Tree of Life Finale

So Finale's are supposed to be the big ending, but I just wrote it to have a title for the post. I can't say that this will be a big ending because I don't know what my little fingers are going to type out yet. I will say that I have enjoyed thinking about the tree of life beyond just what the meaning of the tree, the fruit, the iron rod, the river, etc. mean. It has been realy good.

So at the end of 1 Nephi 8 Nephi wraps up in speaking about his father and the fear he felt for his oldest 2 sons. Could you imagine having a dream(vision) from God that shows any of your children not following a righteous path or them following a path that won't lead to happiness. I think it is safe to say that any parent would dread something like that. You can see that his fear leads him to (vs. 37) "...exhort them with all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off..." I think it would be awful to know my children would choose the wrong path...I would just have an awful knot in my stomach. How do parents HANDLE IT? I think I have decided my children are no longer allowed to grow up past the age of 7! Maybe I am not the let go and let them learn by mistakes kind of mom that I thought I was.

Also in vs. 31 he speaks of the "...multitudes feeling their way towards that great and spacious building." There are times I feel myself wandering a little more in that direction. When I think of very material objects that I would LOVE. Like a pair of $8,000 Tiffany earrings...not that I would ever feel comfortable wearing them or that I would have anything to wear them too...I sometimes think of how I would love them and what I could do to get them. But then I realize they wouldn't really make me happy, they woudl actually make me feel weird and self concious and judged and weird. I don't think it is wrong to have nice things, but I do think that when we start to focus on the nice things of the world and try to live so we can buy them we start to drift from the iron rod towards the great and spacious building. So my question is this...when we start to drift away from the iron rod or even let go of it a little, how do we get back, who or what leads us back on track. It is a scary thing to let go, but some of us do get that opportunity to get back to it. Or is it that we haven't truly let go, but we are just touching it with the tip of our finger or our toe so we can get a better look at what we are missing out on in the great and spacious building. Weird thoughts, I know...but I could see myself kind of sticking my toe out there to still be touching it so I wouldn't totally let go, but woudl also be feeding my curiosity a big. Bad...yes. But luckily I have a desire to stay on the path.