A Glimpse of Truth

2000-9-7 11:21:00

What is that force corresponding to friction that slows the pendulum? Several of you were headed in the right direction, but Larry worded it very well when he said: "The force of will of some who are seeking to align with the will of God. Intuitively they resist each extreme, and in their resistance is the 'friction'."

I would have worded it as "alignment with the truth" but when we align with the truth we also align with the Will of God so in some ways alignment with the Will carries an even deeper meaning.

In real life the process works something like this: Humanity swings back and forth between two extremes on a cyclic basis. There are larger and smaller cycles. Because there are cycles within cycles it may seem that there are times that a moderate extreme is followed by a greater extreme as Peter pointed out. But what is usually happening instead is that a lesser cycle is followed by the ending of a greater cycle.

For instance, Nazism in World War II represented the end of a greater cycle of the Kingdom type of government and seemed more extreme than the lesser cycles of recent history.

When the pendulum is wide in its swing, and the point of truth in the center is passed, the speed is very great and only the most hearty and enlightened of souls are able to catch a glimpse of it. These few souls then resist the swing to the far extreme and are the force that causes the swing to end and return back over the point of truth again.

On the next swing the speed is slightly decreased and a few more souls catch a glimpse at the truth. This increases the friction and causes the next swing to be a little less. On each swing more souls see the point of truth and the swing goes to a little less in extreme until it finally comes to rest.

Question: What is the difference in the vision of the group when the direction is changed (the far left and right extremes) and the vision of the group when the pendulum comes to rest?

During the swing of the pendulum why is the midway point of truth never in the middle? Why does this create illusion? How is the illusion dispelled?

"Shall we not go forward in so great a cause? Forward men - not backward."
Joseph Smith