The Tarzan Principle (From the MMM Vault)

Here’s a fun way to teach a specific principle of the gospel. It works well in a home or classroom setting. (Don’t be shy!) and ties in with this week’s Come Follow Me, specifically D&C 64-10-11. Read on…

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Forgiveness. I hope that we all agree that it is vital to our mental, emotional, and physical health. (Don’t believe me? Ask the experts: link) Even more importantly, forgiveness is essential for our spiritual health. And who better to teach this concept than a fictional character that’s been around for 112 years.

That’s right. Tarzan. (Just go with it. I promise you won’t regret it.)

As you know, Tarzan lives in the jungle. His favorite mode of transportation is swinging through the trees. It is fast, efficient and exhilarating. He fluidly swings from vine to vine, never touching the ground.

Upon closer examination, you can see that as Tarzan reaches out and grabs the next vine, he releases the vine he had been riding on. This allows him to move forward, constantly grasping new vines to continue his journey.

Imagine what would happen if Tarzan grabbed the next vine, but refused to let go of the old vine? Exactly. He would stop dead – suspended in the air between two vines. To regain his momentum, he would eventually have to choose which vine to release.

Everyone of us finds ourself reaching towards the Savior, towards the atonement – reaching and searching for forgiveness. It is inevitable. It is part of the plan.

However, like Tarzan, if we are trying to grasp the atonement, and refuse to let go of the things we are hanging on to, we stop dead. We lose all spiritual momentum. We are damned.

The Lord said it better, and he didn’t even need to use Tarzan:

Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. (D&C 64:9-10)

The greater sin? You are telling me that my refusal to let go of the things that have been done to me – the real pains that I have had to endure – will cause me to lose the Lord’s forgiveness and the power of the atonement?  Yes. Exactly. You get it.

If we are unwilling to forgive – unwilling to let go – we are condemned, and have denied the core principles of the very atonement we reach for. Seems a bit hypocritical doesn’t it – to try to get something for ourselves that we deny others?

I have witnessed the toxic nature of an unforgiving heart. I have seen an unwillingness to forgive prevent couples and families from moving forward and regaining their spiritual momentum. Stalled. Damned.

I have witnessed people who cling to the old vines of anger, accusation and resentment until they are so cankered that they no longer reach for the Savior. Spiritually stuck between two vines. One offers hope and joy, the other condemnation and bitterness.  Personally, at times I have carried grudges far longer than I should, and I have felt those burdens immediately lift and drift away as I decide to release them. Immediately. (There is no mandatory seething time.)

I have also witnessed those who have labored to forgive find great peace and happiness as they freed themselves from burdens they had been carrying for 10, 20 years, or 10 to 20 minutes. Forgiveness offers hope, peace, and spiritual momentum.

Think of your grudges, resentments, hurt feelings, pain. Can you let them go? Can you move forward? For the sake of your happiness, and the happiness of your family, – now and eternally – find a way to forgive. It is the only way.

And it is worth it.

Do you want to read more? There is a wonderful Conference talk by President James E. Faust, who I love and miss. “The Healing Power of Forgiveness.”

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(An earlier version of this post was first published on September 18, 2011 – long before I had my “Mormon: removed.)