Sabbath Devotional :: 'Ye May Know the Truth of All Things'

truth of all things - Mormon Women for Ethical Government — .

Like many of you, this year I will once again be taking a slow and deep dive into the Book of Mormon. Last week, I was lucky enough to start my study by preparing to teach the first early morning seminary lesson of the year, leading me to think long and hard about the role the book has played in my spiritual and emotional growth.

My class last week was made up of a group of clever and thoughtful seniors. They have grown up in a place where their core beliefs are challenged, and none of them has ever really had the luxury of taking the truthfulness of the gospel for granted. Every day they have to make the decision to chart their course against very strong headwinds. Most particularly, they are often asked to justify how anyone could possibly know that any one church or doctrine is more true than any other.

How can they know this is true?

Their situation may be extreme, but I don’t think they are having an isolated experience. Instead, that question seems to be emerging as a great inflection point in our culture as a whole. We live in a complex and interconnected civilization based on the shared idea that truth was knowable, and that its pursuit was meritorious. We agreed that a particular combination of religious, scientific, political and social ideas was guaranteed to move us ever closer to a pure understanding, and commitment to these truths was a qualification for leadership.

As a result, for almost 300 years it has felt like we were on a slow climb toward the light. Do we now find ourselves on the other side of peak, sliding down from the Great Enlightenment into a valley of obfuscation and bewilderment? Leaders, and even whole institutions unapologetically seek to deceive us, while much of our entertainment and online world deals in illusion and fabrication. The fear, dissatisfaction, and cynicism this breeds threaten to undermine real human understanding and cooperation. The landscape on this side of the mountain is unknown and worrisome. Increasingly we ask ourselves: How can we know what is true?

The Book of Mormon opens and ends with a series of promises made to those who read it with a pure intent. These promises, found in the introduction to the book and also in chapter ten of Moroni, are promises of great wisdom and comfort, and we can easily recite most by heart. If we read, ponder and ask in faith, we can: gain a witness of the book’s divine origin, know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World, understand that Joseph Smith is a revelator and prophet, and learn that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s Kingdom on the earth. This is an extraordinary offering, and so many of us can testify that these promises are sure.

But there is another promise I’d like to share today that jumped out at me with shocking clarity as I prepared that lesson. I have read the promise more times than I can count, and yet somehow I don’t believe I had ever processed its power and breadth. The promise is found in Moroni 10:5 and it is offered with no qualifications: “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5).

All things? Every single thing? The world tells us increasingly that you and I cannot know. We cannot trust, and we can never judge or truly see. But in the Book of Mormon, after standing as a witness to a massive and devastating cultural implosion precipitated by a loss of truth, Moroni nonetheless makes a stunning promise. If you follow the pattern, and if you seek with pure intent to qualify, ye may know the truth of all things.

And so this week I have spent a lot of time considering the Book of Mormon and the stories of men and women who witness to the truthfulness of that promise. It turns out that there are countless examples in its pages, and so very many of them relate not simply to people seeking spiritual truth, but people seeking truth that would help them live safely and honestly in the face of political unrest, social and racial injustice, bad governance, and war.

A few examples that immediately come to mind:

Lehi and his family leave Jerusalem in response to a visionary warning that war is coming. Lehi is a man of stature and wealth, but his understanding of truth comes directly from God. Alma is a leader of religious and political stature, serving as a high priest to a King. Truth, delivered by the prophet Abinadai, leads him to question his own authority and behavior, as well as the king he serves. Ultimately he follows the truth into exile, but becomes a spiritual and civic leader of much greater consequence.

Abish, a servant, sees and understands the true cause of her King and Queen’s collapse. She uses her understanding of truth to save their lives. Her discernment sets in motion the salvation of countless souls.

In the fog of war, Moroni sends a scathing letter to Pahoran, excoriating him for his failures and calling into question his character. Pahoran responds not only with truth, but peaceably, in a way that allows them both to unite behind a righteous cause.

This scripture contains countless other examples of the protection and power that God given truth can offer in the face of lies, dissent, violence, anger, injustice, prejudice, apostasy and war.

What does this mean for us, in a period of bewilderment and lies? It means just that. We can know the truth. But we must find new and spiritually informed pathways to it. We must seek it with pure intent, and a desire to be of service. We must pattern our lives on the great truth seekers of scripture.

Every few years I open a fresh and inexpensive copy of the Book of Mormon and mark the inside cover with a topic or set of interconnected questions. I then read through, focusing on how the book answers. This week I started a new text with the following questions: What is truth? How can I discern it? What are the spiritual patterns followed by those who find it? What changes do they make in their lives as a result? What are the characteristics of truth tellers? What sacrifices will I need to make if I commit to seek and follow truth? I am excited and hopeful about the answers that await.

Contrary to the message we so often hear, I believe truth is knowable — and we will not be left alone to discern it through only mortal means. We can learn the spiritual patterns that will lead to truth, and we can help other despairing souls to find it as well. This sisterhood has been a great comfort to me as I see other women acting with faith born from discernment and using both to bless the world. I am excited to put Moroni’s challenge to the test. Anyone want to join me?