The "A" Word...

                            T H E  "A"  W O R D  Most Parents (and Kids) Aren't sure they fought for!

     If you've ever been a kid ( most of us have) there already has been or wiil be a time in your life when you think or even say to your parents,"THAT'S THE DUMBEST RULE!" " When i'm a parent, I won't have that Stupid Rule! "  Even though that's how you really feel, you most often cooperate with your parents and live by Their Stupid Rule. You use your Agency and (If you are wise) obey to keep the peace, even though you're not thrilled about it.

     If you've ever been a Parent- you no doubt have just about died when one of your kids has done something stupid or made a "Stupid Decision" which they can't seem to grasp just how stupid it is and the disaster that awaits them! You feel like shaking some sense into the little knot-head but you bite your tongue and allow them to exercise their Agency and choose poorly.

     In both cases you suffer from "AGENCY ANXIETY !' This "A" word is not all that popular although we are told that we fought for it in a War In Heaven.  So what is this much maligned term AGENCY- that causes so much stress in the minds and lives of both kids and parents?

Agency or " the ability to learn the difference between right and wrong and to make ethical and moral decisions" (Wikipedia Agency-LDS Church)

     Agency is a gift of God as explained in the Pearl of Great Price Moses 7:32"...I gave unto them their knowledge,  in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his Agency."

Genesis 3- tells of Adam and Eve in the garden , exercising their Agency and choosing to partake of the forbidden fruit, resulting in a spiritual and eventual physical death, introducing mortality as well as the ability to procreate.

     2 Nephi 2: 16-25 helps us to better understand the results of Adam and Eve's use of their Agency. V-16 " Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other."  vs 25-27 explain the role of the Messiah as redeemer paying the price and overcoming the effects of Adam & Eve's fall. vs 25-27 " Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy.  And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of times, that He may redeem the children of men from the fall.  And because that 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 , save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.  Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.  And 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."

    The Agency of Man did not however begin with Adam and Eve in the garden but existed in our pre-mortal estate as explained in Pearl of Great Price Moses 4:1-4 where Satan ( using his agency) rebelled and fought to destroy the Agency of Man when the Father's plan was revealed in the pre-mortal council.

     So now on earth our Agency continues as Samuel the Lamanite reminds us in Helaman 14:30-31-"
And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself, for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free."
    These same truths were revealed to the prophet Joseph Smith in D&C 29: 36-50, after reviewing the fall of Adam and Satan's role in the garden and the resultant spiritual and physical deaths, he gives us hope. vs 42-43- " But behold,, I say unto you that I the Lord God, gave unto Adam and his seed, that they should not die as to the temporal death, until I, the Lord God should send forth angels to declare unto them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine only begotten Son.  And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation- that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life; even as many as would believe."  D&C 58: 27-29 helps us understand how God expects us to use our Agency. " Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; for the power is in them, wherefore they are agents unto themselves.  And in as much as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."
     As Joshua encouraged the children of Israel- Joshua 24:15- " choose you this day whom ye will serve;...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  The Lord reminds us today, D&C 101:78-" That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgement."
     Once we better understand the eternal nature of the principle of the Agency of Man and the coexistence of good and evil, it becomes apparent that it is the unrighteous exercise of the Agency of Man that creates evil in the world.
As long as men are free to choose- they will be free to choose good or evil.  When men become so righteous that they have " no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually" (Mosiah 5:2) then will evil cease to exist among the children of men.            
     so- Parents and Children, even though the "A" word- AGENCY, can cause us stress when we believe it is being used improperly by those we love- let's remember that Agency was worth fighting for.  And- don't mess with my Agency or you'll have another fight to fight!

Much Love-  The Grandparent Chronicles