Song of the Moment

- absent for the moment -

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Faith vs Reason

Jessica made a really good point today. We were discussing the fact that I way over analyze things and make them more complicated and stressful than they need to be. I think that this contributes to my problem of not always being as decisive as I should be.

We're counseled to "study [things] out in our mind," but there also comes a time when we need to put our trust in the Lord and step into the darkness. Only then will the light move and further illuminate our path. Elder Packer makes a great point about this in his talk "The Candle of the Lord." So the question for me is, where is the balance between faith and reason? To what extent should I study things out in my mind (going somewhat crazy as I do so...) and when do I start stepping?

I realize that faith is an action principle, and in order for the Lord to tell me how I'm doing, I need to be doing something. So how does this fit with the biggest decision of my life? I think that once I start moving, I'll need something with the subtlety of a bulldozer to stop me if it's not the right thing. Hopefully that's not something that I need to be too worried about...