While completing an IQ test Joe-as an older man- was asked: “If I cut an apple in half, how many pieces will I have?” He responded “Four.”  After a lifetime of temple service that was the best he could do. Joe still suffered from Down’s Syndrome and related mental retardation. Joe’s earthly physical body has limited the capacity of his spirit body and mind to express themselves.  To better understand The Spirit Body, The Physical Body, and The Mind – See: Anatomy of a Soul

SPIRIT BODY IS PERFECT
Joseph Fielding Smith explained that

“ALL spirits while in the pre-existence were perfect in form, having ALL their faculties and mental powers unimpaired. … Deformities are … physical.” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., 5 vols., Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, 3:19.)

Check out this quote:

We, as Latter-day Saints, believe that the spirits that occupy these tabernacles have form and likeness similar to the human tabernacle. Of course there may be deformities existing in connection with the outward tabernacle which do not exist in connection with the spirit that inhabits it. These (physical)tabernacles become deformed by accident in various ways, sometimes at birth, but this may not altogether or in any degree deform the spirits that dwell within them, (Parley P. Pratt, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 15, pg. 243)

ALL DISABILITIES ARE TEMPORARY
Joe IS NOT HIS DOWN’S SYNDROME DISEASE NOR IS HE MENTALLY RETARDED.

ALL disabilities – mental illness, blindness, mental retardation, etc etc are temporary conditions.  (The Church provides a “General List of Disabilities‘ the physical body can experience.)

A physical disability can  ONLY EXIST while we are on earth in a physical body.  ALL physical disabilities DIE when our earthly physical body DIES. (Remember our physical body becomes perfect when it is resurrected. See Alma 40:23-26)

FREE ACCORDING
TO THE CAPACITY OF YOUR PHYSICAL BODY
While we are here on earth, our Spiritual Body and Mind  can be limited or restricted by our Physical Body.

“Wherefore, men (women, children, dogs, cats, etc etc) are free according to the flesh; (capacity of their phyiscal body & brain)“

2 Nephi 2:26­

Here are a few more quotes supporting this “Physical Body” doctrine:

“Freedom may be qualified or taken away by physical laws, including the physical limitations with which we are born…” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Free Agency and Freedom” Brigham Young University on 11 October 1987.)

“…the conditions of mortality can limit our freedom…” (Dallin H. Oaks, Same-Gender Attraction,” Ensign, Oct 1995)

AN EXAMPLE
Let’s take a look at the Physical Body. We’ll use a “house” to illustrate the Physical Body.

There are two houses below-one a beat-up old shack and another a mansion.  The “old shack” has a floor plan equivalent to a physical body with Cerebral Palsy. The “mansion” has a floor plan equivalent to the Gold medalist Phelps.

At birth each perfect Spirit Body and Mind takes up residence in a particular “physical body” or “house“.

The pictures to the left illustrate how two perfect Spirit Bodies (of equal worth) are placed into two different Physical Bodies  (not of equal worth) create quite a contrast in earthly physical abilities.

Our Spirit Bodies and Minds have a capacity for emotions and intelligence in addition to physical. (Remember our personality and thoughts exist in the Spirit Body and Mind.) The neurotransmitters, hormones etc etc of the Physical Body limit or enhance our emotional and intellectual abilities.

It has been my experience to one degree or another, that our Spirit Body’s (and Mind’s)capacity to experience happiness, to pay attention, to think clearly, to form close relationships,  etc etc  can be restricted or enhanced by our Physical Body. (When the disabilities are significant we call them “mental illnesses.”)

Each Physical Body has some imperfections-some more noticeable than others. Disease, accidents, poor self-care etc etc can cause a perfectly healthy “mansion” to have problems-even burn a few rooms down or interfere with the plumbing etc etc.

Sometimes – Priesthood blessings, medications, counseling, exercise, nutrition etc etc can “repair the disabilities”  of a particular “floor plan” of a particular house, making it more livable for our Spirit Body and Mind. 

Sometimes – interventions do not work. For example, while Joe is in his earthly body he’ll never teach even 1st grade math.

THE “PHYSICAL BODY” DOCTRINE
The doctrine of the Physical Body limiting the freedom of The Spirit Body and Mind helps us understand homosexuality, addictions, mental illnesses, etc etc

“… some people seem to be unusually susceptible to particular actions, reactions, or addictions. Perhaps such susceptibilities are inborn or acquired without personal choice or fault, like the unnamed ailment the Apostle Paul called “a thorn in the flesh…” (2 Cor. 12:7). (Dallin H. Oaks, “Same-Gender Attraction,” Ensign, Oct 1995)

GOOD NEWS
DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY
If your house “floor plan” or the “floor plan” of a loved one isn’t the best and has some faulty wiring or plumbing here or there. It’s only temporary. Just do the best you can.

YOUR JOB is simple “Meet the measure of your creation– growing your Spirit Body and Mind to the highest capacity your physical body allows.”

My Friend Joe
I believe my friend Joe living in his “beat up old shack” is reaching the measure of his creation and after he is rid of the limitations of his physical body (Down’s Syndrome & Mental Retardation) he will most certainly be some fantastic engineer somewhere in a Galaxy Far Far Away  – helping God build a new Earth or something. 🙂

“There is little room for feelings of guilt in connection with handicaps (disabilities of the physical body). Some handicaps may result from carelessness or abuse, and some through addiction of parents. But most of them do not. Afflictions come to the innocent” (Boyd K. Packer “The Moving of the Water,” Ensign, May 1991).

BAD NEWS
You are still responsible for your thoughts, feelings and behavior. See “The Gift- Between God and I”  Remember the Physical Body has no living parts. The “breath of life“ resides in the Spirit Body and Mind. 

CHALLENGE
Ponder this thought:
Joseph F. Smith wrote, “Deformity will be removed; defects will be eliminated, and men and women shall attain to that perfection of their spirits, to the perfection that God designed in the beginning. (Our Indestructible Mortal Enemy, Improvement Era, June 1909, p. 592.)

Ponder this thought:
“If healing does not come in mortal life, it will come thereafter. Just as the gorgeous monarch butterfly emerges from a chrysalis, so will spirits emerge.” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Moving of the Water,” Ensign May 1991.)

For extra credit watch this video- My Brother Hyrum  🙂

dr rick

didn’t feel the need to work. Joe kept busy driving the children to dance, soccer, basketball, piano lessons etc etc. He was a counselor in the Elder’s Quorum presidency.  His wife was working part-time at a local restaurant and attending counseling at LDS Family Services for depression. The bishop was paying for her counseling. They just had their 6th kid. She was breastfeeding so they qualified for WIC. They had an EBT payment card, like a credit card, so the WIC monies along with their SNAP, cash and food stamp benefits were automatically deposited onto their card for use at their convenience. The bishop and extended family from time-to-time also helped the family with money and food. Nevertheless, Joe’s family seemed to have all the necessities of life-cell phones, a place to live, etc etc

From the outside appearance, Joe’s family seemed to have everything their neighbors had next door -where the father worked two jobs and the wife worked part-time. (Satan and his Special Forces have successfully engineered our society to “temporarily” remove consequences from certain choices.) 

Ask this:
Does Joe have “Agency?”

AGENCY HAS SEVERAL COMPONENTS
You thought “agency” just meant “choice.” But its much more…

Victor Ludlow says: “the seven essential elements of agency: identity, knowledge, freedom, action, law, efficacy, and preservation.” (Principles of Practices of the Gospel Restored, pg. 157).

LDS psychologist Allen E. Bergin in “Toward a Theory of Human Agency” wrote: “The concept of agency may be subdivided into numerous dimensions such as: The initiation of behavior or the originating of ideas. This may be termed the domain of creation. The processes of decision-making or choosing, that is, the domain of reason. The processes of self-regulation or the domain of will. These and related topics provide enough substance for several books.” (BYU Studies, vol. 16, 1975-1976).

Adam and Eve an example
God told Adam and Eve they had a “choice” (an essential element of agency). He followed up by saying they could freely eat of every tree in the garden except one, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Of that tree God said, “thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Moses 3:17). After giving Adam and Eve choice he gave them “knowledge about consequences” of their choice a “choice between good and evil” (another essential element of agency). Finally, he held them accountable for the choice they made. You can read about the consequences for their choice in Genesis 3:16-17. It was here in the Garden of Eden God gave Adam and Eve “Agency” (Moses 7:32). Accountability was an essential element. 

(The single best LDS source for agency can be found here: What the Church Teaches About Agency. )

I’m getting old so let’s keep “agency” plain and simple. Personal accountability consistently shows up in definitions of agency.

Satan’s plan-DECREASING a person’s ACCOUNTABILITY

In addition to Accountability, I view Choice and Knowledge of Consequences as essential pieces of the “Agency Puzzle.”

Simple concept… Satan needs only to eliminate one of the puzzle pieces that makeup agency to remove one’s agency.  Let’s take accountability for example, when Satan creates an environment in which a person’s accountability is minimized, agency is also minimized. The belief that I can have want I want without effort, something for nothing…. is sufficient to eliminate one’s agency-freedom to act.

HOW WE ARE DECEIVED

See blog: Satan Exposed

Of course Satan could never really destroy God’s gift of agency- That’s impossible. But he can deceive us…
….by convincing us self-reliance and personal accountability are not that big a deal and have nothing to do with agency.
….by having us focus only on our right to choose (Choice being one element of agency) a partial truth and not also emphasizing the consequence of the choice (Consequence being another element of agency).
etc etc

EXAMPLES OF “LOST” AGENCY

EXAMPLE 1-Seagulls starving to death
In this story seagulls lose their ability “to fish” by Marion G. Romney:

… In our friendly neighbor city of St. Augustine, great flocks of sea gulls are starving amid plenty. Fishing is still good, but the gulls don’t know how to fish. For generations they have depended on the shrimp fleet to toss them scraps from the nets. Now the fleet has moved. …

“The shrimpers had created a Welfare State for the … sea gulls. The big birds never bothered to learn how to fish for themselves and they never taught their children to fish. Instead they led their little ones to the shrimp nets.

“Now the sea gulls, …, are starving to death because they gave in to the ‘something for nothing’ lure! They sacrificed their independence (agency) for a hand-out.“A lot of people are like that, too. They see nothing wrong in picking delectable scraps from the tax nets of the U.S. Government’s ‘shrimp fleet.’ But what will happen when the Government runs out of goods? What about our children of generations to come? (The First Presidency Message; The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance, Ensign June 1984)

EXAMPLE 2-Stuck on an escalator
In this story, two people get stuck on a broken escalator and lose their ability to “get off“ on their own – shared by a popular YouTube video People Stuck On An Escalator.

(How does being stuck on an escalator relate to addiction?)

EXAMPLE 3-Joe “…failing to provide…”
In this story above, “Joe” loses his ability to “provide the necessities of life” (The Family: A Proclamation to the World.) by depending on others to care for him and his family.

Can you get off an escalator?

dr rick

PERCEPTION IS REALITY
I had a new intake with a male patient the other day.  He was about 45 and had been battling a “porn addiction” for most of his life. He had been to several counselors, attended 12-step support groups, visited with clergy, etc. He claimed: “Nothing works!“

I said to myself- here I go again. After 40 years of this same old rhetoric I’m not sure I have the energy to reeducate him and teach him the truth about his core self – who he really is and what he is really capable of doing. Clearly many of the interventions he has tried simply reinforced his “thinking errors” – “I’m an addict. I can’t stop.” “I have a disease. I have to learn to live with it.” “I’m no good.” “I’ve tried everything.” “Nothing works.” 

This is a common vicious cycle. 😪

DAILY LIVING
As you go about living, your self-talk influences your behavior and the way you interact with others and see the world.  Quite often thoughts aren’t realistic. In fact they maybe outright lies! Yet, we believe them and behave as if they’re true. These inaccurate thoughts we believe-in and live-by are referred to as “Thinking Errors” or sometimes “Cognitive Distortions. “

Thinking errors have been part of psychology for as long as I remember. (Which by the way is a pretty long time.)  You may recognize some of the common thinking errors: All-or-Nothing Thinking, Overgeneralizing, Catastrophizing, etc  (See: Web MD -Thinking Errors)

In recent years the field of psychology has identified “thinking errors” for specific populations.

Criminal Thinking Errors
The 14-year-old that I recently saw in court the other day for repeated legal violations was sentenced by the judge to “Criminal Thinking Error Classes.” These classes focus on identifying and changing criminal thinking errors like “I am a victim… It’s not my fault…”  or  “I deserve to have this …. They won’t miss it.” 

Sexual Thinking Errors
In assessing child molesters and rapists we use common “sexual thinking errors” to determine the seriousness of an individual’s deviant sexuality. The more sexual thinking errors they have, the more concerned I am. For example, I administer a test with sexual thinking errors like: “Most girls secretly like to be raped”  or  “Having sex with a child will make us closer.” The client marks whether or not they believe the statement to be true. Believe it or not, I’ve had 12 and 13 year olds answer “True” to questions like these. (Illustrates the power of pornography – a topic for another blog.)

THE POWER OF EVEN 1 OR 2 THINKING ERRORS
It has been my experience that ANYONE with an ongoing unwanted behavior e.g. addiction, depression, anger, panic attacks, suicide ideation etc. has in part one or two “thinking errors” that assist in maintaining the unwanted behavior.

Like a Door Hinge

Let’s compare a “thinking error” to a “door hinge”.  A hinge is a jointed or flexible device on which a door subsequently depends. Most hinges are made of steel because of the weight they carry. Similarly, a “thinking error” is a jointed device that connects your “daily behavior – the door” with your “core self – the wall.”  The hinge – “thinking error,” is the point on which your unwanted daily behavior subsequently depends.

Here is a quick example, I like to run now days. It’s a great resource for me.  (See: Five to Survive).  I remember years ago running 1 or 2 miles and feeling tired. I use to have these thinking errors “I could never run 5K” and “Bodies aren’t made to run a 5K.” As a result of these thoughts – I never ran a 5K.  One year my sister-in-law signed me up to run a 5K.  I thought no big deal, when I get tired I’ll just walk.  I ran the whole way! ✨ I couldn’t believe it!  In recent years I’ve been running half marathons. (I still have trouble wrapping my mind around actually running 13.1 miles.) The old thinking errors of “I could never run 5K” and “Bodies aren’t made to run a 5K” are now gone.

Just imagine what  your reality would be like if you actually believed thoughts like:

• “I’m no good.”
• “I hate my husband.”
• “No one would ever want to marry me.”
• “All men want is sex.”
• “I’m a bad mom.”
• “I would be better off dead.”
• “I can never change.”
• “There is no God.”

Stuck on an Escalator
Watch this video. In the comment section of this blog answer these questions:

1. What are the “thinking errors” that keep these guys stuck on the escalator?
2. What are the results of them believing these “thinking errors?”

Here is the video:  Stuck on an Escalator.

Although the video is funny, as a psychologist I see people every day “Stuck”- stuck doing porn, stuck doing depression, stuck being suicidal, stuck doing anxiety, etc. 

Ask yourself: What escalator am I stuck on?

You change a thinking error
    – You change your life.

NOTE: Certainly I’m not suggesting that all behavior is caused simply by thinking errors. Obviously, there can be many factors that contribute to an unwanted behavior. What I am saying is that “thinking errors” are at least part of maintaining the unwanted behaviors. One key to your happiness will include recognizing and replacing thinking errors. Maybe I should write a blog on “Fixing Thinking Errors?”

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Well, July 4, 2009 I ran my first 5K at 55 years old. The North Ogden 5K was supposedly a very hard run – has lots of hills. So on the morning of July 4 at 7:00 I was on the run. I wore a chip on my shoe for the organizers could accurately measure my time. In the end-  I took 3^rd in my division-55 and older (Don’t be too impressed –there was only 5 in the division); 174th out of 418 racers. My final time was 28 minutes and 40 seconds. But none of that really matters to me-most importantly, I ran the race and I finished it! 


My new thinking “I can run a 5K race.”