Richard Wagner and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

At last, the moment has come: Siegfried, who, together with his parents, was created for the sole purpose of killing Fafner and stealing the Rheingold, finally has his long-anticipated battle with the dragon. In this moment, at the climax of Wotan’s two-generation-long plan, one would think that Siegfried knows exactly what he is doing. But, after delivering a deadly wound to his opponent, the dying Fafner asks:

Wer bist du, kühner Knabe, der das Herz mir traf?
(Who are you, valiant lad, who has wounded me to the heart?)

Siegfried responds:

Viel weiß ich noch nicht, noch nicht auch, wer ich bin.
(There is much that I still don’t know: I still don’t know who I am.)

There are some things that Siegfried and we have in common:

1. God had a plan for us long before we were born. The Lord himself says to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5):

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.

2. Often, especially in difficult moments, we don’t understand why things are happening, even though we are exactly where Heavenly Father wants us to be.

But, we also have some significant advantages over Siegfried:

1. God is not our grandfather or a distant relative: He is our Heavenly Father, and consequently we have a much deeper connection to Him (Matthew 7:9-11):

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

2. Contrary to Wotan, who follows his selfish agenda, our Heavenly Father will never plan anything that would be to our disadvantage. The prophet Alma says (Alma 7:20):

I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.

And the Lord Himself says to Moses (Moses 1:39):

For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

3. We know who we are: In “The Family – A Proclamation to the World“ it says:

Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. […] In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.

4. Even though God’s plan is different for each of us, there is a core part of the plan that is the same for everyone and that God has revealed to us. This core part is called the gospel of Jesus Christ. It consists of:

1. 1. 1. Faith in Jesus Christ

      2. Repentance

      3. Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins

      4. Receiving the Holy Ghost

      5. Enduring to the end

As always, Jesus Christ is the perfect example for us: He followed the same plan (Matthew 3:13-17):

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

If Jesus trusted in Heavenly Father’s plan, we should too, even when facing the dragons of our personal hardships!

Coming soon...

Coming soon...