Origin of Eternal Power

If there’s a text that was written by a prophet of a God who is worthy of worship, Doctrine and Covenants section 121 is that text.

Writing from Liberty Jail in March 1839, Joseph Smith had been imprisoned for several months, cramped and freezing. In October 1838, Missouri Governor Boggs had issued an executive order, stating that “the Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state.” Outside the prison, Joseph’s friends and family were scattered mid-winter without food or wagons, their property confiscated or destroyed, farms burned, and livestock stolen.

The text begins with Joseph praying, “O God, where art though?” God answers, “My son, peace be unto thy soul.” And the sublime esthetic flows:

“How long can rolling waters remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.”

Continuing, the text delivers on its promise of knowledge. With remarkable irony, the prophet that Missouri would silence in a dungeon, dictates scripture on the moral duties of the powerful. Not exactly the submission that his captors were hoping for. And from this crucible of tyranny and revelation, we learn about the origin of enduring power – eternal power.

Apocalypse of Power

Most positions of power and traditional systems of governance rely heavily on force, threat, or authority derived from hierarchy. Sadly, this is even too often true of religious governance, including that which Mormons call “priesthood” and attribute to God. But D&C 121:41 observes a basic limitation and weakness in such governance:

“No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.”

That which usually passes for “power,” essentially compulsion, is antithetical to enduring power. Not even priesthood, the authority that Mormons associate with God, has enduring power in itself, except through persuasion, patience, and genuine love.

This isn’t just call for softer leadership. It’s a revelation of the fundamental mechanisms that perpetuate power. Not just a code of conduct for the religious elite, it’s an ontological apocalypse. The possibility of anything approximating that which we might call “eternal power” depends ultimately on consensual relationships.

Effect of Sublime Power

Reflect on how you feel when someone approaches you with long-suffering, gentleness, and kindness, especially when they’re in a position of authority. Trust develops, fear is replaced with courage, and deep change – transformation – becomes possible.

Here’s how the New Testament (1 John 4) describes it:

“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

D&C 121 echoes that description. As you approach others with love, it says, “then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.”

Most have at least occasionally experienced different feelings toward authority, whether that be in the presence of secular government or during prayerful projections of a supposed less-than-loving god. We know fear, which does exert power. But again, imagine a sublime authority, whose actively expressed love for you provokes a deep desire to reciprocate. Imagine feeling love that “casteth out fear,” leading to “boldness in the day of judgment” and even “confidence … in the presence of God.”

Doctrine of Priesthood

D&C 121 continues, asserting that if you express such love then “the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.” In other words, you can gradually gain an understanding of priesthood by living, speaking, and acting with love. How does that work? It’s not magic, unless the slowly accumulating natural consequences of learning through experience can become wonderful enough to consider them magic – even miraculous.

Earlier, the text tells us, speaking of people called to positions of priesthood authority, “there are many called, but few are chosen.” Why are they not “chosen,” in the sense of becoming empowered by God? The text continues:

“Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson – that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

“That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins⁠, or to gratify our pride⁠, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.

“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority⁠, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence many are called, but few are chosen.”

Many receive priesthood authority. But few receive priesthood power. In an arrogant response to the acquisition of authority, we too often use that authority to oppress. That leads others to fear us rather than love us, which does exert power. But it exerts power of the sort that undermines the enduring sort of power.

As we experience the decreasing strength of oppressive power, either by making mistakes ourselves or by observing others who make mistakes, we can learn, and perhaps even change. Then we might experience the increasing strength of loving power, observing or using authority to console, heal, and raise each other together. And again, we can learn, and begin to understand priesthood.

Esthetic of Sublime Power

As we express love, we begin not only to understand priesthood and power in general in an intellectual sense, but also to feel their effects on an emotional and spiritual level. As D&C 121 puts it, “the Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion.”

Another name for the Holy Ghost is the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul describes the “fruit of the Spirit” as “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” In other words, like a tree eventually grows fruit, the Holy Spirit eventually causes such feelings.

Notice that these feelings, the effects of expressing love, also describe the ways in which we should express love, the causes of love. As with trees, the fruit of the Spirit becomes the seed of the Spirit. Love begets love, in a virtuous cycle. And that’s how enduring power perpetuates itself – giving and receiving the sublime esthetic.

Everlasting Dominion

Elsewhere in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 29:36), we read of a premortal war in heaven. Instigating that war, Satan rebels against God, saying, “Give me thine honor …” The text, speaking in the voice of God, continues in reference to honor, “… which is my power.” In other words, honor is the source of God’s power.

This contrasts starkly with many conceptualizations of God. Lightning bolts zapping heretics come to mind. Governance through crusade and inquisition follows. But such theologies derive power from fear and compulsion.

D&C 121 concludes with an invitation to re-conceptualize God, and approach priesthood, governance, and power differently. It invites you to love, and to apply whatever authority you might have (or even lack) with love. Then, it says, “thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.”

Perhaps paradoxically, power that endures is that which never compels. It attracts, persuades, and gently enfolds. It is spiritual gravity, not coercive force. Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance are hallmarks not just of sanctified individuals, but also of sanctified communities.

The most sustainable and creative form of power – eternal power – emerges as we cultivate persuasion, empathy, charity, and respect for agency in all its forms. The raw power of technological evolution must be animated by a cultural evolution of enduring power, if we are to survive the risks ahead. This will undoubtedly entail decentralization and co-creation among humans, with God, and beyond to artificial intelligence, our spirit children.

The origin of eternal power is not divine favoritism, secret ritual, military might, or computational power. Rather, eternal power is the indefinitely accumulating effect of alignment in consensual relationships, mutually expressing a genuine love that truly honors agency. This is how we can participate in the everlasting dominion that scripture describes, now and in worlds without end.