Straight Up

Note:  Before reading, please know that I do not want an argument and that I respect everyone's beliefs.  Please kindly return the favor.

The definition of truth is the way things are, not the way things seem.  There are indeed absolutes, moral and otherwise.  There are more types of knowledge than empirical evidence.  I, personally, have a knowledge that Christ lives and love us all, that his atonement is something every man needs, that His sacrifice is our way back to a loving Heavenly Father.  

In today's world I am constantly bombarded with the idea of moral relativism.  In a effort to keep friends and to not hurt feelings, I have often started down this slippery slope.  I look at my dad, my idol, and watch him stand resolute in this increasingly unstable and dysfunctional world.  Many are the times I want to argue, to tell him it isn't all black and white.  That in this day and age no one can get through this world untouched; that times have changed.  After all, all we need do is look at the people around us.  More and more folks have been diagnosed with depression, ADD, and autism.  Very few people are given the privilege to grow up in a nurturing environment, leading to many of these problems.

Indeed, the world is constantly changing.  We are bombarded on all sides with technology, information, and the increasing awareness of all that goes on in the lives of our fellow human beings.  Atheism, homosexuality, and the disappearance of the family unit are all accepted as common facts of life in this post-modern world.  It is easy to forget, to slip-up, to see the gray in our lives and the lives of those around us.  No one wants to turn away a friend because of choices they make, which they believe in.  No one wants to be the only man out as mankind discovers greater and greater wonders.  Everyone wants to fit in and feel that they can make a difference.  So we gray the edges; we find ourselves faced with a moral dilemma and only partially resolve it with our beliefs.  We don't dig too deep or delve too far.  All the while the world washes around us, telling us that we too can find happiness in the world.

However, it is a lie.  A cleverly disguised one, but a lie nonetheless.  After all, truth is the way things are, not the way we often want them to be.

Now, I'm not trying to criticize the way you choose to live your life.  Everyone is faced with choices, unique to them, that only they can make.  Don't take this as my judgment of you.  This isn't.  It is, however, how I choose to live my life.

The truth that my dad often reminds me of is not that I should force my views on everyone.  Or that everyone should comply with ours.  He reminds me that my world must be black and white. And that while loving everyone, because, or in spite of the choices they make, I cannot give myself the same allowance.  "To be in the world, but not of the world," is often a reminder given to those of us LDS members.  It is not that I cannot love those around me and accept their choices, but that I must be a pillar for myself in this fallen world.  Indeed, I would like to be able to face God someday and have a jury called of every single person I ever knew.  And while they can love me, hate me, or be impartial; I want every last one of them to be able to say that they know I believe in God.  That even though I may never have spoken of it to them, my faith means everything to me and I truly strive to simply live as Christ did:  to serve those around me.

I want to end by simply saying that I love my God and my Redeemer, and that I am doing the best I can to remember the truth and the absolutes so that I can make it back to Him.  I see no shame in that.

~Kyrie