The Fish Ladder of God's Laws

I love being a teacher at BYU Idaho. One of my favorite parts of teaching, is when my students teach me. There is one particular assignment where I tell my students to take whatever interests you and tell the class how GIS relates to it. It's a broad directive, but I'm always impressed at how well they respond, and the kinds of subjects they come up with.

Yesterday, one student gave a presentation on the amazing migration of fish from the time they hatch in mountainous streams, who then migrate to the ocean, and eventually swim back again to the precise location of their hatching. Along the journey, some fish have been recorded to jump 12 feet in the air over small obstacles. But some of the larger dams we build create an impossible barrier to their hopeful migration back to their spawning ground. For this reason, fish elevators have been constructed. These systems provide pools where fish can jump from one to the next, and gradually increase in elevation, and continue their journey.

The parallels of their journey to me are astonishingly similar to the spiritual quest all humans have been given. Whether we realize it or not, we all have a land of spiritual nativity, and have the divine commission to find it and return to it. Spiritual dams stand in our way, and make our return impossible without divine intervention. Saints understand this intervention to be the Savior's atoning sacrifice, which sacrifice I now understand in a different light, thanks to the temple, and very quiet impressions from heaven.

Following a routine temple visit, my mind took hold upon the concept of the Laws of God, which I now see is taught perfectly there. I don't want to reveal too much, so I'll simply say the physical increase in elevation and light of the temple, along with the spiritual significance that is taught there suddenly melded with the concept of fish elevators that I had learned about earlier that day. My mind became very active and was filled with questions, which led to a study of the elevating and damning potential of laws in Doctrine and Covenants Section 88, which I will outline here.

First it is important to understand that the need for divine laws has come about because of The Fall. Because of the Fall, all men are in a temporary and low state. In terms of elevation, mankind is at sea level, the hypothetically lowest elevation. Some fish migrate over 700 miles, and climb over 7,000 feet in elevation, which highest point I liken to living with God, or the land of our nativity. This range from high to low is significant because Section 88:6 says "He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth". In order to overcome our low and fallen state, it was important for someone to understand the highest high, and the lowest low, and all that was in between. 

Then I learned that greater kingdoms of glory can only be obtained by obedience to the laws of that kingdom. By extension, if we can't live the laws of the next kingdom, we can not progress. If a fish can't jump high enough, perhaps because it is too weak and hasn't built enough muscle, it won't be able to get back to its spawning ground. "For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory. And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory. And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:21-24).

The earth itself is living a celestial law, but is only experiencing a Telestial glory. When it dies, it will be resurrected into Celestial glory. This reminds me of some older folks in my ward, and some of my Aunts, who are also fully living celestial law, though in a Telestial body, and are only waiting for death in order to make that jump up in glory (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:25-26). These are the fish who take life's challenges in stride, never give up, and jump skillfully and patiently from step to elevated step, mastering one law at a time in the fish ladder of life.

But there is one condition of laws which troubles me - there are those who choose not to advance for the comfort of their current state. While it may seem preposterous, it is like placing a bucket full of prime rib in front of a starving person who refuses it because he prefers the taste of canned tuna. This is evidence of the Lord's great love for his children, and his deep honor of their agency. As the Lord said, what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:32-33).

Then there are those (and I include myself in this category on occasion) who refute the idea of being governed by laws to the point they rebel against a particular law, be-it civic or spiritual, and become a law unto themselves. Therefore there can be no progression. Therefore these people place themselves in a lower kingdom, with lower glory, and are ironically governed by even lower laws - there is no escaping law, and those who resist them would do well to use them to advance their situation, not diminish it! (see Doctrine and Covenants 88:34-36). These are the fish who think they can somehow return to their spawning ground without the help of some man-made fish ladder, but who ultimately remain and die in the lower altitudes of their filth and rebellion.

I'm grateful to a God who uses law to accomplish his righteous purposes. His son's sacrifice satisfied the demands of justice, and actually became a law itself, a law that if I choose to be governed by will lead me back through the impossible challenges of life, through his handy fishladders, and which ultimately terminates at my original spawning ground.

Fish Ladder photo By Garrett Fitzgerald, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10973957