Like Adam and Eve, each of us are partakers of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is a condition of our mortal lives that we must learn to distinguish the good from the evil, the sweet from the bitter, the light from the dark. Figuring out what is good and what is evil drives almost every decision we make. But Knowledge of Good and Evil as two separate, distinct states of being is only an intermediary step in our journey to become more like our Heavenly Father. Being able to tell good apart from evil is a start, and it can be increasingly challenging in today’s world where heroes become villains and villains heroes with alarming rapidity. But the more that we come to know our Heavenly Father, the more we embrace the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives, and the more that we welcome the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, the more we will come to realize that after we have mastered the ability to distinguish good from evil, we must then advance to knowledge beyond good and evil. I’m not talking about some kind of nihilistic moral relativism, where good and evil have no meaning and everyone must find their own truth. I’m not trying to say that if you just look closely enough, any evil can be good, and any good evil. What I’m trying to say is that we first have to come to a knowledge of good as something separate from evil, so that we can then build on that foundation. Opposite of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the Tree of Life. Life isn’t good or evil. It just is. Sadness is a part of life and happiness is a part of life. Pain is a part of life and pleasure is a part of life. When we partake of the Fruit of the Tree of Life, we face every moment of our lives wrapped up in the power and the strength and the glory of the Atonement. The Good in life causes us to reach higher for God’s love. The Evil in life causes us to reach deeper for God’s love. We do not regret when the good leaves us for we do not feel that it has left too soon. We do not fear when the evil lingers for we do not doubt that we will overcome it. Whereas before it sometimes felt that trying to find the good among the evil was like trying to find a drop of water in a scorching desert, now, we have the waters of life welling up within us continuously, never thirsting. Before Christ gave His life, there was good, and then separately, there was evil. But now He has brought all things together as one and there is only Life, and a Love that cannot be dimmed nor denied nor destroyed. When we are filled with the Knowledge that God loves us utterly, unequivocally, and unconditionally, then we have moved to the Knowledge Beyond Good and Evil.
