Solutions

A man walks into heaven, and asks an angel: “Have they solved chess up here?”
“Yes,” the angel replies, “but we don’t want to spoil their fun just yet.”

It seems quite probable, if not undeniable, that God has already in hand a perfect solution for every possible human problem. Perhaps there are multiple solutions (the Lord seemed happy to let the brother of Jared feel his own way through the problem of lighting submerged vessels); and perhaps there is only one (witness Jesus’ plea for the cup to pass from him, if there is any other way to solve the infinite puzzle which only the Atonement could resolve). But there is a solution, and God reveals the solution to willing minds in His time and according to His pleasure.

From the witness of scripture, the Lord seems much more interested in what we are willing to invest in finding a solution, than in our solving any given problem. After the lesson is learned, the Lord may even step in and make a problem go away, in some cases. Consider Nephi and the brass plates; Mahonri and the stones; Gideon and the Midianites; Daniel and the lions’ den; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace; etc. In some cases, the problem may not be solved at all in this life, and the only important test is if we were faithful. (Alma 14:8-11; Moro. 9:6; D&C 103:28; Matt. 16:24-27)

How long we have to suffer through the problems may increase with our past disobedience or the Lord’s desire to test and try us (Mosiah 23:21-22). Some workers in the vineyard had to labor the full day; while others were given a day’s wage after working one hour. The children of Israel earned 40 years’ wandering in the wilderness with their angry unbelief in the God who had offered them so many miraculous solutions. Joshua and Caleb wandered with the rest; but God rewarded their faithfulness by giving them a long life and the health to enter into and obtain the promised land.

In all the cases presented and countless more, God has the ability to step in and take away the problems. In a future day, He will reveal all things and wipe away all tears (Rev. 21:4). So why the wait? Does God find our efforts to succeed beautiful, like a parent rejoicing in the journey of a baby learning to be a kid, and a kid learning to be a man or a woman, and a man or woman learning to be a spouse and a parent? Was our Fall and the long struggle back to our divine nature a necessary part of the process? Perhaps for some of us, the answer is no. Many wonderful souls come to earth only to obtain their bodies and speedily return to heaven; or they receive a body with physical and mental handicaps, and are shielded from having to endure the full heat of Satan’s fiery darts. But for many if not most of us, the test is real, and is necessary, and is not allowed to end early. And just like the parent, or the mentor, God seems to find true joy in watching the slow, halting progress of his babes here below.

For those who do attain to a perfect knowledge of things, strict commands are given to not reveal more than God will allow. If the only point of problems was that they be solved, this would not make sense. Alma wished, with all his heart, to solve the world’s problems by proclaiming the irresistible force of the gospel with the full heraldic powers of angels (see Alma 29). To mortal minds, this seems like an excellent plan: deniers and fence-sitters would be shaken to their core, and doubtless many thousands would come to a knowledge of the truth much quicker than they would have sans angels. But the Lord has reasons for not doing it this way; and comprehending them is one of the deepest mysteries of godliness. Perhaps if the solutions came too fast, we would remain like spiritual infants forever, or else we would perish like the baby who is given meat when they still needed milk. Is our ignorance what frees God’s hand to offer mercy to the weak and the stumbling and the sinners among us? Too much knowledge and too many solutions could bind mercy and unleash the full fury of justice on us before time.

Still, one wonders what it would be like to know, as one knows he is alive, the proper way to be happy, or even as small a trifle as the solution to chess.

Infinite Power, Infinite Knowledge

In One Punch Man, Saitama, a bumbling young Asian man, decides he wants to be a hero. He gradually realizes that not only can he withstand all attacks without being damaged (a vastly underrated superpower), but he can also defeat all enemies with one punch. Unable to find challenges from conventional monsters, Saitama seeks for challenges in other areas in life (bargain hunting, killing mosquitos, observing others), but he secretly longs for an adversary who can give him a fight.

While a somewhat cheesy setting, the question at the anime’s core is a brilliant one, well suited to our world with its Omnipotent ruler: if all conflict can be instantly resolved by overwhelming power, is meaningful existence still possible? (Of course, an even more foundational question is: what is meaningful existence? or even simpler, Why? We will deal with this question in due time.)

Unless it is coupled with infinite knowledge, I think the answer is no. Thus, Saitama is fundamentally bored because he is omnipotent without knowing why or how to best use his abilities. The Lord, by contrast, knows everything – not even time is a mystery (since all is as one day with Him, and time only is measured unto man). While there are many things He does not reveal to us collectively, we can observe some truths about how an unstoppable force creates meaning.

He creates and inspires many different things that point us back to Him. Each individual strand of music (Sidenote: how do beings without time experience music? Maybe it is similar to us remembering a song we have already heard.), each medical cure, each new invention, every new species and new member of every species, literally all things are made to testify of God (Moses 6:63). They may not all do it perfectly (because pure testimony should flow from our own will and not from external force), but that is what they were created to do.

He continues doing the things that brought Him to this point. The course of God is one eternal round. There is not even a shadow of changing in Him, even though we are constantly being tempted and enticed from all sides. The oceans move about, but the Lord holds all things in the palm of His hand.

The Lord’s work and glory is centered around beings who are still capable of experiencing real conflict between good and evil. His energies are not devoted against His enemies directly (because he could one punch them into oblivion, or dismiss them with a snap of his fingers, as Hugh Nibley once said), but indirectly as He advocates tirelessly for us and our advancement.