Faith in God or safety consciousness?
At times we need to face certain choices that may involve some kinds of risk or even danger. In my life I decided to do certain things that really seemed risky and uncertain, such as moving from Italy to go to Brazil, or even before, becoming a member of the Mormon Church in a mainly catholic country, and so on.
I remember someone telling me that certain choices would imply some degree of suffering. The person was implying that I should avoid anything that may include suffering. I am not talking about clearly wrong choices that lead to inevitable and almost useless suffering, I am talking about choices that make you grow, but that include leaving a confortable situation to face possible hardship. My reply to this kind of objection was that if the goal I was pursuing was worthy, I should move forward even if there was risk involved.
Yesterday I was reading the book In the Eye of the Storm, by Elder Groberg, where he tells the story of his mission, and I found a part that perfectly align with my thinking. Having moved from Brazil to the US, I can perfectly understand what Elder Groberg means, since this society is terribly concerned with considering all the negative implication of almost every action. At times there seems to be a complete paralysis of activity because of the fear that something will go wrong, that someone will sue us, and so on.
But this is what Elder Groberg says
One of the problems with all of the safety consciousness we have today is that it tends to cause us to hesitate to do things that we might otherwise do. I’m sure it’s good to have better information, such as weather reports, forecasting, safety inspections, and audits, but I sometimes wonder if we don’t get so filled with facts and figures and possible dangers that we do less than we should. I suppose we could all find legitimate reasons to hardly do anything because of the potential dangers involved, all the way from not going someplace because of a possible storm to not making a business decision because of a possible loss or lawsuit, to not getting married or not having children because of the possible physical, mental, social, or financial problems (p. 169-170)
I cannot agree more. Only in the US I have seen so many people worried of doing things because of possible lawsuits, or an exagerated trust in “certifications”. There are all kind of certifications that supposedly should protect us from harm. This is the only country that I know where in most activities in school they want parents to bring food bought in the store because food prepared at home can be dangerous! So, let us feed our kids with extremely processed junk food that will kill them slowly!
It is the illusion of being able to avoid all kind of dangers that makes our life so limited. I am glad the Mormon pioneers had more faith than this!
Elder Groberg explains this idea very well
As I see it, all of life is a risk, which is where faith comes in. We do what is right, and let the chips fall where they may. God will help us-I know that for sure! We will have problems with health or accidents, finances or family-at least we will have the ones God knows we need for the growth He wants us to have. If we protect ourselves from too many things, I have a feeling we may protect ourselves right out of the celestial kingdom!
By the way, it was really the plan of the adversary to avoid all kind of risk,
I remembered something about a plan and then a counterplan that supposedly removed the risk, but at the terrible price of no progress. I knew which one God chose. Even in troubled waters we make more progress if we are trying than if we wait until the dangers and discomforts are removed.
I suppose the Savior was aware of the danger that awaited Him as He entered Jerusalem that last time, but He went anyway. He may not have known the full extent of what lay ahead or exactly how He would handle it (witness His prayer in Matthew 26:39 that “if it be possible, let this cup pass” [italics added]), but His faith in His Father and His love for all mankind propelled Him forward as He willingly “finished [His] preparations unto the children of men” (D&C 19:19).