Obrando en la Viña: Split Infinitives

Illapel District

Querida Familia,

I don't know why I use split infinitives. I use so many split infinitives.

I'm an English major. I should know better.

"Don't use split infinitives," a thousand and one professors told me on the first day of college. "Don't use split infinitives," they wrote on my five-page papers when I forgot and used one by accident. "Don't use split infinitives," they said when I rebelled and used one on purpose. "There is no reason," they lectured, "to use split infinitives. There is a better way to write."

I don't know why I make mistakes. I make so many silly mistakes.

I am a daughter of God. I should know better.

"Don't make silly mistakes," my parents taught me ever since the beginning. "Don't make silly mistakes," they reminded me when I forgot and made one by accident. "Don't make silly mistakes," they corrected me when I rebelled and made one on purpose. "There is no reason," they explained, "to make silly mistakes. There is a better way to live."

I'm sure I must have had a similar conversation with a loving Father in Heaven in those moments just before I left His presence and came down to this mortal learning experience called life. I'm sure He warned me of the existence of silly mistakes, and I'm sure I must have assured Him that I would be fine, and not to worry--that I would avoid them, and I would make it back home.

But my Father knew me so well, and He loved me so much, that He--knowing I was about to enter into a mortal, frail, and imperfect body, susceptible to temptations and to silly mistakes--lovingly provided me a Savior, His Perfect, Only Begotten Son. He provided me with an eraser--a never-fail backspace button for all the times that I would ruin my five-page paper with a silly little split infinitive.

There are a whole lot of reasons that I might choose to use a split infinitive.

I may, driven by instinct and a lifetime of bad habits, forget the rule and use one by accident.
I may realize my mistake and be too lazy to fix it.
I may make note of the error and resolve to change it tomorrow, putting it off until I'm not so busy and have a little more time.
I may give in to the pressure of friends when they tell me that it's okay to use split infinitives; that "everybody's doing it," and that, really, "split infinitives are the new thing."
Or I may, of my own accord, simply choose to rebel against my professors and all the other grammar experts the world over and choose to use a split infinitive because, in my opinion, it sounds a little better than the alternative.

Whatever my reason may be, the rule still stands--the laws of the English language state that we are not to use split infinitives. And whatever my reason may be, my loving Father in Heaven has mercifully provided me with a backspace button so that when my professor, or my conscience, calls me to repentance, I can change my ways and remove that silly little split infinitive.

In the scheme of things, and in the long run, it's not really going to matter how many split infinitives we used throughout the course of our lives. I doubt there's anyone up in heaven keeping track of our grammatical triumphs and failures. But I do know that there IS someone in heaven keeping track of our mortal triumphs and failures, our mistakes and our success...and our willingness to use the backspace button that our Heavenly Father has loving provided for us.

The laws of God exist. There is a right, and there is a wrong. We can choose the right...or we can choose the wrong. We can choose to do something good...or we can choose to do something bad. And sometimes, we're going to forget the rule and choose to do something bad. Sometimes we might realize what we've done, but we might not really feel like fixing it. Sometimes, we might put off the necessary changes until tomorrow--until another moment when we have more time or are not quite so busy. We may give in to the pressure of others when they tell us that doing something wrong is okay because "everybody's doing it," or because it's the "next big thing." Or, we may, of our own accord, simply choose to rebel against the rules and make a wrong decision because, in the moment, it seems like the logical or correct thing to do.

Whatever our reason may be, the rule still stands--the laws of God state that we are not to make wrong choices. And whatever our reason may be, our loving Father in Heaven has mercifully provided us with a spiritual eraser so that when the Spirit calls us to repentance, we can change our ways and erase away that silly little mistake.

The Atonement exists to allow us to change. It allows us to recognize our mistakes, to find within ourselves a humble desire to change them, and to move forward better than we were before--mortal beings striving to realize our divine, eternal potential. I know that He will help us as we strive to do so. Our Father in Heaven desires that we return to Him with a perfect five-page paper, flawless and free of split infinitives--to return to Him with a lifetime of experience, His precious children, perfected by our mortal experiences, our trials, and by the enabling power of His Son's Atonement.

I know that God lives. I know He loves us. And I know that He only wants to mold us into the beings we have the potential to become: glorious, perfected, and eternally happy--brought back into His presence to live with Him forever. Let us leave behind the split infinitives. Let us leave behind our mistakes. And let us utilize the power of our Savior's Atonement--the only sacrifice in the span of eternity powerful enough to allow us to change--to edit and revise our five-page papers so that someday, when it's time to turn them in...

We'll have learned how to wisely avoid split infinitives.

I love you! Have a great week!
Hermana Sanford