Opposition in All Things

Michelangelo, "Expulsion from the Garden of Eden"

One of the interesting aspects of the gospel is its paradoxical nature.  After having been expelled from the Garden of Eden, Eve declared, "Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient" (Moses 5:11).  Lehi made a similar statement, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.  If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.  Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.  Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation.  Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God" (2 Nephi 2:11-12).

Many times in our lives we are tempted by the thought of a world without death, corruption, misery, and insensibility.  How could such a world possibly be a bad idea or a bad place to live?  Given the pains and sorrows that we experience in this life, who wouldn't jump at the opportunity to leave all those things behind?  But consider what we would have to sacrifice in order to survive in that world.  In order to avoid the moments of misery, we would have to sacrifice our moments of joy.  In order to avoid the pain of death, we would have to sacrifice the truly moving and joyous moments of life.  Considering this price, not one of us did or would choose to live a world free from misery and pain, because the absence of joy and growth is far too high a price for the absence of misery and pain.  We have experiences where we fall in order that we might have experiences where we learn to be lifted up and rise.  How could we ever have the blessing of hearing the Savior admonish and empower us to "take up thy bed" (Matthew 9:6) if we never had moments where we struggled to rise and walk.

While there are certainly times in our lives when we would wish that we could not feel pain, the moments of joy and happiness far outweigh the moments of pain in terms of their depth, power, and lasting influence in our lives.