Doom, Gloom, and A Ray of Sunshine
I am generally an optimist, but it’s getting harder to see the good in our world of constant negativity, contention, and war. I can see why the prophet Nephi in the Book of Helaman acted the way he did. His public display of lamentation on his tower was an attempt to plead with God and simultaneously send a message to the people he loved.
When you read the chapters that describe what was happening in his world, you can almost imagine looking at the timeline footnote on the page and expecting to see the year 2024. His world was one of corruption and conspiracy, as is ours. Because Nephi was a prophet, he knew what was happening and what would happen if things didn’t change. Likewise, we can see what is happening and know what will happen if we are tuned to the same spiritual frequency as Nephi.
One of the Book of Mormon’s greatest gifts to us in our time is its ability to illuminate the darkest secrets of conspiring people, institutions, and governments. The term ‘secret combination’ perfectly describes how corrupt people work together to secure wealth and power for themselves. And, thanks to God, who revealed the Book of Moses to the prophet Joseph Smith, who gave us the oath used by these secret combinations at the time Cain slew Abel. It reads, “And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands. And Satan sware unto Cain that he would do according to his commands. And all these things were done in secret. And Cain said: Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain. Wherefore Cain was called Master Mahan, and he gloried in his wickedness.
From these verses, we learn that Satan becomes a tool, or rather, a weapon of those who swear this oath. Having Satan as an ally makes the groups who employ the tactics of murder to get gain nearly unstoppable. In the Book of Mormon scenarios, the thing that was most effective against them was boldly declaring the word of God. War, famine, and pestilence only provided temporary reprieves from the chaos they caused.
I wish we could eliminate all corruption and chaos simply by convincing these corrupt people that they won’t win in the end. This is how is went down for Cain after he killed his brother. “And Cain gloried in that which he had done, saying: I am free; surely the flocks of my brother falleth into my hands. And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother? And he said: I know not. Am I my brother’s keeper? And the Lord said: What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto me from the ground. And now thou shalt be cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord: Satan tempted me because of my brother’s flocks. And I was wroth also; for his offering thou didst accept and not mine; my punishment is greater than I can bear.”
However, those who employ these practices are not being punished now. They are getting away with it because they sit in the judgment seats, or the halls of politics, or control banking systems or massive corporate empires. They don’t have to be in the majority in any of these entities to work their plan; they only have to be able to keep the secret amongst themselves. It is most likely that most of the people who work in these places are good and honest. Others turn a blind eye or are naive to what is happening around them.
So what can we do about it? We can spread the Book of Mormon and the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, bringing a ray of sunshine that exposes the corruption. It is our best hope. Take some time today to replenish your light by communing with the saints in church or God in prayer and meditation.