It is interesting to me that what made them about in the
grace of God was treating each other as equals and everyone working for their
own support unless they absolutely couldn’t. Sometimes the gospel all seems to
come down to a few simple things. Love each other and live your taking
responsibility for your choices. Almost everything seems to fit into those two
things.
The story of Alma the younger and the sons of King Mosiah
remind me of something I’ve been
thinking about lately. We tend to take such a small view of the world and our
problems, and on other peoples problems. I bet Alma and Mosiah’s hearts were
broken over their children’s choices. But eternally, they came out stronger in
faith on the other side. I need to remember that when I am teaching my
children, instead of getting mad and going crazy, that my job right now is to teach. When I am freaking out I am
taking such a short view of the situation. I pray for an eternal perspective
and the peace in the moment to remember this and be able to hold onto it.
It also makes me think of the talk I read a while back about
how father’s natural inclination is to cling to their children, but what they
need to do is cling to the Savior and then their children will be safe.
I’ve never noticed before that the angel said that Alma’s
father had prayed with great faith
before. Always in my mind I imagined desperate heart-broken pleading. But that’
wasn’t the case. The angel came because of his faith, not his worry. That is so
important!
At the end, the angel still gave Alma his agency to be cast off
himself if he would. It’s an example of hoe God can answer the prayers for protection
of the righteous while still honoring the agency of the wicked, which is something
it’s been hard for me to philosophically understand before.
Alma talking about the pain and torture in his repentance is
a good one for illustrating why is it better to never have sinned. Not only do you
miss the blessings you otherwise could have had, but it is no easy process to return
to the fold of God. To really repent of those serious sins, you have to hate the
choices you made and be filled with unspeakable sorrow at them.
Even after the amazing heavenly appearance and transformation
of Alma, he was still persecuted by the unbelievers. I’m sure they thought he was
a sell-out. It’s amazing how hard our hearts can become.
It is such a beautiful part of the story that the rebels then
spent their time zealously trying to repair all the damage they had done and publishing
peace. And I love that the chapter concludes with “how blessed they are.” No condemnation
anymore, but forgiveness and the blessings. That is how the atonement works!
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