I picked up a New Era magazine (the Church's magazine for teenagers) and read a cute and instructive little article, "When Ducks Don't Float" by Webdi Wixom Taylor (May 2010 issue). As young children, Wendi and her two sisters received three newborn baby ducks. Wendi thought their little wading pool would be a perfect home for them. They filled it with water and set each of the ducks onto the surface--only to watch in horror as all three ducks sank straight tot he bottom of the pool. The quickly rescued them and puzzled over what went wrong, for everyone knows that ducks float and surely these lightweight little creatures should float, too. They speculated that they had been too sudden, and that if they just slowly set the ducks down onto the water, all would be well. Once again, all three sunk straight to the bottom. Absolutely stunning--this just made no sense.

They dried them off and then noticed there was a phone number on the box they came in. They called to ask for help and received some surprising new information: newborn ducks don't yet have the oil on their feathers that makes them repel water. Without that oil, the feathers absorb water and the ducks will sink. This fact didn't fit and caused more confusion, for the girls had seen baby ducks just a few days old on the water following their mother--of course baby ducks could float!

There was yet more to digest in order to understand their problem. The patient person at the pet store explained that normally, baby ducks pick up oil from their mother as they huddle under her wings, allowing them to float shortly after birth, but these ducks didn't have their mother to give them that protection. On their own, they needed more time before they would have their own oil and be safe on the water.

I think the article is intended to remind young people of the importance of the training and help we get from our parents, but I was most intrigued by the collision between logical expectations and the complexities of physical reality. Ducks float, everyone knows that, but here were ducks that sank. That made no sense, and neither did the explanation about newborn ducks not yet having oil on their feathers. Observations were clashing with the teachings of the pet store person. Only after getting further information about mother ducks and the oil they provide to their babies could things fit together and make sense.

Religion is that way, too. Critics and impatient observers can easily find problems and puzzles to demonstrate that our religion doesn't float. Responses from Mormon apologists can be easily dismissed with some argument or observation, just like the explanation about baby ducks and oil. Sometimes their are good answers and even faith-building evidences, but only if one is willing to understand some complex details. Many issues involving the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham come to mind. Ditto for almost any issue involving the apparent clash of religion and science. And then there are the vagaries and complexities of Church history, where many legitimate unknowns remain due to incomplete and often contradictory information.

I've heard people say that all the writings from Mormon people, myself included, to defend their faith wouldn't be needed if it were actually true, because there would be simple, easy answers for everything. Poppycock. There aren't simple, easy, and accurate answers for numerous simple questions like what is matter, what is time, how does light work, or even who invented the airplane or why don't my ducks float? Asa we begin to deal with the collision of the Divine and the mortal, things can be vastly more complex. There are answers, but one must be willing to search and be able to understand that long-held assumptions--like all ducks float--may no longer be accurate.

In our journey for truth, there are difficult things to be mastered, and some puzzles that will not be understood for decades to come, perhaps not until after this life. Let us beware of making judgments too rashly or too harshly. Don't be surprised when reasonable answers to simple questions regarding our faith involve several complex considerations along the path too resolution. The Gospel of Jesus Christ that is taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, in spite of some errors of mortals and gaps in our understanding, and is worth a lifetime of study and pondering. If something doesn't seem to float, don't give up and walk away. Call the Help Desk on high, reach out to others with knowledge that can help, and keep seeking. This approach has brought many rich blessings in my personal journey, along with a lot of old assumptions being cast off along the way.

In spite of some disappointments and many puzzles still unresolved, I am able to honestly declare that the Book of Mormon really is part of the Word of God and is a divine record intended for our day, and valuable evidence for the divine call of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, mortal and fallible though he was. I can also declare that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a precious gift and an instrument to bring us closer to God and Jesus Christ, with power and authority from God that can bless our lives and our families more than any other organization.
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