Fundamentals of My Spiritual Beliefs

I am a believer in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the restored church that Jesus established.  That restoration includes the restoration of the priestly authority (the "priesthood") by which 1) biblical prophets guided God's people spiritually and temporally, 2) certain Levites were authorized to officiate in tabernacle and temple ordinances in Old Testament times and 3) Jesus Christ and those he appointed healed people and commanded the elements, as recorded in the New Testament. 

The restoration also includes restored truths, many of which are clarified truths taught in the Old and New Testaments.  Some of those truths are contained in the Book of Mormon, a book of ancient scripture translated by church founder Joseph Smith. The book asserts that it contains the "fullness of the gospel."  From my repeated readings of that book, I understand that "fullness" to entail the book's frequent reiteration of the "doctrines" of Christ being comprised of faith, repentance, baptism and receipt of the Holy Ghost.  I understand that, to non-religious or non-Judeo-Christian individuals, that language may not have any points of connection.  Said another way, those "doctrines" are keys to peaceful and meaningful living.  They are the framework given my our Maker for balance, perceptive and harmony with Him, with one's self, in the social sphere in which one lives. 

It also stands out to me--as it has to millions of other readers--that the Book of Mormon's "fullness" also exists in its repeated references and teaches about a "plan" that describes different aspects of our eternal existence.  We lived as spirits before our birth, our physical bodies house our spirits during our life here on earth, and our spirits continue after death and will one day be reunited with our resurrected bodies.  The doctrines/keys mentioned earlier guide the process--which is often a struggle--of living as dual spiritual-physical beings.  The experiences of earth life run a gamut of stimulating and joyful to paralyzing and devastating.  Understanding that life has purpose and that Creator of each life is eagerly interested in guiding that purpose has brought my mind and soul significant satisfaction. 

The Book of Mormon distills, crystallizes, clarifies and expounds on the grace of Jesus Christ--usually referring to it as "the atonement of Christ"--as the operating factor in this plan and why the doctrines/keys are operable.  Perhaps the atonement and grace are to the plan of our happiness what the law of universal gravitation is to physics? 

Like the tiny points of light with which the stars illuminate the night sky, countless sparks of clarity and truth that have assured and guided me as I've read the Book of Mormon and the Bible have consistently propelled my relationship with other believers as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.