All About Mormons

Hi friends. Today I’m blogging from the heart of Torrey Pines State Park, sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The scene before me now is probably one of the top 10 most beautiful natural scenes I’ve ever witnessed. The beauty of God’s creations is astounding.

I want to write briefly about the transcendental in Mormonism. Joseph Smith, the first Mormon prophet, dreamed that every Mormon would commune with God. In contrast to the limited clergy so characteristic of the religions of Joseph’s day, since Mormonism’s earliest years every Mormon man has been made a clergyman, a deacon, teacher, priest, or elder. In Mormon theology, God is a literal Heavenly Father whose children, male and female, have a spark of divinity within them, thus bridging the theological chasm between God and man. It was Joseph’s hope that every man and woman in this Church would enjoy the kind of transcendental experiences that he as a prophet enjoyed. He wanted every Mormon to know God, not just to know of Him.

Joseph’s dream is manifest in the lives of many Mormons today. New converts and old-time members alike are invited to experience the transcendental; I dare say a Mormon hasn’t yet reaped the full benefits of being Mormon until he’s learned to recognize and evoke the very presence of God within his own heart and mind.

Mormons call this kind of transcendental communion with God by many names, all inadequate; “feel the spirit,” “have a spiritual experience,” and “feel the Holy Ghost” all come to mind. Trying to explain the transcendental is like trying to explain the color red to a blind man. Many Mormons try to draw analogies. They describe the emotional component of “having a spiritual experience” as “a burning in the bosom.” They describe the intellectual component in terms of a “whisper” or a “still small voice,” though no audible sound is actually heard. Perhaps Joseph Smith described it best when he called it a “quickening of the mind.”

While difficult to describe, “spiritual experiences” are very real, almost concrete. As I look back over my own life, it is clear to me how God has guided me at key crossroads, communicating not through the physical senses, but through some mechanism placed deep within the human soul before that soul ever knew this world. I’m far from perfect, but this much I have learned: if we try out best to tune the instrument God has placed within us, He can play a beautiful melody on it.

To all members both old and new, why don’t we all try to better tune our inner instrument? Why don’t we all in patience better develop the ability to experience the transcendental, to commune with God? My spiritual experiences have brought me great joy. They are at the heart of what I mean when I say I am a Mormon and a Christian.