At General Conference, President Oaks touched upon a subject that isn’t often addressed in churchy settings. It shows up in a lot of other places though.
“Overcoming uncertainty and doubt—which may include resolving conflicts between the evolving understanding of science and the sometimes incomplete teachings of religion—can be a lengthy process. It involves building faith and strengthening humility. Hold on to the first article of faith even if something else is uncertain. And while you wait, wait upon the Lord, which includes trusting in His timing as well as in His promises.”
This is a basic principle I use to navigate my life. I learned it when I was about 20 years old and ran into a science vs religion question.
A Sunday School teacher taught something about the creation of the world that really upset me. For the first time I seriously thought “Maybe the Theory of Evolution isn’t true!” I was a Biology Education major, so the Theory of Evolution is a thing I had spent quite a bit of time studying, using and planning on teaching. I always understood Evolution to be true.
The thought that Evolution may not be true sent me running out of class almost in tears – the only time that has ever happened to me still to this day. At home, as I parked underneath my favorite apple tree, I did some ugly crying. If Evolution isn’t true, then I can’t explain my relationship to my favorite tree. If it’s not true, there’s no way I can teach Biology. If it’s not true, do I even belong on this planet? (Yes – I was angsty and melodramatic. And my feelings were real.)
So I prayed in the car. Two answers came, one just a bit after the other.
The first answer: chill. Calm down and think. So I did and stayed in the car. I couldn’t see any resolution to the conflict – it was either Evolution or Creationism. Except that can’t be. Truth is truth is truth. Scientifically speaking, Evolution is true. Spiritually/religiously God being my Creator is true. Both of these are true. There IS a way to resolve the conflict. I’m not able to resolve it now, but there is a resolution.
Then the second answer came: be patient. I may be able to find the answer in this life and I may have to wait until the next life, and that is ok. Just continue doing what I’m doing, continue asking the questions, continue studying biology, continue believing in God and, even though it may take a really long time, I will find the answer. Eventually.
I fully accepted that answer – that I would have to wait for an answer. And that is the crux of my story. There are times when we must wait for an answer. Waiting is not passive – it is active. (Ask any waiter in any restaurant.) The question never goes away and the search never stops. It requires patient, steady effort. It does not force an answer to come because I demand it now.
This has helped so much as I run into other much more difficult questions about my life and my friends’ lives. I wait patiently. I continue to have the questions and continue to live according to the truths I already know. The answers will come sometime during my eternal life.
Epilogue: There was a third answer. After fully accepting the “Be Patient, the answer will come” answer and before I stood up out of the car, BAM! I realized the Sunday School teacher’s error about the Theory of Evolution. What I had perceived as an insurmountable conflict was actually a misunderstanding. I really was willing to wait eons for an answer and, in that instance, it came immediately. For these other questions I have had since then, I wait upon the Lord.
P.S. If you ever want to talk about the specifics of what the teacher said and how I understand the Evolution/Creation issue, let me know and we’ll talk.
