Remembering a friend....

When I grew up I had a friend who was very active in the church most of the time... He really knew the gospel and was very intelligent... He would say things like you are the athlete and I am the religious and smart one... I really believed him and I didn't do very well in school... It wasn't until I went on my mission that I realized that I could cope with academic things but I also felt that I had a sound understanding of the gospel mainly because I believed in what the Prophets and Apostles taught and I never wanted to question any of it.... Oh, I have my personal views of things but I would never teach them as if they were doctrine... On some things I would have a "let's wait and see" reaction... Not my friend... He delved into groups in the church who were intellectual but had an edge to them... they felt they could question people like Bruce R. McKonkie, Boyd K. Packard, and Joseph Fielding Smith in particular... Yea, I am not kidding... My friend had his own opinion on things that were contrary to what the Brethern taught and his justifications or that they are wrong and they don't have the answers to everything... Some of the things we talked about were unbelievable to me and yet he was so arrogant about his intellect that he would fool himself into believing that he knew the answers about controversial issues... I would plead with him to consider his feelings and yet, for some reason he could not see it... I realized then and there that he no longer held a great knowledge of the true gospel... He spouted literally his own opinion mingled with scriptures... We know this comes from Satan but some people just cannot humble themselves to listen to the Spirit which whispers not to challenge the Brethern.... My friend is still going to church and he believes the church is true, but he was never able to receive a calling that would give him the opportunity to counsel with people because the Spirit knew that he would have a hard time doing it... It amazes me that people can hang onto their own opinion and allow themselves to be intellectually vacant and all the while will teach things that they feel are personal knowledge that they received even though it goes against the basic teachings of the gospel.... I love my friend and I left him nameless on purpose because I am writing a blog and I know that there is a possibility that one of his children or grandchildren might read it and that would be tragic... I never know who is going to read this blog so I feel that I must be careful, but the principle is important for my Grandchildren to learn... Night... 39