In The Space of Not Many Years

[Carborendum]

Elder Bednar's address this last Conference:

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Prosperity, possessions, and ease constitute a potent mixture that can lead even the righteous to drink the poison of pride.

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Symptoms:

• Mock that which is sacred
• Disbelieve in the spriit of prophecy and revelation
• Trample under our feet the commandments of God
• Deny the word of God
• Cast out mock and revile against the prophets
• Forget the Lord our God
• Desire the the Lord our God should not rule and reign over us

We tend to be afflicted with spiritual blindness.  When we only see ourselves and look to our own understanding, we cannot look upon Jesus Christ as the mark.

For me:

I'm wary of myself falling into this trap.  As of the past few years, I certainly have prosperity, possessions, and ease beyond a great majority of Americans.  So, I wonder how to avoid this trap.

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But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.

 -- Hel 13:38

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It is true.  I've spent a lot of time at work in order to secure financial security.  I tend to believe that my family did not suffer much for want of a father's presence.  But I'm sure they did at some level.

I've now obtained a level of security that many would envy.  And it is in a way... less stressful.  But in another way, it is not as satisfying as I had envisioned.  So, did I really gain anything?  I had a huge balance in my savings account.  But recently I had a whole mess of major expenses that nearly wiped it out.  Is it really worth it?  Maybe.  At least I had that savings.  But it feels like the devourer is eating up all I've built up.  Now that I have it.  I don't value it as much.  I realize all these things are "that which doth not satisfy."

Now I wonder what I can do to be like "the lesser part (who) walked more circumspectly before God."  I recognize it is really easy for me to wander off into forbidden paths and become one of the Great and Spacious building.  I have seen signs of pride in my life.  They're almost knee-jerk reactions at this point.

The problem is that I have not been able to find much about how to avoid that.  I read all the warnings about that being a high probability.  But I don't see much on how to avoid it other than "be more humble" or other fairly obvious things.  But I don't know how to do that any more than what I've already been doing.  Yet, I keep "feeling the tug."

One thing I've come to realize is that the comparison between Americans and the rest of the world (regarding wealth) is absolutely true.  Even the poor person in America can be fat and have a roof over our heads.  Other countries?  Not so much.  Being wealthy sounds glamorous because of movies and entertainment.  But it isn't significantly better than being poor -- in the big picture.

On the flip side of it all, I remember having a lot of the same attitudes when I was poor.  I did a lot of the same things.  I judged people just as much today as when I was poor.  I was an arrogant child when I had nothing and was eating food that someone had dropped in the street.  So, was it wealth that made me this way?  I think I was always this way.

I dunno.

[SilentOne]

  On 11/5/2024 at 2:34 PM, Carborendum said:

So, was it wealth that made me this way?  I think I was always this way.

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This reminds me of Alma 32. Specifically verse 25.

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For I do not mean that ye all of you have been compelled to humble yourselves; for I verily believe that there are some among you who would humble themselves, let them be in whatsoever circumstances they might.

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We were all born with particular strengths and weaknesses and tendencies. What we experience can influence the expression of all of those, but probably some of those tendencies are stronger than others and take more effort and/or outside influences to effect.

Unfortunately, I don't think I have any particularly new insights about how to build humility and remove pride. Studying 2 Corinthians 12 and Ether 12 might help. And the usual pray always, reflect and repent frequently, study scriptures daily, partake of the sacrament every week you can.

But I think we all might have particular weaknesses that are going to be a lifelong struggle.