That's All I Have to Say About That

I don't know about you, but every time I get on the internet these days I end up feeling upset and troubled. There are multiple reasons for this, but the main one these days is all the uproar and fighting over the gay marriage issue. (Some days, don't you just wish the Second Coming would happen already so we could all stop fighting? Just me?)

Honestly, most of my consternation is not over the issue of gay marriage itself. I read an opinion piece by someone stating that in reality, the gay marriage debate is all but over. Courts all over the country are going to allow gay marriages in the near future, it's pretty much inevitable. I tend to agree with him, and to be honest I hope whatever happens, happens soon so all the negativity can go away for awhile.

My main issue with the conversations surrounding this issue is the conflicting and contradicting opinions of members in my own church over a subject that, in my opinion, has been pretty thoroughly covered by the General Authorities and Prophet of our church.

See, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that our Prophet and Apostles speak for God. They tell us His will. We sustain and ratify our leaders and by doing so, cast a vote of confidence declaring that we trust, follow, believe, and support them as leaders of God's Church. We are taught to "Follow the Prophet," not just when we feel like it, but ALWAYS. This is not just blind, brain-washed obedience (as some see it). We are all encouraged to have a close relationship with God and seek for his Spirit to affirm to us that our Prophets to indeed speak His will. We believe that we can and should seek "personal revelation" about our own lives, but that the Prophet and Apostles are the only ones who can speak for God concerning matters that affect the entire Church and the entire World.

So my big, agonizing, heart-wrenching, desperate question is this: Why are there so many people, claiming to be devout members of the LDS church, claiming to sustain the Prophet and Apostles, who are saying "Well, I just think they're wrong on the issue of gay marriage."

What? How? How can you say you sustain and support the Apostles as God's mouthpieces on Earth in one breath, and in the next say they are WRONG? This is what troubles me. And yet I see it over and over and over again. I don't get it.

Today I really agonized over this. Then I remembered something I read recently in the "Daughters in My Kingdom" book. Chapter 4 covers ways in which the early Relief Society sisters were "expanding [their] vision and influence." One specific thing mentioned is "defending the practice of plural marriage."

In the early days of the Church, God revealed that plural marriage should be practiced. And those faithful and devoted sisters of the Relief Society believed and practiced and defended plural marriage with all their hearts, because they truly believed it was God's will for them. They literally spoke out in front of the nation regarding their support of living prophets and desire to live God's will, and their belief that plural marriage was good and right for them.

Then, President Woodruff received new revelation: no more plural marriage.

"Because the people had accepted the prophetic counsel to enter into plural marriages and had made and kept their covenants, this new revelation was once again difficult for many, but faithful Latter-day Saints determined again to follow the prophet. On the day that the general membership of the Church heard the Manifesto and approved it, Sister Zina D. H. Young, who was serving as the third Relief Society general president at the time, said, 'Today the hearts of all were tried but looked to God and submitted.'" (source)

Did you catch that? "Today the hearts of all were tried but looked to God and submitted."

This story has really helped me have peace regarding this issue. I'm sure there were plenty of members of the Church who disagreed with plural marriage when it was first revealed. They probably believed it was unfair. They probably saw the attitude of the country at the time becoming increasingly antagonistic toward plural marriage and decided to side with the attitudes of the masses.

And when the Lord revealed the end of plural marriage, they probably said "I told you so."

But what about those men and women who chose to follow the prophet, who defended the word of God and clung to their belief that the Prophet was truly speaking God's will? I do not, I cannot believe that they were wrong. I believe they were blessed, honored, loved, and rewarded by God for sticking by His prophets. I believe their faith was tried, and yet they remained faithful to God's word as revealed by the Prophet. I believe their faith was greater than those saying, "I told you so." I believe they are the examples we should follow.

Now, lest you get the wrong idea, I'm not implying here that I believe God will change his mind and the Prophets will reveal the acceptance of gay marriage. I honestly don't think it'll happen. What I do believe is that sometimes God appears to change His mind, contradict Himself, or show inconsistency. But you know what? He is a LOT smarter than we are. He knows EVERYTHING. He knows things that we as mortals have absolutely no concept of, things we can't begin to understand until the last days when all is revealed.  Does that mean He has changed His mind? I don't think so. I think it just means there are things we don't understand, but He does.

Because God is so much smarter than me, I am choosing to stick on the side of the Prophets. No matter what may be revealed in the future. No matter what the world says to me or about me for my decision. I will try to follow the example of my sisters in the early days of the Relief Society. I will believe in and follow the Prophet, even if I don't understand everything he says, even if the world tells me he is wrong, even if he appears to change his mind in some future revelation. It's not for me to decide the direction of the Church. It's only for me to decide if I truly believe that President Thomas S. Monson is really speaking the will of the Lord.

And you know what?

I do.

(Also, I encourage anyone who actually made it to the end of this post to read the entire chapter of Daughters in My Kingdom. In fact, read the whole book. It's pretty great.)