The Real Battle Being Carried On:

Below is an excerpt of an address (“Why a Savior Is Necessary, and Why Only Jesus Christ Could Qualify”) given by Robert J. Matthews at a BYU Devotional on December 4, 1984 (https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/robert-j-matthews_savior-necessary-jesus-christ-qualify/).  It seems that the implications stretch over several areas of personality and society.  I would occasionally like to add some of my thoughts about some of the different implications on this blog:

"We often talk about the War in Heaven and what took place there. We understand that the Savior was selected in that premortal life as our Redeemer. We knew him there. Our first acquaintance with Jesus began many thousands of years before we were ever born into mortality. When we talk about our relationship to the Savior and our redemption, we must begin with our premortal life.

"I think we often miss the real issue of the contention in the spirit world that eventually led to the War in Heaven. We talk about it as though Lucifer was going to force everybody to obey. He said, “I will save them all,” and we interpret that as meaning that he was going to have forced obedience.

"It has seemed strange to me that a third of all the spirits that could have been born into this world would have favored a plan that would cause them to have forced obedience. Most of us do not like to be forced. As I see it, the real issue was not so much one of force as it was that Lucifer said he would guarantee their salvation. He promised salvation without excellence, without effort, without hard work, without individual responsibility. That is the lie he promulgated in the pre-earth councils.

"That so-called shortcut to salvation captivated many gullible and lazy spirits. They wanted something for nothing. We have certain aspects of that in our life today where something is offered for nothing (a free lunch we sometimes call it), with certain kinds of subsidies that promise to guarantee the reward without the effort. On that basis, Lucifer led away many spirits, but individual progress does not come that way.

"Only by serious and strenuous exertion do we improve in character and in spiritual growth. In our society we still come in contact with many who are influenced by this erroneous philosophy. They think they can achieve salvation and exaltation without a struggle. We are still fighting the War in Heaven with the same participants and the same issues, but we are fighting it on new territory and on a different battleground.

"Having ascertained that the devil’s program was one of promising excellence without effort, we can better appreciate the real struggle that Jesus had, that we all have, to do our best in this world to overcome our weaknesses and to obtain redemption from the effects of mortality. It is in view of the premortal life and the issues that were fought in the War in Heaven that everything else in the ministry of Jesus and in the gospel must be understood."

And...

My children do have ancestors among "those who stayed" on both their parents' sides. Hers helped settle Santa Clara and later Enterprise while mine helped settle the Pine Valley area. In each case there were formidable barriers to overcome. Every little town you pass on the highway in Utah has an amazing story, if you're willing to dig it up. I keep asking myself; 'Are we living up to what they passed on to us?' and 'Am I passing on similar good habits and standards to my children?' From today's discussion in the car, I'm at least satisfied that they will not live life expecting a handout and that they are beginning to understand the value of hard work and true generosity to those truly in need. I'm very thankful for that.

Hurricane Peach Days 2012

     Recently I was involved in the Hurricane City Peach Days Celebration.  My son had been playing the role of Alf Hall in the drama based on the historical facts of the digging of the Hurricane Canal.  He got a job which hours made it impossible for him to participate.  I was informed that I was taking his part on the day of the dress rehearsal.  It was a struggle.  I've never been good at memorizing lines.  I would study, sweat (the cooler was on the brink in the old auditorium as well), and rely on the encouragement of other wonderful cast members between scenes.  I ended up ad-libbing without changing the meaning more often than not.  I never could get my verse right in one song, but it was a humorous one so the audience didn't seem to mind my word-changes.  But, as it rolled on into the third evening I had a sense that those men, and their supportive families, who built the canal were aware of our acting.  Not that every word was exactly as they would have said, but the real-life drama of heart-break and sacrifice they actually took part in was what we were conveying to the audience.  I had an impression that it is important to them that we understand that they did go through with it, that they did not give up, and that our present blessings here would not have been if they had not done.  I could not help but feel, standing backstage peeking through the curtains waiting for my next appearance, that they want us to be aware that they carried on, keeping faith in God, even when things seemed unlikely to work out.

     What we celebrate at Peach Days is what some determined families were able to do by getting a little water to the Hurricane Bench. They were told by the experts of the time that that part was impossible. All they had were picks, shovels, 

wheelbarrows, and a little black powder to dig and tunnel 8 miles through rock slides, steep talus slopes, and sheer cliffs. Without asking for handouts (only an investment from the LDS church), they did the impossible.
     The following conversation took place not long after the canal was finished. James Jepson, along with John Steele, had been the inspiration and leader of the project: 

     "Do you remember how Brigham Young called a group of people to Dixie?" asked James Jepson of an incredulous G.H. Brimhall (then president of BYU) as they viewed the final product. 
     "Yes."
     "Do you remember that of the half who came,only half remained?"
     "Yes."
     "Well," said Jepson,"the men and women who built this canal are the children of those who stayed!" 

     The canal is not in use any more, but it's still there, what wasn't ruined in the 1992 earth quake.  Take a hike along 'the ditch'.  Learn about the "Ditch Riders" (I knew Billy, the last one...father of the now-famous World Champion Bull Rider Cody Wright).  

You have to see it to believe it (Google "Hurricane Canal" to read about and see photos of what I'm talking about).

     I am one of the many blessed beneficiaries of those early pioneers' hard work. My family and I have been lucky enough to enjoy the peaches and pecans that the early settlers began the tradition of growing here. My children learned to labor for the good of others on the church farm, at its peak having 20,000 of the best peach and apricot trees in the LDS Welfare system (the return on their investment). We have wonderful friends among the progenitors of those original builders and have found many to be unusually generous and friendly. This is why I love Peach Days, and being a part of that play for which I could never get my lines quite right.
     The soil here doesn't look like much, but they were right. Get a little water on it and this is what can happen to your cucumbers and summer squash if you don't pick them for a couple of days: