Alma 41

I continue to wrestle with Alma's message, but there is truth here in chapter 41 that we should not ignore and also opportunities to examine our own beliefs and our own hearts.

Verse 5

The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, for good according to his desires of good; and the other two evil according to his desires for evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

Verse 15

For that which you do send out shall return unto you again . . .

Alma is saying in fact what mothers have been saying to their children for years: "What goes around comes around." or "You reap what you sow."

Our agency allows us to choose what our lives will be. From the musical My Turn on Earth we read these words, "When you choose the very first step on the road, you also choose the last." There are consequences to every action.

The problem with consequences is that they are not always immediate. There is purpose there. If humans received an immediate reward for every good deed and, vice versa, an immediate punishment for each bad deed, we would make choices for the wrong reasons.

Our choices are meant to educate us and define us.  Eventually we become the choices we make and set the course of our destiny. We even find satisfaction in knowing that the person who has done us wrong will eventually get the consequences of his behavior even if it is not until he has to account to God.

And so I am happy as I picture Hitler and Stalin and drug lords and pimps in hell - where they experience the pain they caused others. The Buddhist would see them in their next life as the people they harmed, getting to know and understand the damage they did.  Perhaps that is hell - the stage of having to face every wrong act and those we harmed - to see how our actions play out in the lives of others. That is the message of a favorite movie, "An Inspector Calls".

But one question remains for me and that is - is this forever? Is hell eternal? Is there no chance to finally change, to at last become that child of God that we are? Are only some of divine by nature or is that the reality of every human being?

What if Hitler had to meet every single person he harmed and hear their story? What if he had to account to the Lord for what had made him so calloused that humans became pawns in a political game he played? What if the confrontations began to crack open a heart?

I like to believe in such what-ifs and eternal possibilities because a truth I know is this:  Adolf Hitler is a child of Heavenly Parents who love him as much as they love me. Those parents provided the plan whereby he could be saved.

Which brings us back to choice. But what if he chose to change? Could I ever let go of the deep disgusting feeling I have whenever I picture that man? Could I let go of my desire for him to burn in hell? Could I own that the very thought of that man causes hatred in my soul? And what if I can't let go of those feelings?

Scriptures like today's reading in Alma 41. that cause me to ask so many questions are good  for that very reason - they challenge us to figure out what we believe.  They lead to us search for truth.

We compare them to truths we know. We compare them to other scriptures. We search for the words of trusted leaders on these topics. We listen to what our hearts are saying.


We are forced to decide who God is and what He wants for His children.  We wonder at the far-reaching power of the Atonement. We confront the feelings in our own hearts.