The Purpose

I think I must experience religion differently than most people.

I watched "Glee" tonight, like pretty much everyone else in the country.  I've debated in the past if I wanted to continue watching it or not.  I'm still not sure.  It's funny, and I love that it's a musical show, but it's getting much too political for me.  Why can't it just be for fun instead of pushing whatever agenda is trendy these days?

However, I digress.  Like I said, I think I must experience religion differently than most people.  Comments made on "Glee" tonight and at other times on TV have me wondering: how do most people think religion works?

One thing I've heard nonreligious people (or those having a crisis of faith) ask is, "How could a loving God let such bad things happen in the world?" and cite bad things happening to good people as evidence against His existence. 

Let me tell you what I believe.  I believe that there is a God, but He's not there to make sure life is easy, or happy all the time, or fair.  That's not the purpose of our time here.  The purpose of our time is to be tested, to go through hard things, and grow. 

I believe we are His children, and He will give what we need, and not what we want.  Sometimes people say that unanswered prayers are their reason for losing faith.  My almost-three-year-old asks me nightly if she can have candy for dinner.  Every night she asks, she says please, and sometimes she throws a fit.  I know she wants it more than she wants anything else in the world in that moment.  However, I am not about to give her candy for dinner, because, as someone with more knowledge and experience, I know that if she eats candy for dinner, she'll feel sick later because she's eaten too much junk.  Not only that, but if I did let her eat candy instead of an actual, healthy meal each night, she would grow up with weight problems, which could lead to self-esteem problems.  Her body would become too weak to run, dance, and play the way she loves; not to mention dental issues.  I know all of this without even really thinking about it, and she doesn't have a clue.  All she knows is that she really, really wants candy, and I could give it to her if I wanted, but I don't.

This is how most people seem to me, like three-year-olds throwing a tantrum because they don't understand the reasons for the things that happen to them.  Yes, much of the time these things are tragic, horrible, or at the very least grossly unfair.  But could it be that Heavenly Father allows them to happen because He understands things that we don't have the capacity to comprehend?  That's what I believe.

And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

1 Nephi 11:17