Being a covenant people

Today in Sunday School our lesson was on the Lord's Covenant People--in other words, about us.  Two seperate points struck me.

First of all, we all make covenants with the Lord, but why are we called a covenant people?  I think it is because the Lord recognizes that we are social creatures.  Our salvation is calculated individually, but it is achieved collectively, as we embark in the company of saints on this lifelong migration toward God.

As a result, not only do the covenants we make change who we are individually, they change who we are collectively, including how we interact with each other.

So what does this mean for us personally?  It means that the Mormon sitting next to you is also a pioneer heading their way toward Zion.  It means that each is equally valuable--from the Bishop to the deacons to the semi-active member, each can participate and add to the company's success.

The second major point is that becoming a covenant people involves a whole attitudinal shift.  Rather than concentrate soley on the distance that separates one from God, the covenant people concentrates on the progress they make.  The difference lies in which direction one looks: if one is obsessed with the sin that divides us from God, even if looked at with the lens of guilt, then one is not looking toward God.  The covenant people instead acknowledge their sin, but do so with their faces pointed toward the God that saves them.

In other words,  covenants change everything about us.  They change how we interact with others, how we view our sins, how we view ourselves, how we view the world around us.  No wonder covenants and the physical ordinances that teach us of those covenants are so vital to the gospel.

Hell is no other people

Today's Sunday School lesson on the Priesthood brought home an important point for me.  Hell is no other people.

Our greatest triumphs in life come through other people.  When we are truly successful in life, it is because we have served others and made their way a little easier; in so doing, we become greater than we otherwise would be because we become part of something bigger than ourselves.  Consider some successful people: doctors (who heal other people), firemen, (who save other people), musicians (who entertain and inspire other people), or policemen (who protect other people).

When we truly fail in life, it is because we have turned inward and acted solely for our own entertainment, desires, or interests.  Consider some famously bad people: corrupt politicians, greedy businessmen, gangsters, or the like.  All make sure they take care of #1 first.

In reality, the #1 doesn't need our help.  Instead, He taught that we should love our neighbors as ourselves; neither they nor I are more important.  Instead of ignoring others or wallowing in misplaced asceticism, the Lord would have us moderate, seeking our individual salvation in the company of others.

When we are surrounded by people we love, we are in heaven, for we are exalted by the bonds between us which in turn both stretch and mold us.  When we are alone, or when we are alienated from those around us, then we are in hell, an isolation so complete that we shrivel up into our own nothingness.

That's why the Priesthood can only be used to bless another.  Joseph Smith couldn't baptize himself; he needed Oliver Cowdery.  I cannot bless myself, I can't even give myself the sacrament--instead, I need others as they need me, and together we can advance as a company on our lifelong migration toward God.