Spiritual Heat Capacity

A while back, I was talking to a good friend, and she was sharing some difficult things from her life; I could empathize, and I did so. Her words acknowledged that her situation wasn't so bad; yes, her life could be worse. Yes, she knew that God loved her. But despite her marginally positive words, I could feel bitterness dribbling out of her intent and pooling around our feet.

I wanted to say something helpful. No one likes seeing their friends suffer. I wanted her to be happy; Heavenly Father wanted her to be happy.

I've never felt so stupid in my life. I couldn't convey anything meaningful, even though I could feel it just beyond my grasp.

In the days following this experience, I pondered the experience. I'm not stupid, and there are times when I can feel light flow through me, telling me exactly what I need to say and do. So why didn't it happen?

And then I learned a lot of things; like, A TON. I could feel a flow of intelligence starkly different from the memory that I contemplated. I learned about bitterness, hope, and....heat capacity.

CAUTION; this is the part where I explain how Heavenly Father used physics to teach me a spiritual concept.

In thermodynamics, the study of heat, there is a property called heat capacity. A material with high heat capacity requires a lot of energy transfer for temperature to change, whereas a material with low heat capacity easily changes temperature. For example, water has a high heat capacity. Metal has a low heat capacity; this is why you can burn yourself on a  metal pan before the water inside it is even warm.

My spiritual heat capacity depends on how close I am to God. The closer I am to Him, the more negative energy it takes for me to be affected by the bitterness of others. The more I let Him change me, literally convert me into someone more like Him, the more resistant I am to worse influences. The closer I am to Him, the more power that I have to call upon to resist temptation.

Jesus Christ has a perfectly infinite spiritual heat capacity, hence he could take on all the sins of the world without being enticed by them. He took all our sins upon Him, and instead of becoming sinful, He just loved us all the more. God is love! (1 John 4:16) When I was talking to my friend, I drew closer to my friend's perspective than God's perspective, lowering my heat capacity and decreasing the light that I could have and share. I didn't just empathize with her bitterness, I was enticed by it. But life is good! God is good! There is no real reason to be bitter, everything is for our good! (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7)

I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ! I'm so grateful for the Atonement!