Born Into the World

God doesn't use an earthquake when a whisper will suffice.

So, when a perfectly good method for creating a child already exists, why would He need to come up with some other way?

I'm going to speculate here, delving into subject matter beyond established doctrine. Also, I'm treading into delicate territory because of the sacred nature of things implied in what I'm considering.

A long time ago I heard someone ask the question, "Did Adam have a belly button?" It was supposed to be almost a trick question, based on the assumption that Adam wasn't born. A few years ago one of our Institute teachers gave this reply: "Of course he did. Why wouldn't he?" The teacher suggested that when Adam was created he was born like the rest of us are.

I imagine that such an idea sounds strange to some people. Myself, I think it's stranger to think that Heavenly Father molded a bunch of dirt and mud into a humanoid shape and then changed it into flesh.

I'm not going to say that's impossible for God. Christ changed water into wine and fed a huge crowd with a few loaves and fishes, so Heavenly Father could presumably turn dirt/dust into flesh.

Even so, I don't think He had any need to do it.

It's said in scripture that God "formed man from the dust of the ground" (Moses 3:7, Genesis 2:7). This sort of language gives me the changing-dirt-to-flesh idea. However, I get a different sort of idea when I read Moses 6:59, which reads, "inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul". Here, "born" and "became of dust a living soul" are the same thing.

For what it's worth, footnote b on "dust" in Moses 6:59 actually refers back to Genesis 2:7, Moses 3:7, and Abraham 5:7.

How are we created from dust when we are born? Maybe it's as simple as this: Plants grow in the earth, soaking up minerals and growing from the "dust". People eat these plants, or they eat animals that ate the plants. A pregnant woman slowly builds a little person inside her using the materials she obtained by eating and digesting them. Thus, the baby comes from the "dust of the ground".

Maybe it's like that.

The book of Moses (with an abbreviated version in Genesis) gives more reason to believe that Adam was born like we were. Moses 6:8-10 includes these words: "In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; In the image of his own body, male and female, created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God. And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his likeness, after his own image, and called his name Seth."

I notice parallel language here. "Adam..begat a son in his likeness, after his own image" and God created Adam in His "likeness" and "image". It would make sense if God fathered Adam just as Adam fathered Seth.

I think that makes sense.

This actually introduces a different idea, but one more possible connection again comes from Moses 3:7. "And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also". After a child is born, a significant change occurs in its body: it takes its first breath. After Adam was "formed", God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life". Perhaps Adam's spirit entered into his body when he breathed his first breath.

If that's the case, it would follow then that our spirits enter our bodies when we are born. That's a big thing to state. It's hard for me to fully think this thought through, as I've never held a growing fetus in my womb and felt its movements. All the same, it does make sense when considering that Christ spoke to Nephi just hours before his birth in 3 Nephi 1:13. I guess I just find it unlikely that He would be speaking to Nephi from inside His mother's womb. (If he was, it means that he had full consciousness despite having the brain of a baby; I doubt he had full consciousness immediately after he was born.)

I'll have to ask a few doctors what a baby generally seems like just before and after he takes his first breath.

I assume that a mother's egg cells have her spirit in them like the rest of her body; the new spirit has to enter at some point between being a fertilized egg and a newborn baby. Entering at the first breath would be the latest possible time, but it could be the case.

If spirits do enter their bodies when they are born, it by no means implies that abortion of a fetus is thus generally acceptable. Our bodies are temples for our spirits, and the wanton creation and destruction of temples is certainly not pleasing to God.

Last thoughts for now: When a prophetic statement is issued (or when I die and move on and am taught in the Spirit World), I'll know the truth. In the meanwhile, I do think that Adam was born physically to our Heavenly Parents. For that matter, Eve would have been born the same way (which would make the teaching about Adam's rib purely metaphoric, which I take it to be anyway). Thus, we're children of God in more than just a spiritual way; we're literally descended from Him. And on another note, I am somewhat inclined to think that our spirits enter our bodies at the moment of or right after our birth when we draw our first breath. Either of these might be true. We'll see.

Availability

"Life in the Church soon teaches us that the Lord does not ask us about our ability, but only about our availability. And then, if we demonstrate our dependability, the Lord will increase our capability." --Neal A. Maxwell

I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to do homework on Sundays. I have stuck to that rule. President Michael Benson, formerly the president of Snow College (and grandson of President Ezra Taft Benson), spoke at the Snow College institute building one Friday and encouraged all of the students there to not do any homework on Sundays. I loved that he of all people would say that, as he, being the president of the school, certainly wanted the students there to succeed academically.

I knew that I couldn't serve the Lord if I was busy doing something else.

Jeri Lynn and I decided also a long time ago that we were going to avoid being out of town on Sundays whenever possible. Sometimes we left on a Friday to visit family and returned the day after. As college students, we knew quite a few people who habitually visited their parents' wards on Sundays. They referred to these wards as their "home wards". Me, I knew where my home ward was. It was where my records were. It was where my bishop was. And, most importantly, it was where my callings were.

I knew that there was no way for me to serve the Lord if I wasn't around.

It makes plain sense that the first step in serving the Lord is just being available, but I feel like too often people (including myself if I'm not careful) don't make an effort to ensure that they stay available. The world certainly tries to pull us away, telling us that it's important to do other things. "Hey! School's important! You need to do your homework!" "Yeah, well my major is tough; people in my major have to get homework done on Sundays." Well, what I studied was no piece of cake. Computer Science isn't going to be found on a list of easy college majors. But the closest I came to ever doing homework on a Sunday was when I went to sleep early Sunday night, then got up a few hours later, then worked for hours on a project that was due Monday morning. I didn't even particularly like that because I was cutting into Sunday time by going to bed early. What I do know is that if I had done my homework on Sundays I just wouldn't have been able to do the work of the Lord, regardless of anything else.

What we choose to do with our time is really the only gift we can give our Father in Heaven. Not only should we just be around, but we should actively seek to know the will of God so that we may act according to it. We should make time for the Lord, then find a way to use it well.

Doctrine and Covenants 58:27-29 "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward. But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned."

Last thoughts for now:
I often have to decide whether to serve the Lord or serve myself. I know that I must make myself available to God and that some things, though I may like them or feel they are important, aren't deserving of my time or can wait until I have served the Lord. I'm sure this will be an enduring challenge, but I know that as I grow closer to God it becomes more natural. And as I serve God, I become more like Him.

The Reason for Education and a Career

A few years ago, while Jeri Lynn and I were taking a class at the USU Institute of Religion, our teacher asked us why we were pursuing a university education. The members of the class offered up several responses. Of course there were obvious answers, but it was clear that he had a particular answer in mind. I don't remember if we came up with it or if he eventually just told us, but I do remember the answer.

We were seeking and receiving an education in order to build the kingdom of God.

If we didn't intend to do that, then what would be the point? Our first area of concern is still the family, and so it's easy to see a link between our education and being able to provide for our family's needs. In other ways we are also able to serve Heavenly Father and build His kingdom through our education and careers.

Last thoughts for now:
I would hope for everyone to take this into consideration when they are deciding on their education and career. The course of my future is yet uncertain, but I will ensure that I keep a proper focus as I keep figuring out what to do.