Final Change Finally

(Balance; A Changer's Art, part 3. Read parts 1 and 2 first)

So I'm wrapping up my thoughts, for now, on this whole change topic.  First I talked about Balance and making sure you change gradually and healthily to make it lasting.  Then I talked about perspective, and applying change to reality to make it practical.  Now I want to address my thoughts on how to keep going forward towards perfection, especially when it feels like you're not going anywhere.

So here's an activity for ya.  Take a piece of paper and rip it into a bunch of random sized pieces.  Then take the biggest and rip it into two, then the next biggest.  Keep finding the biggest pieces and rip them in half til you get down to a small pile of confetti.  Really, go ahead and do it....  Here's the point. As you get going, the big pieces stand out and then when ripped, they are just part of the pile.  Those will be out of the focus, and others will stand out that hadn't before.  You'll cycle through until those same pieces become the bigger ones again, grab your focus to be ripped, then blend in again.  As they get smaller, the size of the rip becomes smaller, and the number of pieces to rip increases.
I'm trying to illustrate how change works in our lives.  We start with huge changes, especially when first starting anything new, like a sport, or first joining the church.  The changes are obvious and huge at first.  One change makes a huge difference.  But as we get farther and farther, there are more changes and they become smaller.  Things that were small and out of sight, eventually become the big ones and require attention again.  The learning curve is fast at first.  It's easy to become proficient at something, but to become a master takes much much more.  This is also illustrated with a stone being polished, or a piece of wood being sanded smooth.  The rough grit sandpaper first knocks off huge edges.  Then you keep switching to finer and finer paper and the edges you knock down become smaller and smaller.  The thing that makes it tough, is that you have to start all over and redo the whole thing every time you switch sandpaper grit.  The first rough grits are done quickly, but the finer you get, the longer it takes.  Imagine you could zoom in your view on the piece of wood.  You'd see a bunch of jagged edges that obviously need work. When you get most of the jagged edges off, it starts to look fairly smooth; so then you zoom in again, and it looks all jagged again.  The list of edges to knock down gets big again, even though you made progress.  Now you have a ton of sanding to do again.

O hope you can see the analogy in life.  If we're working we make progress.  When we do, the next logical step is to zoom in to finer details and find that there are tons of things to work on again.  We did just make tons of progress, but now it's time to go to work again on the same things.  The key is to know that you're making progress, and though the list of things to change may actually go up, the overall smoothness is increasing.  This gives me hope when I see my 'list of things to change' go up.  It's overwhelming at times, but actually is a sign that I'm getting somewhere.  God wants us to be perfect someday, and there is a process to get there.  The first few edges go quick and are obvious, but the finer points take more time and attention. 

This of course all relates to the atonement and to the sacrament on Sundays.  I have yet another cheesy analogy.  Repentance and the sacrament is like on a computer when you put stuff in the trash.  Then, later you empty the trash.  If you don't first put it into the trash, emptying it won't do anything.  At the same time, if you put it into the trash but don't empty it, it's not totally gone.  Repenting is similar.  It is done daily, and puts our sins on the chopping block, but they aren't gone til you "empty the trash", or take the sacrament.  We must prepare for the sacrament be repenting first, then we can be cleansed.  If we allow sin back in, or a virus back on our computer, we have to repeat the process.  Sometimes we have to hunt around to find the sin, or change, to be put into the trash.  We have the ability, because of Jesus Christ, to be made clean every week, and set a new resolve to make changes again.  This is one of the greatest blessings that has been given to us.  God says that no unclean thing can enter into His rest, and this is the process to make us clean.  In Mosiah 3 http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/3?lang=eng it talks about the healing power of the atonement and the pains Christ went through to know our pain.  This is the central message of all the prophets and the scriptures they wrote.  Through Christ we CAN be cleansed from sin to live with God again someday!

Repentance is synonymous with Change.  Repentance is Happiness; Change is Happiness!  That is the main thing I want to get across in all of this.  Change is what it's all about.  Repentance makes it possible.  Repentance is possible because of Christ.  "Wanna be Perfect, Repent Perfectly." - Ed J. Pinegar.  He also said, "The greatest thing we'll do in this life as an individual is Repent."  I have such a Testimony of repentance.  That is why I'm spending my life calling others to repent.  I'm calling others to Happiness.  I know it works because I've felt that happiness.  I know it's true because I've seen myself change and become smoother.  I know the burden can go away, that there is a way to overcome and be Perfect in Christ.  I know the way is here on earth today.  Sacrament has meant more to me on my mission than ever before, and I hope everyone within in the sound of my voice (or sight..or whatever) will continually evaluate what sacrament and repentance means.  God loves us, this is proof.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.