My Thoughts on the Elect

The Elect, by Luca Signorelli. Image Source

God has been trying to teach me something about “the elect” since last April. Every time I pulled a hookum from the scriptures I would open to Romans 8 or 9, and more recently D&C 25.

I studied it every which way but I still didn’t like the concept of the elect. I am a Libra. I am about equality and balance and I firmly believe, as Christ taught, that God is no respecter of persons--that all of His children are equally dear. Yet he also says that he foreordained certain people before the foundation of the world because they were special…. How could both be true?

Then one day I just got it. Call this the book of Felice, but this how I finally made sense of it.  

It’s like school. I was a high achiever in school, except for one experience in a Shakespeare class where I strove to be a low achiever, but that is another story. I believe that in the pre-mortal life there was a school; it was different than our schools here, but similar enough for the comparison. I believe we had free choice there, and we were allowed to choose what we wanted to do. We could chose classes, we could cut class, we could do ridiculously over the top extra credit that wasn’t part of the course, or not. We could even invent our own classes. And it was all okay either way, because we chose it all, and God enjoyed watching us learn. 

I imagine different spirits pursued different interests and passions. For example, some chose to pursue music. Motzart is someone I am thinking of. He composed his first symphony at 4 years old. I know some brilliant 4 year olds, but 4 years is not enough time to develop that level of skill. I’m positive that he brought some with him.

Perhaps one of the available classes was: “How To Become Like God.” Jesus Christ probably taught the class.

I don’t like to think of it in terms of grades in school, but it is the best metaphor I have.  In the area of becoming like God, some spirits advanced further than others. The best personal experience I can share is from my daughter’s Kindergarten class, where I used to volunteer once/week. I grew to love all of those kids. A few of them were problematic and weren’t learning much, but I loved them A LOT. Sometimes had to discipline them and separate them, though. The smart and well-behaved kids were also great. I didn’t love them any more than any of the others, but I knew that I could rely on them to help me and the other students when things came down to the wire. Test time.  Or whatever you want to call these times.  

In these terms is how I understand the heavenly paradox of the elect. The elect are people who were highly advanced before they came, and God knew he could rely on them for important things in the great plan of awesomeness. Of course, these people still have choice in how things play out, or whether they keep their sacred contracts or not. Many of the elect, from what I have seen and studied in the scriptures, don’t have any idea for a long time that they are elect or what their sacred contract might be. (Moses was herding sheep when the bush started burning.) This is because we all drank from the river of forgetfulness, so to speak. But eventually, through a series of divine hunches and nudges and coincidences, a person is led to their life’s purpose.

I finally accepted that I am elect. Not special, per se, but foreordained, and willing to help. It’s a strange thing to awaken to. I’m just a regular girl who likes long walks on the beach, etcetera.  But I am also a foreordained teacher, a gatherer, and am aiding God in the restoration of some things. 

But enough about me. It is so amazing to watch and interact with the other elect souls that God keeps sending to me.  Sometimes I just read their name in an email and I know that I knew them in heaven. Some are just waking up to their sacred contracts, but all are excited to build Zion. If you are wondering if you are elect, the answer is probably yes. Most people who are awake in these last days and are excited about building Zion, are the elect.

The elect are not always obvious, though. Not all of them have public presence or any outwardly detectable features. Sometimes they are just quietly living life and raising a family, and being good friends, but they are strategically placed to help and influence the influencers, and so reach thousands.  I can think of one friend of mine who is has been a bright star in my life. She is so young she can’t rent a car, and she has no public platform, but she has the wisdom and clarity of ages.  She has influenced me in so many ways. In fact, she is the one who asked me to teach meditation from an LDS perspective. I had no idea it would turn out to be my destiny. There is an old saying that our destiny is written on our foreheads. To others it may be obvious, but it is not as easy to see it yourself. I am grateful she read something there and asked and asked again until I did it.

Things got crazy at one of my writing classes. Image Source

And perhaps we can help each other awaken to our purposes in similar ways, by being the mirror, the inviter, the teacher, the student, the healer, the healed.