(This is post number 1 of 52 follow-up posts from my post, “The 52 Most Important Things Life as Taught Me (in 52 words or less“)

It is very important to me to point out that I am not delusional as regards the readership of this blog; it will be read by my family, a few friends, and an occasional stranger who happens by.  I write to that stranger. I also dedicate this post, once again, to my children.

My motive for writing go beyond any hopes that what I share here might persuade, convert, or defend beliefs–my hope is simply to acknowledge that through my personal life experiences I have seen enough of what to my mind and thinking is abundant evidence that…

1. There is a supreme being.
2. He is our Heavenly Father.
3. We are His children.
4. He loves us.

What do I mean by “there is a supreme being?”

I mean that I am confident that all things do not exist by mere chance. We exist. We existed even before our conception and birth in the form of our spirit. To me, one of the greatest evidences of this occurs at death, when our body is no longer capable of housing our spirit. Our spirit separates from our body and it dies. But our spirit lives on.

When my wife, Kristin, died, twenty years ago, I had the great honor and remarkable experience of being with her as she passed. The details of that experience are too personal to relate in its forum, but I believe it was clear to me at that moment that she, meaning the person and character and feeling of her, was no longer in the same location as her dead body.  Yet, I can tell you that I felt her near, but not there. In the weeks and months that followed her death–and occasionally since–I experience that same sense of her spirit being near and, well…, not dead.

Further “evidence” has been at the births of each of my ten children.  Gratefully, I have been able to attend to both Kris, and Annette as they have given birth to our children.  In each case, there is a sense of sacredness and transfer as each precious new life began independent existence on earth with a first breath. (Other awesome experiences of having children respond within the womb to music and other stimulus have convinced me that life begins before that point.)

Third, in the Mormon faith, we learn of God’s great plan of happiness, or the plan of salvation that Father in Heaven put in place for us, His Children.  These essential truths are reviewed on the Church’s websites: LDS.org – Our Eternal Life (for which I am the current director) and Mormon.org – God’s Plan of Happiness.  I won’t reiterate these teachings here, but I do want to say that when I review them, I simply feel that the teachings are true.

This “feeling” is important. I think that it is reasonable that I should try to describe it. I experience this feeling as I encounter important teachings as a reassuring familiarity and quiet peace about them that give me a convicti0n that they are true.

First, here is what my sense of truth is NOT:

• This sense is not merely an emotional response to the teachings.  While I feel happiness and reverence, this sense of confidence is extrinsic and transcendent of those good feelings.
• It is also not just psychological satisfaction with the concepts being taught. While I have a sense of clarity, this sense of illumination is not just going on in my psyche. It is something I do not generate. It comes variously as I pursue understanding that is of a spiritual nature.
• It is also not the buzz of intellectual alignment or cerebral titillation that I feel and relish when my mind is exercised in coming to understand math, science, or deep philosophical notions.  While I have felt that while contemplating these truths, the sureness of this knowledge is more like what I feel when I have seen something happen, and I am sure of my perspective and my version of “what just happened.”  It is not theoretical to me, but very real.
• It is also not a physical sensation like the chills I feel when I hear great music. It is not like what I feel as adrenaline causes my heart to race and my reparation to change in response to some change in conditions.

It IS:

• A sense of confidence in what I am learning.
• A satisfaction that the concepts are good.
• A comfort and contentedness combined with a clarity of thought.
• A quiet witness, even a whisper–not heard, but felt–that says, “it’s true.”

What do I mean by “He is our Heavenly Father?”

It is my belief that these feelings come as a gift from our loving Heavenly Father to help us discern truth from error and find our way forward in our lives.

I believe He communicates to us in this quiet, subtle way for our benefit, learning, and independent growth.

I believe He sees our independence and ability to choose as something He will not violate. Only as we seek truth does His Holy Spirit give us clarity of thought along with a gentle witness to our hearts that things are true.

I have come to trust and rely upon this gentle sense of rightness in my mind and my heart as a test of truth as I have been willing to put aside my intellectual and emotional thoughts and feelings and open myself up to the truth–whatever it might be.

How are we “His children?”

When Christ prayed, the New Testament records, He addressed His Father in Heaven as “Our Father who art in Heaven.”  Why the plural possessive?  I believe His Father in Heaven IS as He said, He is “Our Father in Heaven,” the father of us all.  Clearly, this is not a physical fatherhood.  Then what kind of fatherhood is it?  It is a spiritual fatherhood. He, the physical father of Jesus Christ is also Christ’s spiritual father–or the father of Christ’s spirit–and ours.

We lived before we came to this earth. Where did we live?  In the presence of our Father in Heaven.  There, I believe, we wanted to be like Him, so he prepared a plan that we might live on earth and accomplish that great goal.

Central to that plan was that He would provide a way back to His presence through repentance, which would require the sacrifice of one who could pay the price–suffer and die–for the mistakes we would make while isolated from Him. Our choices would lead us back as we choose to follow the teachings of prophets who speak and record message from Him to us.  By following Christ, we are able, through His grace, become forgiven of our sins and misdeeds. In this sense, Christ is also our Father. He raises us from our mistakes and inevitable spiritual death to life eternal with Him and our Father in Heaven.

How do I know that “He loves us?”

Much of what I believe in this regard is the byproduct of personal, spiritual experiences  far too personal and too sacred to write of here.  Still, I feel the moral obligation to tell you about the amazing love I felt from Him as I served as a missionary for two years telling the beautiful people of Taiwan about Him and His plan of happiness.  I saw many of their lives change as they came to feel His love and peace in their lives. I saw their capacity to love and serve others become fully realized as a result of the wholeness and joy they felt as they gained their own personal experiences.

I also felt His love surround me when I lost my wife to leukemia. Time and again, as I put the kids to bed and went about doing the work of laundry and cleaning through lonely hours, I would pray to Him for support, and I would feel an encouraging warmth come into my soul–a sacred unity or connection with a power much, much bigger than myself.

So why is THIS the most important thing I have learned?

This believe/knowledge is at the core of why I live–my purpose on earth.  I believe I am here to help others get more out of life and make their lives more meaningful.  Knowing that we are all His children provides me with the greatest desire possible to see others lifted up out of their physical or spiritual poverty to a happier life.  I believe that my ability to do this has been greatly, if not completely, reliant upon our Father in Heaven’s love.