Mind Wars

A friend inspired me to share the following and I decided to share it on here:


"We write not because we want to, but because we have to…”
-W. Somerset Maugham. 


We start out in life wanting to fit in with the crowd and see/understand everything that they see. The more we have in common, the more we feel understood. But then there are writers—risk-takers. There are those willing to admit that they simply don't see the same things as those around them. But we grow up afraid to share those things for fear of being the outsider—for fear of being rejected. At the same time our souls are in conflict because the knowledge we have of our perceptions are not meant for us alone, they never were. They were meant to be shared and deep down we know that. We want more than anything for others to know and see what we see, so we write. We write at least to release the pressure of unshared feelings and perceptions building in our hearts. We write because at least in the end we hope that someone will understand us. The human being, in all it's phenomenon, desires to be loved and understood, and even in the end, to be able to love like the Father who always loved him/her.


I felt impressed to share a little about how I understand the mind to works in regards to happiness. I sincerely hope that as you read this you will realize how much happiness is a mental choice and not a force imposed upon us according to our circumstances. "...let virtue garnish thy thought unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God..." (Doctrine & Covenants 121). When you think about it, the ONLY way Satan can get to us is through our eyes and ears. What we see and what we hear are input paths that lead directly to our minds. As our minds process the information we receive it passes though to our hearts to be reassessed and evaluated. Do you remember a time when you felt very afraid? Perhaps when you were a child you were too afraid to go into that dark room or closet by yourself. Why? What was it about the dark, for example, that instigated fear that seemed to fill our whole bodies and spread like goosebumps? Here is a better question; why are we STILL afraid of the dark? Fear is not a forced feeling; it is a choice we make when the shadows of our mind cover our understanding.

There are probably a fair amount of people who argue that they are no longer afraid of the dark, but the truth is EVERY person on earth is. I am not speaking of the physical darkness that prevents our eyes from seeing what's before us, I am speaking of the conceptual/spiritual darkness that prevents us from seeing what's before us—the darkness that is in our MINDS. It is the UNKNOWN! A child is typically afraid of the dark because his or her mind is young and inexperienced. He or she does not know what is in that dark area and is therefore afraid to enter. Typically speaking, as we grow and gain knowledge and experience, we become less afraid/lose our fear of the physical darkness around us because we can now infer what may be hiding in the shadows. Even though our eyes still cannot see through physical darkness, the light of knowledge acquired in our minds illuminates the unknown before us.


"We have nothing to fear but fear itself", said Franklin D. Roosevelt. I don't think he understood completely what he was talking about when he declared this to the whole United States nation, but there is a solid truth to what he is actually saying. Satan's only power over us is that crippling feeling called FEAR. That's it! He cannot force us to think, say, or do anything! What an amazing power the body we have been given has! So if Satan can only attack us with fear, WHERE do you think his aim is at? Where is the central power and control located in our bodies? Our minds! And remember, the only input to our minds is through what we see and what we hear (I am disregarding the other basic human senses for now). So, we know what Satan's weapon is, and we know where he attacks with it, but how do we prevent it in a world that is constantly instigated by fear?

After reading and understanding about the fall of Adam and Eve, I am certain that part of our fallen state includes the instillment of fear in our minds. Our memory has been erased, or more clearly spoken, veiled, insomuch that we must begin our lives in the dark (with no knowledge). "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalms 119:105). We are taught constantly to read the words of the Lord, but why? Words are a form of communication that enters our minds and paves paths of knowledge piercing into the dark unknown of the world—the unknown, the unheard of, the impossible, the unseen, the unexplainable. But there is also a kind of knowledge that merely does the exact same thing, only paving us into directions that lead us to misery and pain. In fact, there is only one of the numberless paths out there that leads to eternal happiness and peace. To overcome fear we must understand and accept the diverse kinds of fear within ourselves—we must understand who we are and accept our weaknesses as stated in Mosiah 3:19.


Here is where it gets very interesting. I have problems and weaknesses that have long crippled my true character and strengths. This past few years I have been taking actions that I have never focused on doing before going on a mission. I have been focusing on strengthening, creating, and developing relationships all around me. My mind has had less time to focus on myself and my own problems while I took the necessary time to develop relationships with those around me. It has brought the scripture, Luke 9:24, to life for me. I literally have lost myself in focusing on the Lord's Work (which work is primarily about relationships, incidentally; Moses 1:39). As my focus has been more and more directed toward others, so have my thoughts. The fears that I have had about people and who they really are have subsided and I have began seeing them as children of God with divine potential. What has stopped me from doing this before? The fear of letting go of myself and all the self-pity that came with it. The more I am amazed at the design God has branded in each of His children, the more He reveals who I am.


I realize that it sounds as though I have taken a bit of a twist in relation to what I have been talking about before, but it very much has to do with fear. I am going to repeat the quote I have of Marianne Williamson in a previous blog and explain further:


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."


We are afraid of fear and so we do not confront it. Fear is in us so we fail to confront ourselves and really think WHAT it is we are afraid of. Because darkness and light coincide in us we are in a constant state of battle and conflict. But as Marianne Williamson stated, our biggest fear is the fear to be ourselves. We are the "noble and great ones" that were shown unto the prophet Abraham thousands of years ago (Abraham 3:22). The light in us frightens us because we just do not yet comprehend how GREAT that light is and where it comes from. How wonderful it truly is to be given the gift of agency, that we may choose to reject our evil nature and pursue the light within us, to follow the Holy Ghost!


There is so much more I can write pertaining to this subject matter; I have been thinking about it for a very long time. But I will only share, in conclusion, a few examples of how we can control our minds and invite light into them that we may not be afraid or confused. 1.) Study the true gospel of Jesus Christ from standard works. They are written in the most pure form we can understand in our current state and direct our minds to positivity of faith, hope and charity. 2.) Pray ALWAYS. We overlook too much what prayer actually does in our lives. Prayer helps us to not only direct our thoughts to the Lord and reject any evil or doubt in our minds, but it also helps us to learn the principles of proper and effective communication with our Father in heaven. This, in turn, allows us to communicate better with ourselves which helps us to understand ourselves better which allows us to know what our potential is which permits us to grasp on the hope (light) in ourselves and not focus on our shortcomings. 3.) Have faith. This means to pursue the unknown with optimism and trust that the Lord will provide understanding in His own time. We are children of God! Ours is the inherited potential to do and be anything we want to be. Let us believe in ourselves and reject the negative thoughts that Satan seeks to instill in our minds. Fear is not a a power forced upon us; it is a choice. Choose the path where He walks...