Progress

On a beautiful Saturday morning twenty-two years ago, at the mouth of Rock Canyon in Provo, Utah, my freshman ward (church congregation)'s women's group met for an activity. We were sent, two by two, up the road where we met someone who gave us a choice. Two ways lay before us. "At the end of one of these paths," she said, "you will get a five dollar bill. At the end of the other path you will get nothing. Which path do you choose?"

My companion and I deliberated. On one hand, the road without the five dollars at end would likely be "the road less traveled by," and that could make "all the difference." On the other hand, five dollars is at least something. We want to get something out of life! We chose the latter and were sent on up a broad path and around a corner where we landed in "prison" with other unfortunates. No five dollars. We'd been deceived. Our journey was over.

We made the best of our lot, singing an evil camp song at full voice and losing the tug-of-war at the end with a certain flair (suddenly letting go and sending "the righteous" to the ground). But I will never forget looking down from our rocky prison perch and watching those who had chosen the other path moving on to have experiences I wouldn't have. I gained a new perspective on hell. As Robert L. Millet noted,

Joseph Smith taught that "the torment of disappointment in the mind of man'--the realization of what we could have done and who we could have become and yet did not--'is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone (Joseph Smith [manual], 224; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 357).

I decided then and there that I do not want be damned (dammed/stopped/held-back) in my progress. I want the freedom to grow/increase/experience forever.

Since then, I've found that one hiccup to my progress has been my old nemesis perfectionism. Like the five-dollar-bill path, perfectionism leads me only into a hell. I can't progress if I'm stressed out about not being now who I wish to be eventually. Bruce R. McConkie said,

There are those who believe we must be perfect to gain salvation. This is a doctrinal misunderstanding.What we are doing as members of the Church is charting a course leading to eternal life. That course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. If we go out of this life loving the Lord, desiring righteousness, and seeking to acquire the attributes of godliness, we will have that same spirit in the eternal world, and we will then continue to advance and progress until an ultimate, destined day when we will possess, receive, and inherit all things.  

This inheritance will be a gift, not an achievement, and I will still be moving forward. President Dieter F. Uctdorf reminds me:

Whatever our age, wherever our location, we are always in the middle. What's more, we will forever be in the middle.

I went back and looked at what Brad Wilcox taught at Time Out for Women last year:

Justice requires perfection (in the never-make-a-mistake sense). The Savior paid justice in full.  

The Lord requires growth. 

This reminds me of a Janeen Brady song I learned when I was a little girl:

One little step at a time. Are you ready? Let's start to grow. 

 If you want to grow, that's the best way I know: one little step at a time.

The Lord will show me a tree or rock formation on my horizon. Then when I reach that point with the help of His spirit (my compass/guide), he will show me a landmark on my new horizon. I'm reminded of a song I sang when I was a young woman:

New horizons come into view. I see before me many roads to take. What should I say? What should I do?

% geograph.org.uk

No matter where I find myself in life, I can choose the road less traveled (with the guidance of the Savior), put one foot in front of the other trusting in Him, and, as Fievel's dad told him repeatedly, "Keep Walking!"

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:20).