Thursday, October 28, 2010

What Monster Need We Fear?

I personally am not a fan of spook alleys or scary movies. When I was about eight or nine, my dad took my brother and I through a spook alley. The coffin with the creepy hands coming out and raising the lid was not so bad, but the cackling judge holding a string to a bloody guillotine which he raised and let fall with fiendish glee was a bit much. But what really got me was the skeleton-man behind bars. He started dancing around and THEN, if that weren’t enough, he burst out of the bars (which were only hanging in place rather than fixed in place) and mingled among us. To my young mind, the horror of something like that breaking out made me feel very unsafe. I’ve never gone to a spook alley since.

I’ve read that one of the reasons that our society likes scary stuff is that we like to be able to confront our fears and then be able to escape them. Something about watching vampires, werewolves, and zombies attack and then be beaten back seems to make real life seem safer? I don’t know.

A few years ago I ran across a verse that is a great thing to remember in all the Halloween stuff.
O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. (2 Nephi 9:10)
This verse tells me that the only thing we need to fear is death and hell. Death has been conquered by Christ’s resurrection, so our submission to death will only be temporary. This leaves hell, which is entered through sin. So I guess that we only really need to worry about the monster of sin. As things get worse in society, our lives will turn into the equivalent of a monster movie, but just remember that when the sin zombies are after you, Christ has overcome all sin too, through his atonement, and because He has, we can overcome it by repentance and faith in Christ.

5 comments:

Ramona Gordy said...

Once upon a time,one of my favorite shows was "The Ghost Whisperer".:) This woman disturbed me on many levels and it wasn't until I joined the true church, that I recognized the lies for what they were.I hope that when I die,I won't need a "human"to help me cross over. None of us experiences death until we die,I am not sure of those who "come back",but I am sure that there is a testimony of it.
Before I joined the Church,I was afraid of death,only because I didn't know if God would wake me up (seriously). My thoughts were that if my death were meaningless,then so was my life.
But as I have learned and received a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of his death and resurrection,I endeavour to trust in God. I trust in him,that he will not "leave my soul in hell" to quote David. We get a glimpse of that promise when we do temple work. The Apostle Paul said,if there be no resurrection,then why do we baptize those who are dead?
1 Corinthians 15

FDR said it best:
"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear... is fear itself —nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."FDR/1ST Inaugral address.

The Savior says this:
1 John 4:18-19
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19 We love Him because He first loved us.

Michaela Stephens said...

Thank you for sharing your perspective, Ramona. Isn't it wonderful how the gospel gives us reasons to not fear?

Anonymous said...

This verse tells me that the only thing we need to fear is death and hell. Death has been conquered by Christ’s resurrection, so our submission to death will only be temporary. This leaves hell, which is entered through sin. So I guess that we only really need to worry about the monster of sin.

So why would we want to celebrate sin and the curse of death by patronizing Halloween?

Michaela Stephens said...

Good question, Anonymous. I have begun to wonder that more myself.

Michaela Stephens said...

Maybe we should start celebrating All Saints Day instead on November 1st and give it an LDS spin. (After all, we ARE Saints!)