Beautiful Balance~ Why opposition is needful
Beautiful Balance
Why opposition is needful
Ancient
Chinese philosophy teaches that for life to be balanced and whole, there is a
need for opposition. They call this Yin
and Yang: Two opposing and contrary forces mirrored to create a whole. Each side of the whole is a complete contrast
to the other: a light and a dark, a positive and a negative, a coming and a
going, a living/growing and a dying.
Though obviously opposite and contrary, they are actually complementary,
interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they each give
rise to the other as they interrelate to one another. You can’t have one
without the other.
I had never really given the Yin and Yang symbol much thought until I started to learn more about it and to understand the role of Yin (what I previously might have considered as the “bad” or “dark” side). At a meditation course I attended, I learned that nothing is fundamentally bad nor good until it is compared to something else and that as we just allow & observe (honor) it (what we might consider bad or uncomfortable) as an essential part of our experience, it can then transform for our highest good.
I’m learning that
gratitude for both is key to joy in life.
This
is a familiar principle taught in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well, and we
learn it first from our first parents Adam and Eve.
2 Nephi. 2:22--25 “And now, behold,
if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have
remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have
remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they
must have remained forever, and had no end.
23 And they would have had no
children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no
joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.
24 But behold, all things have been
done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.
25 Adam fell that men might be; and
men are, that they might have joy.”
I really love the inspired (JST) version of Genesis 4:10-11 and I love that it is now included in the new presentation of the Temple Endowment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
“And in that day, Adam blessed God,
and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth,
saying, Blessed be the name of God; for because of my transgression, my eyes
are opened; and in this life I shall have joy, and again, in the flesh I
shall see God.
11 And Eve, his wife, heard all
these things and was glad, saying, “Were it not for our transgression, we never
should have had seed and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of
our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.”
In Oct Conference 1993, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, speaking of the commandment to “multiply and replenish the earth”, said “This commandment was first in sequence and first in importance.” I believe Eve realized that in order to keep the first & most important commandment, she made the CHOICE to progress, knowing that they would have to break one commandment to keep the other. For agency to exist, there must be at least 2 things to choose from; an opposition.
2 Nephi 2: 11 “For it must needs
be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so… righteousness could
not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery,
neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one;
wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no
life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery,
neither sense nor insensibility. “
It seems quite counterintuitive that joy can only come if we have something to compare it to, but, the conquering of the mountainous trial, the rising above the mental struggle, the mastery of the natural man and of our inner demons, though seemingly illogical, is the stuff that yields not only deep, personal growth but also great satisfaction, even the euphoric feelings of victory.
Yes, the struggle, as odd as it seems, is the catalyst for exquisite joy and satisfaction to the soul. There are so many scriptures that testify of this principle, but I will include only a few comforting, encouraging ones here:
2 Ne. 2:2 “…thou knowest the
greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain”.
I used to believe that if I were a good person and lived the commandments, I would be blessed with a trial-free life. I’m not sure where this belief came from, but probably from the misinterpretation of certain scriptures like the following:
I guess to my young mind this “promised land” sounded wonderful and free of problems… after all, it was “choice above all other”-full of wealth and abundance of all things. I guess, back then, I thought that having “prosperity”, was an answer to all of life’s problems, haha, but I soon came to understand that no one, not even great Prophets like Nephi, is immune to difficulty.
No, that is not the way of the Lord. He knows that it is the struggle against the wind that gives a tree it’s strength; that the vitality of a baby chick can only be gained from battling out of its own shell; and that for us, His children, to become resilient, powerful and capable of becoming as He is, He cannot keep us from the very experiences that will elevate us. These are the things that “acquaint us with God”.
It is difficult, though, to wrap our mortal minds around this idea… the natural, human condition is to desire life without struggle. I mean, how nice would it be to always have everything we wanted and to never experienced sorrow, loss, lack or pain? But this natural desire can really only keep us in a state of frustration, resentment and anger until we embrace the truth of the need for both sides of the whole: the Yang AND the Yin. (It is interesting that usually Yin is said first… they, too, know that it is the struggle, the contrast, that brings the “good”, the joy.)
The good news is that Christ really is the “Good News” and will assist us through all of the “opposition” in our lives. He may not remove our trial, (or crack open our shells for us), but He will give us the “know how” and added strength to “come off conqueror” despite anything we may face in life.
I testify of this. I testify that there is great power in calling upon the name of Jesus. I wish I could include all of the scriptures that attest to this, but there are simply too many. But consider these few:
2 Nephi 4:20-23 My God hath been my support; he hath led me
through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the
waters of the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of
my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine enemies,
unto the causing of them to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by
day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.
John 16:33 “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but
be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
He WILL (if we ask and trust) “[lead us] through [our] affliction”, our “deep water”. I love the thought of that… we don’t have to wander unguided, scared and alone through our “wildernesses”, our “Yin’s”. He can, help us transform our darkest moments into our greatest triumphs!
My husband is reading a book right now by Chaim Bentorah about the Aramaic language and how understanding not only the Hebrew meaning of words in the Bible, but also the spoken Aramaic language can help us see more clearly the meaning of certain scriptures, and just now shared with me the word Chasha. It means to embrace pain or suffering.
I was amazed, as he did not know I was writing this, yet it goes perfectly with this study! (God is Good!) and is another reminder to do just that: to remember that any pain, suffering or difficulty I experience can be of great benefit to me if I can truly learn to embrace it: to allow myself to grow from it and be strengthened by it, not to just endure it. I believe this is what is meant by “enduring to the end”. Inviting the Lord to succor us in these times can help us with “Chasha”.
This is the key, then, right? Embrace it all- the good, the bad and the ugly, and if we do, it will transform into a beautiful balance, a beautiful whole, a sphere in which we can progress upward and onward.
I love this quote by Franklin D. Richards: “…as we look back upon our lives, we will acknowledge that those experiences that were the most difficult were, in the end, the most profitable. The lessons learned and faith developed in such hours of hardship will prove to be of eternal value to us in our path of eternal progress.”
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