I originally began writing the letter as a personal letter to the Institute Director. But as I continued writing I realized that it might help other LDS who are struggling spiritually, as well as those who aren’t.
If you find this and you are struggling, have hope and know that things are a lot larger and grander than you’ve ever imagined. In fact, one of the most tragic aspects of life in the church is how little we learned about the true scope and majesty of things.
If you are struggling, I hope this letter will spare you some of the humps I had to get over, because regardless of how old you are, time is precious. I’ve included information on several faith traditions which might be helpful, even if you don’t accept path as laid out. There are other paths to chose from.
The IDLetter is composed of the following basic parts:
1. A rather minimal discussion of issues within the LDS Church and within Christian churches in general. I have no axe to grind, it’s for context only.
2. Faith traditions.
3. The spiritual approach to fully knowing God (Christian Mysticism).
4. The preparatory work needed along the way (Death of the carnal man).
5. Living in the world.
6. The nature of God, the soul, and creation.
Honestly, the ID Letter is not for everyone, in fact it’s for very few. It’s primarily for anyone who’s left a religion over truth, and who wants a spiritually based foundation for life.
Spirituality requires hard consistent work. It’s not a group or institutionalized thing although spiritual people can and are involved in both. No church is perfect and spirituality can be practiced in most traditions as long as you recognize the traditions limitations. Time demands make it difficult to pursue spirituality, and dogma may impose blocks. Avoid letting any church fulfill your needs for spirituality, because it can’t.
I do not claim to be a subject matter expert. If you expect someone or some institution to enable or define your spirituality you won’t make it. Test everything. Measure twice, cut once. Also, the author has not had the unitive experience described in the letter but hopes to one day do so.
Christian Mysticism is NOT a new age thing, in fact it dates back to the time of Christ. The word mystic conjures up all sorts of things in the mind until you sit down and study it. Why it got that name I have no idea. The spiritual path described involves the things you normally think about but at a deeper level. Prayer, watchfulness, charity, service, etc. But it also includes one very important addition, contemplation.
Mystical experience occurs during the practice of contemplation, and it’s there that you can intimately connect unitively with God. Few make it to that point, but it is available, and the path leading to it is accompanied by growth of the soul regardless of how far you take it.
This all sounds rosy doesn’t it? But the foundation must be cleaned before the mansion build.
Mortification is the process of giving up attachments to things of the carnal man, especially the ego. It’s giving up lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Only after these have been eradicated can the soul progress to God.
Sounds harsh I know, and frankly it can seem discouraging, but there’s a metaphysical reason behind it all. Every one of the “sins” mentioned result from prioritizing self over God. I want this, I want that. “I” am a superhero.
God says He wants to live in our temple, but to do so we need to make room for Him, and there’s no room for God if we are filled with self. I don’t think this is metaphorical.
None of this is new. These principles have been practiced for centuries because they work. And they don’t depend on any church but mostly they are compatible with every church.
The only hitch for Latter Day Saints is that some of it assumes that God doesn’t have a physical body. Most of the principles are true regardless. I attended 40 years of church meetings including priesthood and Sunday School. Except for helping me learn the scriptures I felt they gave minimal spiritual instruction, compared to this.
A major problem is that most churches are creatures of the world, literally. In order to retain membership they can’t rock the social boat too much. Society and advertising has encouraged us to be very self ish, yet foundational spirituality of any ilk requires the denial and death of carnal self and it’s attachments. This is not something that any church wants to pursue, especially churches promoting the prosperity gospel.
The old spiritual masters had none of this nonsense. They spoke the truth about self and how to truly commune with God. I hope you will join them.