Thursday, July 7, 2016

Alma 40:8 -- On Time and Ghosts

"Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men."
Alma 40:8


This chapter is talking about how the resurrection will go. While that is a worthy topic, what caught my eye today was the phrase "time only is measured unto men."  This goes along with Revelation 10:6, which talks about there being "time no longer."

The whole thing is pretty cool on a Science-Fictiony level, but what I was thinking about today was repentance.  We know that God promises us that "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18), and that idea of being *perfectly* clean and free from all of our sins is really compelling.  Time complicates things though.  We look to the past and we still see our mistakes shining brightly, still affecting ourselves and other people.

So how do we lose the haunting of the past, and the effects of who we used to be and really stand (and feel) clean before God?  I think some of it of course is true repentance, making up for our mistakes where we can, and healing relationships.  But maybe some of it is also our time-perspective. :)  If time is only measured unto man, then what does God see?  Who we are, right?  And if we change and repent, then our past selves are just ghosts, not part of who we really are anymore.  He's not looking at who we were, unless it is still a part of who we are.  And he can also see who we can be.  With God, we don't have to worry about our past-self ghosts.  We just have to clean up who we are right now, and move towards the even better selves that God can help us become.

Today, let's let go of past regrets and ghost selves, and focus on who we are now, and who we want to be (in collaboration with God).  And let's make some adjustments to get our now selves more in line with that ideal.  Let's be, *now,* people that we aren't ashamed of.  People that can't peek out of the past and haunt us.  Let's be the good and kind people today that we can look back on as a good example of our potential. :)  And let's also try to do the same for others.  Let's not judge anyone by the past, but give everyone the freedom to change that we all so desperately need.

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