Thoughts on Prologue: Opposition
To be human is to imagine, it is to dream! Think of the technology explosion that has made our lives easier, richer, and more interesting! In my lifetime I have witnessed the arrival of air-conditioned automobiles, color television, microwave ovens, passenger jet airplanes, communication satellites, personal computers, the Internet, smartphones, digital photography, advances in modern medicine (as you know, I could go on and on), and it all began with our extraordinary, God-given curiosity and imagination.
There is much in the Gospel we believe and talk about, but it is all rather skeletal. This is as it was designed to be, I’m sure. We are, after all, behind the Veil of Forgetfulness. It is our time to live by faith, and although we know we have spiritual experiences, there is so much we don’t know. In the absence of knowledge, we are left to our imagination. Happily, if we study the scriptures and the teachings of modern-day prophets, we can at least have an “informed imagination!”
Many would argue that imagining beyond what has been revealed is meaningless or even dangerous; but it is fascinating, and often comforting to envision things as they might be! Since curiosity is part of our spiritual DNA, how can we not contemplate that which we don’t know? When our beloved ones take their last breaths and slip away from us, how can we not wonder about the world they have entered and the lives they are living? Pondering and marveling can even lead to personal revelation. I’ve noticed that sometimes, while I’m gazing into my imagination, the Spirit seems to whisper, “Yes, you’re on the right track. Keep working through that thought or that image.” The danger comes when we start teaching our personal imaginations as truth, even when we seem to have had spiritual confirmations that there is some truth to them. Declaring doctrine is the business of prophets, and no one else.
In the story of Prologue 1, I take the skeleton of truth we have about Premortality and the Grand Council in Heaven and attempt to add imaginary flesh to it. Most of the story is purely imagination, but I have to say that I did feel the Spirit while writing it. How we all must have felt the infinite love of our Heavenly Parents! Our spiritual hearts were certainly broken when so many beloved spirit children of God, our spirit brothers and sisters, rebelled and “kept not their first estate” (Jude 1:6, Abraham 3:26, 28). I can’t even imagine the pain and sorrow our Father and Mother experienced as so many beloved children turned their backs and their hearts away from them. But think of the hope and joy we all surely felt when our Beloved Savior, the Firstborn of God in the spirit, declared, “Here am I, send me!
So, what was it like to be born of resurrected, perfected, exalted, loving Heavenly Parents? Barb and I are the parents of seven, and giving each one of them the attention and time they deserved was a real challenge! Our Heavenly Parents have billions and billions of children! How could they have given each of us the time, attention, and love we needed? How could they possibly know each one of us intimately, as a Mother and Father should? I know I am asking an infinite question with a finite mind, but it seems like an important question nonetheless! Since time really isn’t an issue in eternity, somehow, they must have spent much “time” and given great attention and love to each of us! There certainly is enough time in eternity for each of us to have had a rich relationship with our Heavenly Parents.
Here’s what we do know. We are the literal offspring of Heavenly Parents (Acts 17:29), and we are deeply loved by them (John 3:16). They love their children with an infinite and eternal love. The love we feel as parents gives us a glimpse into their love. They want us to succeed, to be happy, to receive their greatest gift, even life eternal (Moses 1:39; Doctrine and Covenants 14:7). When I pray to my Father in Heaven, I feel His love, His compassion, and His forgiveness. How it all works, I don’t know . . . I can’t even imagine, but I do know He lives and He loves me. To be born of the greatest beings in the Universe is quite a heritage. It is a startling, humbling, motivating, fact that each of us is endowed with the potential to become like them! We have the stuff of Gods in us! It is impossible to even imagine the full magnitude of such truth, but it certainly gives me strength and confidence!
With such wonderful, loving Heavenly Parents, why would anyone rebel? Yet a third of the heavenly hosts, a full third, beloved sons and daughters of God, did indeed rebel! (Revelation 12:4, 7-9; Abraham 3:26-28; Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-37). Was it fear? Were they afraid they would fail at this venture into mortality? Did they insist on some sort of guarantee? Were they unwilling to put forth the effort to progress along the covenant path? How could they have not understood the atonement and the infinite love and grace of our Savior?
Certainly Lucifer was charismatic and persuasive, but how could he have been more charismatic and persuasive than our older Brother Jehovah and our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Parents? Was it ignorance? Did they not understand the mighty strength, determination, and love of the Firstborn? Could they not trust Him or have enough faith to put their eternal destiny in His hands? Was it pride? Were their feelings hurt somewhere along the way? Is that why they refused to honor their older Brother? Is that why they were unwilling to give their hearts to Him? Are there lessons that we can learn today from their infinitely consequential folly?
Such were my imaginations as I visualized the Grand Council in Heaven, before the world was formed, and the depth of emotion and passion that must have been part of that momentous occasion. I hope, as you read Prologue 1, that you will feel the Lord’s Spirit and the infinite love of our Heavenly Parents.
– Richard B. Scoville
