Spiritual Traction

When my uncle died in May of 2008, my mom flew out and the rest of us drove out in Dad's truck. I switched off driving with my Dad and I was driving as we hit a snowstorm in Vale Pass in Colorado. The beautiful mountains were barely visible through the snow and the roads quickly became slick and treacherous. I was not familiar with driving the truck and my Dad instructed me to switch between gears and do various adjustments to maximize traction. After we made it through the storm, he carefully explained tips for creating traction and the physics behind all of it. Knowing how to create traction in the face of the storm saved our lives that day.

We are in a storm today spiritually. Sometimes it is difficult to maintain an eternal perspective when the world is crowding our view with so many things. Sometimes we feel inexperienced and unprepared to handle some challenges thrown our way. While I was physically driving through the storm, my father did not have me stop to switch drivers. Instead he coached and guided me through so I could learn how to do it myself. Heavenly Father knows we need these experiences, especially the ones where we can't see everything and we must learn to trust Him. The Lord guides us through the Holy Ghost, the gospel, and prophets to name a few. He is teaching us how to gain traction in our journey back to Him.

Elder Bednar spoke on this subject this past conference and he says it so perfectly that I wanted to share several paragraphs.

"Each of us also carries a load. Our individual load is comprised of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges, afflictions and blessings, and options and constraints. Two guiding questions can be helpful as we periodically and prayerfully assess our load: “Is the load I am carrying producing the spiritual traction that will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?”

Sometimes we mistakenly may believe that happiness is the absence of a load. But bearing a load is a necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness. Because our individual load needs to generate spiritual traction, we should be careful to not haul around in our lives so many nice but unnecessary things that we are distracted and diverted from the things that truly matter most.

The unique burdens in each of our lives help us to rely upon the merits, mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah (see 2 Nephi 2:8). I testify and promise the Savior will help us to bear up our burdens with ease (seeMosiah 24:15). As we are yoked with Him through sacred covenants and receive the enabling power of His Atonement in our lives, we increasingly will seek to understand and live according to His will. We also will pray for the strength to learn from, change, or accept our circumstances rather than praying relentlessly for God to change our circumstances according to our will. We will become agents who act rather than objects that are acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:14). We will be blessed with spiritual traction."

So what is this spiritual traction exactly? Is it faith? Is it the Atonement? Is it perseverance or humility? Yes. I think all of those are part of it. In looking at the definition of the word 'traction', I had some additional thoughts about what this might be.

#1. the adhesive friction of a body on some surface, as a wheel on a rail or a tire on a road. As a missionary I often looked at having a companion through a chemical analogy. When trying to purify a solution or compound down to it's purest form, often another agent is used to do so. In the reaction between the two, both can be purified. In the interaction between a companion there is definitely a purifying element. Sometimes as there is friction and we rub against something (be it a person, a trial, a personal weakness), we slowly are reshaped and purified. Ok. So a purifying process that allows us to move forward? Repentance.

#2. the action of drawing or pulling and #3 : the power that is used to pull something
When the tire meets the road and has traction we can move forward. If not, we slip and slide or just spin our wheels. Spiritual traction is created both by the force that pushes or pulls us forward and the nature of the relationship the vehicle has with the surface. (Any great physics people out there- please let me know if I am explaining this all wrong). There are numerous sources of power in the gospel of Jesus Christ- ones that impel us forward and ones that draw us toward them. Hope pushes me forward as does faith. The Savior promises that he will "draw all men unto" himself through the power of the Atonement (3 Nephi 27:15). We receive power through the scriptures, our covenants, the temple, and the priesthood. But it is only as we allow these sources of power to change our relationship with the mortal journey/the natural man that we can move forward. Maybe you've heard the phrase- "The question is not whether or not you have 'been through' the temple, but is rather 'have you allowed the temple to go through you?' " Or that the sacrament is of limited worth if we do not pick it up off the tray and partake. Are we allowing these incredible sources of power to change our very perspective on this life, our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Savior, and to develop a Christ-like character? Spiritual traction is the application of power to change our nature.

#4.Medical . the deliberate and prolonged pulling of a muscle, organ, or the like, as by weights, to correct dislocation, relieve pressure, etc. I really loved this definition from the medical perspective. Another saying I love is that the soul is like a violin string- it only makes music when stretched. This life is a probationary state, a time of testing and challenges. Not merely for the sake of having a test but for the purpose of our progression and growth. The very afflictions and trials that form part of the burdens we carry also help create traction to correct ourselves, relieve guilt, fear, and doubt, and develop spiritual strength. I spoke of this more last month in another post.

Looking back over that analysis, I think I can summarize that perhaps spiritual traction is change- change of heart, purification, overcoming the natural man and becoming more like the Savior. Elder Bednar asked the question,"Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?" And so I must ask: Is the load changing me?