Agency

Freedom

Many of us have seen the old seminary video called, “Acting for Ourselves.” It describes what agency & freedom really are but sometimes we need a little reminder.   Without going thru the complete video and with a little reinforcement from Tad R. Callister’s book, The Infinite  Atonement,  here’s how the audio of the video begins:

(A young man just got home from school).  “Mom, why can’t I go?  “Mike you know our rules.”  “So?” Mike says.  “So why do you keep asking me?” His mom replies.  The teenager then stomps off angry to his room.  “This is not a home!”  He yells, “It’s more like a prison,” he says, throwing his school books on the floor.  “Whatever happened to free agency?   This is so stupid, what a joke!  These stupid rules take away my free agency.  I never have any choices!”  Then he throws his coat at the wall.

After which his alter ego, in the image of himself, a twin, says, “No thanks, you can keep it,” throwing his coat back at him.

Then his alter ego speaks:  “They treat us like babies, right?  We never have any choices, right?”  Then Mike looks puzzled and says, “Where did you get my clothes?  How come you’ve got my face?”

The alter ego responds, “We’re us.  Me, myself.  Only you don’t listen half as much as you should.”  “What?” Mike says.  “My point exactly.” remarks his alter ego.  “Want an example?”  Think of Seminary class last Thursday.  We were both there but only one of us was listening.

“I was listening,” says Mike.  “What did we talk about?” says his alter ego.  “The same thing we always talk about,” responds Mike.  “And what was that?” Ego says.  “Ah…religion!” remarks Mike.  “You’re kidding, right?  Work with me here.   Can you be a little more specific?”

“Ah…The Church,” says Mike.  “Wrong…Thanks for playing.  Try freedom and agency,” says Ego.

“That’s it, see, I got it,” responds Mike.  Ego replies, “No, you missed it.  I got it.  Remember what Brother Hansen said?  Free agency is not a scriptural term.  There is freedom and there is agency.  They are not the same.”

“Look, let’s try this again, both of us this time.  Let me show you something,” Ego instructs.  Remember this chart Brother Hansen drew?  We’ve got agency and it branches out into two parts, freedom and captivity.  Does this look familiar?”

“Yeah,” Mike says, “So?”  “So, we have agency to make right and wrong choices.  Right choices lead to freedom, wrong choices lead to captivity,” replies Ego. 

“Excuse me!” says Mike.  But in the real world, agency is the freedom to do whatever I want.  Being restricted by a rule, that’s captivity.”

Ego remarks, “Looks like we are going to have to start from the beginning. There are four things you need In order to have agency.   First, we must have the power to choose.  Controlling our destiny, that’s where the power to choose comes in.  This power is given to us from God.

Have you noticed how difficult it is to make a decision when you don’t have the power to choose?  Without the power to choose the chart would look like this.  If our only choice was to do good, how could we do anything else?” Ego goes on.  “Without the power to choose we couldn’t do anything.  We were talking about the importance of having choices.  Opposition provides us these choices.  On the one side we can choose good on the other we can choose bad.

Righteousness, versus wickedness, holiness, versus misery.  These opposites, pulling us in different directions, provide us with the choices we can make in this life.  That’s why we need the second thing in order to have agency, that is, opposition in all things.

We’ve always wanted to drive that dream car, that’s pictured on the wall right?”  Ego continues.  “Right, so?” Mike comments. “So let’s do it,” says Ego.  Suddenly they are in their dream car next to a motorcycle policeman standing next to a speed limit sign.  Mike says, “I’m in my dream car and I’m supposed to drive 55 MPH?” 

Ego says, “Rules are stupid, right?  They are too restrictive and you wish there weren’t any, right?”  “Right!” Mike echoes.   “Then let’s try it with no rules.”  The policeman and speed sign disappear.  Mike happily runs up the engine & takes off quickly down the road, screaming with joy.  They have not gotten far when a person driving a large semi truck pulls right into their lane for a head on collision.  Suddenly the dream car sequence is over and Mike says, “Did you see that?  That guy could have killed us!!” 

Ego remarks, “What did the truck driver do wrong?”  “He was in my lane!” says Mike.  “There’s a point you missed,” responds Ego.  “If there is not a law, which is what you wanted, then what rule did the truck driver break?”  “…None,” says Mike, suddenly astonished & finally admitting it, “but he was in my lane.”

“Were you in the correct lane? Ego counters.  “Yes!” says Mike.  Ego counters again, “And how do you know that?”  “Because the law…” Mike says.  “You got it says Ego.  Laws designate, what is right and what is wrong.”

Let’s see how this fits in with God’s laws.  If God didn’t have any laws could you obey them?”  “No,” remarks Mike.  “Could you disobey them?” Ego asks.  “I guess not,” says Mike.  Well, if you couldn’t obey or disobey his laws, the question is, how are you going to follow Christ, if he doesn’t have the right way?

Mike remarks, “How come I never thought of this before?  I never thought laws guided us, I always thought they restricted us.”  Ego replies, “Laws are the third thing we need in order have agency.  Laws designate which choice is right and which choice is wrong.

(From here we will state the fourth thing we need in order to have agency is the knowledge of good and evil as given to us from righteous parents, Church leaders, the scriptures, prayer and the Spirit.  We diverge from the video dialog to the words of Tad R. Callister and his book, The Infinite Atonement and quote beginning on page 257:

“Some might contend that freedom comes when there are no laws or restraints.  They contend that freedom in its purest form is the right to do anything, anytime, anywhere, without consequence.

About twenty-five hundred years ago Nephi prophesied of those misguided souls who would teach, ‘Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us’ (2^nd Nephi 28:7).  Does it not seem ironic that such a philosophy is authored by the master slave himself?

It was he who was cast out of heaven, who was deprived of a body, who will be bound a thousand years and who will ultimately be banished to outer darkness.  The freedom he promises is illusory, it is a mirage on the desert, it is the very condition that has always eluded his grasp….

Commandments are no more restrictive to the spiritual man than street signs are to the motorist.  Neither prohibits our progress; to the contrary, they enhance it by serving as guideposts or directional signs to help us find and reach our destination….

…Freedom requires a knowledge of good and evil, the availability of choices and the power to execute or carry them out.  Each of these is enhanced by obedience to God’s will.

Obedience is one of the prime keys that unlock the power of godhood, bringing freedom to its fullest and grandest measure.  Obedience is not an enemy of freedom; to the contrary, it is freedom’s best friend.  Brigham Young taught, ‘The difference between the righteous and the sinner, eternal life or death, happiness or misery, is this, to those who are exalted, there are no bounds or limits to their privileges.’  Now that is freedom!”

Community Blessing

A Temple Miracle

Bishop Dean M. Davies of the Presiding Bishopric shared the following at a BYU Devotional. (3 Nov 2015)   It reminds us of what we can accomplish with the help of the Lord.

“When President Monson announced that a temple would be built in Philadelphia, Bishop Davies and others researched possible temple sites. They recommended two sites, which were across the street from each other. With the approval of the First Presidency, they began the process of acquiring the properties. To Bishop Davies’ surprise, the owner of the first site accepted the offer without negotiation.

Bishop Davies explained that often when a property owner discovers that the interested party is the Church, the price goes up. This is what happened with the second property. The owner responded with a price more than four times the price offered.

When he met with the owner of the first property, the owner explained that he had owned the property for twenty-five years and could have developed it several times, but he had always felt that the property had a “higher and better purpose.”

Bishop Davies said, “When it comes to building the kingdom of God—and especially when it comes to building temples—things often don’t go as smoothly as we would hope. Shortly after we filed the paperwork, the city of Philadelphia, through a city-controlled agency, filed a legal claim that stopped the transaction. They wanted to take title to the property themselves. This was a very serious matter. We did everything we could to meet with the agency and remove the claim, but were unsuccessful. …As a final step we took our appeal of last resort to the mayor. He was the only one with the authority to change the situation.

With a heavy heart I flew to Philadelphia with the Church temple architect. There we were joined by an Area Seventy and two local Church members. One of these members was someone you may have heard of. He played on the BYU football team and eventually ended up playing professional football for the Philadelphia Eagles. Vai Sikahema is a well-known local ­celebrity in Philadelphia.

He had completed a successful career playing football and afterward became a sports announcer on a local tele­vision station.

Before the meeting with the mayor, our little group of five met together and talked about the purpose for the meeting. Then we knelt in prayer. We knew that we would desperately need the Lord’s blessing that day.

At the meeting, the mayor, a city council member, and some of the mayor’s staff were in attendance. After introductions, my heart sank as I realized the atmosphere in the room was more than a little cold. …The hearts of the city officials had been set against our building a temple there, and this meeting was little more than a formality. As we started to explain the project, the mayor explained that his staff had assured him this property was better suited for commercial purposes—an office building or a hotel would not only benefit the city with jobs but would provide needed tax revenue. We would need to look for another site.

…I know that the five members of the Church in that room were pleading in our hearts for heavenly help. What could we say or do that would help change the mayor’s heart and mind? I asked the mayor if the architect could show a simple drawing or two of how the temple might look. He looked at his watch—a sign that he wanted the meeting to end—and said, “Okay.” But before the architect could begin, Brother Sikahema asked the mayor if he could say something. The mayor was acquainted with Brother Sikahema and said, “Of course.” Vai paused for a moment and then stood. In a humble voice he said:

“Mr. Mayor, many years ago when I was a young boy in Tonga, my father and mother and my brothers and sisters sold our home, we sold fruits and vegetables, and we sold everything we could to have enough money to travel to Hamilton, New Zealand, to be sealed as an eternal family in the temple. You need this temple. This temple will bless your city. This temple will bless your community. It will bless the people.”

Then he sat down. We were all very quiet. After a moment the Church architect stood and showed the mayor a few drawings of what a temple might look like. It was clear that in those few minutes something had changed. In reality, everything had changed. As the architect sat down, the nonmember city councilman asked to speak. He stood and said, “Mr. Mayor, I have spoken with the leaders in the community and neighbors of this property. We want this temple. We need this temple. It will bless our city. It will bless our community. It will bless the people.”

As he spoke, you could feel the Spirit come into the meeting. It was a sacred moment. What was to have been a thirty-minute meeting lasted for the better part of an hour and a half. …To my surprise, at the end of this public meeting the mayor turned and asked if I would offer a prayer. His heart had changed. The temple would go forward. It would be built on the selected site.”