I believe that this will be my last "political" religious post for quite some time as I switch gears. My posts over the past year or so have been about how to avoid antagonistic political environments, but now that time has passed. After this post, I'll return back to more generic religious topics.
So, to end the political discussion, I'd like to revisit two posts from last year in which I discussed the possibility of a curse upon our land. I recommend reading or rereading these, because I'm going to pick up where I left off.
"The Book of Mormon and Voting": I introduce instructions from scripture in relation to choosing our leaders, and also the idea of a curse upon the land when we choose poorly.
"Are We In Trouble?": I reiterate the Mosiah 29:27 curse and consider 4 different possible scenarios going forward in which we might fall under such a curse.
Here we are -- a couple of months into Trump's second term, and how are we doing?
First off, I should point out that I'm no prophet, so I can't in good conscious make any declaration about the state of our nation. Also, my church had held its worldwide General Conference at the beginning of April, and there were no declarations of such a curse being in effect.
However, that same General Conference did touch on the Ten Virgins parable at least four or five times. And the prophet, himself, urged anew that we need to prepare for Jesus' Second Coming ... now. And it was made clear that we are still in control of our spiritual progression, and our own relationships with God.
With all this said, my personal assessment is that we're currently seeing a mixture of Scenario 2 (most of what I had listed seems to be happening) and Scenario 4 (there is a resistance mainly in the judicial branch, and a small but growing amount in Congress). Should a curse happen (or if it's already begun), I think it will be proportional to how how Scenario 2 overcomes Scenario 4. I think we're still in the beginning, so it's not too late for even a surprise turn to Scenario 1. But should we continue into a more full blown version of Scenario 2, then I believe that yes ... God will be removing his protecting angels.
For the rest of this post, let's ask the question: what happens to us if the curse goes into effect?
I'd like to reiterate that overall, it would change nothing in our relationship with God. If we stay close to Him, and continue to follow Jesus' teachings, we will be okay. We've been in tough situations before, and we're all still here. As long as we show love and compassion, help those who are in need of support and comfort, build an environment of local peace, and so on, God is going to continue to take care of us. And should we fall victim to one of the temporal effects of said curse, God will welcome us warmly into His bosom.
On the other hand, if we allow ourselves to get caught up in all the political turmoil and propagate hate, withhold help for certain groups of people (and do it not unto the least of His brethren), build an environment of local antagonism, then God will not be there, and we would be held most vulnerable to the effects of such a curse, not only temporally, but also spiritually.
In other words, such a curse on the land would only give us much more opportunities to do good. Natural disasters always provide chances for us to step in and help a neighbor, and to mourn with those who mourn.
And sometimes, we human beings are at our finest or at our worst when times are the toughest. It's like the strongest of crucibles to test what kind of people we really are. Will we pass the tests? Or will we shrink when the time comes?
This is probably the last I'll touch on this subject for a long while, and I wish you all well.
Stay strong and pass the tests. Remember the teachings of Christ. Stand true to your convictions. Have mercy and compassion at all times. Remain worthy to return back to God in the last days.
