Green Oasis

[Sometimes I fantasize about what I would say if I were asked to speak at an LDS meeting. Is that weird? This comment that I made at a friend's blog may be the seed of one possible such talk. I am responding to the question "What truths can you think of that have been twisted by Satan to distract us?"]

I realize the fact that you may be skeptical of what I’m about to say because of who I am. I only ask that you listen to what I say.

Dreaming about heavenly mansions above can distract from doing important things today. The eloquent and compassionate hymn Have I Done Any Good teaches us this.

Dreaming about a heavenly reward and worrying about whether we’ll be worthy of it diverts our energy from the tasks at hand. Pure religion and undefiled (James 1:27) requires that we exercise compassion through our actions now, in the present.

The principle of stewardship that you mention says that we are the caretakers of our earthly home. We are told that we will be held accountable for the condition that the earth is in when our stewardship is over.

Sometimes, I hear people with the mindset that what we do here and now ultimately doesn’t matter because Jesus will come again and rescue us from the chaos that precedes his coming. This may make sense to some kinds of Christians, but this runs contrary to the ideal of the faithful steward taught by the Bible and the other LDS scriptures.

The notion that we are not doing irreparable damage to our home despite numerous evidences only serves to dull the senses and allow us to continue to live the easy life, the life that we’re familiar with. The life of a disciple of Christ should call a person to wake up to the harm they do and live a higher life.

It seems to me that faithful followers of Christ should be striving to return their stewardship to the hands of the Lord of the Vineyard in good condition.

I focus on the good that I can do today while the sun shines, and have faith that if I succeed in exercising compassion and fulfilling my stewardship—and if I meet God after my life is over—that I will be welcomed home into his mansions. Focusing on the possibility of those mansions now is only a distraction from the good that can be accomplished today.