Our Charted Course

I just have a short post for tonight because it is late.

In 1938, President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., addressed the Church's faculty of seminary and institute teachers at Aspen Grove, up Provo Canyon.  In that address, which has become a landmark address for Church educators, he quoted the following analogy:

"'When the mariner has been tossed for many days in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from his true course.  Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are.'"

President Clark then went on to explain the pertinence of these matters for the Church.  He said:  

"There are for the Church, and for each and all of its members, two prime things which may not be overlooked, forgotten, shaded, or discarded:  First—that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh, the Creator of the world, the Lamb of God, the Sacrifice for the sins of the world, the Atoner for Adam’s transgression; that He was crucified; that His spirit left His body; that He died; that He was laid away in the tomb; that on the third day His spirit was reunited with His body, which again became a living being; that He was raised from the tomb a resurrected being, a perfect Being, the First Fruits of theResurrection; that He later ascended to the Father; and that because of His death and by and through His resurrection every man born into the world since the beginning will be likewise literally resurrected. . . . These positive facts, and all other facts necessarily implied therein, must all be honestly believed, in full faith, by every member of the Church.

"The second of the two things to which we must all give full faith is that the Father and the Son actually and in truth and very deed appeared to the Prophet Joseph in a vision in the woods; that other heavenly visions followed to Joseph and to others; that the gospel and the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God were in truth and fact restored to the earth from which they were lost by the apostasy of the primitive Church; that the Lord again set up His Church, through the agency of Joseph Smith; that the Book of Mormon is just what it professes to be; that to the Prophet came numerous revelations for the guidance, upbuilding, organization, and encouragement of the Church and its members; that the Prophet’s successors, likewise called of God, have received revelations as the needs of the Church have required, and that they will continue to receive revelations as the Church and its members, living the truth they already have, shall stand in need of more; that this is in truth The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and that its foundation beliefs are the laws and principles laid down in the Articles of Faith. These facts also, and each of them, together with all things necessarily implied therein or flowing therefrom, must stand, unchanged, unmodified, without dilution, excuse, apology, or avoidance; they may not be explained away or submerged. Without these two great beliefs the Church would cease to be the Church."

He then concluded that these two things constituted "the latitude and longitude of the actual location and position of the Church, both in this world and in eternity." In other words, these two fundamentals were the geographic markers of our location along the path to eternal life.  And "Knowing our true position, we can change our bearings if they need changing; we can lay down anew our true course."

In order to chart a proper course, we must know two things.  First, we must know where we are going.  We must know our destination and we must know exactly where it is.  Second, we must know where we are right now.  We must know our actual location.  It is here that the latitude and longitude of our testimonies is most helpful.  We know where we are going, as our Heavenly Father has boldly taught us through Prophets and Scriptures that our destination is to become like Him and to live with Him and with our families in His Kingdom.  Therefore we must know where we actually are today.  We must be honest in our assessment of our location, as any prevarication will cause us to miss out on some of the steps and turns that we must take as we pursue our course toward our eternal home.

May we each be able to determine our actual location, and may we then chart a direct course to our eternal promised land.  No matter where we are today, He can and will provide us with appropriate directions and sufficient energy and strength to make that vital journey to our Heavenly home.

Brett