🌿 We Are Not Being Graded — We Are Growing What If Mortal Life Is a Proofing Ground Instead of a Proving Ground?
🌿 We Are Not Being Graded — We Are Growing
What If Mortal Life Is a Proofing Ground Instead of a Proving Ground?
A few days ago I read something that stopped me in my tracks.
It was a simple idea.
So simple that I almost missed it.
Most of my life I thought earth life was a test.
A proving ground.
Can I endure?
Can I overcome?
Can I avoid enough mistakes?
Can I be worthy enough?
Can I pass?
I don't know that I would have said it exactly that way, but deep down, that's often how it felt.
Then I came across a Nemenhah teaching that uses a different word.
Not proving.
Proofing.
Like bread dough rising.
And suddenly something clicked.
🌿 The Dough Is Not Being Judged
Nobody stands over rising dough and says:
"Why aren't you bread yet?"
Nobody gets angry because it is still unfinished.
The baker gives it warmth.
The baker gives it time.
The baker gives it care.
The expectation isn't failure.
The expectation is growth.
That thought brought me peace.
Because if we're honest, many of us spend too much time wondering if we're failing.
Maybe the Peacemaker isn't looking for failure.
Maybe He's helping us grow.
🌿 Heavenly Mother Saw Possibility
One of my favorite passages in the Nemenhah Records comes right from the beginning.
Pah Aylohuhay looked into the Deep and said:
"I see space there—space to fill, space to build, space to do a great thing."
(Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn 1:3)
I love that.
She did not see emptiness.
She saw possibility.
She did not see failure.
She saw what could become.
That sounds a lot like how a loving parent looks at a child.
And perhaps it is how Heaven looks at us.
Not as finished products.
But as beloved children becoming something beautiful.
🌿 Emergence Instead of Condemnation
The Nemenhah Records use a word that appears again and again.
Emergence.
Ahtahn and Ayayfah did not simply "fall."
They emerged.
The record says:
"Ahtahn and Ayayfah emerged up out of the sheltered place where they had spent their spiritual infancy into the Mortal World."
(Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn 3:1)
That wording matters.
They were growing.
Leaving the nursery.
Stepping into a larger world.
Learning through experience.
Learning through choices.
Learning through relationships.
Isn't that exactly what all of us are doing?
🌿 The Doctrine of Christ Is a Path
When I read the Book of Mormon, I don't see a Savior teaching endless self-condemnation.
I see Him teaching a path.
Faith.
Repentance.
Baptism.
Receiving the Holy Ghost.
Pressing forward.
Walking.
Growing.
The Savior doesn't say:
"Become perfect before you come."
He says:
"Come, follow me."
The whole Doctrine of Christ is movement.
The whole thing is growth.
The whole thing is emergence.
🌿 The Peacemaker Walks With Us
This is one of the things I love most about the Nemenhah teachings.
Ayahtsuhway—the Peacemaker—is not standing far away waiting for us to finally get everything right.
He walks with us.
He teaches.
He heals.
He encourages.
The Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn describes baptism as:
"A token of repentance, change and emergence."
(Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn 4:25)
Notice that word again.
Emergence.
Repentance isn't merely feeling bad.
It's becoming something new.
🌿 Consecration Is What Growth Produces
A seed grows into a tree.
A tree eventually produces fruit.
The same thing happens spiritually.
As we grow, our lives begin to bless other people.
The Nemenhah teach:
"You will utilize the gifts of the Aylohhihm for your own maintenance and with the surplus you covenant to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, lift up the hands that hang down, and to shoulder each other's burdens."
(Book of the Tuhhuhl Nuhmehn 6:1)
I love that.
The goal isn't simply saving ourselves.
The goal is becoming useful.
Becoming a blessing.
Becoming part of the healing of All My Relations.
🌿 Maybe This Is Why We Are Here
The older I get, the less interested I am in proving myself.
The more interested I am in helping somebody else.
Maybe that's why the story of Tohohyayloh touches me so deeply.
After a lifetime of wandering, when asked what he wants, he simply says he would like to teach the children what he learned along the road.
That feels right.
Maybe the purpose of our struggles isn't merely to survive them.
Maybe it's to learn enough from them that we can help another traveler.
🌿 A Talking Feather Thought
As I sit here recovering, healing, learning, and growing older, I find myself thinking less about passing a test and more about walking with Christ.
Less about proving.
More about proofing.
Less about performance.
More about emergence.
The Peacemaker does not seem discouraged by unfinished people.
After all, He chose twelve of them.
He chose me.
And He chose you.
Perhaps Heavenly Mother still sees what she saw in the Deep.
Space to do a great thing.
Maybe she sees that same possibility in each of us.
Maybe mortal life is not primarily about being graded.
Maybe it is about growing.
One small step.
One act of kindness.
One lesson.
One surrender.
One walk with Christ at a time.
🕊️ Walk gently.
🔗 SIMILAR POSTS TO READ NEXT:
The Lord Is Closer Than You Think — Why Christ may be much nearer than we often imagine.
Walking With Jesus — Learning to Let Go — How surrender often brings more peace than striving.
When You Finally See Him, You Already Know Him — Why the Savior may feel familiar the moment you meet Him.
The True Doctrine of Christ — A simple walk through faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost.
Don’t Follow the White Robe — Follow the Voice — Why hearing Christ matters more than following religious appearances.
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