🌿 Are We Busy With the Dead While Jesus Walks Among the Living?
🌿 Are We Busy With the Dead While Jesus Walks Among the Living?
I want to say this right up front:
I’m not trying to convert anyone.
I’m not trying to tear anything down.
I’m not trying to tell you what to believe.
I’m simply inviting you to think.
And maybe — just maybe — to ask a few honest questions with the Savior sitting beside you.
🕊️ A Thought That Wouldn’t Leave Me Alone
For a long time now, I’ve been sitting with a quiet question:
Why are we spending so much time doing work for the dead
when God is perfectly capable of reaching them Himself?
That question didn’t come from anger.
It didn’t come from rebellion.
It came from love — and from scripture.
📖 What the Book of Mormon Actually Emphasizes
When I open the Book of Mormon, here’s what I see emphasized again and again:
Faith in Christ
Repentance
Baptism (for the living, who believe)
Receiving the Holy Ghost
Caring for the poor
Building Zion among real people, right now
What I don’t see emphasized:
Temple systems for the dead
Endless proxy ordinances
Salvation managed by an institution
In fact, Moroni teaches plainly that those who die without law are alive in Christ — not stranded, not condemned, not waiting on paperwork.
That matters.
🌍 A Little History (Without Attacking Anyone)
Baptism for the dead didn’t appear at the beginning of the Restoration.
It emerged later — during a time of:
persecution
loss
death
grief
Joseph Smith had lost his brother Alvin.
The Saints lost friends and apostles.
People had dreams.
People had visions.
People longed for hope.
That longing is human.
And it’s understandable.
Early on, baptism for the dead looked like mercy — a bridge, not a system.
But over time, something changed.
🏛️ When Mercy Becomes a Machine
What began as compassion slowly became:
organized
regulated
centralized
mandatory
Eventually, salvation itself started to feel… managed.
And here’s the quiet tension I can’t ignore anymore:
Jesus taught direct access to the Father.
Later systems taught mediated access through ordinances.
That’s not a small difference.
🌿 The Warning in the Nemenhah Records
The Nemenhah Records carry a striking warning about the latter days:
That people would become absorbed in rituals for the dead
while neglecting:
the poor
the living
the broken
the voice of the Peacemaker
Not because they are evil.
But because priorities get inverted.
Busy can feel like righteous.
Warm feelings can feel like confirmation.
But activity is not the same thing as alignment.
🕯️ “But I Feel the Spirit in the Temple”
I want to honor this — sincerely.
Many people feel deep peace and love while doing baptisms for their ancestors.
That feeling is real.
But here’s something important I’ve learned:
The Spirit responds to love and sincerity — even inside imperfect systems.
Feeling the Spirit doesn’t automatically mean:
the structure is required
the system is eternal
the priority is correct
God meets hearts where they are.
🌱 Spiritual vs. Physical: A Simple Truth
There is a spiritual reality
and there are physical symbols that point to it.
Baptism is a symbol of surrender
Ceremonies are tools, not the destination
Directions, motions, water — they point inward
I’ve experienced that inward work directly — quietly, personally — without a building, without a system.
And it worked.
Which brings me back to the question…
❓ If the Dead Are with God… Then What Is Our Work?
If God is merciful
If agency continues
If learning continues
If Christ can reach souls wherever they are
Then maybe the dead are not waiting on us.
Maybe we are the ones being invited to wake up.
Maybe the real work is:
loving our neighbor
feeding the hungry
healing relationships
listening for Christ’s voice
building Zion where our feet are standing
🕊️ A Gentle Ending
I’m not asking you to abandon anything.
I’m not telling you what to stop doing.
I’m just asking this:
Are we walking where Jesus is walking today?
Because when I read the scriptures…
When I listen quietly…
When I look at His life…
I see Him among the living.
And I don’t think He ever stopped.
🌿 If this stirred something in you, sit with it.
🌿 Ask the Lord.
🌿 Trust Him to guide you gently.
That’s all I’m doing too.
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