Received or Cast Out

After we die, Alma explains to his son Corianton, we enter one of two states: a state of peace and rest called paradise, or a state of sorrow and suffering called outer darkness. (See Alma 40:12-13.) What’s interesting to me is the verb he uses to describe how we enter each state:

Paradise (Alma 40:12)	Outer Darkness (Alma 40:13)
The spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.	The spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil…shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

It sounds pleasant and joyful to be received: welcomed, included, and valued. On the other hand, being cast out—sent away or dismissed—sounds pretty awful. With that said, the people in paradise probably enjoy being together. The people in outer darkness don’t sound incredibly sociable. The old saying, “Misery loves company,” doesn’t mean that unhappy people enjoy spending time together; it means that they want other people to be just as unhappy as they are. (See 2 Nephi 2:18.)

Satan was cast out of heaven when he rebelled against God. (See Revelation 12:9.) His behavior was incompatible with the peace and happiness which prevails in God’s presence.

Alma was cast out of Ammonihah. (See Alma 8:13.) The people who believed him were later kicked out of their own city. (See Alma 14:7.) He subsequently preached to a group of Zoramites who had been cast out of the synagogues which they had built, and who were later forced to leave their city. (See Alma 32:2, 5, Alma 35:4-6.)

Furthermore, Alma had experienced firsthand the pain of being unable to enter God’s presence. Everyone must be born again, he said, in order to live with God again, “and this I know, because I was like to be cast off. … My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more” (Mosiah 27:27, 29).

We all want to belong. We all want to be at peace with ourselves and with others. That state of peace, in this life and in the next, is called paradise. When we let God change our hearts, He receives us into a state of happiness. But when we reject that help, and try instead to do things on our own, then we do not enter that state. We remain in darkness and agony. We weep and wail and gnash our teeth, until like Alma, we realize that there is a better way, and we seek for God to “snatch” us out of our own self-imposed prison into His paradise.

Today, I will let God change me into the kind of person who can enjoy peace and rest in His presence. When I become frustrated, irritated, or depressed, I will seek for His help to escape from those negative patterns of thought and to replace them with productive and happy thoughts and feelings.