Re: What's up with the "countenance" concept?
Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 10:47 am
Here's what fallen countenance looks like:
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
A place to love and accept the people who think about and live Mormonism on their own terms.
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Bonfire wrote: ↑Wed Nov 01, 2023 9:40 am There is something to be said regarding countenances. When a person sins their behavior changes, or rather their spirit that moves them was distracted elsewhere since the last time you observed them so they are not interacting with you on the same conscious level.
I believe that very deep piece that's markedly different is whether or not an individual can discern between the idea of nothing and the idea of everything, which is usually over on the first page of the Bible if you have one around, or whether nothing and everything are the same thing.Cnsl1 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:34 pmBonfire wrote: ↑Wed Nov 01, 2023 9:40 am There is something to be said regarding countenances. When a person sins their behavior changes, or rather their spirit that moves them was distracted elsewhere since the last time you observed them so they are not interacting with you on the same conscious level.
I think most would at least kinda agree. But I'd suggest caveats.
When a scrupulous member of a church does something they believe is sinful, they feel guilty enough that their behavior changes because they worry someone might know and/or they might lose blessings. They're particularly more distressed at church because, well the gift of discernment for one. What if someone can tell? What if everyone knows what I did? Those are distracting thoughts that make them act a little differently.
When a member doesn't think he's sinned but feels judged or looked at differently at church, he'll not be real comfortable there, which could be perceived by the scrupulous types that his countenance is darkened by sin rather than darkened by being around a bunch of judgy jerks. These types of folks usually don't and can't interact on the same conscious level. The genie is out of one's bottle and the rosey glasses are still on the other. This isn't to suggest they can't still be friends and interact very well together, but there's always that big thing. That very deep core piece that's markedly different and will probably always separate them unless one or both has a serious change of mind.
Another caveat is that a sociopath won't feel bad for doing socially or culturally or religiously bad things no matter what church they belong to or how often they attend and magnify their callings.