Sunday, January 14, 2007
Celebrating True Beauty
As anyone familiar with youtube knows, you have to be careful about the things you watch. Slipped into all of this sometimes useful content is a lot of inappropriateness disguised. Yesterday I was searching for something particular and came across some videos supposedly celebrating the beauty of human nature. Now, we all know that the adversary attempts to counterfeit everything that is good, but I think that this is one area in which he failed miserably. The counterfeit for love and acceptance...pretty good. The counterfeit for joy and excitement...it can get you sometimes. But the counterfeit for the beauty of human nature is so off that it's almost ridiculous.
Joseph Smith laid out aspects of our true beauty in the King Follett sermon. Teryl Givens reminded us of those true beauties in "Lightning out of Heaven," delivered at BYU on Nov. 29, 05. He reminded us that man is eternally existent, inherently innocent, inherently free, and infinitely perfectible. Those are true beauties of human nature. And of human connection? "Joseph [Smith] was affirming the fact that heaven is constructed out of a web of human relationships that extend in every direction."
The adversary sure missed this one. Of course, I appreciate art and I think that God has created a wonderful thing in our bodies. They are, like the scriptures say, the temple of God. But that body taken out of the context of the soul, being infinitely perfectible through the resurrection, inherently in innocent, etc is nothing more than flesh. Decomposing, constantly dying, flesh. The true beauty of human nature is not in the flesh, but in it's connection to the soul and the possibilities inherent in that connection.
Maybe the adversary actually messed up all of the counterfeits and he isn't as good as I think. Maybe it's just that I can be easily blinded by some things, so I assume he has a talent in that area, rather than I a weakness. I would imagine that when compared with the real thing, none of his counterfeits will stand a chance. So, the only thing to do is flood the earth with the real deal. Pure love extended at every opportunity, eternal perspectives in every decision, true happiness being experienced and shared because compared to what is really available, the only ones partaking in the counterfeits will be those that know not where to find it.
Joseph Smith laid out aspects of our true beauty in the King Follett sermon. Teryl Givens reminded us of those true beauties in "Lightning out of Heaven," delivered at BYU on Nov. 29, 05. He reminded us that man is eternally existent, inherently innocent, inherently free, and infinitely perfectible. Those are true beauties of human nature. And of human connection? "Joseph [Smith] was affirming the fact that heaven is constructed out of a web of human relationships that extend in every direction."
The adversary sure missed this one. Of course, I appreciate art and I think that God has created a wonderful thing in our bodies. They are, like the scriptures say, the temple of God. But that body taken out of the context of the soul, being infinitely perfectible through the resurrection, inherently in innocent, etc is nothing more than flesh. Decomposing, constantly dying, flesh. The true beauty of human nature is not in the flesh, but in it's connection to the soul and the possibilities inherent in that connection.
Maybe the adversary actually messed up all of the counterfeits and he isn't as good as I think. Maybe it's just that I can be easily blinded by some things, so I assume he has a talent in that area, rather than I a weakness. I would imagine that when compared with the real thing, none of his counterfeits will stand a chance. So, the only thing to do is flood the earth with the real deal. Pure love extended at every opportunity, eternal perspectives in every decision, true happiness being experienced and shared because compared to what is really available, the only ones partaking in the counterfeits will be those that know not where to find it.
Labels: counterfeit, human nature, joseph smith, teryl givens
