A few weeks ago, missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints knocked on my door. I pretty quickly realized that they didn’t know I was a member of the church, so I told them I was and a conversation ensued. They asked me if I had attended church that day, and I said that I did. They asked what I learned, and I’m ashamed to admit that I couldn’t immediately think of a response. I knew I had paid attention, but for some reason, nothing that was discussed was immediately coming to mind. I could give all sorts of excuses for my inability to provide an answer that many might say would be justifiable, but the truth is, I simply did not go to church that day with the intent to learn something. It was good that I had gone, but it would have been better if I had determined prior to going that I was going to learn something. Then, when I learned it, it would have stuck with me. It was a humbling wake-up call that I won’t soon forget.

At church last week, the talks in sacrament meeting focused on president of the church Russell M. Nelson’s recent talk at general conference — the semiannual worldwide gathering of the church — titled “Think Celestial!” Many talks and Sunday School lessons have been centered around that talk since it was given, but I’m always grateful when it is brought up because it serves as an important reminder that our choices now affect how we will spend eternity.

“Thus, if we unwisely choose to live telestial laws now, we are choosing to be resurrected with a telestial body. We are choosing not to live with our families forever.

“So, my dear brothers and sisters, how and where and with whom do you want to live forever? You get to choose.

“When you make choices, I invite you to take the long view — an eternal view. Put Jesus Christ first because your eternal life is dependent upon your faith in him and in his atonement. It is also dependent upon your obedience to his laws. Obedience paves the way for a joyful life for you today and a grand, eternal reward tomorrow.”

According to the church, “there are three kingdoms of glory: the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, and the telestial kingdom. The glory we inherit will depend on the depth of our conversion, expressed by our obedience to the Lord’s commandments. It will depend on the manner in which we have ‘received the testimony of Jesus.'” Regarding the telestial kingdom specifically, it is “the lowest of the three degrees or kingdoms of glory in heaven” and is compared to “the glory of the stars.”

I was struck by an anecdote shared by one of the speakers. She spoke of a child who was given a sugar cookie, but the child was upset because the cookie didn’t have sprinkles on it. The child proceeded to throw a temper tantrum. The child was told that a choice needed to be made. Either eat the cookie as it was or continue to throw the tantrum and not get the cookie at all. If the child chose to continue to throw the tantrum, the only thing that could be said was, “Well, that’s your choice.”

In life, we all are forced to make choices that show who we are and how we want to spend eternity. Sometimes we know that a particular choice would be good, but for whatever reason — perhaps because of what we know that choice means — we make a worse choice. We’re like the child who knows that the cookie he has is good but because he knows that accepting it means conceding what he wants even more he makes a worse choice. Well, that’s the choice that was made, and the consequence of that choice is what it is.

Some may say this is nothing more than manipulative scare tactics. Either conform to God and his laws or eternity may not be as glorious as you might wish it to be. Some argue God would be harsh or vindictive to work like that. I don’t look at it that way. I look at it as simply the reality of the situation. The parent with the tantrum-throwing child isn’t using some manipulative scare tactic, nor is she harsh or vindictive, when she says either accept the cookie as it is or continue throwing the tantrum and get nothing. She is simply giving the child knowledge of the reality of the situation and allowing him to make a choice. The reality doesn’t change. It can’t change. The child has all the power in the world to make whatever choice he wants, but he can’t be given the enjoyment provided by the cookie if he doesn’t accept it. Similarly, we cannot receive the enjoyment provided by the celestial kingdom if we don’t make choices that show that’s what we want.

Of course, choosing God and obedience to his commandments is not as simple as choosing a cookie without sprinkles. A child can see the cookie in front of him and know that it is good. We cannot see the celestial kingdom and what life is like there. But the lesson remains the same. We have the power to choose how we spend eternity.

All of this has been on my mind a lot more recently in the wake of the mass shooting at the Super Bowl parade for the Kansas City Chiefs. Whenever a mass shooting happens, it’s only a matter of hours, if even minutes, before someone uses it as an opportunity to promote new gun legislation. Certainly, there are common sense gun measures that can and should be taken, and if human lives were more important than politics and pride, they would be. But it saddens me that the first thing we think about when it comes to preventing these senseless tragedies is what more can government do.

Quoting an unnamed columnist during an October 2009 general conference talk titled “Moral Discipline,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “gentlemanly behavior (for example, once) protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. …

“Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.”

Instead of worrying about what gun legislation could be enacted to prevent these tragedies, we should be worrying about how to strengthen moral values. Imagine a world where everyone knew that they were a child of God, that he truly does know them and loves them and that they have the opportunity to return to him through their choices. If that was the case, I don’t think we would be worrying so much about what the government needed to do to protect us. Unfortunately, there seems to be less and less appetite to discuss all this. “Don’t push your religion on me” is a line too commonly used. But from where I sit, as I watch society collectively push religion farther and farther away, I see where we’re headed and I’m not impressed.

Nevertheless, I’m reminded of some optimistic words by President Nelson at other general conferences.

Speaking to the women in the church during the October 2020 general conference, he said: “I am not saying that the days ahead will be easy, but I promise you that the future will be glorious for those who are prepared and who continue to prepare to be instruments in the Lord’s hands.”

In another address during the same general conference, he said: “We live in a glorious age, foreseen by prophets for centuries. This is the dispensation when no spiritual blessing will be withheld from the righteous. Despite the world’s commotion, the Lord would have us look forward to the future ‘with joyful anticipation.'”

At the following general conference in April 2021, he said: “As you continue to let God prevail in your life, I know that he is just as optimistic about your future as he has ever been.”

So many blessings await us. What are the choices we want to make?

Contact Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @rbcomer8388 and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rbcomer8388.

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