Maxwell Moments--August 1st, 2004

In continuing tribute to the late Elder Neal A. Maxwell...

The doctrines of Jesus Christ by themselves are dangerous, as G. K. Chesterton observed. Any principle of the Gospel, isolated, spun off, and practiced in solitude, can go wild. The incomplete insight is no insight at all! Seeing the landscape of life illuminated briefly by lightning can be helpful, but we walk through a mortal minefield which requires the full steady light of the Gospel in order to survive. Just as the people of the Church need each other "that all may be edified together," the doctrines of the Church need each other.

Some of the subcultures in America focus on the principle of love without the principles of chastity, discipline, and justice. To focus on one principle of the Gospel and to exclude the others produces an unbalanced life. Vigor is maintained only by constantly exercising all the Gospel teachings. After all, one can make the mistake of consigning himself to "the clean, well-lit prison of one idea." Preserving orthodoxy is a delicate challenge. It is also one of the missions of the Church, because human happiness will be greater with orthodoxy than it will be following satellite belief systems whose outcome is always less than the sum required for full happiness.

(A Time To Choose, 1972--pg. 11-12)

It is important to understand that obedience is not simply a requirement of capricious God who wants us to jump hurdles for the entertainment of a royal court. It is really the pleading of a loving Father for you and me to discover, as quickly as we can, that there are key concepts and principles that will bring happiness in a planned but otherwise cold universe. We simply have to rely on faith and obedience to carry us forward when our personal experience and knowledge are inadequate.

(A Time To Choose, 1972--pg. 14)