The Power of Choice

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced or cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the Shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how straight the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

-William Ernest Henley

It may be guessed that I just watched "Invictus" for the first time, and that would be a correct assumption. Nelson Mandela has been one of my heroes since I was in high school. I've always been so impressed that a man, jailed for 30 years, would then choose to lead the country and the people who jailed him in the first place. But he did, and his choice changed the history of an entire nation. I've often wondered how he found it in himself to forgive, to allow himself and others to change. But in that choice of change he showed that he was the master of his fate. He was the captain of his soul.

Choice is greatest gift and blessing given to each person on this earth. Agency is the one possession that is truly ours and cannot be taken away. We always have choice and therefore we always have power, if even only over ourselves. And with this power, we are free.

When Lehi was leaving his final blessings with his sons, he talked with Jacob about the Plan of Salvation and the important role that choice plays in that plan. In 2 Nephi 2:26 Lehi talks about the coming of the Messiah to "redeem the children of men from the fall. And because they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon...". And continuing in verse 27: "Men are free according to the flesh... they are free to choose...".

The power of choice is essential to the Plan of Salvation. In the council in heaven before we came down to earth there were 2 plans. One- Christ's and God's plan- gave us freedom to choose. The other- Lucifer's- took away our ability to choose. Lucifer's might have sounded easier, but it would have taken away our freedom. God's plan is harder, but in it we can grow; for without choice there is no progression.

In 1832, Joseph Smith received a revelation that was dubbed the "olive leaf" because it contained so many truths and pieces of wisdom from God. Toward the end of the revelation, after learning about the spirit, light, and learning, is verse 86 which contains the instruction "Abide in the liberty wherewith ye are made free." Our liberty, our agency, is a gift from God that we should abide in.

Abide means to stay within, to stay in the midst of. To me, God is telling us that we should live our lives in such a way that we can always enjoy the blessing of agency. Everything in life is a choice, but everything has a consequence for good or bad. Lehi told his sons that "they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27) Obviously choosing good will lead us toward God, and choosing evil will lead us toward Satan.

But what about choosing gray? What about choosing to sit on the fence and not make a decision? May I suggest that not making a decision is in fact a decision? When we choose not to choose, we have chosen to be acted upon and not to act for ourselves. President Thomas Monson related this story from Alice in Wonderland in a talk on choice.

"Let us not find ourselves as indecisive as Alice...You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire cat, of whom Alice asks, 'Which path shall I follow?' The cat answers, 'That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn't matter which path you take.' Unlike Alice, we all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for the path we follow in this life surely leads to the path we will follow in the next."

Joshua knew about the power of decisions and declared to the entire nation of Israel, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15). I hope in my life that I can be less like the wandering Alice and more like Joshua, knowing whom I serve and where I am going. Like William Henley wrote, "I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul."