Continuing from “Faith is Not Blind” (conclusion) ….Paul and Wendy called several days later to say they had prayed earnestly and they wanted to come back. Soon they were baptized, and in the years that followed they raised their family of five children in the gospel. Many years we and the Knaupps were sharing memories about that pivotal night. I said that the experience had taught me unforgettably that the Lord tells His missionaries what to say “in the very moment” (Doctrine and Covenants 100:60). Wendy’s main recollection that somehow, after our visit the gloom they had been feeling gradually left them, and the light returned. Like Nephi, Paul and Wendy had sensed that God “loveth his children,” even if they didn’t know the meaning of all things” (1 Nephi 11:17).They were meek and spiritually alive enough to know that the Lord loved them and, so they trusted Him. They wouldn’t let the things the didn’t yet understand get into the way of all they did understand.
The simplicity on the front side of complexity asks very little of us. But simplicity on the far side of complexity asks everything of us, and we may need to bear that cast in multiple ways. For we don’t always move smoothly and quickly through to the “other side” of simplicity. Too many get stuck in the complexity. And because complexity is more nuanced and realistic than innocent simplicity, some bright people might think that mere complexity is better informed, more honest and authentic. Others may think that complexity is all there is, or that they can’t get out. Others are so perplexed by it that they flee back to the remembered safety of early simplicity—even if they keep running back into the unrealistic illusions they find there. But remember what Holmes said: “I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2018) p.25-27
The Knaupps discovered Stage Three simplicity by being open to a merely plausible explanation when it wasn’t possible to know more. They didn’t have a complete answer, but they sensed enough to lay their Complexity at the Lord’s feet. Their prayerful meekness allowed them to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Our friend Holly found that same simplicity after she left the Church, then found it again with fresh, more open eyes. She had come to know complexity with its conflicts and demands, but now when was meek enough to sense that complexity alone was not enough. Complexity does not provide texture, the contrast, and the oppositions that give context and meaning to our choices and experiences. In that context, she heard the Restoration’s message with new ears. Then she tasted the simplicity beyond complexity when she spoke those holy words with a new voice: “Heavenly Father.”
Discoveries like the Knaupps’ and Holly’s are not small ones. They are a part of the cosmic pattern of Adam and Eve, who left the simplicity of Eden for the complexity that began with the forbidden fruit. Then they gradually discovered that because of their encounters and complexity, their eyes were opened, and if they would repent and call upon God, they could now grasp the joy of full simplicity. They would not then return to the innocent simplicity of Eden but would ascend developmentally toward mature celestial life.
Because of the Savior’s Atonement, they could learn from their complexity without becoming overwhelmed by it. In this life they would have joy, and they would one day be with him again. And they would truly comprehend, for the first time, the grand simplicity of being with Him and with each other—a fullness of meaning they would never have found in the simple innocence of Eden. In the words of T.S. Elliot, “We shall not cease from exploration. / And the end of all exploring / will be to arrive where we started / and know the place for the first time.”13k
Complexity is valuable, even essential. But those who get stuck there will never know the simple yet profound joy of the Saints. “For we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith” (Ether 12:6; emphasis added. Our sometimes cloudy tunnels of uncertainty are there to teach us, not just torment us. And there is light at the end of those tunnels: the Light and Life of the world. ~~Faith is Not Blind (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book 2018) p.26-28
