This I Believe

This blog is my attempt at capturing my beliefs, thoughts on weightier matters, why the world turns, and any other appropriate cliché. I feel it’s important that a person shares his or her beliefs, even if no one is listening. It’s good to get it out. If someone wants to comment, great. I love discourse and sharing beliefs and thoughts. My family thinks this is called arguing. I disagree. It is only through the free flow of ideas that we truly learn.
Is it the height of conceit to write a blog solely about one’s beliefs, thoughts and opinions? On the other hand, isn’t that what all blogs are in essence. In my other blogs, I talk about skills or techniques, but aren’t they still about things that I’m thinking or feeling? So, maybe; maybe not. I guess in the end, as William Shakespeare said “nothing can come from nothing.” If I don’t play, I can’t win.
This also serves as a journal, a written record of things as I perceive them. It is a way for me to capture these ideas and store them is a relatively safe place. It is not because I know I’m right about everything. Far from it. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know. My thoughts, opinions and beliefs have changed throughout my life, and I expect that to continue. The alternative is to become stagnant or close minded, or worse, close-hearted.
So, where to begin? I don’t have to get everything at one – the beauty of a blog is that it’s dynamic, on-going.
I believe that I am a man, created in the image of God. We are Spirits that existed before we came to Earth, and we came to Earth to gain a physical body and gain mastery over it, that we may eventually return to live with God, our Father in Heaven, with our families eternally. I believe we are responsible for the things we do, and don’t do.
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints called Mormons by many. I was not born and raised in the Church. While in High School, I was baptized. At the time, it felt right to me. I had little idea of what it all really meant. As I have grown older, and learned and studied more, my belief in the precepts taught have grown stronger. Over the years, I have felt the confirmation of this many times. I believe this feeling is from the Holy Ghost testifying to me. I believe all men can experience the same confirmation if they desire. It is simple. Read the Book of Mormon and prey to know if it’s true. If you sincerely want to know, you will feel it. If the Book of Mormon is true, then the Church is true. It’s pretty simple. Yet it’s something that no one else can do for you.
So, does that mean I am a slave to my Church and its leaders as many suggest? Are we mere automatons following our book of rules? Not at all. Well, maybe some people are that way. There will always be people who must be told what to do or what to think. But in reality, we should study the principles in our own minds and seek confirmation from the Holy Ghost. That is how we gain a testimony of the principles. We live it, experience it, study it, and ask the Holy Ghost for confirmation. So, while folks will say my Church doesn’t allow me to drink or smoke, in reality, I choose to follow those rules. I do so because I believe them to be true, or at the very least, trust those who set the rules. I am a free man and choose my own path in life.