God tells prophet

God or prophet tells people to do a thing. People do not do thing. God or prophet calls people to repentance. It's a common pattern throughout the Christian spiritual canons. It's a common refrain and story. 

But that isn't all of it. There's plenty of other stuff in there too. Not an insignificant portion of the canon of scripture I grew up with is also telling prophets to not do dumb sh** or fix the dumb sh** they did. Them specifically. Not the people. It's in the Old Testament with Jonah, countless times with the apostles in The New Testament, and throughout the Book of Mormon, and even major sections of the Doctrine & Covenants. 

I bring this up for a reason. One of the foundations of my faith was the fact that change is always possible. That it's hopefully inevitable. Part of that faith was focused by the belief that the heavens weren't closed. That there was always communication. And it goes through prophets, right?

When we look at that prophetic communication we can't ignore how often the above corrections have become some of the most poignant moving passages of scripture. Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. Peter all the time in the new testament. Nephi's psalm. The book of Psalms and it's relation to the contrition of David. Jonah's turnaround. There is so much there. And it guides us.

That is what makes us human. The mistakes. The imperfections. We aren't cookie cutters of each other. And we don't have "it easy." We all have to work and strive and muddle through. 

Scripture can provide a touchstone, a landmark. Being told to be therefore perfect. Knowing we can't make it. So we have a way to make it. For so many of us, it's what drives us to be better. Having examples of people who changed, who grew, who did great things. People who fall and still heard God's call. That's a massive part of how we survive the moments.

That then leads us to the current tension I feel. One in regards to the organization itself that binds itself to these doctrines and traditions. One that seems to be unable to admit human failings like the prophets of old and that is harmful. Sadly. Policies come and go without addressing past harm. That is restricting institutional accountability. We can do better. 

What's amazing is we have a scriptural and historical road-map to address so much of what we have seen and experienced. In my lifetime a lot of church policies have changed. Some small. Some pretty large. That's challenging to so many people. And which change challenges matter so much more from one person to the next. 

What's really frustrating is when change happens rapidly. Or seems arbitrary. A little more explanation. A little more ownership from leadership. That would be clarifying. And contrary to the idea that we have to have an infallible leadership, it would guide us home that much more easily. 

We have records of past prophets mistakes being called mistakes. We aren't experiencing that the same way anymore.

There are a couple specific instances that stand out to me. The baptism ban on the children of gay couples and the changes to garments. Others will effect others. But those two stand out to me. The first one more than the second. 

I wish we knew what was people striving and trying yet making a mistake and what was divine intervention. It used to be spelled out. And I miss that. 

 I worry that the onus is placed on the entity and less on the individuals that make it up. That the accountability is lost. 

People are hurting. People are confused. We could do better. We know the way. I wish we could do it.