Does God Give Stones or Bread?

The Savior taught his disciples the following parable about answers to prayer:

"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:11-13)

Our loving Heavenly Father will never give us stones or serpents or scorpions. He promises to give us only bread and fish and eggs. He does not hurt us. He only nourishes us.

But sometimes it doesn't feel that way. Sometimes we let what Michael Wilcox calls the "expected good" get in the way of our receiving and appreciating the "given good". We ask for nice, soft, fluffy, easy-to-chew white bread, and God gives us 12-grain whole wheat gluten free bread. We see the dark, hard, crusty, gritty bread and we think it is a stone. And we wonder why God didn't answer our prayer. We wonder why he doesn't love us. We wonder if he is even listening to us, or if he is even there. We completely miss the fact that he gave us what we needed because we did not get what we expected.

God's timing

Sometimes we are disappointed because God gives us gifts on his time schedule instead of on ours. The apostles were rowing across the Sea of Galilee in a terrible storm that threatened to sink them. They wanted to be rescued when the storm first started to dash the waves against their boat during the first watch of the night, which was around six o'clock. But the Savior did not walk across the storm-tossed water and still the storm until the fourth watch, sometime after three in the morning. Why did he not come sooner?

The Israelites had just escaped the Egyptians and had crossed the desert to the shores of the Red Sea. They needed a way to escape Pharaoh and the oncoming Egyptian army. They would have loved for God to send down lightening from heaven to destroy the army, or strike the descending army with blindness so that they could not find them. Or if nothing else, it would have been much less stressful if God had just already opened up the path on dry ground through the Red Sea when they arrived on the shore. But God waited until the Egyptians were practically on top of them before he inspired Moses to raise his staff and command the waters to part. Why did God not provide their escape sooner?

Why does God not always give us yummy, soft white bread? Why does he not still the storm at the sign of the first wave? Why does he not part the Red Sea before we get to the shore? "For mine own purpose have I [done] these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me" (Moses 1:31). Heavenly Father knows what we need and when we need it to produce the most good for us and to strengthen us in the best possible way. He does not give stones, he only gives bread.

Perfect season

My football coach in high school was mean and hateful. When it came to conditioning and training, he was merciless. During pre-season workouts, in the blazing heat of the summer day, he made us run and lift weights and skip rope until we dropped from exhaustion. We ran bleachers until our legs gave out, and then he topped off our workout with a dozen wind-sprints. He was a horrible man, and he hated us. But three months later we finished the season with a perfect record. We raised him on our shoulders and doused him with ice water for being the best coach in the world.

"For mine own purpose have I [done] these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me." God does not give stones or serpents or scorpions. He gives only bread and fish and eggs. The "given good" may not be the "expected good", but it is still good. In fact, what we get is always better than what we ask for. The apostles wanted a calm passage across the lake; what they got was the opportunity to see God walking on the water. The Israelites wanted a peaceful walk through the desert; what they got was a miracle never to be forgotten. I wanted a relaxing summer at the beach; what I got was a perfect season. What we want is fluffy white bread that pleases the pallet and goes down easy; what we often get is bread full of nutrients and healthy fiber that sustains us through tough, challenging times. What we want is a solution; what we get is an opportunity to strengthen our faith and prove ourselves valiant in the face of storms and barriers and afflictions. We want easy, and what we get is perfection.

When you think God is giving you a stone, look again.

Hey Father, guess what!

This morning as I mechanically knelt to say a prayer to start the day, the Spirit brought a recent experience to my memory. A couple of weeks ago I was feeling particularly lonesome for my grandson Jeramy, who lives in California. I really wanted to talk to him and hear how he was doing in his new home and his new school.

I texted his mom and made arrangements for him to call me Sunday night. Now, we have phones, and we could call each other almost any time, but they are busy and I am busy, and we just don't take the time. So we arranged to talk at eight o'clock.

As the time grew close, I made sure my phone battery was charged up. I plugged my headphones into the phone to make sure I could hear clearly. I made sure the phone was on, and then I waited. Eight o'clock came and went, and my phone didn't ring. I tested it to make sure that it was working. Sometimes my phone has a habit of missing calls. I rebooted it to make sure that it would be ready. But there was no call and no message.

Then I got a text from my daughter that Jeramy would call after he finished dinner. Nine o'clock came and still the phone had not rung. I gave up hope and thought, well, perhaps tomorrow we'll talk. And so I started getting ready for bed.

And then suddenly the phone rang. A thrill of excitement went through me. I looked at the caller ID and saw that it was my daughter's number. I answered, and I heard Jeramy's voice. Ah, it was a sweet moment to hear him say, "Hi, Grandpa".

The conversation

Normally, Jeramy, who is five, is not a prolific conversationalist. I have to ask a lot of questions to get him to talk. I try to ask open-ended questions that require more than a simple yes or no. He often just nods his head and doesn't elaborate, which does not translate well over the phone. But I have to keep the open-ended questions simple so that he can answer. So I avoid big questions like "What did you do today?" and ask focused questions like "Tell me one thing you did in preschool today."

This particular night, though, Jeramy was ready to talk. He began each subject with the introduction, "Hey Grandpa, guess what?" Then he would wait for me to respond, "Tell me what, Jeramy." Then he would tell me something about his Skylander game, or his new cousin, or what he ate for dinner. He even asked me what I had done that day. We had a marvelous conversation for about twenty minutes.

He exhausted his "guess whats", and it was his bed time, so we wrapped up the call. I told him that I loved him very much, and I heard those sweet words in response, "I love you, too, Grandpa." And then we hung up. My heart overflowed with love for my little grandson as I lay down that night to sleep.

God wants to hear from us

As I pondered that little memory this morning, every moment of which is etched in my heart, it occurred to me that my Heavenly Father was waiting to hear from me. I have been a long way from home for what seems to me at least to be a very long time. He misses me. He wants to hear my voice. He wants to know how I'm doing.

He has given me the gift of prayer, and he has promised to be listening on his end any time I want to call. But I'm busy, so I don't always take the time. I limit myself to a couple of times a day, when I rise in the morning, and before I retire for bed in the evening. I'm pretty regular about it, but sometimes I miss.

Now, I'm sure Father has his battery charged up, and his headphones are in, and his phone is in perfect working order. I think he waits anxiously every morning and every evening for me to call in. When I am late, or I get busy with other tasks and don't come to prayer right away, perhaps he wonders if I will forget altogether this day. But then I kneel down and fire up my standard prayer, and he looks at the caller ID and says to himself, "Oh, good. It's my son David. I have so looked forward to hearing from him today!"

I don't think he is disappointed when I offer up my poor little pathetic mortal prayer. Sometimes I feel him prompting me. "What did you do today?" he asks. "Did you notice the beautiful sunrise I created for you?" "What did you think about that verse in the scriptures that I caused to jump out at you this morning during your study?" "How did you feel when I prompted a friend to say hello?"

Occasionally, but not often enough, I am astute enough and spiritually awake enough to see blessings without being prompted. I say, "Hey Father, guess what? I smiled at a stranger today." "Hey Father, guess what? I helped a co-worker with a problem today." "Hey Father, guess what? Evelyn and I had a great conversation today about the gospel. I really felt the spirit, and I felt a great love for my sweet companion. Thank you for sending her to me."

I am not particularly concerned with the topics that Jeramy wants to talk about. Whatever is on his five-year-old mind is ok with me. I do not expect to debate the philosophy of existentialism with him. I do not expect to hear a well articulated exposition of Newtonian physics. I just want to hear from him, hear about whatever makes him happy and whatever might be weighing on his five-year-old heart. I just want to know that he remembers me and that we are still best friends. And I want him to know how much I care about him.

We remember him

Heavenly Father is no different. He doesn't mind that we do not know everything that he knows. He understands that our perspective is limited, and that we are blinded by mortality dust. He already knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows when we are happy and when we are hurt. He knows everything there is to know. Nevertheless, he still wants to hear from us. He wants to know - and more importantly, he wants us to know - that we remember him and we love him. And he wants us to know how much he cares about us.

That is what true prayer is about. It is not mechanical. It is not a thing to check off our list at night, like brushing our teeth, before we go to bed. It is about staying in touch with the One who loves us more than we can ever imagine in our little five-year-old hearts. It is about having a best friend who simply wants to share in our joys and our sorrows, who aches for us, and wants more than anything in the universe for us to come home to him.

It doesn't matter what we say or how we say it, as long as it is real and genuine and motivated by love. "Hey Father, guess what? I love you."

The happiness decision - When deciding is not enough

This is not my normal doctrinal blog full of scriptures and pithy quotes. My intent is nonetheless the same: to lift someone who needs to be lifted, to help someone who needs to be helped. I do not usually know who I am supposed to help, but I know what I am supposed to say.

Lest someone gets the impression that Pollyanna sunshine is the answer to every problem in life, I want to talk about those who cannot think the blues away. Depression and bipolar disorder are very real conditions. They are physical maladies in which the body cannot produce enough neurotransmitters like serotonin to keep the brain happy. Mortal life in a physical body runs on chemistry. Our bodies are, by their very nature, chemically dependent. When that chemistry gets out of balance, it is impossible to feel good. No amount of positive thinking will generate serotonin any more than it will generate insulin for a defective pancreas or thyroxine for a defective thyroid.

Everyone gets the blues from time to time. Life can be discouraging, and we can feel let down and defeated. Sadness is a part of our mortal sojourn. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a mixed bag that presents us with sweetness or bitterness at any given bite.

Depression, however, is not discouragement or simply a bad day. Someone who suffers from depression is not just having a down moment. Minor depression can last for several weeks; major depression may last for years. Depression can be the result of a psychosis (a serious break with reality), Bipolar Disorder (cycling mood swings), gloomy weather (Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD), and even childbirth (Postpartum Depression).

MRIs show that the brains of people with depression look different than those of people without depression. Areas of the brain associated with mood, sleep, appetite, thought, and behavior can be affected. Depression can have genetic predisposition, but it can also strike those who have no family history of depression. Obvious traumas, such as the loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship, or any stressful situation, can trigger depression in an otherwise happy person. Sometimes depression can occur without any obvious trigger.

One does not simply think his or her way out of depression, any more than one thinks his way out of a heart attack or kidney failure. Like any physical ailment, depression requires treatment. It is true that a person with heart disease or kidney disease can improve the situation by improving his lifestyle through exercise and proper diet. But when exercise and diet are not enough, medical intervention may be necessary. The same is true of depression. A depression sufferer can learn to recognize and avoid triggers. But sometimes that is not enough.

Depression is not a choice, but there is nevertheless a decision to be made. Depression does not rob us of our agency, although it may increase the difficulty in exercising that agency in a responsible way. We still own the decision to get help.

The Lord does not want us to suffer unnecessarily with bad hearts, bad kidneys, or bad chemistry. He has inspired people to develop marvelous technologies that can reduce suffering and heal and repair maladies. Elder Russel M. Nelson is a magnificent example of an inspired surgeon who developed phenomenal skills to help ailing hearts. God has created our miraculous bodies, and he provides the gift of healing; but he expects us to use all remedies at our disposal to help ourselves even as we exercise faith in him.

A story is told of a man who was trapped in the Louisiana floods caused by Hurricane Katrina. As the water rose around him, he climbed to the roof of his house, and he prayed mightily to God to save his life. After a short time, a man in a rowboat paddle near the submerged house. He told the man on the roof to jump aboard, but the man said that he had prayed and was waiting for God to save him. A few minutes later a helicopter hovered overhead. The rescuers dropped a line to hoist the man aboard, but he refused the line. He said he had prayed and was waiting for God to save him.

Shortly thereafter, the walls of the house began to crumble, and the roof, with the man still on it, began to slip into the murky, swirling flood waters. The man called out, "Lord, I prayed and I have faith. Why did you not save me?" Then he heard a voice from above the clouds. "I sent you a boat and a helicopter. What more do you want?"

There is no shame in removing a brain tumor or replacing a heart valve or getting a kidney transplant. There is likewise no shame in getting help with depression. When making the happiness decision is not enough, we should not assume that we are weak or unworthy or unloved or forgotten. Sin causes despair, and righteousness and repentance bring happiness. But if we are doing our best to avoid sin and keep the commandments, and happiness eludes us, help is available.

As one who has suffered with depression all of my life, and who has sought help more than once when the burden has been too much to carry alone, I know that help can be found. Life is too short to suffer needlessly. God helps us after all we can do.

For more information, see the National Institute of Mental Health's website article "Depression" (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml).

The Happiness Decision

One of my favorite scriptures in all of holy writ is this statement about the little band of people who followed Nephi into the wilderness. "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." (2 Nephi 5:27)

God's nature – his natural state – is to be happy. When we go "contrary to the nature of God; therefore, [we] are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness" (see Alma 41:11)

The opposite of happiness is misery. I have a plaque on my wall that says, "Afflictions are required, misery is optional." Attitude rather than circumstances is the source of happiness. It is not what happens to me but what I make out of what happens to me that determines my level of happiness.

Happiness, therefore, is a decision. We make ourselves happy.

Happiness vs. Joy

Similar to, but not the same as, happiness is joy. They are not synonymous. Joy is a gift. God gives us joy.

A case in point: the scriptures contain 333 references to "joy", but only 27 references to "happiness". In the economy of the scriptures, joy is over ten times more important than happiness. It is nice to be happy, but happiness can be fleeting. God wants us to have joy. That is his goal.

Joy should, therefore, be our ultimate goal. Happiness is the road that leads to joy.

The difference between happiness and joy

I am happy quite frequently. I try to be happy everyday. When I am tempted to be miserable, if I put my mind to it, I can decide to be happy instead. Happiness happens so often I cannot keep track of the moments.

Joy, however, is poignant and memorable. Examples of moments of joy in my life:

• The day I knew for myself that the Book of Mormon was true
• The day I married my eternal sweetheart
• The birth of each of our children
• The first time I taught a lesson in the Gospel Doctrine class and felt the Holy Ghost working through me
• Every time I find myself in the mountains on a beautiful day enjoying God's creations
• The day I finished a particularly difficult hike up the Bairgutsman trail to the peak
• The day my team at work celebrated the successful conclusion of an eight-year project.

The prophet Lehi taught his family, "Men are that they might have joy" (2 Ne 2:25). Joy is the feeling of great pleasure, peace, and contentment. We are designed and engineered to seek pleasure and feel joy. It is in our very DNA. It is a powerful motivator, sometimes even more powerful than self-preservation. Joy comes as a result of our decision to be happy.

To emphasize that joy is a gift, recall Lehi's experience in his dream of the Tree of Life. After having wandered in a dark and dreary wasteland for many hours, he encountered a guide who showed him the way to the Tree of Life. In relating this dream, he told his sons, "And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen. And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy" (1 Nephi 8:11-12).  Nephi later learned that the tree and its fruit represent the love of God and eternal life, which is the greatest of all of the gifts of God. God's love is the greatest and surest source of joy. When we have God's love, we feel joy.

The joy of God's love is communicated to us through the Holy Ghost. Therefore, if we want true joy, we need to attune ourselves to his Spirit. God loves us all the time, but he expresses his love most freely when we are obedient and engaged in his service.

The Book of Mormon provides us with another key to joy. When Aaron presented the message of the gospel to the king of the Lamanites, "behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy" (Alma 22:15).

Joy is a marvelous gift, but it comes at a cost. We do not earn it, hence it is a gift of God. We do, however, have to qualify for it. We qualify to feel his love for us, and the joy that accompanies that love, when we serve him. Obedience and service generally require sacrifice. The more we sacrifice, the better qualified we are to receive joy. Brigham Young said that he never felt more of the love of God than when he and the saints were being mobbed and driven because he knew his sacrifice was acceptable to the Lord. The more we sacrifice for the Lord's sake, the more freely he can express his love for us, and the more joy we will feel.

Choosing happiness usually means choosing to serve, and service brings joy.

Lessons of joy and happiness

Adam and Eve learned the first lessons of joy and happiness. After having transgressed in the Garden of Eden, and finding themselves in the lone and dreary world, they evaluated their situation, and summarized it thus: "And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled... saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient"(Moses 5:10-11).

Joy is not reserved for the next life only. There are joys to be had in this mortal probation. We do not have a fullness of joy here, as I will discuss in a moment, but this life is not without joy.

Adam equated the opening of his eyes with joy. Eve said that her joy was in knowing that she was redeemed. Without a knowledge of Christ and the Atonement, it would be hard to have any kind of deep and abiding joy in this life. Our sins and mistakes would curse us forever. It would be impossible to look past all of the wrongs in this world – all of the injustice, pain, and sorrow – and feel joyful. But because of Christ's Atonement, we can have the peace of knowing that all wrongs will eventually be righted. With that knowledge, we can allow ourselves a measure of joy without feeling guilty and without being overwhelmed by the sorrows that are still among us in mortality.

When we choose to follow Christ and accept his Atonement, we choose happiness. The Atonement brings joy.

Like I mentioned earlier, we can not have perfect joy in this world. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith the Lord told the saints who were suffering persecutions in Missouri, "in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full" (D&C 101:36).

Joy comes in degrees. When something is full, it contains as much as possible, it is complete in every detail, there are no restraints, it has all distinguishing characteristics, it lacks nothing essential in its nature, it is at the highest or greatest degree. Without Christ, though we may have a measure of joy, it is less than complete. It is constrained. It lacks certain characteristics of the joy that God feels. Some essential aspects are missing. it is not as great as it could be.

While joy can be a part of life in this world, it is not the sole purpose of mortal life. Mortality is a probation – a test. While we may taste of the rewards to come, we do not enjoy the full rewards until the full test has been administered and passed. We cannot pass the test without Christ. Only through his Atonement can we overcome the sins and transgressions that mar our lives. Only through the Atonement can the pains of this life be fully healed – both the pains that we cause others and the pains that others cause us.

Each decision we make for good is a decision for happiness. Goodness brings joy.

Fullness of joy

The Book of Mormon also teaches us that the joy of the righteous who inherit the kingdom of God shall be full forever (see 2 Ne 9:18). Joy is more than just the absence of pain. Eternal life with Heavenly Father and Christ is a fullness of joy forever. There is no end to joy, just as there is no end to life, because there is no end to creation, and in creation we have joy.

Yet even Heavenly Father's joy is not constant and unlimited. Enoch saw God weep over his wicked children who refused to accept and obey him.

In his Beloved Son, however, the Father's joy is full. It is complete and unreserved. There is nothing in Christ that diminishes the Father's joy and pleasure in his Son. As we become like Christ, Father's joy becomes more complete in us. We rejoice when we bring joy to the One we love. And so as his joy increases in us, our joy increases.

When we choose to love God, we choose happiness. Love brings joy.

The source of joy

One more point on joy. The Savior promises us, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy" (D&C 11:13). God is the source of joy. Because he has a fullness of joy, and because he loves us, he shares his joy with us.

The Holy Ghost is the medium of communication between God and man. Thus, it is through the Holy Ghost that God radiates his joy to us. It is therefore essential, if we want to feel God's joy in this life, that we be in tune with his Spirit. To the degree that we can qualify for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, we can have a constant source of joy. The gift of the Holy Ghost is a gift of joy. When we are filled with the Spirit, we are filled with joy. The soul of man is the uniting of body and spirit. To have our souls filled with joy is to have both temporal and spiritual joy. Such joy touches every part of our lives. It touches our senses as well as our hearts.

As noted earlier, joy is the great motivator. There are counterfeits and approximations everywhere, but they are temporary at best, and debilitating and destructive at their worst. The only dependable source of true and inexhaustible joy is God through the Holy Ghost because of Christ's Atonement.

God rejoices in us. Our greatest joys are centered in others. If we want joy, we should work to ensure that others have joy. Their joy adds to our joy. Hence the scripture in D&C 18:15 "And if it so be that you labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" Our joy will be the greater because the joy of our loved one will be great.

We can make the decision for happiness every day. We choose joy for a lifetime and beyond.

Truth makes us free

The theme in sacrament meeting last Sunday was Jesus' statement, "the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). The two obvious key words are "truth" and "free". I have pondered these concepts this week.

What is truth?

Pontius Pilate asked this question of Jesus on the day of his crucifixion (see John 18:38). Too bad the governor did not wait around for the answer.

Truth is more than a philosophical question. A simple but circular definition of truth is freedom from error. There is moral truth, which is what we believe, and there is physical truth, which is tangible reality. Most philosophers agree that independent, physical truth exists, but they generally disagree as to how and where we find truth, or even if it is knowable at all.

The question of truth is at the heart of Christian religion. We look to the scriptures to find truth. The Bible provides explanations of truth for most of the Christian world:

• "The truth of the Lord endureth for ever." (Psalms 117:2)
• "Praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth." (Daniel 4:37)
• "These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates" (Zechariah 8:16)
• "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)
• "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (John 16:13)
• "[God's] word is truth." (John 17:17)
• "Thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground [foundation] of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15)
• "The Spirit is truth." (1 John 5:6)

And finally, the curse of the scribes, rabbis and Pharisees: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:7)

Thus, from the Bible we know that God has the truth, that he sent his truth to us through Jesus Christ, that the Holy Ghost will guide us to the truth, that God's word is true, that what he makes is true, and that the truth is in God's church. We also know that we can learn much and still not learn the truth.

Modern revelations give additional definitions of truth that are more direct, practical and to the point. They help explain what the Bible only hints at:

• "In the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them." (3 Nephi 16:7)
• "And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:5) 
• "For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever." (D&C 1:39)
• "The Book of Mormon... contains the truth and the word of God" (D&C 19:26)
• "Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come" (D&C 93:24).

The ultimate definition of the truth comes from the Savior himself. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). He repeated himself in the Book of Mormon: "I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world" (Ether 4:12). We find the ultimate truth in Christ.

An experience with truth

I once had an experience with truth. When I was in elementary school, I went to the house of a new friend one day. His name was Scott. He had four older brothers. I had only one brother and one sister. I thought his large family was cooler than my little family. So when Scott's mother asked me about my family, my urge to compensate overcame my good judgment, and I made up an elaborate story about a family with twelve children. I don't know why I picked twelve as my magic number. It just popped into my head. On the spot I made up names for my eleven siblings. I described how we ate dinner every night around a giant picnic table. I painted an impressive picture for Scott's mother. She was enthralled by my amazing family, and I was very cool.

A few weeks later, our school held its annual carnival. Assigned to the ping-pong-ball-in-the-fish-bowl booth were my mother and, by lucky happenstance, Scott's mother.

Sometime about midway through the carnival, my mother and Scott's mother came looking for me. I was sitting on the edge of the sandbox counting my tickets. It had never occurred to my nine-year-old brain that these two women would ever meet, and I had long since forgotten about my made-up mammoth family. Confronted with my whopper, I tried to come up with a good reason for having misrepresented my family, but I had nothin'. I do not recall any punishment at home afterwards, but the embarrassment of my stupidity has stuck with me to this day.

How does truth make us free?

When I think of freedom, I think of agency. Knowledge is the basis of agency. We cannot choose what we do not know. The presence of truth enables us to choose correctly.

Truth enlightens us in correct principles. It opens the door to do the right things. It is the pathway to light and life. Light is knowledge. It is also the source of life. Physical light is required for physical life; spiritual light is needed for spiritual life. Truth illuminates the way and enlivens and energizes us along the way.

Just as Christ is in the light of the sun that enables this earth to support life, he is our spiritual Sun, and the light that shines from him is truth (see D&C 88:7).

From what does the truth free us?

At the carnival that day, the truth, however uncool it might have been, would have freed me from an extremely uncomfortable situation and a tearful apology. It would have left me free to return to Scott's house, which I could never do again because of my mortal embarrassment. It would have freed me from the mistrust that I saw in my mother's eyes. And it would have freed me from having to try to remember all of the details that I had made up.

Truth is not just the absence of error. A vacuum contains no error, but neither does it contain the truth. Truth fills the vacuum with goodness. Thus, truth not only frees us from error, it enables us to fulfill ourselves as children of God. It free us from being nothing. It frees us from emptiness. Many good people in the world are nevertheless empty. Truth fills us.

The word is truth (see John 17:17); Christ is the word (see John 1:1-5); therefore, Christ is the truth. From what does Christ free us? From sin and death, from sorrow and affliction. This is the role of the truth.

How do we learn the kind of truth that makes us free?

Truth does not change or evolve. Truth is whole, not like the proverbial six blind man who explore an elephant. When we grasp a part of the truth and miss or ignore the whole, we are wrong.

There are many facets of truth only because the human mind has limitations to its understanding. But God, with his infinite mind, sees all truth as one great whole. If we are to learn God's truth, we have to go to the source. We must learn it from him, in his way.

Our perception of truth forms us and who we are. That which we believe is true directs our lives. Thus it is critical that we have access to God's truth and recognize it. Revelation is the key. The Holy Ghost is the conduit. Christ is the source. Pilate's answer was standing right in front of him. When we come unto Christ, we come unto the truth.

What are we doing every day to increase in essential, saving knowledge?

When we open the door to revelation, we open the window to the light of truth.

Jesus taught, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7). To ask is to pray. To seek is to study. To knock is to work. If we want truth, we must pray for it, study the scriptures, and serve in faith. These are the daily actions that bring light and truth into our lives.

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." (D&C 50:24). "Perfect" means whole and complete. We may not get the whole truth in one day. But as the truth grows in us, we grow in the truth. May we each come to have a perfect, complete, whole day, even a day of truth.