![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0_0-800x800.png\")
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Many years ago I retreated to Rock Canyon just above the Provo temple to pray about something I was stressed out about that, in my adolescent universe, was a big screaming deal. I retired to the beautiful night-time scenery of the Utah Valley lights twinkling below in the twilight fully expecting some kind of comforting spiritual atta-boy shoulder rub, and if all responses to prayers are really just psychological wish fulfillment as some say, that is probably exactly what I would have gotten with enough time and energy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Instead I got something along the lines of \u201cstop crying, and get up,\u201d and felt a clear rebuke. Not at all what I was expecting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There is a strand of academic research that looks at what is called \u201cGod imagery,\u201d or how we perceive and view God, whether he is, for example, a judge, or a friend, or a father figure. The answer, of course, is all of the above. One of my favorite Joseph Smith quotes is that\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive; and, at the same time, is more terrible to the workers of iniquity, more awful in the executions of His punishments, and more ready to detect every false way, than we are apt to suppose Him to be.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n He can thread that needle in ways that are very difficult for us mere mortals. I especially love D&C 121 as a perfect example of this. It is incredibly comforting and uplifting, yet God still manages to seamlessly interweave a gentle rebuke that you could miss if you weren\u2019t paying attention when he rhetorically asks Joseph Smith if he is greater than the Savior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n While we sometimes feel like we can put in the coin of prayer and get divine comfort in response, sometimes it\u2019s more complicated, and not all concerns that we go to God with are \u201clegitimate\u201d in the same way that a child crying over not being able to take their friend\u2019s toy in nursery is not legitimate. The pain is still real, but sometimes the right response is not affirming the pain but rather disaffirming it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In my own life I have a problem with faith. No matter how professionally accomplished I become I still occasionally freak out that I will lose my house and end up in the gutter, or I will have a car accident that will cripple my entire family and I will end my life a gibbering, cynical wreck that wants to curse God and die. And at times instead of a pat on the head that it will all turn out I get a remonstration for my faithlessness (although to be clear, it\u2019s NOT a matter of faith that these things will not happen), and honestly I\u2019ve learned that\u2019s sometimes better for me in the long-term. I can run to God every time I need a hug, but more useful at times is the strong rebuke needed to redirect thoughts and stop feeding the catastrophizing that causes one to need the direct lift-up in the first place. I\u2019m not saying that is what would be best for everyone; the internal psychology of our states of mind is much too complicated for us non-Gods to make that call, just rather that it is something in the repertoire. When God told Oliver Cowdery \u201cdid I not speak peace to your mind?\u201d he wasn\u2019t giving him another serving of direct peace to his mind, but rather gently rebuking him for evidently having not accepted the first round. It was up to Cowdery to decide to accept it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In regards to God imagery, in addition to being the friend or father, God can also be the proverbial non-nonsense high school football coach that you can tell cares about his student-athletes, but in the meantime can have a serious, no-excuses exterior. While \u201csuck it up, buttercup\u201d isn\u2019t the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of people like the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, or other this-worldly incarnations of spirituality I do think that is part of God\u2019s toolkit depending on the situation. While yes, some conservatives may err on the side of seeing God as a taciturn judge all the time, it is possible to err too much on the other side of seeing God solely as a constant hug-dispenser, and not the smith of a refiner\u2019s fire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Many years ago I retreated to Rock Canyon just above the Provo temple to pray about something I was stressed out about that, in my adolescent universe, was a big screaming deal. I retired to the beautiful night-time scenery of the Utah Valley lights twinkling below in the twilight fully expecting some kind of comforting spiritual atta-boy shoulder rub, and if all responses to prayers are really just psychological wish fulfillment as some say, that is probably exactly what I would have gotten with enough time and energy.\u00a0 Instead I got something along the lines of \u201cstop crying, and get up,\u201d and felt a clear rebuke. Not at all what I was expecting.\u00a0\u00a0 There is a strand of academic research that looks at what is called \u201cGod imagery,\u201d or how we perceive and view God, whether he is, for example, a judge, or a friend, or a father figure. The answer, of course, is all of the above. One of my favorite Joseph Smith quotes is that\u00a0 Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive; and, at the same time, is more terrible to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10403,"featured_media":46987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latter-day-saint-thought"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/0_0.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46981"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46989,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46981\/revisions\/46989"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}