"Wicked" a choice?

Yesterday, we drove over an hour to see the play "Wicked". Fabulous!! We were fortunate enough to see it with a large group from church as well. The singing gave me goosebumps and the scene changes were amazingly seamless. Jacob and Rachel went with hubby and I. Our oldest Joey was supposed to come with us originally but has gone to another state to find work and go to school. I know that he wishes he were here, but he's where he's supposed to be.

There are so many messages in the play. I think it would take seeing multiple times to actually catch them all. I think one of the main questions posed is, "Are we born wicked or do we have it thrust upon us". The play used truth and perception (just seeing it a different way) to explore this. While it is true that each of us has our own truth perception based on our own experiences and beliefs, I believe that eternal truth is unchanging. In the play the "wicked witch" isn't actually wicked but people perceive her to be because she was different. Those who are truly wicked frame her as "evil" by giving others a bad perception of her. The only people who learn the truth are those who learn to put their perceptions aside and are open to the truth.

Like those characters, when we put our limited self perceptions in perspective, we learn that there is actual truth to be found that makes our life richer and more meaningful. Ultimately, those who don't are doomed to sadness, hatred, and a limited view of life.

But there are many people out there who claim to know the truth yet their truth clashes with someone else's truth. These are perceptions that are true to that person. Each person has their own set of truths. So if we are willing to find truth, how are we to know which one is an eternal truth and not personal perception? Here is where the gospel of Jesus Christ comes in.

In the gospel we find all truth because God is a god of eternal unchanging truth or else he would cease to be God. He has to follow the rules too! So if we want to know the truth of something, we can turn to Him to find the answer. He will guide us through inspiration. Inspiration comes through the power of the Holy Ghost who will give us thoughts, images, or peaceful feelings if the path is good and a stupor of thought or uncomfortable feelings if we are wrong.

But don't confuse the good thoughts with the "if it feels good, do it" idea because if you haven't noticed there are a lot of people that follow this thought process and yet are very far from the truth. Truth brings happiness, joy and peace not just pleasure and gratification. If we follow a certain path or truth and find a true peace then chances are we are on the right path. Just like in math where you can "check" your work by going back over it, you can check your path by the fruit that it bears. "By their fruits ye shall know them". If your path leads you to emulate the teachings of Christ then you have found eternal unchanging truth.

So back to the original question. I don't believe we are born wicked but began before birth as children of God. We are born with a personality but innocent of wickedness. As we grow older, we have the agency or choice to follow whatever path or "truth" we find. Some of us have wickedness all around us or even put on us like a label. We have a choice as to how we will respond. Bad things happen to us which is a consequence of others agency to choose good or bad. But we still have the choice to either let it drag us down or we can "defy gravity" and rise above it.

As mortals, we don't always choose to rise above the ugly. Daily we make choices that bring us down or affect those around us in a negative way. The beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it corrects the wickedness that is ours or that has been thrust upon us. Redemption comes through faith in the atonement and its power to cleanse. Jesus Christ can wipe clean any wickedness in our life. This is an eternal truth. "Wickedness never was happiness."

"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." 2 Nephi 2:27