In Force For Everyone, or Not?

There is a law in the universe that brings happiness or misery depending upon the adherence to that law. The law is that all things in our lives must be in order or at least reaching out to order—all things spiritually, mentally, emotionally, etc. When it is so, we find happiness and when it is not we are on the path to misery.

In my scripture reading today I came upon a scripture that makes me think of the Humanist Manifesto (the humanists do not believe in the universal laws of right and wrong, among other things). Many, including the humanists, do not want to acknowledge laws because they believe everything is relative to individual beings and situations. What do you think? Do you think that laws can change for every individual according to their own situation or are these laws straight forward for any and all?

The scripture I was aluding to above is 2 Nephi 2:13 and it says, "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away."

While talking with our family this morning, I shared this scripture, of which is talking particularly about the law of the Atonement for salvation, but includes all the other laws of truth (laws of the universe). We talked of our family problem at hand, of going to bed late and waking up late and how this scripture related to it. It was a fascinating discussion of the old Franklin adage, "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." and the scripture in D&C of retiring early to our beds and waking early that our minds will be invigorated. We decided that if the law is practiced, we will indeed be strengthened in our desire to wake on time.

My opinion is that all laws are in force for everyone, no matter their situation in life and that when the laws are obeyed to a certain degree, there is happiness to a certain degree, always in proportionate amounts. What is your opinion? What are your experiences with universal law/s?

Educating Oneself is the best way for us

Today eleven-year-old Edie pushed herself to write a required paper for her shakespeare class in the commonwealth school. It was a refreshing scene to watch as she quickly and obediently went through her jobs so she could have time to write. She used examples from our home life and from the current book we are reading together, Little Women, in order to articulate the principle that being a good example is key to being a good leader. She wrote all twenty lines in beautiful cursive and was very attentive to spelling correctly.

Just one year ago, we were bombarded with caustic remarks filled with fear and anger as our loved ones were in complete disagreement with how we were educating our children. At one point, one family member tried to help by encouraging Edie to read often with her to make sure she was getting her schooling in. I was aware of this family member's intense fear that our children might not learn to read and write or have the necessary social skills to function in society. Thus, I humored her and let the activity go on. At first it seemed okay, however as time passed I noticed some changes in Edie and her younger sister, Hannah. Instead of educating themselves throughout the morning and afternoon like before, they seemed to wait around until it was reading-practice time in the afternoon. They sat by the window almost frozen for long periods of time as if by doing so, they would speed up the time. Their normal activities of work and play became boring and cumbersome. After praying and seeking guidance, I felt it was necessary to quit the reading sessions and return to our normal routine of hard work in the home and freedom to educate on their own. It took a long while to return to our old and good ways. Again, I am convinced that formal academic structure is not right for our young children until they have reached the age Edie is now. Today at the age of eleven, she became the propelling factor in her education as she poured out her best effort to express what she knows about being a leader.