Let's be honest: when you are anticipating being a stay-at-home-mother and currently your only responsibility is that of housewife, you often find yourself with lots of extra time (at least I do!). So, amidst getting things ready for Baby Wesley's arrival, as well as doing the house chores and making dinners, I have a lot of time during the day to waste.
My most recent "time-waster" has been Netflix. Oh, Netflix--what a blessing and a curse! I've spent a few days lazily relaxing on my couch, doing nothing more than just watching shows on Netflix. Luckily, I've justified this by the fact that I am also currently making a baby inside of me, thus I need as much rest as possible; lazy days are okay when you are just days away from delivering a child, right? :)
No matter the reason I've found myself watching a plentitude of Netflix shows and movies, one show recently got me thinking, which is the real reason why I've decided to blog about my semi-addiction to Netflix online streaming.
On an episode of Everybody Love Raymond titled "Talk to your Daughter", Raymond (the main character of the show), "armed with research and much preparation, is ready to speak with his daughter Ally about the facts of life (the birds and the bees), only to find that Ally's interest has changed from where babies come from to the meaning of life."1
So, as her father tries to provide a sufficient answer to the big question, Why are we here?!, the rest of the family pitches in on how best to go about telling little Ally.
You can watch what goes down, directly from the episode, you can view a 6 minute segment HERE.
Or, if you'd prefer to avoid the crazy Barone family discussion, here's a summary of everyone's two cents on the matter:
Frank, the all-knowing grandfather, suggests that life is no more than work and cannolis: "You're born, you go to school, you go to work, you die. That's it, that's all. Cannoli, Marie!"
Debra, Ally's mother, has a much more humanitarian outlook on the subject: "God put us on earth to help each other. It's simple, it's direct, it's a good way for her to live her life."
Raymond, the father, isn't much help as he mocks Debra's response and (imitating God) says "I'm gonna put some humans on earth so they can help each other."
Robert, Ally's uncle, takes a much more skeptical and existential perspective on the meaning of life as he contemplates what happened before time and why we are here: "Where are we...where are we in the big scheme of things?"
It's Marie, the grandmother, who at least turns to the Bible for her answer, although what she finds is limited: "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth..."
The reason this episode got me thinking is that I have never really had to struggle with such questions. In my adult life, I have always known the answers to life's big questions, and I owe that to my parents, church leaders, the scriptures, and personal revelation. While I may not have known these things or understood them 100% as a child, I have come to know them for a fact now! So, it is with great pleasure that I share with you my testimony of these things so that you, too, can know of a surety where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going.
Where did we come from?
Life does not simply begin at birth. Before each of us came to this earth, we lived in the presence of our Heavenly Father who created each one of us; but, we did not yet have a body, so it was our spirits that dwelt in His presence. While we were there, we were happy. We were taught about God's plan of salvation and happiness, His plan for us to receive a mortal body and return to live with Him one day. God knew that we couldn't learn all of life's lessons, couldn't progress spiritually unless we left His presence for a time and received bodies. So, it was He that allowed us to come to earth to experience both the joy and pains of a physical body and mortality. 2Why are we here?
In short, we are here to gain a body, experience joy, and do all that we can to return to live with our Father in Heaven. In the Book of Mormon, it states the following: "Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they might have joy". 3 Just like Adam and Eve came to this earth and received bodies, we too have come to receive a body of our own. With this body, we are then given the agency to choose right from wrong, hopefully making choices that bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. When we choose to do the right, we in turn experience joy. But, when we do things that are contrary to the will of our Heavenly Father, we experience pain, sorrow, and unhappiness. 2
As we go through our lives, we learn and grow from our good choices, as well as the mistakes we make. We come closer to Christ as we study his gospel and follow his example. We come closer to our Father in Heaven when we strive to do our very best, accepting Jesus Christ (His only Begotten Son) as our Savior; as we take advantage of Christ's infinite atonement, we repent and become better people, becoming worthy to return to live with our Heavenly Father in the hereafter. 2
Where are we going?
Ultimately, we all die. But, we are not bound to spend eternity six feet under. "Our physical death isn’t the end, but rather is a step forward in Heavenly Father’s plan and a time of indescribable joy for the person making the transition." 2When you or a loved one die, there might be a lot of people who are saddened by the prospect that they will never see you again. But, because of the knowledge we have of Jesus Christ and his atonement for each one of us, we know that at some point our spirit will be be reunited--or resurrected--with our mortal body. With this knowledge, we should be comforted in knowing that we will indeed see our loved ones again, even after they have left this mortal world. 2
Each one of us, by virtue of coming to this mortal earth and receiving a body, will indeed be resurrected. God will judge each of us fairly, according to the life we have lived. And, based on the life we live, our Heavenly Father will seek to reward us accordingly; He will grant to us a place within His kingdom, to live there eternally. 2
My Challenge
I encourage each and everyone of you to pray about what you have read, to ask your Father in Heaven if these things are true. If you have doubts or further questions, you can study it out in the scriptures, or using the references I've included at the bottom of this blog post.
Armed with the answers to life's big questions, you will find that your life has greater meaning and your perspective will be widened. You will find peace in knowing that this is not all there is, that there is indeed more to this life after death. I know that these things are true, that the meaning of life comes down to Heavenly Father's great plan of happiness for His children; I am one of those children, as are you. I assure you that your Heavenly Father loves you and wants you to know that you originate from divinity and thus have divine potential here on earth, as well as in the hereafter. This, I testify.
Thank you so much for reading!
References:
1 http://www.tv.com/shows/everybody-loves-raymond/talk-to-your-daughter-129548/2 http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation
3 2 Nephi 2:27
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