Category: Monthly Messages

Monthly Message, August 2021

Metaphysics is ideas about the unseen universe in which we live. It is the complement of the seen universe in which we live, which we will call “physics.” We cannot see all of physics, but we sample enough of it by our senses to firm up good ideas as to what it is, even the parts we cannot now see, such as the parts of this earth we cannot now see. Metaphysics is much more vast and complicated than physics is, for it includes all of the past, all of the future, all of the things so small we cannot sense them, and all of the things so large we cannot sense them. Metaphysics includes the causation of most of the things we observe in physics and any realms that exist that we cannot observe.

So there are at least seven big questions to be resolved about the metaphysical realm:

1. Is there a God?
2. Is there a devil?
3. Do we humans live after death?
4. Is there right and wrong?
5. What causes what?
6. Is there a spiritual realm related to this physical realm?
7. What is the true character of the persons whose bodies we see?

It is probable that each human being answers these questions and the ideas related to each of them in at least a slightly different way, but that too is a metaphysical question. If we are thus different in our thinking, then each of us lives in a private universe. And one of the great metaphysical questions is: Is my private metaphysical universe real or just imaginary? One reasonable answer to that question is that I alone exist, and everything else is just my imagination. This answer is called “solipsism.” There is no mortal way to show that solipsism is not true.

One positive side of the unseen existence of the metaphysical realm is that our situation, with metaphysics being discussable but unknowable between human beings, is that the situation provides us with a most precious gift: agency. Because we cannot prove to anyone else that our formulation of the metaphysical universe is true or correct, each of us is free to answer all metaphysical questions for ourselves. We may bear testimony of what we believe to others, but since we cannot prove what we believe about metaphysics, we cannot coerce any other person to believe as we do. This does not mean we cannot influence them. Parents, teachers, friends and so-called authorities are often very persuasive in getting other people to accept their metaphysical views. But it remains that no one can force another person to any metaphysical belief against their will.

Conclusion: It is my belief that we have a Heavenly Father and a Savior who love us so much that they created a mortal existence for us wherein we could imagine for ourselves whatever kind of universe we wanted to live in. They also created a real physical world that we must deal with. We find we succeed better at our tasks in the physical realm when we agree and cooperate. But each person is forced to imagine his or her own metaphysics, which personal metaphysics gives answers to all the great questions of life and provides the basis on which the individual lives the life of their own choosing. Thus are we free indeed. Our freedom is not unlimited, but it is sufficient for each of us to show what we really want to be true. I believe that the love of God thus assures each human being a mortal experience that is a perfect prelude to an eternity of living with the answers to the questions of metaphysics which we choose during mortality.

Chauncey C. Riddle

Monthly Message, July 2021

In our thinking we use universals as a catalog of all the kinds of things we imagine. Some of the universals we imagine we call “real,” such as cat, dog, sand, gravel, small-pox, impetigo, foreigner, native, etc. Some universals are imaginary only, such as leprechaun, unicorn, the average man. Some we don’t know if they are real or not, such as “Bigfoot.” Some are used to measure things, such as pound and inch. Some are vague, like hot; some are precise like 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Some are personal, like boring and beautiful. Some are unique to ourselves, like our self-image.

Concepts are dynamic because we can change them at will, change how we feel about them, discard them if we feel like it, or invent them as we see fit.

We refer to our concepts using words. Every word that has a “meaning” to us does so because we associate it with a concept or a family of related concepts. But we can also have and use concepts without associating them with words, such as we do when we imagine a familiar landscape or build an imaginary object in our mind. We can assign words to concepts or not by our own desire to do so or not.

Some people have very large concept catalogs, others have very small ones. The size of our concept base is usually related to our vocabulary of words. One form of “intelligence” test is simply to give a person a vocabulary test, and suppose that the more words they are familiar with, the more intelligent they are. But vocabulary is a test for only one kind of intelligence. For instance, some people can take anything apart and put it back together again even though they may not have a very large vocabulary. But they do have the ability to form an accurate concept of what they are taking apart and to refer to that concept to reassemble the object.

We have the ability to refine and change our concepts. This is what doctors do when they study the anatomy and physiology of the human body. Connoisseurs of tastes have developed concepts of taste and smell that enable them to detect odors and tastes more precisely than ordinary persons.

Some people like to read a lot simply because in the process they gain new concepts. Others accomplish the same end by listening to music or watching plays or movies.

Probably no two people have the same concept base, and thus we all are isolated by our own thinking. Sometimes two people use a common word but have two different concepts related to that word, and thus communicate poorly, if at all. We try to solve that problem by “defining” our concepts to one another, and can “explain” what we mean by a variety of means.

It is a miracle that we communicate as well as we do.

But there is divine help for communication. The mission of the Holy Ghost is to bring us the meaning God intends us to have in reading a particular passage of scripture at a particular time. Of course it is impossible to say that any scripture has only one precise meaning, for God uses reading or remembering scripture as an occasion for revelation of a particular message God wants us to receive from him at a particular time. God builds and changes our concept base by directly planting the concepts he wants us to have directly in our minds. Every human being who has normal intelligence and is thus accountable sooner or later has communicated to him or her the concepts God wants them to have to be able to repent and have faith in Jesus Christ. This receiving of concepts directly from God is the true freedom and the true agency of each human being. Because God loves each of his children with a pure love, he makes sure that each one of them is given the correct concept base to be able to come to him and be saved. And each child of God uses that divinely given concept base to accept or reject their Father in Heaven and their Savior Jesus Christ. Through concepts God makes us all agents.

Monthly Message, June 2021

As I think about departing this mortal sphere my mind keeps coming back to why we are here. And we are here for two reasons. First, to get a physical body. Second, to choose what kind of body we will have, which we do by choosing the kingdom we would like to live in for the rest of eternity. [Some persons believe we do not live after mortal death. I cannot prove that we do, but there surely is a lot of evidence that we do. And I believe the evidence. Of course, accepting or rejecting the evidence for an eternity of existence is part of choosing the kingdom we will be in for the rest of it.]

We choose a kingdom for eternity by how we treat others:

If our desires and actions are to bless others in our mortality, we are choosing celestial eternity.

If our desires and actions are to deal justly with others in our mortality, to keep the Ten Commandments, the we are choosing terrestrial eternity.

If our desires and actions are just to feather our own nests in our mortality, then we are choosing telestial eternity.

If our desires and actions are to deprive others to obtain what we want, then we are choosing perdition eternity.

And we choose each day in each action which one of these patterns we wish to follow.

But some follow one pattern one time, then another the next. Where will they wind up? We all finally settle in to the pattern with which we are most comfortable. And in each kingdom apparently there are degrees.

So it all boils down to whether we at any moment choose to do good or evil, to bless or to use those whom we affect. And we get help from Satan to use others and from Christ to bless others. At every moment we can choose to follow Satan or Christ as each tempts and entices us.

We do not get to choose our temptations. But we do choose which temptations we give in to.

That is our agency. And that is our eternity.

Monthly Message, May 2021

A theory is a set of unproved ideas. The word “theory” means vision. Our human minds always invent or appropriate unprovable theoretical frameworks, mental visions, which we use to make sense of and to explain what we observe in our physical (provable) surroundings. For instance, we experience today and make sense of what happens today in the frame of our unprovable imaginings of the past and the future. Because we all think and act in an unprovable frame of reference, we all live by faith. There is no human act that does not proceed in a framework of faith.

There are only two really important systems of faith in this world. To be a careful thinker one must know clearly what these two systems of faith are and choose one’s metaphysical framework, one’s faith, very carefully and deliberately. Let us describe each so that our faith will be careful and deliberate, not just a cultural default. These two most important systems of faith are here called “Humanism” and “Faith in Jesus Christ.”

Humanism has the following main metaphysical parameters:

There is no God, no spiritual realm, only scientifically provable material existence.

Mankind and all life forms are blind creations of matter in motion.

There is no spirit or soul in any human being, and each ceases to exist at death.

There is no right or wrong, only the exercise of power to accomplish chosen goals.

Beauty and good are subjective, not objective, and are cultural artifacts.

Human beings are not free agents in any meaningful sense. They are creatures of material and cultural context. Therefore they cannot be blamed for their actions.

There is no such thing as either sin or salvation from sin.

Wisdom consists in achieving personal desires. Happiness is to eat, drink, and be merry.

The best political arrangement is the smartest humans governing the rest (socialism).

The greatest physical threat to humanity is too many babies.

The greatest cultural threat to humanity is faith in Jesus Christ.

Note that humanism is the principal product of a college education at almost every university world-wide. And its principal personal product is pride.

Faith in Jesus Christ has the following main metaphysical parameters:

God does exist and is the Father of all human beings. There is a spiritual realm, and it governs and controls the material universe.

Mankind and all life forms are careful creations of God.

Each human being has a spirit within that gives each life and freedom to choose to follow either Christ or Satan. That spirit continues after mortal death, and each human being will be resurrected and rewarded eternally with what he or she has chosen during mortal probation.

Each human is an agent and will be held accountable for each choice made.

Each human use of power is either right or wrong. Right is to bless one’s neighbor as God would. Wrong is doing anything other than what is right.

Beauty and good are subjective, but are related to what a person thinks is right and wrong.

Human beings are free to choose to become Gods or devils, or some mixture, but are held responsible only if their choices are made in connection with their knowing the truth of their situation.

Sin is not blessing those around one. Christ will teach each human how not to sin and offers forgiveness of all sins through his atonement. This is the double cure.

Wisdom consists in learning the will of God and doing it. That produces righteousness.

The best political arrangement is to let Christ rule all things. This is called “Zion.” The second best government is a constitutional republic, such as the United States.

There is no greatest physical threat to humanity. Christ controls all things to bless mankind.

There is no greatest cultural threat to humanity. God has arranged physical and cultural existence to be the perfect situation for each human to freely choose his or her own eternity.

Faith in Jesus Christ is promoted by everyone who has faith in Jesus Christ, by every person who accepts the witness and guidance of the Holy Ghost, and by everyone who obeys their conscience.

Bottom line: Humanists blame all human evil on chance, with no one being responsible. Christ’s servants blame all human evil on choice, with the selfishness of individuals being responsible.

Monthly Message, April 2021

It is true that some secular ideas are not compatible with the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is true that some persons are destroyed spiritually by the university experience. But it is also true that there need be no destruction of an individual’s faith in Christ in even the most adversarial university environment. The real question is, how ready to meet the world is an individual?

A university is part of the world. The mission of a university is to expose each student to a rich variety of ideas, beliefs, skills and values. The supposition is that the student will then select for himself or herself which of the university’s offerings best fill his or her needs and will then proceed to master these offerings in order then to make an enhanced contribution to welfare of the society of which the student is part.

If the student goes to the university well-grounded in faith in Jesus Christ, that means the person has had personal experience with the Holy Spirit and has taken it for his or her guide. One intelligently takes a guide only after comparing many guides and selecting the one that is most helpful in filling one’s desires. Those souls who hunger and thirst after righteousness find that nothing compares with the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, so they take and keep the covenant which assures that blessing.

Being rooted and grounded in faith in Christ then makes this person fully ready to face the world. Using the Holy Spirit as a personal guide in all matters, the person will seek out everything with which he or she comes in contact and hold on to all that is true, virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy. Things thus garnered will be treasured, learned, adapted and adopted as the individual grows steadily in the nurture of Christ towards the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

As an individual seeks that which is good (righteous) in all things, inevitably there will come to that person ideas, practices, standards and persons which are evil, which is to say, are not up to the standard of truth and righteousness. The wise person will not shy away from these automatically, but will seek the guidance of the constant companionship to know how worthwhile a pursuit of such would be. As a little child led by the hand, the person guided by the Holy Spirit will be led to investigate thoroughly some things that are not true and right. The Holy Spirit will enable the person at the same time to keep in mind, by contrast, that which is true and right. Later this individual, thus learned in the ways of the world, will find an opportunity to make the world a better place either by promoting better ideas and standards in that area or by rescuing some faltering soul from being destroyed by lesser ideas and standards.

Specific university challenges to faith in Christ: Atheism, agnosticism, socialism, humanism, destroying the U. S. Constitution, deficit spending, organic evolution, letting LGTB values run everything, preference of science over technology, etc.

A university is a smorgasbord of good and evil, noble and ignoble. No one has to devour it all.

But everyone should taste widely and become acquainted with the offerings of their brothers and sisters. As one comes to know one’s way around academia, there are mountains of good to be digested. Thus nourished, one might indeed make the spiritual contribution to this world for which one has been sent into it.

It is not possible to make the world safe for individuals, but it is possible to make individuals safe for the world. Which is the way it should be.

Monthly Message, February 2021

We human beings normally are able to choose our actions. This is called “agency.” None of us has total agency. But we are each responsible for how we use what we have.

Our Father in Heaven has asked us to use our agency in a special way, and he sent his Son to show us how it can be done. That special way is to return good for evil. One mark of every true servant of Jesus Christ is the many ways in which they return good for evil. Such as:

When someone smites us, turning the other cheek to be smitten again.

When someone speaks ill of us, saying something good about them.

When someone takes what is ours, giving them more of what is ours.

When we find a mess, cleaning it up.

When our neighbor is in prison, visiting them and encouraging them.

When our neighbor is ill, visiting them and ministering to their needs.

When our neighbor has an overwhelming good task, helping them to complete that task.

There is no way to count all the ways we may bless our neighbor, but trying to do so always is one special mark of the true children of Jesus Christ. Doing this sometimes results in pain. But it always brings happiness. We do not do it because it brings happiness. We do it because it is right. This is the way of righteousness.

Monthly Messages, January 2021

1. The word “saint” means a holy person.
2. A person is made holy by the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
3. To have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost one must:
4. Hear and accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. Repent of his or her sins (turn from one’s old ways to the way of Christ).
6. Receive the covenant of baptism from an authorized servant of Christ.
7. Actually receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after being confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
8. Remember the Savior always.
9. How a Saint lives:
10. A saint lives by prayer. All matters are taken to the Lord for consultation: plans, decisions, hopes, fears, thanks, etc. The answers received from the Lord as to how to proceed are then the basis for all action. No human authority supersedes this consultation, but the saint recognizes that he or she must also be fully acceptable to his or her bishop and stake president, for they are his or her witnesses.
11. The saint is pure. Desires are cleansed of all selfishness and are filled with a love of God and neighbor. The mind is cleansed of all untruth and unbelief, and is filled with the revelations of God, and with ever other good thing that is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy. The body is cleansed physically and morally, and is used by the saint to wear out life and strength in blessing one’s fellowmen.
12. The saint is a doer. Time and substance are not wasted. Hard work is a way of life. Pleasure is not sought for its own sake, but is received only in the process of accomplishing the Lord’s work. Money and property of the saint are honorably obtained, ordered and maintained.
13. A saint supports the work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He or she prays for those in authority, for the missionaries, and for the success of the programs of the church. Missionary work, genealogy and temple work, and the perfecting of the saints are his or her constant study and concern.

Sum: A saint is one who loves the Lord with all of his or her heart, might, mind and strength, and serves Him in the name of Jesus Christ.

Note: These ideas are ideals. They are the personal conclusions of CC Riddle. Do you share them?

Monthly Message, December 2020

This is in response to the request by President Russell M. Nelson’s recent plea on November 20, 2020 to #GiveThanks with a daily post to social media for 7 days.

I give thanks #1 (Nov. 24, 2020)

I am thankful for my Heavenly Father. “Man of Holiness” is his name because he only does that which blesses others. In him there is no selfishness of any kind. His actions are one eternal round of creating and blessing. Because he does no evil and is dependable in doing all the good that can be done, he is trusted by everyone and everything in the universe that is not satanic. All the elements of the universe obey and worship him because of his goodness. This gives him great power to bless. He became a God by choosing righteousness over evil. And he blesses all of his children with that same opportunity.

I give thanks #2 (Nov. 25, 2020)

Because Father so loved his children, he sent his unfaithful son to cause his human children to fall in dying both spiritually and temporally to create a mortal situation. But this fallen condition made each child an agent, the perfect context for each of Father’s children to choose for himself or herself what each would be happiest doing in eternity. The context and agency were made complete when Father also sent his faithful son, the Son of Man (of Holiness), to atone for the sins of all mankind and to bring about the resurrection of each person. And messengers were sent to Adam and Eve and all of their children so that they could know how to be saved from the power of the unfaithful son by committing to and following the faithful son, Jesus Christ. Thus it is that all who love blessing others like the faithful son can become free from the power of the unfaithful son by binding themselves to the faithful son to become like him and by rejecting the messages from the unfaithful son.

That is why I am so grateful for the faithful son, Jesus Christ, and his precious gospel.

I give thanks #3 (Nov. 26, 2020)

Father has given his human children two great gifts to guide them away from the grasp of his unfaithful son to be able to follow his faithful son. The first is conscience, the light of Christ which lightens every human being, and which brings to each of us feeling of what is right to do and what is wrong to do. The second is the Holy Ghost which brings to those who accept the light of Christ and try to do what is right a witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. If any human accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and makes the covenant to remember and to serve Christ always, then the Holy Ghost will bring to each accepting soul a knowledge of the truth in any matter where the person needs it.

Thus accepting a feeling for righteousness is the first step to salvation from eternal servitude to the unfaithful son. The second step is to accept the witness that Jesus is the appointed Savior of mankind, then to accept Christ through the covenant of baptism, then to follow the Holy Ghost until we gain a new being in the image of Christ himself, full of righteousness and truth.

Oh the graciousness of our Father in giving us these two great gifts to guide our mortality!

I give thanks #4 (Nov. 27, 2020)

One of the greatest blessings of being a human is to have physical body. We are not that body. The real “us” is our eternal intelligence (person) clothed in a spirit body given to us by our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. Our physical body is a temporary “loaner” from our Heavenly Parents to see what we will do with it while it lasts. How we use it determines what kind of physical body we will be rewarded with for the rest of eternity: celestial, terrestrial, telestial, or perdition.

The basic options for use of our mortal human tabernacle are to use it to bless others or to use it strictly for our own imagined pleasures. The first option is called righteousness and the second is called selfishness. Almost all humans try both to see how they feel about each, then settle into a pattern favoring one or the other.

The greatest power our Heavenly parents have given us is to use this physical tabernacle to beget children, to bless other spirits with physical bodies. Satan hates this power because he will never have a physical body and tries to destroy as many human bodies as he can through wars, murders, drug use, celibacy, etc. But his favorite tactic is to entice humans to murder their own children. Anciently he did this by getting his followers to pass their children through fire as a sacrifice to some fictitious god. Today he prevails upon humans to kill their children in the womb, preferably at conception.

Blessed are those humans who choose righteousness and bless others, especially their own children.

I give thanks #5 (Nov. 28, 2020)

Because of the Fall of Adam all accountable humans are in the power of Satan and sin, breaking the commandments of God. Having sinned, we become unclean, and no unclean thing can come back to the presence of our Father in Heaven. Some sin much, some sin little. But we all sin and would be lost forever were it not for our Savior.

But Christ is of sin the double cure: He saves from wrath and makes us pure. He saves those who accept his atonement from the punishment justice demands for their having sinned. And he makes us pure by teaching us to repent, to replace each of our ways of disobedience with coming into the strait and narrow way of righteousness.” Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1: 18)

Could there be a blessing greater than having a Savior? Could there be a human action wiser than giving ourselves to follow our Savior, to become his humble imitators? There is hope for all of us, but only in true faith in Jesus Christ.

I give thanks #6 (Nov. 29, 2020)

Consider the marvel of the planet on which we reside, earth. So delicately balanced for heat and cold, light and darkness, air and water, plants and animals, minerals and soil to provide a wonderful habitat for human probation. All bespeaks the hand of a careful creator, though some prefer to give the credit to blind chance. But thanks be to the gods who put all things in order for our wonderful habitat. Those persons of a spiritual inclination see that appreciation for nature is one form of worshiping that generous God who gave us all this.

What a miracle it is to drop a seed in the ground and have it reliably turn into a tomato plant or a melon vine. What a blessing that sun and rain bless the ground so plentifully in most places. What a blessing that this earth can sustain billions of God’s children and could support many times more people than there are now were it not for selfishness and greed.

Part of our human probation and training for godhood is the opportunity to deal with the delightful earthly environment with which we have been blessed. May we each prove appreciative of this great blessing and strive to leave our physical surroundings better, cleaner, more productive than we found them.

How grateful we should be!

I give thanks #7 (Nov. 30, 2020)

Last but not least, I am grateful for you. These thanksgiving messages have been sent to you because you have had a special place in my life. The people we travel with in this mortal sphere add joy, richness and color to our passage. As we struggle together to overcome the problems of mortality and rise to the challenges of our environment, to do this in the company of and with the assistance of good people makes the journey much more rich and rewarding.

And I am mindful and grateful for those dear ones who have already departed this vale of joys and tears. Leaving this mortal sphere to join them will be one of the great joys of our eternal path.

So thank you for the precious addition you have been to my mortal journey. May every good thing come to you through the grace and goodness of our kind Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.