A BIT OF A NEW DIRECTION

Those who know me know that I have recently undergone a dramatic change in my life.  I had the blessing of awakening to an understanding of the principles of liberty and the awful situation that we are in due to our choices and how they place our liberties in jeopardy.  It amazes me how blindly I walked through life until recently.  Thankfully, I recognized my opportunity to change.  It was an opportunity to replace an incorrect worldview based on emotion and tradition with a sound foundation based on truth and principles.

This transformation has been uncomfortable at times.  It takes a great deal of humility and courage to truly evaluate yourself and admit that you have been wrong.  I do not possess an overabundance of humility or courage, so this has been hard for me.  Another challenge has arisen through the occasional contentious interaction with a friend or acquaintance.  I have faced strong opposition at times from people who I expected to be supportive.  I slip from emotional highs induced by reading the words of inspired men, to lows caused by the rejection received after attempting to share those words with family and friends.  However, I cannot complain.  The highs have outnumbered the lows, and my journey has recently picked up momentum and support.

In the beginning of my journey, I had the great blessing to find a friend and example in Jacqueline Smith.  She is a powerful person who is dedicated to her family, community, and the various activities that will bless them through education and adherence to the principles God inspired our Founding Fathers to understand during the founding of our government.  I invite all to keep track of her efforts at www.thestarforum.org. I hope that her example inspires you to do what you can to educate yourself and take part in the restoration of our republic.

I admire Jacqueline and other friends for their participation in the political process.  I know that it is imperative that we all do what we can to identify and support honorable individuals who are willing to serve as our representatives.  It is equally important to fight against those who would destroy our liberty and threaten our families and societies by scorning the values of faith, honesty, self-reliance, and true charity.

However, as I focused more on the political issues and process I noticed that I felt that something in my life was out of place.  I am not certain why, but I realized what I need to do to fix it.  This revelation came about through recent conversations, the influence of the great folks over at www.ldsliberty.org, and scripture study.

JC and Jeremy, the voices of LDS Liberty, helped me see that the principles of liberty are not separate from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  In fact, liberty is essential to God’s plan for us.  Many of us in the LDS church unfortunately do not always recognize this.  We may feel that if liberty were truly important the church leadership would talk about it more.

I feel that one of the main reasons that we do not hear more from the leadership about the proper role of government is that much of the membership failed to heed warnings given in the past, and by doing so must now suffer the consequences for their decision – much like the Israelites rejected God’s council to maintain their system of judges rather than establish a king.  The Israelites persisted in asking Samuel to give them a king, and the Lord told Samuel to give them what they wanted.  (Visit http://www.ldsfreemen.com/the-coming-apostasy-of-latter-day-conservatives/ to read an article that explains this better than I can.)

I constantly worry about the direction this country is headed.  It is apparent that the sanctity of the family is quickly eroding.  With this erosion comes a flood of unwanted social problems like teen pregnancy, increased violence, drug use, disrespect for society, selfishness, a damning sense of entitlement, and so much more.  These societal diseases, I feel, are partly responsible for the abundance of legislation imposed on us that limits our liberty and our freedom to succeed or learn from our failures.

I found myself reading the Book of Mormon with these concerns on my mind.  I read Alma Chapter 4.  (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/4)  Alma’s example illuminated the path that I feel I must take.  He gave up his position as the Chief Judge.  He took part in the political process to elect a good man to fill that position.  (In other words, he did not turn his back on the political process but he did reduce his political involvement to change his focus.)  He then went out to the people to preach the gospel and to urge them to repent and return to those values that would allow them to be like their Savior and be worthy of the blessings of peace and prosperity.

I know that the people of our country must return to those same values if we are to halt the degradation of our culture, political environment, and economy.  I plan to follow Alma’s example in a sense.  I want to do more to reach out to more people and focus on the principles.  Only through an understanding of the principles of the gospel and of liberty will we then be able to identify our individual path.  If we diligently seek to understand God’s will pertaining to us and how He can use our talents and abilities, we can become powerful tools in restoring the American Republic.

I invite all of you to join me in my quest to understand these principles better through active study and discussion.  As you understand more and become passionate about liberty, share that with those around you.  If you are in the Phoenix area or in Utah, find a group of like-minded liberty lovers through organizations like the STAR Forum, Utah Rising, or LDS Liberty.  If there is not a group in your area, do your part to organize one.  There are many people involved in the organizations I mentioned that can help you do so.  Get involved in social networking through sites like Facebook.  This is a great way to stay connected and aware of events in your area.  There is so much to do!  Again, I invite you to join me in doing our part.