For Part One, Part Two, Part Four, or Part Five of this talk, follow the appropriate link.
The next quote from Elder Richard L. Evans' talk, "Where are You Really Going?" concerns the guilt we feel when we do wrong, mistreating either ourselves or others:
The Quote
But it isn’t only physical punishment
that comes from departing from the laws of life,
but also mental and spiritual punishment,
and the anguish of the soul inside.
As Juvenal said:
“The worst punishment of all
is that in the court of his own conscience
no guilty man is acquitted.”
Who is this Juvenal?
Juvenal was a Roman poet, whose full name was Decimus Junius Juvenalis. There is no real reliable way of telling whether or not he's my ancestor, since he was born a scant 55 years after the death of Christ, and there's no firm family history sources we know of that go back that far.
I'm still excited though, because I found his Satires online, in the original Latin. Some obliging nerd spent his life posting these, and I'm so happy about that, because I've been trying to learn Latin here and there, and finding good reading material can be challenging.
If I didn't have to earn a living myself, I would totally retranslate these.
I would agree with Juvenal AND Elder Evans on that sentiment - no one punishes me harder than I do when I do wrong, it seems. I'm so incredibly human, it seems, and when trying to live up to high standards, it's hard not to see the gap between where I am and where I'm trying to get to.
It can be easy to try and give up when I see that gap...but I don't have to be perfect. Christ has bridged that gap for me, and for all of us, if we choose Him and follow Him, which I do. My gratitude for what He's done for me comes out in all my pathetic efforts to follow Him, like my toddler grandson holds my hand when he tries to walk.
Still got a long way to go, but there's no other hand I'd rather be holding. He keeps me walking, and there's no guilt anymore...well, not as much anyway. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment