The Duty To Escape

"Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don't we consider it his duty to escape?… if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we're partisans of liberty, then it's our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can." (Ursula K Le Guin paraphrasing JRR Tolkien). The gospel is all about escape. It's about escaping from sin, from doubt, from hopelessness and despair. God will not tempt us save He provides a way for us to escape the temptation. We are to flee from Babylon and the world. The scriptures are full of examples of people who have successfully escaped. The children of Israel escaped slavery in Egypt. Esther and her people escaped Haman's plot. There are dozens of examples in the Book of Mormon and early church history. It is so easy to get trapped and imprisoned in a mortal perspective, to assume that our present circumstances will continue indefinitely and we have no power to change our condition for better or worse. We can come to believe that our path is fixed and there is no way out. But the Savior wants us to escape and to help as many of our brothers and sisters escape as well. That's what repentance is all about. It's acknowledging that we are not shackled to our old pattern of behavior and choices, that we can escape the old way of doing things that brought us pain and misery and choose to walk in the freedom of a new and better way. If we feel trapped and powerless, then we must reach out to our Savior with faith and hope and humble gratitude as He shows us the way to escape.