A lot of us complain about how hard it is to be a parent, but Boyd K. Packer made me think of parentage in a whole new way in his October 1984 talk, The Pattern of Our Parentage. We are not merely parents of naughty children. We are future gods raising future gods. This idea of double-sided parentage may help us be better parents. Certainly, more patient ones. Elder Packer says some things that cause deep thoughts to surface.
“We can have as full an understanding of spiritual things as we are willing to earn.”
Living in a world that is removing God and godly vocabulary is confusing. Why is it acceptable to use “God’s name in vain” when you don’t even believe in Him? What does the use of His name as an expletive do for the non-believer? Why do people “thank God” when they don’t have any desire to get to know Him? And isn’t it interesting that there are so many names for a deity to choose from and they are all used in “vain.” (“Jeez!” “Jesus H. Christ!” “God Almighty!” “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” etc. —Many of these don’t even make any sense.)
If you talk to a former member of our church about church doctrine, it is often evident that they have forgotten basic doctrines and lack the spiritual understanding that they once had. I can think of two reasons for this: 1) Proof that it’s important to read the scriptures regularly so as to not forget the gospel, and 2) Perhaps a merciful Heavenly Father protects those of little faith by allowing them to forget the very covenants that might condemn them.
In contrast, those who seek spiritual understanding have limitless ability to know God and His ways. After all, one day they will be like Him.
“Much of what I know that really matters I have learned from being a father.”
Our Heavenly Father has purposely begotten us to come to this earth that we might become fathers and mothers and children. The great lesson in this is to understand Him better in order to become like Him. We come into this world accepting the pattern that boys and girls will grow to be husbands and wives and fathers and mothers, but for what purpose? Well, to become good people, even great people. But do we realize that our parenting skills will influence how well our children adapt to Godhood? Is “training up a child” just as important an exercise for the father and mother as it is to the child?
“If a species ever does cross, the offspring cannot reproduce.”
The lie of same-sex attraction is becoming more and more prevalent in our society, but it will be the downfall of our civilization. Who can survive when there is no more reproduction of our species? And to what end will become of this offspring? To become gods, which is our purpose and reward, is to fulfill the measure of our creation and have eternal increase and worlds without number. To believe anything else is Satan’s attempt to destroy Heavenly Father’s Plan.
“What could inspire one to purity and worthiness more than to possess a spiritual confirmation that we are the children of God? What could inspire a more lofty regard for oneself, or engender more love for mankind? This thought does not fill me with arrogance. It fills me with overwhelming humility.”
Every time I think of the words to “I Am a Child of God” I shout for joy for its ringing truth. If everyone truly believed this simple fact, would there be the problems of suicide, depression, dysfunction, and prejudice?
Do we understand what purity of race is? It isn’t skin color, heritage, or privilege. It is recognizing our relationship with everyone else on this earth. Years ago, we bought some music entitled “All One Tribe.” It was a compilation of music from around the world. Sometimes, it’s hard to distinguish music from Africa from Native American music. Likewise, it can be hard to distinguish someone from Bolivia with someone from Mongolia. We are all children of a loving and merciful God who waits patiently for us to figure this out; that we have more in common than differences, that we have one Heavenly Father and Mother who love us, watch over us, and want us to become like them.
If we look more closely at the plan of our Heavenly Father, we will recognize a double-sided parentage at work. Heavenly Father and Mother have given us life. They care for us and watch over us. They want us to experience parenthood. We learn first-hand the pitfalls and joys of parenting. We learn to love our children, and from this, we recognize how much God loves each one of us, His children. Don’t we want the best for each of those we raise, love, and care for? Our Heavenly Father has promised us that if we accept and treat Him as our honored parent He will gladly give us all that He has.