Commandments

A lot of people look at religion and commandments as inconvenient obstacles or annoyances.  Rules and expectations are becoming more and more obnoxious and old-fashioned.  As a school teacher, I notice a strong feeling of entitlement in children and a demand for fun and pleasure.  There are few children who like to work hard and even fewer who understand the principle that following rules brings positive consequences.

I once heard a story about a little boy who went out to fly a kite with his father one afternoon.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and the wind was just right.  The little boy was so excited to see his kite flying high above the earth.

He thought the only thing that could make his experience better would be to see the kite go higher and higher into the sky.  He told his father that he wanted to cut the string so that the kite could fly as high as it could.  His father gently broke the news that it was in fact the string that kept the kite up.  Obviously, his father knew nothing, thought the boy.  The string was keeping the kite from going as high as it wanted to go!  The little boy told his father that he was wrong and that he was going to cut the string.  A very loving father, the man warned his son again that if he cut the string, the kite would surely fall.  He let his son make his own choice, however.  

The little boy, knowing that the string needed to be cut for the kite to fly higher, cut the string and enthusiastically waited for his kite to soar as high as the stars.  To his dismay, his kite began spiraling down to the ground.  When it landed, he was shocked.  Why had it not worked?  How could he have been so deceived?  Did his father do this to trick him?  

No, his father had warned him that this would happen.  With tears in his eyes, the little boy looked back to his father searching for the next step to take.  How could he ever solve this problem?  The compassionate father tenderly took the little boy and the kite in his arms and told him everything would be alright.  The kite would not fly without a string, but it could be fixed.  The next time they went to fly a kite, the father attached a longer string to the kite and helped his son get it high into the air.  The little boy was overjoyed and remembered never to cut the string again.

Our Heavenly Father gives us commandments to help us soar.  Everything he has commanded us has a purpose and a design to bring us the most happiness possible.  "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous."  1 John 5:3

The commandments ground us, but they make it possible for us to fly.  Like the father of the little boy, He can help us mend our fallen lives when we choose to disobey.  He helps us to apply the commandments in our lives and we are able again to soar to our potential.  

"...consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.  For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness..." Mosiah 2:41

I really like this video which tells the story of a boy and his experience with neglecting the counsel of his father and the unfortunate result.

I know that God loves us.  I know that he gives us commandments as instructions to be happy.  We are responsible for making that choice.  Benjamin Franklin once said that "The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness.  You have to catch it yourself."  The commandments of God are the same.  We are given all of the guidance we need to be perfectly happy.  But we have to keep the string attached to make our kites fly.