeps in touch with all of them and visits them whenever he can.  That was his life - he connects with people.  So, he went to Houston so I visited him, he took me downtown and rode the public bus there and when I got on the bus, the driver greeted him by name and asked, "so this is the programmer?".... the bus driver not only knew my dad by name he knew about all my dad's children... My dad lived his life at peace and content because he loved and was loved.

[askandanswer]

22 hours ago, Mores said:

I'm really sorry to hear this.  It sounds ... really depressing.  Have you never really felt the touch of the Divine?  Have you never had the windows of heaven opened to you?  Have you never felt to sing the song of redeeming love?  Have you never had the image of the Lord in your countenance?

If so, do you feel so now?

I truly believe that if you're going to simply analyze it from a practical, temporal, and sociological perspective, you're just going to get depressed into a cesspool of existential sophistry.

The love, joy, redemption, and divinity one feels from having the Spirit truly touch you is what motivates, inspires, and enlightens.  If you feel that, you'll understand what Eternal Progression really is about.  And it's not about anything you just posted here.

I have felt these things. For me, and possibly for others, these experiences are brief, temporary and infrequent, so I think its only natural to wonder how we will cope when such experiences become an eternal constant, especially when we consider the impact on mortal bodies of more intense versions of the kind of experiences you, as suggested by 1 Nephi, 1:8,  Moses 1: 9 – 10, Mosiah 27:18 and Alma 18:42

[Guest Mores]

11 hours ago, askandanswer said:

I have felt these things. For me, and possibly for others, these experiences are brief, temporary and infrequent, so I think its only natural to wonder how we will cope when such experiences become an eternal constant, especially when we consider the impact on mortal bodies of more intense versions of the kind of experiences you, as suggested by 1 Nephi, 1:8,  Moses 1: 9 – 10, Mosiah 27:18 and Alma 18:42

True, wondering is certainly natural -- and actually very empowering.  It is the gateway to learning.

I apparently got an incorrect impression of what you were expressing in the earlier post.  I can't think of anything wrong with wondering.  But the dwelling on it was where I thought you were going with it.  That's where the depression comes in.

The thing is that my OP did address this.  I'm wondering if your sentiment was to say "Yeah, that's it." or "I don't see why there is any attraction, in spite of what you're saying."

The general idea is that you seemed to think it would eventually get boring.  That was what I addressed in the OP.  Other kingdoms will indeed get boring.  Eventually, we'll get to a point of "What do we do now?".  But that simply isn't so in the Celestial.  That's what makes it desirable.  We'll never stop progressing.  We never stop getting more, doing more, and being more.  The very thing you decried is the very thing that doesn't exist in the Celestial.  Thus, my title "Why Eternal Progression?"

 

As far as the brief, temporary, and infrequent, I'd posit that you need to do something to change that.  We tend to get this idea that such infrequency is normal.  But when we receive counsel that tells us to "stand in holy places" and "spend our lives in service" and that the Lord is in and through ALL things, what does that mean to you?

I saw the Jackie Chan version of The Karate Kid (The Kung Fu Kid) not because I thought it would be a great film, but because I really like Jackie Chan.  It turned out that he was really the only high point of the movie.  But there was a scene that was basically the "reveal" of all the "wax-on/wax-off" stuff the kid had been doing.  Jackie says,"Kung Fu is in EVERYTHING we do."

Can you have breakfast with your family and see the Lord's goodness?  Can you drive to work with all the rush hour madness and see the Lord's purpose in it?  When you work for a backbreaking boss and customers who ask the impossible and see the Passion of Christ?

Everything we do that is commonplace or even seem evil can be an opportunity to connect with the Lord.  We can seek Him out in ALL things.  As we do so, we will find such experiences to be much more frequent.

Question:  How often do you pray vocally, while looking UP to heaven?

Edited December 10, 2019 by Mores