Book Group: The God Who Weeps Chapter 3

Chapter 3 may be my favorite chapter in this book.  This is the part of Mormonism that I love.

1.  Mortal life is not a fall, but an ascent, a chance to grow and progress.  

Mormon's have a different view of The Fall.  Some people believe that because Eve was tricked by the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit, that they were expelled from The Garden as punishment for the sin.  Had Eve not chosen wrongly, we would all be living happily (without sin, pain, or sickness) in The Garden.  Mormon's don't see it that way.  Adam and Eve were given options and warnings. They chose this world.  By leaving paradise, they had a chance to grow in ways that they couldn't if they had stayed there.  Receiving a mortal body, and all that is associated with that, is a necessary step in our learning and progression.

At Eve's courageous instigation, they opt to lose paradise, hoping to eventually regain heaven--but transformed and ennobled by the schoolhouse of experience that comprises mortality.  Mortality, therefore, immersion in bodily, earthly experience, is vital to becoming like God.
(page 59)
Kabbalists such as Moses de León agreed that birth is ascent, not fall, and life's purpose is educative, not punitive.
(page 60)

The authors do wonderful work here, and every page is filled with beauty and clarity.  I could read the first half of this chapter over and over again and never tire of it.

2.  "The natural man is an enemy to God" DOES NOT mean that our bodies are wicked or a curse.

Unfortunately, for too many years I took the words of Paul and  King Benjamin to mean that our bodies were naturally bad, our enemies, and something that had to be conquered if we wanted to be spiritual.  Only in the last few years have I realized how important it is to listen to what my body is trying to tell me.  My body is my friend.  It will tell me what I need to know and do if I listen to it, really listen, and not just notice the most obvious surface details.  The authors speak of "a body that enhances rather than hinders our spiritual progression." (page 69)


3.  It is through our bodies that we can experience the most joy and happiness.

We therefore should not see the body and spirit in opposition.  The fact that Christ chose children as a model for moral goodness means socialization, not incarnation, is the source of our ills.  When Paul condemned the "natural man," he specifically associated it with an acquired, not an innate worldliness. "Human wisdom" and "the spirit of the world" are its hallmarks, he said, not the senses and passions.  Our task is to school our appetites, not suppress them, to make the work in concert with a will that disciplines the spirit as much as the flesh.  For desire has both spiritual and bodily expressions, and our life is a journey to purify both.  Along the way, we discipline and honor the body, even as we aspire to perfect the soul, finding in the end that the body and spirit, fitly framed together, do indeed provide the deepest joy.
(page 72)

Much of this paragraph is highlighted in my book.  In the margin in florescent orange is the word, "Yes!"  Then in blue (from the second reading) is "Chocolate cake principle."  My Chocolate Cake Principle is really about synergy, when two things working together accomplish more than the sum of their individual efforts.  You can read here about how I use it in voice lessons to explain that technique plus interpretation create a better performance than either could alone.  In much the same way, the spirit and the body together can do more, experience more, learn more than either could ever do alone.  The body is not a punishment or a hindrance, but a key component in the development of our souls.

Questions for discussion or personal reflection:

1.  Do you view this life as a punishment, a learning experience, or something else entirely?  

2.  Do you read the story of Adam and Eve as literal history or allegory?

3.  Is your body a hindrance or an educational tool?  

4.  What does the "natural man" mean to you?  Click on the links above for scripture references.  

5.  How has your body helped you experience joy lately?  

6.  What spoke to you in this chapter?  

7.  Were there things in this chapter that bothered you or that you don't agree with?