To me there is a difference between being prepared and being worthy. Like many in our faith the term worthiness has been used to demean and shame and in so doing twist the meaning into something quite malevolent.
I think being prepared is closer to the original idea of worthiness.
Obeying thou shalt nots and thou shalts does not mean one is prepared for the Temple or the afterlife, or even this life. Obedience without question does no good for anyone.
Part of being prepared means understanding the covenants we make. Understanding what it is we are promising and what we are doing is key.
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." Galileo GalileiIn order to fully embrace the Gospel we must understand it or at least a portion of it. We cannot be prepared if we are oblivious to the Gospels' message.Jesus had this somewhat lengthy parable about being prepared: "And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:1-14
There are many layers of meaning in that parable but it centers on being prepared for the occasion. It's about being prepared for what we are called upon to do.
Jesus was groomed for His role as Redeemer and yet when He prayed in Gethsemene He prayed for another way but regardless He said thy will be done, rather than His own.
Jesus knew, understood what had to be done and how it had to be done. He could not have accomplished His calling without knowledge of what He was called to do, and what that would entail.
The way Christ lived His life is what gave His teachings power. But it was His knowledge that prepared not just Him but the rest of us through His exceedingly well phrased parables. His knowledge of the Gospel, His knowledge of the human heart are what gave those parables power.
His knowledge has helped prepare billions of people over thousands of years to live better, to be better and to love others as He loved us.
It is as President Monson said during last April's conference talk of the same name "Love: the essence of the Gospel."
For as crucial as knowledge is, and it is, some things we must take on faith to get us through things we do not understand and maybe never will. But if we are prepared we will make it through the challenges, the obstacles and tragedies of life.
Sometimes it is in the journey taken on faith that we become prepared by the journey by the end of it. Or at least the end of that leg of our journey.
To me being worthy strikes me as saying one who is better than others showing others just how much better they are than us. But to me everyone has intrinsic value. Everyone is worthy of Christs love and ours as well.
Maybe the trick with worthiness is seeing it in all people, in the most unlikely of candidates. Seeing worthiness in others and not just ourselves is the real trick. Because that, I feel, is how Christ saw all of us which is how He was able to be so compassionate, understanding and loving.
And He has seen us at our worst, every last horrendous sin we've commited and He loves us still.
