We all revert to rationalization throughout our lives. When we were children we used it to convince ourselves (and, we hoped, our parents) in doing what we wanted when we were told otherwise. As we grew up, we tried the same technique on our teachers and professors. We have also tried this in dealing with the police officer when he pulled us over, and maybe even the judge who presided over the case, not to mention our bosses. We use it in the grocery store or the mall, and in deciding betweenvehicles or where to live. However, there are times when this process we have used to varying degrees of successfails us more than we know.

Unfortunately, we also have started to apply thisprocess to our religion and the teachings given to usby the Prophets. Some of this applies towhether we attend services or not, if we perform the Reminder, pay tithes, or contemplate and meditate on God, or if we follow thecommandments.

We all can see how this has revealed itself within the other religious organizations. Theteachings start toerode, being replaced by others' ideas or understandings. This begins the slide to separation not only between people within a religious group, but also and more importantly, the slide away from the Prophet's teachings.

Do we resign ourselves to this process and say that it is not that important, or do we stop and see ourselves more clearly?

If you prefer the former, which commandments do you think should be left behind? Can you rationalize this to everyone else so they will agree with you? Can you rationalize this toMaitreya or God so they will agree with your views?

I suspect that if one is pressed to statetheir reasons for not following the teachings, or changing one little aspectof them directly to Maitreya, they would resign from the attempt.They would most probably turn it into a discussion of some aspect of the teachings not even on the same topic that they disagree with. In doing so, they rationalize and keep those issues in the dark so that they cankeep their personalopinions to themselves. However,
whether they voice their opinions or not, God knows.

I am guilty of these things myself, and have slowlyrealized that no matter what rationalization I come up with, none of them stand against the onesimple truth, God said so.

To put this into perspective, recall a time when youwere a child and rationalized going against whatyour parents told you. Then look at your children and how they do the same thing today, going against your wishes and desires. You know now that your parents were trying to mold you into a better person just as you are trying to mold your children. God is doing this very thing as well, so whether we fully understand it or not, we should still follow all the commands God has given us.

We can not continue to rationalize away what God has given us;doing so will only erode the teachings, and lead us away from God.

Hosanna