The Great Anesthetist

I have a handful of blog post ideas floating around in my head -- some of them for months.  I've either been too lazy or too sick to put forth the effort.  Hopefully I'll get around to at least two or three of them before I forget about them.

One that is fresh in my mind is from something I read on another blog yesterday.  I actually got the link from LDS living.  Anyway I will paraphrase in my own words the gist of what the blog post was about.  I'm sure the original is much better than my take on it.  I think it was from middle-aged Mormon man blog if you want to go find it.

Anyway it kind of hit home because I recently had major surgery and was under anesthesia.  The idea proposed on the blog was that Jesus is known as the great physician.  And then this man's friend compared Satan to the great anesthetist.  The idea being that Satan lulls you to sleep so that you miss living your life.  You miss out on the mortal experience.  There is a scripture to back up the claim.

"And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell."  --2 Nephi 28:21

President Uchtdorf recently spoke on the subject in a talk entitled "Are You Sleeping through the Restoration?" In his talk President Uchtdorf suggests three reasons why people would sleep through the restoration. Selfishness, addictions, and competing priorities.  It's a wonderful talk.  Click on the link to read or watch it.

I'm not going to elaborate but suffice it to say that many people in the church and out are anesthetized by Satan's cunning lies and are lulled away into carnal security thinking that all is well.  When in reality they are sleeping through/wasting their mortality and the devil is cheating their souls and leading them away carefully down to hell.

I was thinking about this yesterday because I've been focused on healing my femur and recovering from surgery.  So comparing my surgery to mortality I thinking was about how my surgeon put my leg back together but that was just the beginning.  Yes, he made it possible for my leg to heal but, my body must do all the work to heal itself.  Kind of the same way that Christ made it possible, as the great physician, for eternal life/exaltation to even be a possibility through His atonement.  But there is still much work that we must do ourselves to reach it.

But just like my leg, without my surgeon's efforts to repair my leg, it never would have healed. There is no guarantee that it will heal now but at least it's possible now.  Just like without Christ's atonement, eternal life/exaltation would not be possible.  But just like my leg is not guaranteed to heal even with surgical repair, exaltation is not guaranteed without effort on our part, but it is possible now because of Christ's atonement.

Then I was thinking about how I went into surgery early in the morning.  I remember everything until the anesthesiologist gave me a bolus of Versed in my IV.  Apparently I had a conversation with a scrub nurse afterwards but I don't remember any of it.  Versed is also an amnesiac.  The only reason I know I had a conversation with the scrub nurse was because my sister told me I did.  She said I was answering very slowly. The anesthesiologist told me right before he gave me the Versed that it would make me feel drunk.  Having never been drunk, I wasn't familiar with what that felt like.  But looking back, I don't know why anyone would ever want to do that to themselves intentionally.  Why would you want to impair yourself to the point where you don't remember part of your life?  But I digress.
After receiving the Versed the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room six hours later. I missed the entire surgery!  -- Thankfully.

Comparing my surgery to mortality, Satan being the great anesthetist numbs our spirits and makes us forget that which we know to be true.  The same way that my anesthesiologist numbed my body and made me forget the entire surgery. If we are not careful, and deliberately working towards building the Kingdom of God on earth and doing what is right, we can easily fall into Satan's anesthetic trap and sleep through our mortal probation.  And lose the opportunity to prove ourselves to our Heavenly Father. After all, that's the whole purpose of our being here on earth.  This is the privilege we've been given by choosing God's plan in the pre-mortal existence. We've been given the opportunity to come to earth and receive a body and prove ourselves. "And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;" -- Abraham 3:25

Don't fall into Satan's anesthetic trap.  Life is too short and too precious to waste. Our time here in mortality is a precious gift.  Don't squander it. Make a concerted effort to follow God's commandments daily. Read your scriptures and pray daily. Work hard to stay on the straight and narrow path and hold tight to the iron rod.  Don't allow yourself to be lulled into carnal security.  Christ's atonement made eternal life possible.  Do your best to accept this precious gift which requires daily energy and effort.

The healing process whether it be a leg or a spirit, requires a lot of energy and effort. The body's ability to heal itself is miraculous.  As is spiritual healing through Christ's atonement.

As thankful as I am for being anesthetized through my surgery, I still think it would've been cool if I could have scrubbed into my own surgery. That is a part of my life that I missed and will never get back.  Just like people who allow Satan to anesthetize their spirits and miss out on part or all of their life.

I have always said that sleep is the biggest waste of time. Although obviously it's a necessary part of life, don't sleep through more of life than is necessary. Spend your short time here in mortality productively.  Live life fully awake physically and spiritually.

Don't sleep through life like I slept through my surgery.

That's my two cents.