Foundationless Buildings

In the Book of Mormon we read of a great vision that the prophet Lehi had. In this vision he saw that “there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path [to the tree of life] did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost…. And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it stood as it were in the air, high above the earth.” (1 Nephi 8:23,26).

Lehi saw a mist of darkness throughout the world. This mist is the temptations of Satan (see 1 Ne. 12:17) but it might also be viewed as ignorance or even the veil of forgetfulness that prevents us from remembering our pre-earth life. However you want to view the mist, it surrounds all of us and seeks to pull us away from God’s paths. It darkens the world. Off in the distance Lehi saw a great and spacious building that “stood as it were in the air.” I always picture something like this

picture – a skyscraper floating without a foundation. The big, beautiful building is just that – big and beautiful; it is enticing and worldly. More importantly, it seemed to be floating in the air. Not only is this representative of the pride of the world, but also it means the building is without a foundation. Worldly things, specifically pride and coveting and gossiping and other sins, are founded upon nothing. Buildings without foundations or with weak foundations will never stand – they will always fail and fall. We might think that we don’t live in that great and spacious building, that we have a nice sensible home. However, do we live in a foundationless home?

Do we let our houses drift about aimlessly in the mists of darkness or do we anchor our hearths and homes to a solid foundation? Upon which foundation should we build? We should build upon Christ. How do we do this? Building upon Christ is a bit of an abstract idea. Let me reify it. In order to build upon Christ we must have a foundation of personal righteousness. This foundation includes learning the gospel, living close to the Spirit, keeping our gospel covenants, and obeying the commandments. If those four things are our foundation, we will not fall. Our homes will be firmly rooted upon a sure foundation: “Remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall” (Helaman 5:12).

Those who are not built upon this foundation will fall like the great and spacious building: “And it came to pass that I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly great. And the angel of the Lord spake unto me again, saying: Thus shall be the destruction of all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, that shall fight against the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (1 Ne. 11:36).

That gulf of misery and endless wo is the same one that Lehi saw that separated the people of God from those of the world (see 1 Ne. 12:18), even an eternal gulf.

We must make sure our foundations are sure, that we are not left to be buoyed up by nothing but the pride of the world. We need our foundations upon the Rock of Christ.

3D building model sources: Skyscraper: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=74f60dc598c1a44bbaa0f452d5492d6&prevstart=0; house: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=35aa8adfc9d1e4ea8627bce8a46cfe19&prevstart=24. The buildings were imported into Google Sketchup where I created the scenes.