Applying the Doctrine and Covenants to Your Life
Empathy Can Help Answer Your Tough Questions
Seeing others as Christ sees them can help us feel peace when we have difficult questions about Church history or doctrine.
If you’ve ever tried to assemble a rocket engine while the instruction manual is still being written, you may understand what it might have felt like for the early members of the Church as they sought to build God’s kingdom on earth.
For those who, like me, sometimes have sincere questions about events in Church history, I would encourage you to approach them as you would a good friend: with the desire to truly understand who the people were and why they did what they did. In other words, start with empathy.
Context Can Foster Understanding
Thomas B. Marsh was one of the earliest members of the restored Church, but it hadn’t even been five years since his baptism, and he was now President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He was learning how to follow God’s commands, and God had not yet revealed all the details of his responsibilities.
It’s understandable that he might have assumed, as president, that he would decide what should be assigned to the other Apostles. So when Joseph Smith called two of the Apostles to preach the gospel in England, President Marsh was upset that he had not been consulted in the decision.
When I first learned about this, I was surprised. An Apostle, called by God, angry at the prophet?
My exposure to prophets and apostles today is mostly in the form of official broadcasts, so it’s harder for me to remember that they are real people—people called by God to lead and serve, but still people.
Jonah ran from his calling (see Jonah 1). Nephi lamented his imperfections, calling himself “wretched,” and said that there were temptations and sins that “easily beset [him]” (2 Nephi 4:17–18).
And these are only examples from ancient history. More recently, we know Joseph Smith allowed Martin to take the 116 pages that were later lost (see Doctrine and Covenants 3).
So how can we use these stories to inform how we perceive the actions taken then and now?
I believe we can start the same way that the Lord does when He talks to His servant Thomas B. Marsh in response to Thomas’s anger: “I have heard thy prayers” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:1; emphasis added).
In other words, we can start by listening.
Empathy Starts with Listening
No one understands empathy better than the Savior. He experienced everyone’s suffering (see Alma 7:11–12). If there is anyone who could teach us how to better understand others and to listen with empathy, it would be Him.
The Lord continues speaking through Joseph Smith to Thomas, saying, “I know thy heart, and have heard thy prayers concerning thy brethren” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:11). Although the Lord continues to chasten Thomas, I think it’s important that He let Thomas know He heard his prayers.
In the same verse, the Lord admonishes, “Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let thy love be for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name.”
One reason the Savior understands us perfectly is because He loves us perfectly. If we want to truly understand what happened in the Church’s history, exercising our love for others will help us listen with real intent.
Pride Destroys Connection
We have a massive advantage when looking back on history because we can see the story from beginning to end; we can view consequences that may have taken months, years, or even decades to unfold.
That makes it easy to judge someone’s actions and say, “I wouldn’t have done it that way.”
Because we lose some of the details from history, there is some context that we may never fully grasp, and so we can’t fully judge what happened.
I’m not saying we should excuse or explain away everything we don’t understand. Questions are important because they help us grow our understanding. But while seeking answers through study and prayer, it’s important to consider the Lord’s command to Thomas to “exalt not yourselves” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:15). I think a similar statement might be “Don’t assume you’re better than anyone else.”
This is great advice for lots of situations (like relationships), and it’s great advice when examining historical events. I can’t assume that, if placed in Thomas B. Marsh’s, Joseph Smith’s, or anyone else’s shoes, I would have done better. I might not have done it the way they did, but I very likely would have made similar or different mistakes.
Trust the Lord
Regardless of what concerns you may have, finding answers that bring peace starts with a true desire to follow God’s will and trust in His eternal perspective. “Be thou humble,” the Lord revealed to Thomas, “and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:10).
Thomas B. Marsh apostatized from the Church for a time but later came back and was accepted. As the Lord had said to him years earlier, “Inasmuch as thou hast abased thyself thou shalt be exalted; therefore, all thy sins are forgiven thee” (Doctrine and Covenants 112:3).
May we extend each another some of the same understanding that Christ extends to us.