And then he points out the seriousness:
This is an abomination to God
This is next only to murder
This is denying the spirit
it is not easy to get forgiveness when you've gone this far
"But behold, you cannot hide your crimes from God, and except you repent they will stand as a testimony against you at the last day." Alma pleads with his son to change his ways and reminds him he has been called to the ministry.
This is a sad story - every parent's nightmare - to see a child get into such a dangerous lifestyle and to fear for his life.
I just wanted to Alma to move past warnings and shame to love and promises. Everything Alma says was true - we tend to close ourselves off from our feelings when we are making choices contrary to who we are and what we know to be true.
Once we shut down our feelings, it is hard to hear the whisperings of the Spirit as he calls us back.
And since God allows us to choose our own destiny, we are in danger of long-lasting consequences when we have so "hardened our hearts".
But the verbiage of "crimes and guilt and judgment" are not helpful. I know. I said things like this to my own kids when I was frustrated by their choices.
Do we really believe that living the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness? I testify that it does!
To those who abandon those principles and like Corianton choose a lifestyle that can only lead to grief, I would hope we would feel sorrow for their suffering and not anger at them for their mistakes.
At what point do we stop wishing them well? I hope that, like God, we are constantly standing firm, inviting them home - knowing that invitation implies a change of heart, a change of behavior.
"Come, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" is not a message to the worker in the field. It is a message to all of us who wander into a life where everything we do causes a terrible burden upon us and we don't know how to find joy anymore. And Jesus' answer is "Come home. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: (you do not need to fear me) and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
From Jeffrey R Holland April 2006 - Broken Things to Mend:
Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in Spirit, "Come unto me", He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.
If you are lonely, please know you can find comfort. If you are discouraged, please know you can find hope. If you are poor in spirit, please know you can be strengthened. If you feel broken, please know you can be mended.
In Nazareth, the narrow road
That tires the feet and steals the breath
Passes the place where once abode
The Carpenter of Nazareth.
And up and down the dusty way
The village folk would often wend;
And on bench, beside Him, lay
Their broken things for Him to mend.
The maiden with the doll she broke,
The woman with the broken chair,
The man with broken plough, or yoke,
Said, "Can you mend it, Carpenter?"
And each received the thing he sought,
In yoke, or plough, or chair, or doll;
The broken thing that each had brought
Returned again a perfect whole.
So, up the hill the long years through
With heavy step and wistful eye,
The burdened souls their way pursue,
Uttering each the plaintive cry:
"O, Carpenter of Nazareth,
This heart, that's broken past repair,
This life, that's shattered nigh to death,
Oh, can You mend them, Carpenter?"
And by His kind and ready hand,
His own sweet life is woven through
Our broken lives, until they stand
A new creation "all things new."
The shattered substance of the heart,
Desire, ambition, hope, and faith
Mould thou into the perfect part,
O, Carpenter of Nazareth!
The erring one may not be ready yet to return, but when he is ready, he will only come to the place that offered love and healing, not condemnation. That was the whole point of the beautiful story about the prodigal son.
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