Random thoughts

One of the most interesting experiences of raising children for me was to try to teach them the concepts of “you” and “me.” Somehow, that gets terribly confusing. Unlike a table or a door, you can’t put a label on yourself and say “This is me,” because for the child observer it is really “You.” And you can’t put the “me” on the child and the “you” on yourself because then it is no longer true for you.

Is this one of the first “relative” concepts a child learns? Isn’t it essential that the sense of self be internalized before it makes sense? And the self has to be seen as separate from Mom or Dad or sibling?

Which brings back another memory from what were probably my early teen years (because my late teen years were so consumed by thoughts of boys and future that the time for introspection was generally squeezed out). Long before I knew anything about the dual nature of mortal beings, I remember looking in the mirror and being kind of freaked out that the “me” that was looking back was somehow something more than the face that was being viewed. There was something behind the eyes that was thinking about seeing those eyes. It suddenly became logical after the explanation arrived!

Now years later, although the aging process has been relatively kind to me so far, I can project myself into the future and imagine the day when the physical body becomes a torture chamber or a prison. Not a terrible positive thought except for the fact that eventually—inevitably—the spirit will be released and allowed unfettered movement again for a time. And then, when the physical body is retrieved in the resurrection, a marvelous renovation will take place which will turn that body into a magnificent and compliant tabernacle.

So maybe these thoughts are not so random after all. Just as the child needs to begin to see him/herself separate and distinct from all other entities in his/her world, so too do we need to see ourselves as an infinite being (who had a past even before being born), as part of the great human race that has populated this Earth (many noble ones among them whom we would be proud to claim as kin), and as one of Heavenly Father’s precious children for whom He would do almost anything (except violate law) to help to return home to Him at the end of the process.

But too many in our day have been encouraged to view themselves more on the mortal plane, descending closer and closer to the animal realm all the time. (In saying that, I unintentionally denigrate those animals who show a greater devotion and commitment to partner than many humans!)

And perhaps those of us who understand that dual nature, that ultimate destiny of the human soul (paired as it will be with a perfected body), should be a little more diligent about petitioning for opportunities to share that expansive eternal panorama.

Most of the world probably isn’t ready to hear it, but some might be. May we be sensitive to potential.