Question
Gramps,
I don’t understand why the Church is so secretive about our Heavenly Mother. Without her, we would not even exist and the entire Plan of Salvation would make no sense. I have been a church member my whole life and have never heard Her mentioned directly. Only indirectly through phrases such as “Heavenly Parents.” So why all the secrecy? It’s obvious that She exists. Why are we not encouraged to openly discuss Her and draw near unto to Her as we are to our Father?
Phebe
Answer
Phebe,
Members of the Church who accept that we are led by Jesus Christ, realize that there are secrets being kept about the eternities and that it is Christ keeping the secrets. (Thus the Article of Faith which states He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.) And those who don’t believe we are led by Jesus Christ have no reason to think we have any more insights then anyone else.
On the subject of Heavenly Mother, not much has been revealed. From this we can safely conclude that either Christ has chosen not to reveal more, or that He has revealed more to His prophets and then commanded them to “seal up” such revelations and not share them. Either way, if we have faith in Christ we rest assured that what secrets Christ keeps He does for a wise purpose, even if we do not fully understand it.
Now as to what has been revealed about Heavenly Mother the Church provides this handy summary. The “Too Long Didn’t Read” version of that link is: it has been revealed that She exists.
And that is it.
The Church clearly acknowledges this. Now try to make a lesson based entirely on that one fact and only that one fact. You will either have a very short lesson or you will go off on wild speculation. Wild speculation can be very dangerous, leading off of the strait and narrow path back to eternal life. For example, you say that you wish to “draw near unto her” that is understandable, but such desire can lead one down paths that are contrary to the path outlined in many places in the scriptures. The one example I will give here is John 14:6.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
I think we can safely read that scripture with the following alteration “no man cometh unto the Heavenly Parents, but by me.”
Elder W. Mark Bassett said in his General Conference talk In October:
In this modern age, we have come to expect that knowledge can and should be obtained immediately; when information is not easily known or accessible, it is often dismissed or mistrusted. Because of the abundance of information, some unwittingly give more credibility to available sources with an unknown origin rather than relying on the Lord’s established pattern for receiving personal revelation. Jacob could have been describing our time when he said: “But behold, [they] were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness … and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it.”
For all things related to eternities, Christ is the gatekeeper. He is the one that sets and watches over the path back. He is the one that helps us along the way. His is the one our Heavenly Parents have appointed to such a task, so if we want to draw near to them we do it the way that they have set forth. And that subject they have given us tons of instructions on which the Church clearly and repeatedly teaches.
Gramps
