“Simba, let me tell you something that my father told me. Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you. And so will I.” – Mufasa, The Lion King
I don't know about you, but this strongly reminds me of God. In fact, a lot of what Mufasa says reminds me of God, but more especially, this scene in which Mufasa assures Simba that he'll never be alone and the scene in which Mufasa appears to Simba in a vision and essentially calls him to repentance. I see a lot of God-like traits in Mufasa, and especially in his love and wisdom as he gives Simba comfort and counsel.
I can't speak for the church, but those who could are quoted as having said "As man is, God once was; and as God is, man may become," and I personally believe that. Joseph Smith is quoted as having elaborated on that thought, "God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did." If this is true, this means that our God, having once been a mortal being, must have had a Heavenly Father as well. And if the pattern follows, His Heavenly Father must have had a Father as well, and so on.
Now, this probably doesn't matter a whole lot. It's beyond ancient history, by human standards, and even by God's standards, it's in the past. Other than remembering lessons He had learned from His Heavenly Father, having one probably doesn't affect Him much now. Or does it?
In Pathway, we're learning about Self-Reliance, an element of which is developing spiritual strength. The general idea is that God wants us to become more like He is. He wants us to become more wise and capable, and less dependent on His wisdom and strength. It's a long process, but I now wonder whether or not it's an eternal one. Will we ever fully outgrow our need for God's help? Has He outgrown His need for help from His Father? Do the "great kings of the past" still guide their children, even now that many of them have children of their own? Mufasa said that he would always be there to guide Simba. Will God always be there to guide us?
Another quote says that "in truth, every man is a potential god in embryo." An embryo, completely dependent on his or her parents, grows into a child, and eventually grows into a fully independent adult. Does that pattern hold true for our spiritual development? We are much like children now. Will we later reach a state of spiritual adulthood, no longer needing any help from our Father, on whom we are wholly dependent now?
I honestly don't know which thought I find more appealing, that God will always be there to guide us, or that one day we'll no longer need that guidance. On the other hand, those concepts also mean that either we'll eventually outgrow our father/son relationship with God, or we never will. Both thoughts are kind of wonderful, and a little sad, in their own ways, yet one of them is true and the other is not. I doubt that the church has made any official, doctrinal ruling on speculation this obscure, and either way, it's not going to matter for a very long time, so I guess I'll leave this question as a mystery for now. But at the very least, it's comforting to know that God will be there for me for as long as I need Him to be, whether that's until I become as He is, or until the end of time.
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