By Robyn Young
Our world is a world of order. It may not always seem that way, what with all those pesky humans creating such chaos, but the natural world is a world of order. Gratefully, there are some things upon which we can absolutely depend.
Take gravity, for example. Gravity is a natural law. It is part of the order of this world. Gravity is the force that draws us to the earth. If an object of weight is dropped from a high location, it doesn't just float in mid-air, it falls to the earth. Every. Single. Time. You can count on it.
But what if you don't like gravity? Or what if someone doesn't know about gravity? Do either of those situations make a person exempt from it? Of course not. It is a natural law that affects every single person on the earth, all the time, whether they know about it, or like it, or not.
BUT. Birds can fly. For centuries, humans watched birds in flight and desired the ability to fly. Leonardo DaVinci was fascinated with flight, and created a flying machine, but it was not workable with just human power. It was 1903 before the Wright Brothers conducted the first successful test of a flying machine that was human-powered and -controlled. Does the fact that birds--and now humans--can fly mean that the law of gravity is no longer valid? Was that somehow an untrue belief?
The reality is that birds are still subject to gravity. When they are not in flight, they aren't floating off into space, after all. But there are other--additional--natural laws at work. Birds fly in accordance with natural laws, including gravity. As scientists experimented and tried to fly, they began to learn about other natural laws that made flight--human flight--possible. They were not defying or working against gravity, they were working WITH the natural laws to achieve something that had previously seemed impossible. They discovered that with the correct understanding, the impossible was not impossible at all.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella (4/4) Impossible (1965)
(As you watch this video clip from the 1965 television production of Cinderella, consider how "impossible" our modern special effects were back then!)
So, what do natural laws have to do with our thoughts? As it turns out, a lot more than you might think. What you think has the power to enslave you, or to set you free.
To really achieve great things, your thoughts and actions must be in accordance with natural law, which is also God's Law. Today many people believe that there are no absolutes, but the scriptures tell us differently. In the Book of Mormon, Second Nephi we read:
And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.
And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon. (2 Nephi 2:13-14).
As a tower is built, there is a structure that assists them--a network of scaffolding that allows the builders to access the highest points and complete the construction. Likewise, laws provide the structure by which we can elevate ourselves as we live in accordance with them. When we don't understand or believe a natural law, we limit ourselves, we become slaves to our natural man, and we become superstitious, grasping at unreasonable and untrue explanations for why things happen to us. Conversely, when we understand natural law, we are happier, we set the stage for achievement and growth, and we are able to truly become free.
There are a series of natural laws that govern thought. To learn more about a particular law of thought, click on the links below. The material in the links also includes suggestions for helping children understand the concepts, and may be helpful if you are interested in teaching your children about these principles.
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