Once upon a time there was an awesome missionary.  His name was Ammon.  Based on his righteous example, he taught the gospel – which invited the spirit – which in turn prompted the conversion of a Lamanite king named Lamoni.  This Lamoni had previously been a pretty rotten guy.  But, since repentance is awesome and the gospel is true – Lamoni became a totally good guy (the truth will set you free).

Lamoni’s father– who was the king of all the Lamanites – was also a pretty rotten guy (generational ignorance helps people be rotten sometimes) and when he met Lamoni and Ammon on the road one day, he asked Lamoni to go ahead and kill Ammon since he was (according to his belief) “one of the children of a liar”.  Lamoni politely declined, and commenced in telling his personal tale of conversion at the hand of Ammon in an attempt to do away with the murderous thoughts that gripped his Lamanite king father.

This detailed explanation didn’t work.  To Lamoni’s astonishment, his father was still angry with him, and “commanded” Lamoni to slay Ammon.  He still wouldn’t – so Lamoni’s father then took matters into his own hands and started a sword fight with Ammon.  Ammon channeled his inner Westley (a.k.a. Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride) and “withstood his blows, and also smote his (Lamoni’s father’s) arm that he could not use it”.  This left king Lamoni’s father at the mercy of Ammon (I imagine him sitting/kneeling on the ground clutching his wounded arm/shoulder with a full realization that his mortal life is now completely in the hands of his opponent) – and he got a bit nervous.

In this spot, Lamoni’s father says to Ammon “If thou wilt spare me I will grant unto thee whatsoever thou wilt ask, even to half the kingdom”.  So, in return for Ammon sparing his physical life, Lamoni’s father was willing to give up to half of his kingdom.  That’s the high priced value of his physical life.

Ammon of course spared his life (and didn’t even collect on half of the kingdom), but required that Lamoni’s father let his son be and do as he pleased with his conversion and his religion.  This perplexed Lamoni’s father enough that he later “insisted” that Aaron (one of Ammon’s missionary companions) administer unto him, and teach him the things that had caused Lamoni to change his ways.  Aaron began to teach Lamoni’s father about everything (the creation, the fall, the atonement) which naturally filled the king with a burning desire to be born again, and to have his “wicked spirit rooted out of his breast… that he may be filled with joy.”  Then, after hearing the good news of the gospel he exclaimed: “I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

In summary, he was only willing to give up half his kingdom to save his physical life, but was willing forsake all in order to gain his spiritual life.

So, in thinking about how I could relate this sentiment (giving up half the kingdom, vs. forsaking all my kingdom) to the real world and our everyday lives, I naturally thought of triathlon unitards.  Yes, triathlon unitards – stay with me.

Last summer, I signed up for my first triathlon (I signed up on June 14, and the event was Aug. 8 – that’s a little less than 2 months to train).  I was fairly naïve in my training regimen leading up to the event.  I swam a bit, rode my bike a bit, and even mixed in a couple of runs on my way.  After all, it was a short distance triathlon and I was confident in my ability to just make it.  Please remember I used the word naïve in the previous sentence.

On race day I showed up a bit early and what I saw was a bit concerning – or even alarming.  Most of the other participants were wearing skin tight suits.  I later learned that these are triathlon suits (sometimes called tri suits or tri jerseys) – which are pretty much the equivalent of an adult onesie or a wrestling singlet.  These are designed to be worn in all 3 disciplines (swim, bike, run) to avoid the time wasting activity of changing clothes during transitions.  In other words – they are made specifically for triathletes to wear during a triathlon.  I on the other hand, had brought a backpack full of shorts, shirts, jackets, extra socks, headphones, my phone case, etc.

I even thought to myself “these other people (like 90% of them) look pretty silly in their spandex unitards”.  But not me, I look totally amazing in my gym shorts and my warm jacket.

Needless to say, my transition times were about what you’d expect from a first timer.  I watched these veteran triathletes dash from the water and jump soaking wet onto their bikes and ride off in a matter of seconds while I calmly dried myself completely with a towel, put on a t-shirt, shorts, and a jacket, and managed to spend a good 5 minutes not moving at all.  For reference, 5 minutes equates to about 8-10% of the winner’s overall time (and that was just my first transition).

After reviewing the results of my first triathlon (my finish time but most of all my transition times) and in evaluating my weaker areas, I metaphorically sat on the ground, clutching my wounded shoulder and said to myself: “I will do whatsoever is required to improve my triathlon times, even to half the kingdom”.  And I did.  I sacrificed ‘even to half the kingdom’ by increasing my training intensity, my training frequency, and my mental focus.  Then, I had another race.

I improved my split times, and even placed in my age group.  In addition, I have done 3 other races since the first, and been right on or near my goals for each race, yet for the purposes of this blog post, and the likened story of king Lamoni’s father – I still haven’t been able to move from giving up ‘half of the kingdom’ to ‘giving up all that I posses”.  I was still holding something back.

In order for me to be like Lamoni’s father and fully give up all that I possess – I had to wear the unitard.  There was just no way around it.  I can’t hold anything back if I expect to enjoy the absolute joy of knowing that I gave it everything I had.

I thought in the beginning of my triathlon life that I felt like I gave it my all – and I was right, because the first race or two, I gave it all that I had.  But, now that my training has improved and I know a lot more about the sport, I fully realize that my previous all is barely ‘even to half’ of my current all.  This means I need to re-evaluate my commitment every time – just like we do each week when we take the sacrament.  The more I improve, the more my all demands of me.

Maybe the unitards look silly, but they are designed to help save time and ultimately be a tool for improvement.  And after all, isn’t the goal of a triathlon to finish with your absolute best time?  Yes.  So, in order to give up all that I possess, I need to give up whatever self-conscience barriers I have built up around donning the elastic triathlon unitard.  I need to be ‘willing to take upon me the unitard’ in order to ‘always’ have it benefit me.

And since this blog is about principles of faith, and faith is a principle of action, and I don’t want to only be a sayer of the word (and not ‘a doer of the word’) – AND since I am desirous to become more than recreational weekend triathlete, AND because I am finally ready (just like Lamoni’s father) to give up all that I possess, I vowed to wear a stretchy triathlon unitard in my next race.

That race was May 7^th – and that date is past tense.  I totally wore a triathlon suit – the whole time.  Let me write that again: I wore a spandex-like suit while biking and running through hundreds of spectators.  And I loved it. Wait, what?

Upon crossing the finish line last week, I knew that my effort was ‘all’ that I had to give.  I felt completely satisfied with it.  Then, two days later, I realized that I wanted that feeling again, and started to realize that I wanted to ‘improve’ even more, and started to identify things that I had kept back.  I had now only given ‘most’ of my kingdom, even though it had been all just a short time before.  So, I made a new¹ list of everything in my kingdom that I was willing to give up.

The more we improve, and the better we become, the more we realize we have to give up to take the next step in our progress.  The small things that we hadn’t thought mattered before start to stick out and we try to get rid of them one by one.  Slowly but surely we become something better – and maybe the best news of all, the Lord is patient with us as we recognize and attempt to become like him – and he helps us all along the way.

Notes

¹  For some reason, I felt better about giving an example of my ‘new’ list in the notes instead of the body of the blog post – I just couldn’t bring myself to indicate that by shaving my arms and legs in order to become more aerodynamic I am taking the logical next step in my spiritual progression.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day – and I (like many others) want to do something special for my wife.  I want to do this because she is special to me, and because of all the mothers in the whole world that I know, she is the one that I love the most.

I thought hard about all of the things that she loves (vacations to tropical beaches, Disney cruises, home renovations and/or home décor) and then I decided that the thing she would probably love the most is for me to write a blog post about Alma and his visit to Ammonihah (found in Alma chapter 8-9) as a tribute to her awesomeness as a mother.  So you’re welcome dear.  Please note that while this post has drawn much from her greatness (that I get to see regularly), it is also a tribute to all of the women and mothers who truly make the world the great place that it is.  To be clear, mothers are NOT just those who have birthed and/or raised their children and mothering is NOT limited to immediate parent/child relationships.

Backstory for context:  This Book of Mormon story takes place in 82 B.C. (a.k.a. the end of the 9^th year of the reign of the judges) and Alma (who has recently retired from his day job to focus on preaching the word of God) has recently completed his sermons in the cities of Zarahemla (Alma 5-6), Gideon (Alma 7), and Melek (Alma 8:4-5) and has just arrived in the city of Ammonihah.

Alma starts to preach to the people, and the very first thing we learn is that “they would not hearken unto the words of Alma.”  It took all of 1 verse (Alma 8:9) for us to relate Alma and his preaching to motherhood right?  How many mothers can say (about their children or spouses or friends or co-workers or the world) that “they would not hearken unto the words of [insert mother’s name]?” I’ll give you a hint – it’s all of them.

“Nevertheless he (Alma) labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his spirit upon the people who were in the city”.  How many mothers labor much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer in order for him to pour out his spirit upon the people under their watchcare?  The mother I know best labors much in the spirit, and wrestles with God in mighty prayer – all the time.

Verses 11-12 further describe the people of Ammonihah and their murmurings in response to Alma’s teaching.  In today’s language they said something like: “you can’t tell us what to do”, “you’re not the boss of me”, and “your rules are stupid”.  I would guess there are a few mothers out there that have heard something similar to this.

Then we read in verse 13 that the people “withstood all his [Alma’s] words, and reviled (criticized) him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city.”  Now, at first glance we might say that’s a bit of an extreme parallel to motherhood, but if you reflect honestly I can promise that the mothers we know the best have all been criticized, spit upon (burping babies) and caused to be cast out (hello teenagers with locked doors and raging emotions that say things like “I hate you” or “you are the worst mother ever”).

Motherhood is starting to look a whole lot like Alma in Ammonihah right?

After being cast out of the city – in the moments immediately following this rejection – Alma is feeling pretty lousy (just like mothers do sometimes), “being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul”, because of the people who were in the city.  Just like a mother, Alma was weighed down because of the people he served and cared for (and their choices), not just because he didn’t get his way.

It’s no surprise then, that during this time (after he was rejected and while he was “thus weighed down with sorrow”) that an angel appeared to Alma and said to him: “Blessed are thou Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great reason to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him.

Just like Alma, mothers are sometimes “weighed down with sorrow” because of the people they love.  Motherhood is extremely tiring work, and more often than not it is the most thankless work that all to often only pays in criticism, being ignored, forgotten, taken for granted, spit upon or even cast out by those whom they are trying to save.  And, as hard as it is for us to understand it is in this great sorrow and tribulation and struggle that the angel comes to offer a pick-me-up (please see 1 Ne. 20:10-11 and Luke 22: 41-44 and verses 4-6 of Hymn 85).

But before we take our next step, let us try to fully understand Alma’s feelings of sorrow.  He probably feels like he has failed in his spirit-led quest to preach the gospel to the city of Ammonihah.  He might be wrestling with his self esteem or his effectiveness as a prophet using the logic that would go something like this: “God called me to this office, and he led me to this city, and I preached here, and even though I can look back and see some baptisms, repentance, or conversions in the past from other cities, this most recent failure (and my sorrow because of the people) in this city must mean that I did something wrong, or that I wasn’t good enough, or that I failed in my one duty (as prophet) and therefore God is disappointed in me because I’ll never be as good a prophet as Moses.”  Sound familiar yet?

Now, I understand that there isn’t anyone who can fully grasp the trials and daily hardships of motherhood like another woman/mother – but can we all suppose for just a minute that when the angel came down and told Alma to ‘cheer up because you are awesome’ it may not have immediately prompted him to jump up and down and cheerfully say “you’re right – I do have ‘great reason to rejoice, and I am awesome”.  Can we imagine the possibility that it could have made his feelings of sorrow even worse?  Worse because it highlighted the fact that he wasn’t finding ‘joy in the journey’ during the hardest of times and therefore wasn’t appreciating the struggles of his sacred prophethood.  After all, didn’t Alma already know that being a prophet wasn’t always just the pure joy of baptisms and the conversion parties and the spiritual outpourings?  Didn’t he know that being a true prophet also included a fair amount of being spit on, cast out, and reviled?  Didn’t he know that there must be opposition in all things?  I think he knew that, but I also think that Alma was a bit surprised with how hard it was at the moment, and with just how sorrowful he felt when they wouldn’t even listen, and with how hot the refiners fire can be.

Now, it’s not mentioned in the official record, but what could have also contributed to Alma’s sorrow was all of the super happy photos on his prophet friends’ Instagram feeds of their baptisms, conversion stories, miracles, great hair, great teeth, perfect kids, and super clean tents, crops, and herds.  Yet, here was Alma (in the real world) learning from his own experience that being a prophet was stinking hard work and it weighed him down.  In fact, I think Alma was learning that it was the hardest work that he’d ever be asked to do.

Another reason that the angel’s words might have failed to put a huge smile on Alma’s face is what came next: the angel continued “I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah and preach again unto the people of the city”.  The summary of the angel’s message (in today’s language) goes something like this: “Alma, I see you are sad.  But, you have a lot of reasons to be happy; because you have been doing the Lord’s work.  Now, go back to the city of Ammonihah and preach again (because they really need your help).  See you later.”

Hey moms out there – you tell me if this sounds like an awesome pep talk for sacrament meeting this Sunday (after you’ve spent the morning wrangling your kids to get ready for church against the formidable opposition that is present on Sundays) “Mothers, don’t be sad.  You guys are awesome.  You have a lot of reasons to be happy, mostly because you are continuously doing the Lord’s work.  Now, go back to the city (the crucible of home life) again (because your family really needs your help and in some cases you are their only hope) …. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Following the angel’s visit, Alma realized and perhaps identified on a different level with Nephi (also a prophet) who wrote that he was “overcome because of [his] afflictions, for [he] considered that [his] afflictions were great above all” (1 Ne. 15:5).  The trials and tribulations and sorrow that Nephi felt in his day were indeed ‘great above all’, and now so were Alma’s.  The same holds true for every single woman and mother out there who tries like crazy every day to be the best she can be despite the difficulties and struggles and hard times of daily life.  And every single one of them can claim that their struggles actually are ‘great above all’ because that’s exactly what they are.

The difficulty of motherhood is ‘great above all.’  It is the one job in mortality that is ‘above all’ in goodness and Christ-likedness.  The problem with this is that by necessity it means that it is also ‘above all’ in its difficulty and unrelenting demands on your emotions, spirits, and bodies.

Curiously, there is no recorded response from Alma after the angel commanded him to go back to Ammonihah.  But, what is recorded is that he didn’t just return, he returned ‘speedily’.  He was exhausted physically, mentally, and spiritually yet he returned speedily to the very city that caused his sorrowful exhaustion.  This sounds exactly like a mother who at the end of a grueling day crawls into bed completely ragged after giving every effort to her family… only to be summoned ‘back again’ and answers ‘speedily’ to the additional demands of motherhood in the middle of the night for a coughing child, a crying baby, or someone else in need.  Could there be a closer tie to Jesus Christ than a mother?

The next part of Alma’s story in Ammonihah can give mothers a welcome ray of hope and allow all of us to appreciate the tender mercies that the Lord provides – especially when he asks for more than we feel like we even have to give.  When Alma was weighed down and at the end of his rope, the Lord provided ‘a man’ (Amulek) to receive him as he entered Ammonihah this second time around.  Amulek took him in, fed him, and tarried many days with him (Alma 8:26-27).  In other words – Amulek was a blessing provided by the Lord to strengthen Alma in his time of extreme need – no doubt a welcome blessing after so much sorrow.

Could there be a better model for Amulek than the mothers we all love?

There are times when the women in our lives have felt just like Alma (weighed down with sorrow) when a friendly Amulek arrives seemingly out of nowhere (provided by the Lord) to feed, care for, and tarry with them in a time of need.  AND, there are times when these same mothers have acted just like Amulek (who recognized Alma and heeded a promting) to feed, care for, and tarry with others in need.  Many of those times, the Amulek’s of the world were at the end of their own ropes and yet “speedily returned” to feed, care for, and tarry with those whose struggles were also ‘great above all’.  And because the Lord is awesome, and because he rewards those who love him – “they (meaning both parties) were filled with the Holy Ghost” (Alma 8:30).

My dear wife knows how to feed, care for, and tarry with me in a time of need.  I am so blessed to have her, and we are all so blessed to have the women and mothers in our lives.  They – through their Christ-like service – fill us with the Holy Ghost.  And because of this, “they [have] power given unto them, insomuch that they could not be confined in dungeons; neither was it possible that any man could slay them…” (Alma 8:31).  Oh how our wives, mothers, and women have “power given unto them” in our day.  They are the driving force of nurturing our Heavenly Father’s children here on earth, and they do a magnificent job.

Before we wrap up this story of awesome motherhood I would like us to read and understand one more part of this story – which happens to be a question from the people of Ammonihah to Alma (after he’s begun preaching to them this second visit).  “As [he] began to preach unto them, they began to contend with [him], saying… Who art thou?”… “And they said: Who is God, that sendeth no more authority than one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?”

The world asks these same questions to our wives and our mothers and our daughters.  Who art thou? And Who is God that sendeth no more authority than a mother to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?

For all of us, I hope we can understand exactly who and what our mothers are.  Then, I think we will begin to understand how that relates to the reason why God didn’t (and doesn’t) need to send more authority than one man to save the world.

Mothers are the ones ‘speedily returning’ to Ammonihah.  They are the ones who are feeding, caring for, and tarrying with those in need.  They are the ones who are constantly partnering with Christ in his efforts to develop, nurture, and love his children.  And they are the ones pointing and leading all of our souls to him and leading us to his open arms.

To close, please understand that I don’t think (nor would any mother tell you) that every minute of every day is so incredibly difficult that mothers are just constantly weathering the storm trying to make it to the next day – because that’s not the case (even if some days it does feel that way).  Mothers are wise and kind and gentle, and they know that “sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven”.  They also know in a very intimate way that pure joy can be found in selfless giving – and each of them consider their callings as mothers to be their greatest treasure.

I used to wonder why there wasn’t more stories about mothers and wives in the Book of Mormon.  I don’t wonder that any more.  I have found that If I know what to look for, and if I remember how the Book of Mormon (and the spirit) teach me, every story can be about a mother – because every story in the Book of Mormon is about Jesus Christ – and every story about Jesus Christ can be a story about a mother.

Please celebrate the wonderful women in our lives this Sunday (and everyday) by telling them and showing them how amazing they are and how grateful we are to have them.

Rising Up

For years the lie circled in my mind, hiding the truth it didn’t want me to find,

To who I was it made me blind, it kept my thoughts always confined,

To keep me down and continue the heist, until the moment I found Christ,

Then little by little, it cracked my wall, though brick by brick, I’d placed them all

Christ’s light crept in to my soul within, to shake it loose from the chains therein

Until the truth exploded free! it showed me who and what I could be!

Bursting and shattering what I thought I knew! Expanding my entire view!

Breaking through and starting anew, my worth no longer hidden askew

No more limits, no more fear, no more darkness will dwell here!

It starts now! My place is here, on this earth, Its’ now so clear!

OUR day is here, OUR time is now, to disavow and disallow,

The darkness that has until now, held its ground and held you down,

Show your strength, and bring YOUR light, let it roar like a lion with all your might!

To force the tide right back around, darkness will crumble to the ground,

The very thing that once held you bound, light a match and burn it down!

You’ve found your fire! You’ve found yourself, you’ve placed fear into fear itself!

That’s the truth and that’s the way, that’s the power WE can convey!

To evil’s dismay we display, that we stand fearless, and we’re here to stay!

We will not move, we will not sway, in truth we stay and Christ obey

You’ve done it before, now do it again, lets rage war against evil and sin!

The first battle was won, now onward relentless, forward forever until we are breathless!

So fight this fight, to help everyone to see, that we are the lock and Christ is the key

To unlock more for you and me, than what we know and currently see,

He is, and was, and ever will be, the strength and power for you and me

He’s the Master and he’s the way, he’s the hope in every day,

In every way, he lights the way, with him I’ll stay and never stray,

Until the end when I see his face, and we embrace, and all pains erase,

Because through his grace, I’ll be home again, and my life can truly begin!

Freedom is often misunderstood.  This means that arguments, positions, and claims for freedom are just as often flawed and in many cases lacking.  This is not new, and people have been discussing and striving for their ideal version of freedom ever since (and before) the very beginning.

In the pre-existence when our heavenly father proposed his plan of salvation to his children and asked for a volunteer to be the savior, there was already a mistaken understanding of freedom.  Lucifer, as an eager volunteer, claimed that he could truly ‘free’ everyone once and for all, by relieving them – or helping them be ‘free’ from – the responsibilities of choosing for themselves.  Thus, he offered a false sense of freedom (freedom from the possibility of failure, and freedom from progression and learning).  Please note that his plan for total freedom for us also included himself being ‘free’ from the responsibilities of actually being a savior.¹

The very first family on earth also includes a reference to this false sense of freedom, when Cain – after being encouraged by the master deceiver himself that he would somehow be a true master, and ‘get gain’ by being ‘free’ from his brothers unfair yoke, he “rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him”.  Following this murder, “Cain gloried in that which he had done, saying: I am free; surely the flocks of my brother falleth into my hands”.²

The Book of Mormon is also full of individuals desiring to be ‘free’ from restrictions.  Laman and Lemuel repeatedly murmured about the ‘hard things’ required of them, and they often expressed the desire to be ‘free’ from Nephi and Lehi’s teachings and expectations.  Korihor claimed that the people (followers of Christ) were “bound down under a foolish and vain hope”, and further referenced that belief as a “yoke”.³ King Noah, his followers, and then many of the Lamanites and the kingmen that follow all throughout the remaining Book of Mormon stories repeatedly want to be ‘free’ from the burden or bonds of responsibility and duty (as required by society and order).  But, because I love his example so much, I am going to highlight what I think is one of the best examples of this false freedom – Giddianhi.⁴

Giddianhi was a guy that wanted to be free.  Free from anything and anyone that told him what to do or how he should live his life.  He had a bunch of friends who liked to be free as well, so they dissented (to dissent is to hold or express opinions that are at variance with those previously, commonly, or officially expressed) from the Nephites and the authoritative governing body.  By dissenting (and choosing to leave), he and his band of friends were totally free.  Free from the oppressive rule of society and its norms, expectations, rules, laws, and on an on.  With his new freedom, he convinced many others that life outside of the government and its societal yoke was much better – and many listened and joined him in his utopian refuge of freedom.  The only problem that Giddianhi encountered was that his little band grew to a big band fairly quickly – since everyone loves the idea of freedom (especially Giddianhi’s version of it), his followers soon looked to him (as the leader of the free people) to provide them with their daily sustenance (food, shelter, clothing, support) in order to stay alive and they likely asked him several times about the details of this new society (where the food was, who was cooking them dinner, who was planting the crops or raising their flocks – and other things that a rule-laden society would produce through responsibility and the yoke of bondage also known as a market or economy or industry or just bondage).  Suddenly, his freedom seemed a whole lot like bondage.  He was bound to his promise of freedom from all cares and responsibilities.  He soon realized that freedom from sowing is also freedom from reaping.

So, being a smart man, Giddianhi (like many others before him) just stole stuff.  They began to lay waste to all of the cities that were nearby, and stole the food and other necessary items in order to survive.  After all, true freedom means you are free to do whatever you want right?  Yep, his community really is the best.  Nobody could tell Giddianhi what he could and couldn’t do – he was the only one who could decide what was right and wrong, and just taking whatever you want seemed like a nice plan to everybody.

Eventually, Giddianhi’s dream world of free people started to look bleak, as the cities and towns that his people laid waste to weren’t spontaneously being rebuilt and the fields and flocks that they had plundered and eaten were not being replanted with food in order to sustain the appetite of his ever growing band of robbers and let’s be honest, Giddianhi isn’t going to rebuild or restore them.  That’s too much work.  That is why he dissented from the Nephites in the first place – too much responsibility and not enough freedom.

So, the law abiding citizens burdened under the yoke of bondage (the kind of bondage that drove Giddianhi and his fellow dissenters away) decided (under the wise leadership of Lachoneous and Gidgidonni) to move in together and store all their food in one central location to avoid being plundered continuously by Giddianhi and his robbers.  After this move, Giddianhi’s newfound freedom left him with limited options – mostly since they were unwilling to actually work for anything.  Somehow, the very freedom he claimed to embrace was the source of his stopped progression.  He was certainly free from the Nephite rules and laws, but he was not free at all.⁵

Realizing his plight, Giddianhi wrote a letter to the governor of the Nephites in a desperate attempt to sway the government (which they had dissented from) to provide for his needs without any effort on his part.  He politely asked (or demanded) Lachoneous through this letter to give him all of their food, lands, possessions, and the power of government – and then he adds the kicker – “that this my people (the band of robbers) may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government”.⁶

This band of robbers led by Giddianhi considered anything that prevented them from being government leaders and having slaves with no effort on their own part (similar to what king Noah was) as ‘wickedness’. All of the societies and laws that make up a good nation with hard work and cooperation is just labeled as bondage to them. They feel that this way of leadership (free of responsibility but somehow full of all the available benefits) is their ‘right’.

This is remarkably similar to people today that think it is their ‘right’ to act any way they please, and that anyone who opposes their personal thought process is bigoted, racist, sexist, or has directly wronged them in some way. And when others don’t agree with their view of ‘freedom’ they shout to the world and all who will hear that they have been wronged, and demand retribution by their rights of ‘freedom’ to which they are obviously entitled.

Just to recap how ridiculous this stance is, Giddianhi’s letter could really read something like this:

Dear Lachoneus,

Me and my merry band of robbers like your city. In fact, we like your city so much we want to live there. We want to plunder and steal all of your crops, buildings, and everything else. It would be so much easier for us if you just let us have it. That way, my ‘warriors’ don’t get tired and nobody gets killed (and because if you and your people are dead, nobody will be around to keep the flocks, plant the crops, and really keep life going – because we don’t know how to and don’t want to do it for ourselves).

 Further, and because I want to justify this stance in some way, we feel that it is our right to rule over you. Why you ask? Well, because we don’t like the way the laws are set up and we don’t like the rules you have.  They aren’t fair to us and they don’t provide a way for us to not work and still enjoy all the benefits.  After all, that’s why most of us ‘dissented’ from you in the first place. We think in our minds that we should rule over you, (and you didn’t let us rule over you while we were there) and that makes you wicked therefore we think it is our ‘right’ to rule over you now (again/still).

 Please understand noble Lachoneus, that we have no intentions of being civil, instituting or living by justice, common sense, reality, or anything else (because we are totally free) and if left to ourselves we will probably run the city and your crops into the ground like we’ve done elsewhere because it would be hard work to maintain order and keep up with everything, and we both know that’s one of the reasons we ran away and complained about your system in the first place.  So, in summary, please give us your city because we can’t build or maintain any of our own.

 Giddianhi

If we think that freedom is being ‘free’ from any and all rules, responsibilities, duties, restrictions, expectations, or any other external factor that we feel prevents us from being truly free to do whatever we want, whenever we want, for no other reason that our simple desire – we have a very limited view of freedom – we limit it to our being free from something – and by doing that we prevent ourselves from actually being free to something.  Freedom to something is the actual capacity and resources and ability to make a choice – or do something.  I can enjoy the temporary feeling of being free from my piano teacher, but not without forfeiting my freedom to actually learn how to play the piano.  The freedom to play the piano by necessity includes bondage to practice.

Freedom, the true and real and lasting kind of freedom – is binding.  It permanently binds us to things (especially responsibilities).  Just ask Moroni, who indicated to Zerahemnah that “the sacred support, which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us…”⁷ was in fact the very thing that strengthened them (allowing them to prevail in battle).  Pahoran, in his epic response to Moroni’s scathing letter, also indicated that “the spirit of freedom” is in fact “the spirit of God”⁸ and I don’t think for one second that God acts the same way as Giddianhi (wishing to be free from his duties).  God has a whole lot of responsibility on his plate, and yet, somehow he is the freest of all beings.

Somehow, somewhere we got confused and forgot that true freedom isn’t the fairy tale idea of not having anyone to answer to, or having any responsibilities, or any authority figures at all.  Too many complain that “they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; nothwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them”.⁹

Before we think that this is just a political context, – please know that this is most definitely a universal context and a family context – and that freedom from one thing is slavery to another.  “Freedom from evil is slavery to goodness”.¹⁰

There are many in the world today who act like Giddianhi and ‘free’ themselves of the duties, responsibilities, and expectations of any long-term commitment (including commitments they have made contractually) all while claiming that it is their ‘right’ to avoid or leave any commitment if at any time it suits their fancy (i.e. when it gets hard or inconvenient or they just get tired) or if they’d simply like to be ‘free’ of all the interference.  If however, (and when) we fail to give ourselves an excuse or an alternative (when we bind ourselves fully) – the untapped capacity to dig deeper inside us is triggered, and suddenly we understand what the ‘bonds’ of freedom really are.  “In this sense, our bonds are our liberation.  Until being ‘forced’ by such voluntary commitment, we may never tap into the reservoirs of strength and compassion we carry within ourselves”.¹¹

In our effort to be free from the obstacles that would prevent our progress, let’s not hesitate when we see the bonds of liberation being offered to us by the Lord.

Notes

1. If people are not allowed to choose between good and bad, they will never choose badly, and thus there will be no sin. If there is no sin, there is no need for repentance and no need for a savior to take upon himself the pains and sickness of his people in order to overcome death and redeem them from sin.  Thus, Satan proposed a way to save everyone without having to actually save anyone or do anything at all except ‘free’ everyone from the positive and spiritual development opportunities brought about by the effects of sin (grief, guilt, remorse, humility, repentance, increased love, service, etc.).
2. Moses 5:31-33
3. Alma 30:13 (see also verse 23 referencing ordinances)
4. Colby mentioned some of Giddianhi’s qualities here.
5. We all complain about school and the never ending assignments, projects, tests, etc. (wishing to be free from them) without realizing that the bondage of school is the very thing that makes us free to be something by giving us options in life and for a career.
6. This letter is so awesome, and one blog post cannot do it justice – so please read the entire story found in 3 Ne. 3 (and surrounding chapters).
7. Alma 44:5
8. Alma 61:15
9. 12:6
10. This is a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. (as quoted by Tim Ballard in The Lincoln Hypothesis) pg. 207.
11. The Belonging Heart, by Bruce C. and Marie K Hafen. 182