Astrology vs General Conference - Personal Messages

I don't understand Astrology. I get that the stars form identifiable patterns that cycle through the sky, and they're fun to follow, but I really don't think that which constellation was in the sky when you were born has any effect on your personality unless you choose for it to. And I certainly don't think that the positions or brightness of stars have any prophetic value, especially not in the immediate futures of individuals. As Wierd Al correctly guesses, I "find it inconceivable, or, at the very least, a bit unlikely that the relative positions of the planets and the stars could have a special [deep?] significance or meaning that exclusively applies to only [me]."

I think the universe is too big to care enough to align stars and planets into patterns that'd be visible from Earth so that the small percentage of people who actually do think the stars are trying to tell them something will get a "heads up" about how their love life will go over the next week or two, or something equally trivial.

In a similar manner, I think that if God got a once-every-six-months shot at sending a pack of messages out to the entire world, I highly doubt that He'd spend even a second of that precious time sending an individualized message to me, just to answer my petty concerns. And yet...

In April 2011, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stood up at once of those once-every-six-months General Conferences and said this:

If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you.

God cares about us. He cares about each of us. He knows our individual circumstances, and He knows what we need to hear. Now, many of us have similar problems and concerns, so that makes His job a little bit easier, but if I understand Elder Holland correctly, and if there were no other way to get a personal message through to you, even if you were the only person on Earth who needed to hear what God wanted to say to you, I believe He would say it through one of His Apostles at General Conference. He'd take a minute out of their brief time to send a personal message, just to you, to touch your heart, if you're listening.

God loves you. He loves you so much, I wouldn't be greatly surprised if He'd be willing to rearrange the heavens, if it would help you. Maybe God does send us messages through the stars. I kind of doubt it, but I must admit that it's possible, and if there were no other way to send a message to us, I believe He would do it. But there is another way. God doesn't need to move stars to talk to us. He can talk directly to our hearts. And if our hearts can't feel the message, He can talk to us through the scriptures and through lessons at church. And if we're not paying enough attention there either, He could have one of His powerhouse Apostles shout it over the pulpit and broadcast it to all the world. He'd do whatever it takes to get the message across, because God's messages are what will really help us get through life and return to live with Him again.

It's hard to imagine that God cares enough about me, one individual human being, to send a message to a member of the First Presidency, or a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, or to one of the Seventies who'll be speaking in Conference, and tell them "Say this. There's one young man in Sacramento who needs to hear this. Say it to him." I just can't believe it. Such personal, individual love. It's almost too much to imagine. But then again, God is filled with an immeasurable amount of love, more than any human mind can imagine. Maybe the stars don't care enough to send us personal messages, but I bet God does.

Baptism as a Rebirth

This afternoon, I'm giving a short talk at my nephew's baptism. (Third week in a row that I'm teaching on Sunday.) What I want to focus on in that talk is the ordinance of baptism as a rebirth.

Baptism by immersion is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Savior. In a similar way, it represents the end of our old life of sin and a commitment to live a new life as a disciple of Christ.
- Preach My Gospel, Page 64

"With baptism, we begin a new way of life." - Gospel Principles, Page 116

When we're baptized, we make a covenant (or two-way promise) with God that we'll serve Him and keep His commandments. In return, He promises that He'll forgive our sins and bless us with the guidance and companionship of the Holy Ghost.

As we follow God, He blesses us, but sometimes we fall short and fail to keep the commandments. Since a covenant is a two-way promise, it only works if both people hold up their end of the deal. When we break our covenants by sinning, we can lose the blessings we received at baptism.

But baptism is a symbol of rebirth, second chances, and trying again. That's why Jesus introduced the Sacrament. When we take the Sacrament, we renew our Baptismal covenants, and God renews His covenants with us. It's like being "Born Again" all over again.

In 2 Nephi 31, we learn that through Baptism, we enter into the "Strait and Narrow path." Once we've done that, we must make continual efforts to stay on that path, and to get back on it every time we fall off. Because God loves us and knows that we'll continue to fall short again and again, He gave us a weekly opportunity to renew our Baptismal  covenants and try again. I'm grateful for the many opportunities God gives us to be spiritually reborn, so we can continually repent and improve. I want to follow the Savior and continue to renew my covenants so I can eventually become like Him.

Unanswered Prayers

I just randomly found a quote online, "Unanswered prayers are themselves answers." Thinking about that, I can't help acknowledging how true that is, so I thought I'd list some of the answers that we may draw from our unanswered prayers for blessings and guidance.

Blessings:

No

Sometimes we ask for a blessing and we don't get it. Often, that's because what we want wouldn't actually be good for us. God has a plan that's set more for our eternal happiness than our present comfort. If a certain blessing might make us happier now, but could jeopardize receiving eternal happiness later, we shouldn't expect that kind of "blessing" to come from God.

Later

Occasionally, God is willing to let us have the blessing we asked for... but not yet. Maybe we need to be patient. Maybe we need to work for the blessing. If it's a good thing, God's not going to deny us of it forever.

You Don't Need It

Often, we pray for help and strength, not knowing that we already have all the strength we need for the tasks that lie ahead of us. God knows better than we do how difficult our challenges are going to be, and He knows better than we do exactly how strong we are. He knows what we do or don't need. Though we often feel that we need more than we have, and we often pray for what we think we need, God sometimes retains what we've asked for, knowing that we don't really need it.

Guidance:

Listen Harder

Often, God wants to give us the guidance we ask for, but we fail to hear it. Maybe our own feelings and desires are in the way of receiving God's instructions. When God tells us that we need to do something that we don't want to do, we might ignore the prompting, or ask again and not get an answer the second time because of a reason I'll give later. When we ask God for guidance, we should try to listen with the intent to act, and try not to let our thoughts get in the way of His.

I Trust You

God occasionally let's us make our own choices without any guidance from Him. Hopefully, this is because God trusts that we'll make the right decision even without His help (rather than because He knows that we'll make the wrong decision no matter what He tells us to do). We're here to gain wisdom and experience. If we succeed in that, we'll eventually gain enough wisdom to not need heaven's help to make decisions.

Try It And See What Happens

Alternatively, if we're not really listening to God's advice, and we're not wise enough to make the right decisions on our own, sometimes God steps back and lets us learn from our own mistakes. They're not always major mistakes (He usually warns us about those ones whether we listen or not), but they're always mistakes we can learn from, and the wisdom we learn from our mistakes may be worth more to our souls than the comfort we'd experience from receiving and following God's perfect advice.

It's Not Important / Either Way Works

God's probably not going to tell you which tie to wear, or which dress to wear (as long as they're both modest). He's not going to tell you what to eat for breakfast or what route to take to get to work (unless He wants you to avoid an accident). There are countless decisions that we make daily that don't really factor in to the eternal scheme of things. Some decisions aren't important enough to merit specific revelation.

You Already Have The Answer

God rarely tells us what we already know. He rarely tells us as individuals what He has already told us as a church. If we already have the answer to the question we're asking, we can't expect God to tell us the answer again. If we already know what choice we should make, we shouldn't rely on God to remind us. If we know that answer to our question, or if we know where to find the answer, we shouldn't be surprised if God doesn't give it to us just for asking.

When God doesn't answer our prayers, there's always a good reason for it. Maybe, with a little thought and soul-searching, we'll be wise enough to figure out what the reason is. Maybe we need to listen harder. Maybe we need to work harder. Maybe we just need to wait. Whatever we need to do, God will help us along the right path whenever we need His help and are willing to accept it. Otherwise, we may or may not get an answer to our prayers. But during those times when we don't get an answer, even the lack of an answer can tell us something, and maybe that is the answer God would give us.

Problems That We Cannot Solve

Once again, I found the inspiration for a blog post from a General Conference quote someone shared on Facebook. I'm grateful that there's a web service that allows us to connect with one another and share our thoughts and experiences. Anyhow, here's the quote:

Each of us has problems that we cannot solve and weaknesses that we cannot conquer without reaching out through prayer to a higher source of strength. That source is the God of heaven to whom we pray in the name of Jesus Christ. 

-President James E. Faust, The Lifeline of Prayer, General Conference, April 2002

There are times when I want to face my problems myself, my own way, rather than admitting that God's ways are better, and I need His guidance and strength. There are times when I want the "bragging rights" or self-esteem of having solved a problem with no outside help. There are times that I want to think of myself as being strong enough or wise enough that I don't always need God's help for everything. It is, in all honesty, a Pride issue. I want to see myself as being smart or strong, or at least not totally helpless, not constantly needing help.

The unfortunate truth is that we are helpless, or at least that we need God's help more often than some of us want to admit. What I want to do, knowing that I need God's help almost constantly, is to find a way to seek, receive, and accept God's help, while still finding a way to be proud of myself.

In Alma Chapter 26, Ammon, a Nephite Missionary and one of the sons of Mosiah, rejoices in the success that he and his bretheren had in preaching the gospel to the Lamanites. His brother, Aaron, warns him, "Ammon, I fear that  thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting." (Alma 26:10) But Ammon said to him:

I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. 

Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever. 

Alma 26: 11-12

Ammon had no illusions about his self-worth or his abilities, but even as he described himself as being "weak" and "nothing," it didn't seem to bother him as I know it would (and does) bother me. I don't like that I have problems I can't solve and weaknesses I can't overcome. I don't like being weak and worthless. I want to be stronger; strong enough to overcome my many faults and weaknesses - by myself. But God doesn't work like that. For whatever reason, God made us all so weak, or life so hard, that nobody can reach our eternal destination without His help.

But why? Why would God require that we come unto Him? Why would God make certain that we can't get through life without Him? Maybe it's not actually His fault that we need Him. Maybe He simply has more wisdom than we do. Wisdom comes by experience, which is why we're here on Earth, but we don't have a lot of experience yet. God has much more experience and wisdom than we do, so we need to turn to Him. That's not His fault, and it's not our fault. It's just the way it is.

And perhaps God gave us a lack of strength or a surplus of challenges so that we would have to turn to Him for strength, and then, when we pray for strength, He tries to teach us wisdom instead. Instead of giving us the strength to move the boulder He put in our path, He tries to give us the wisdom to choose a better path.  It's a little bit underhanded, but it makes sense. And He has our best intentions in mind. And if it's true that He has infinite wisdom, then whatever He's trying to accomplish by all this, this is the best way to do it. It just doesn't sound very good to me, though that may be because of my own lack of wisdom. I still don't like it.

Theoretically, God's trying to make us more like Him, and I'd guess that'd include giving us more wisdom and power. I know it doesn't make sense to give people power before they gain wisdom, but is this really the best way to gain wisdom? Struggles, challenges, and frustration? Are we supposed to beat ourselves against the unsolvable problems in our lives until we realize that we have no choice but to turn to God for help and for advice? There's got to be a better way - a faster, more efficient, less painful way - to gain wisdom and experience. But if God, in His infinite wisdom, prescribed that this is how we're supposed to gain experience for ourselves, it has somehow got to be the best, or perhaps the only, way.

Sometimes I think life is too complicated, and sometimes I think it's painfully simple. I'd prefer it to be painfully simple, because then I'd have a prayer of understanding it. Maybe this is all about faith. This is God's plan. It's a good plan, even if we don't understand how it works. Maybe we just need to trust God and have faith. God puts challenges in our lives. Maybe He wants us to overcome them (on our own), maybe He wants us to overcome them with His help, maybe He wants us to find a way around them (on our own), or maybe He wants us to follow Him instead.

When we encounter a problem, I think we're supposed to pray for wisdom, try to figure out a plan, take the plan to God for confirmation, and react based on what we feel. If we feel we should go for it, we should pray for God's help to carry out the plan and go for it. If we feel bad about the plan, we go back to the drawing board, praying for wisdom again. If we're not sure whether we got an answer or not, I think we should probably go for it, praying for help as we go. If it doesn't work, we go back to the drawing board, a little frustrated, but determined to eventually either overcome the obstacle or find a way around it.

It sounds impressively complicated, but that's life. And if you ask me, life is one huge pile of obstacles and challenges that God wants us to learn from and eventually overcome. In that sense, life can be taken as one huge challenge, and we can approach the bulk of it the same way.

Step One: Encounter Challenge
Step Two: Pray for Wisdom; Attempt to Find a Solution
Step Three: Take Solution to God in Prayer and Ask for Confirmation
       Response A: Confirmation: Pray for God's Help and Proceed as Planned
       Response B: Rejection: Return to Step Two
       Response C: No Response: Pray for God's Help and Proceed as Planned
Step Four: Proceed as Planned
       Did it work?
              Yes: Good! Thank God, Then Return to Step One
              No: Keep Trying. Pray for God's Help and Proceed as Planned
                     If That Fails, You May Need to Return to Step Two

I should make a flow chart out of that. It might make life easier for me, or at least certain aspects of it.

As for my struggles with my feelings of worthlessness, perhaps I can comfort myself with the knowledge that when God and I work together, I'm awesome. It's a symbiotic relationship. It's like magic. The magical energy comes from God, I channel it, and God works His magic through me. I can be a conduit. That's pretty cool, I guess. Not quite as cool as producing the magic myself, but maybe we're all working up to that. Maybe the strength I want to have now is a reward that God wants to give me later. For now, He's trying to prepare me for it by teaching me how to wield a portion of His power and the power that He already gave me. When I think of it that way, it really does sound awesome. Maybe this plan isn't too bad after all.

Compassion Vs Practicality

I'm in a little bit of a bind. Someone I care for needs help - a lot of help, and for the past few days, I've been providing it. But today, it seems likely that I'll be asked to do more than I probably should do. I theoretically, physically could do it, but it'd be a rather large sacrifice for me, and I'm not sure it'd be wise. Yet, I have to be careful with my judgement because I have to admit that I don't want to do it, and I don't want that bias to stop me from figuring out what the right thing to do would be.

Just to be practical, there are other people better suited to the job I may be asked to do today. It would be less of a sacrifice for them than it would be for me. It'd still be very inconvenient and sacrificial for most of them, but they could do it. And it wouldn't be as difficult or problematic for them to do it than it would be for me.

Is that a selfish way of thinking? Maybe. It's an honest evaluation, perhaps a faulty one if my information is wrong, but it's honest. I truly believe it would be easier for other people to perform this task than it would be for me.

But does that mean they should do it? Does it mean that the task falls to them, and not me? Does it mean that I can get away with telling the person who needs help that they should get someone else to help them? If I'm asked to perform this task, would I be morally justified in saying "no"?

The fact that I'm using terms like "justified" and "get away with" shed some light on what the right choice would be. Accepting the task would certainly be the more compassionate thing, even if it's not the most practical. Would Jesus go miles out of His way to help another person if there were someone else who was closer, or in other ways better suited for the job? Yes, I have to admit, He probably would.

But God delegates, doesn't He? When there's a work to be done, He doesn't often roll up His sleeves and does it Himself. He asks (or tells) other people to do it. I don't think that makes Him selfish. Then again, what He's really doing is giving us opportunities to work and learn and grow. I need to work and learn and grow, and this service opportunity may help me with that. But what if this isn't meant to be a sacrifice exercise, but a wisdom test? What if I'm supposed to learn that I don't need to worry about solving all of this person's problems, especially when there are other people who could do the job?

The big question that most of us need to have answered most frequently is "What should I do?" Should I say "yes" or "no"? Should I help? Should I tell the person who needs help to find someone else to help them? Should I find someone to help them for them? It's not my responsibility, per se. It's not my problem. It's not my fault. I'm not obligated to help them. Or am I? Am I morally obligated to help them because it'd be a better thing to do than to tell them to ask someone else? If I die right after I make this decision, which decision will I wish I had made?

Ugh, I hate my conscience. It's always trying to get me to do things I don't want to do. I think I should help the person who may need my help today. But what if I'm wrong in that thinking? When God delegates, He does it so we have opportunities to earn blessings, including natural spiritual growth. Also, the scriptures say that if a man gives a gift grudgingly, it's the same for that person as if they had retained it. If I help this person because I feel that I have to, I can't really expect to get any blessings out of it. But if the opportunity were given to someone else... Maybe they'd get the blessing my reluctance would have thrown away. Thus, the right thing to do would be to give someone else the opportunity to earn the blessing that I wouldn't have earned myself. Or, I could change my thinking to make sure I earn the blessing, but that would be just as selfish, since I'd then get the blessing and they wouldn't. It'd be more kind of me to give this service opportunity to someone else.

I'm pretty sure that at least half of that philosophical argument is utterly selfish and/or evil. I'm pretty sure I really have no choice. If I want to do the right thing, I have to do the right thing, whether I want to do the right thing or not. But if I'm only doing the right thing because I feel that I have no choice, is that really the right reason to do it? If someone does the right thing for the wrong reason, is it still the right thing to do? I can hardly think it'd be better for them not to do the right thing, no matter what their reasons are. I should help the person, because it's the right thing to do, whether anyone gets a blessing from it or not.

So, as far as morality is concerned, I certainly ought to help out. But does that still ring true if there's someone else who'd be better for the job? Say there's a guy who needs psychiatric help. I'm not a psychiatrist. I could say things to the person which may or may not help, but to be honest, if I try to help when I'm really not qualified to, I might just make things worse. Wouldn't it be better if I stepped back and let a real psychiatrist do the talking? I can't fix computers, either. Beyond reading the error messages very carefully and asking the user "Have you tried restarting it?" there's really not much I can do. In this case, it probably wouldn't hurt to try, but it wouldn't do any good, either.

In this case, there's almost no way I could accidentally hurt the person who needs help by trying to help them. And I can almost certainly help them just as well as the next guy, so I don't have either of those excuses to fall back on, but let's go back to the tech support scenario. Say I take the computer home to work on it, and it takes me hours to find out what the problem is and fix it, but I manage to get the computer working and back to its owner the next day. Alternatively, a tech guy could take it to his workshop, find out what the problem is much faster than I could, solve the problem, and have the computer back to its owner the next day. It's the same end result for the person who owns to computer. The difference is how much effort it takes to arrive at that result and who is the one who puts forth that effort. Should I still be the one who fixes the computer, or should I tell the computer's owner to find someone else to fix it?

Thankfully, the question has just become academic. Considering the problem a second time, I found that it's not as huge a sacrifice as I feared, and well-within the level of sacrifice I'm comfortable with making. So, this moral dilemma suddenly became much less daunting, and doing the right thing (which I hope I would have concluded that I would do, regardless of sacrifice) is now something I can do with relative ease. Thank Heaven for little miracles. And for giving me the opportunity to think about this. It makes me wonder what other challenges God would have me tackle, regardless of the difficulty of making the decision to act. How much am I willing to sacrifice to do what God wants me to do? I might have failed this test with all my reluctance, but it got me to think about the test, and maybe I've learned what I should do to pass similar tests in the future. Is any sacrifice great enough to justify not following the counsel of God? If God asked me to do something really difficult, shouldn't I do it, whether it's difficult or not? It's clearer to see now that the test is over, but when the next test comes... I just hope I can remember what I learned from this one.

Priesthood Talks to be Broadcast

The church recently announced that they're going to broadcast the Priesthood Session of General Conference the way they broadcast the other sessions, and some feminist Mormons believe that this is a step toward women getting the Priesthood. There are a few thoughts in my head about this turn of events, and I thought I'd take a few minutes to share them.

It Wasn't Like It Was Secret

This isn't the first time women gained access to the Priesthood Session talks. The talks from Priesthood Sessions of previous Conferences are posted on LDS.org in both text and video form. In addition, the videos are posted on Youtube by an LDS-controlled Youtube Channel, and the text of the talks are printed in the Ensign. Any person, man or woman, member or non-member, can read or at least watch, all the talks themselves, whether those talks were given in Priesthood Session or not.

The Church Doesn't Change For Popular Opinion

This church has something very strong in common with the Catholic Church: Our truths and values don't change by popular vote. If the world had its way, a lot of things would change, but the world isn't in charge of this church - The Lord is, and His laws don't change, no matter who disagrees with them. When changes happen in the church, it's not in response to any petition, it's in response to revelation. It's God who decides when His people are ready to adopt or discontinue certain practices.

This Isn't a Big Change

What this means is that now people have the option of watching the Priesthood Session of General Conference at home with their family rather than watching it at church with their Quorum. I'm still going to go watch the session at church, mostly because we don't have satellite, but also partly because I'd be better able to focus on the talks when I'm at the actual church building. I think a lot of people will also make that decision. The main difference now is that the people who have satellite who can't get themselves to the church building (for transportation or health reasons, to list only two) will now have the option of watching the Priesthood Session at home at the same time as the rest of the Bretheren.

The church isn't spilling the beans to those who are itching to hear what goes on in our "secret" meeting - they already did that. Nor are they giving in to the demands of vocal feminists. That isn't going to happen, no matter how loudly they complain. What the church is doing with this move is reaching out to those they might not otherwise be able to reach - Those in less-fortunate circumstances who still want to hear what God has to say to them. It's a gesture of love and unity.

This is also a gesture of trust to those of us who now have a decision to make, whether to watch Priesthood Session at church or at home. God hopes that each of us will consider our options, take our decision to Him for confirmation, then follow whichever path will lead to greater joy and blessings for ourselves and our families. For me, the choice is clear. In fact, I don't even have a choice (except for whether I'm going or not). The rest of you might want to do a little thinking and praying, and then making plans. One more option has opened up to us. Is it the right option for you?

A Person Who Loves

Last Sunday, I went and saw my nephew and one of my nieces in their Sacrament Meeting Primary Presentation. They, along with their classmates sang one of my favorite songs, which I blogged about recently, If the Savior Stood Beside Me. But not only did they sing, they also performed the song in Sign Language.

In Sign Language, they have a unique way of referring to a person who does something: they give a sign for what is done, then give a sign that basically means "person who does that." Most fresh in my memory are the signs for "teacher" and "student." A teacher is a "Teach-Person," or a person who teaches. A student is a "Learn-Person," or a person who learns. When my niece and nephew signed the word for "Savior" in If The Savior Stood Beside Me, the sign that was used was "Love-Person," or a person who loves.

Also last Sunday, I gave a lesson taking most of my material from Elder Oaks' talk Followers of Christ. As followers of Christ, we strive to follow His teachings and His example; to be like He was, and I think that most Christians will agree with me when I say that one of Christ's defining characteristics was love. If we wish to follow His example, one of the best ways to do that is to learn how to love, and how to show that love.

Jesus was most likely the most loving, most compassionate person who ever lived. In Mark chapter 7, verse 24, Jesus went from one place to another "...and entered into an house, and would have no man know it..." It seemed he wanted to be alone, but in the King James Version, it says "...but he could not be hid." The Joseph Smith Translation gives us a different take on this verse. In the JST, it says He "...entered into an house, and would that no man should come unto Him..." Not a huge change, but there's more. In the JST, the problem wasn't that he couldn't be hidden, but that "...he could not deny them; for he had compassion upon all men."

Even when Jesus was tired of having swarms of people following Him, asking miracles of Him, even though He wanted to have some time to Himself, He couldn't help but help others. He couldn't stop Himself from being who He was, a person who loves. I think having that level of love would be both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing in that it helps you be a very good person, doing lots of good things, but it's also a curse because His compassion made Him put others so far before Himself, that He was willing to suffer a great deal in order to help them. Obviously, His compassion paid off for Him in the long run, but in the short-term, He gave up a great deal of His time, energy, and even His life, for others. He must have really deeply loved them. Us. He must really deeply love us.

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." -John 13:34 (Italics Added)

This sounds like a very difficult and self-sacrificing commandment to keep, but even if we can't bring ourselves to love others that much, we should try to love them as much as we can, and to try to find ways to show love for them. My hope is that all of us as Christians will strive to follow His example, so we can be, as He was and is, known as people who love.

April 2013 GC Highlights

General Conference is now less than two weeks away, which means that it's probably time to start preparing for it. LDS.org has an article with several suggestions on how we might prepare for General Conference. One of the suggestions is that we watch the highlights from the previous Conference. For your convenience, I'll embed it here.

I felt the spirit more strongly within the first few minutes of watching this video than I had in the past few days. There's a special spirit in the messages of General Conference that's inspiring and uplifting. It makes me want to be better and do good. Presently, it makes me want to get off the computer and do something productive, so I guess I'll just wrap up this blog post and follow the spirit.

Additional Scripture Not Now Known

I need to blog really quickly, but I don't have any good ideas. Once again, I turn to Facebook for a quick inspirational quote or thought. Once again, I find one that was posted by my Mom. "On September 22, 1827, Joseph Smith obtained the plates which were buried in what is known as the Hill Cumorah." The plates that he obtained were thin metal sheets, bound similarly to a book, which contained the writings of prophets that many Christians have never heard of. The book is called the Book of Mormon.

There are some who say that the Book of Mormon isn't really God's word because "All of God's words to us are in the Bible." But those who study the Bible religiously may notice something strange. I've heard that there are a few prophets named in the New Testament whose writings do not appear in the Old. Also, Jesus quoted some prophets whose names we don't know because their writings aren't in the Bible either (except what Jesus quoted), or so I'm told. If this is true, then by the Bible's own testimony, there's more to God's word than what's written in that book.

At the end of his gospel, John wrote, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written."

Clearly, there's more to the story. There's more that could have been written. And as evidenced by the Book of Mormon, some of it has been.

I believe that there are many prophets that even we Mormons don't know of. There's much more of God's word that we don't have. There are teachings that we haven't received yet, but that we will receive later on, if we're willing to listen. We may even get some new revelation and new teachings within the next two weeks.

The Latter-Day Saints are blessed with more scripture than any other church, especially if you include the teachings of our modern Prophets and Apostles, and there's still more of God's word to look forward to. But all the scripture in the world would do a man no good at all if he does not follow it. Unless we live the teachings in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and in modern revelation, we might as well not even have it. We have been given incredible blessings of scripture. May we all try to live up to their teachings so that we may prove worthy of receiving more.

On The Same Side

I saw a quote on Facebook this morning: "Many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side." -Zig Ziglar. And I thought that it applies so well with our relationship with God, too.

Sometimes bad things happen to us, and we blame God for them, but what we need to remember is that God has always been and always will be on our side. If bad things happen to us, we have to remember who is in control, how much perspective He has, and how much He loves us.

I know that at least one of my readers believe that while there's at least some good in most things, there are some things that happen that are just plain bad. I don't know whether I agree with that. While there are many things that seem all bad, especially the actions of some people and the results of those actions, I'd like to think that some good will come from everything, or at least that God can make something good come out of anything.

Sometimes God asks us to do things we don't want to do, or we want to do things God doesn't want us to do, and sometimes mental arguments ensue. We don't always see God's reasons for what He wants, but we can always be sure that He has a reason, and that He has the perspective and the wisdom to make the right choices. He loves us and He wants what's best for us, and if we follow His directions, what's best for us is what we'll get.

Maybe it's best that we don't always get what we want. Maybe it's best that some blessings come later rather than sooner. Maybe it's best that a certain trial or obstacle isn't removed from us just yet. Sometimes the works of God seem to be working against us, and that may frustrate some people sometimes. But like many marriages, our relationship with God will do better if we remember that He's on our side, and if we're wise, we'll do everything we can to stay on His.

Inertia

In physics, inertia is "the property of matter by which it retains its state of rest or its velocity along a straight line so long as it is not acted upon by an external force." -Dictionary.com

What it means that if something is moving, it'll keep moving in that direction at that speed, or if it's sitting still, it'll keep sitting still; in both cases, until something pushes or pulls at it. I would have used the word "momentum," but "inertia" seemed more inclusive.

I believe that there's such a thing as spiritual inertia. If you're already headed in the right direction, spiritually, it'll take some effort on Satan's part to get you off of it. If you find yourself headed the wrong direction, it'll take effort on your part to change your course. It also takes effort to speed up or slow down. Yet, some changes are easier to make than others - so easy, in fact, that they seem to require no effort at all. Here's why:

If you put a ball in a weightless vacuum, and threw it, it would keep going in the same direction at the same speed until it hit something. If you took that same ball to a baseball park and threw it with the same force, aiming horizontal to the ground, the ball would slow down, alter course, hit the ground, maybe bounce a few times, then roll to a stop. Most objects are not in weightless vacuums, and neither are we, not even spiritually.

Air resistance and gravity slowed down and ultimately stopped the imaginary baseball we threw in the make-believe park. Similar forces war working against us in our quest for spiritual progress. The forces of earth and hell are constantly pulling us down and holding us back, yet, like gravity and wind-resistance, they can be overcome. Though, just as with gravity and wind-resistance, it takes constant effort to continuously overcome those negative forces.

But here's the good news (or the bad news, as the case may be), gravity and wind-resistance aren't the only forces at work here. There is also inertia. Because of inertia, it takes effort to change our course and speed. The more determined we are to stay on the right path, the harder it is for Satan to pull us off-course, but because he's always trying to pull us off-course, it requires constant effort on our part just to stay the course.

On the other hand, if we're already falling, we need to fight both inertia and gravity in order to stop falling. In other words, once we've developed a bad habit, we need to resist both the force of habit and the temptations of Satan in order to change our ways.

The moral of the story is that each decision matters. Every right decision we make gives us a little push in the right direction, making it easier to make good decisions in the future. Every bad decision gives us a little push in the wrong direction, making it more likely that we'll continue to succumb to temptation. Spiritual inertia is another one of those unseen forces that can make a real difference in our spiritual lives. I hope that we will all do a little bit better at trying to make good decisions, even small ones, to help us build up powerful, positive, spiritual momentum.

Incorporating Elder Falabella

I find it hard to make out the main point of Elder Enrique R. Falabella's talk, The Home: The School of Life, but he shares a handful of axioms that I can quote while teaching from Elder Oaks' talk, including the following "I Love the Book of Mormon and My Savior, Jesus Christ," and "It Is Not Enough to Know the Scriptures; We Have to Live Them."

If I expand the "Book of Mormon" part to include all scripture, then that'll include the New Testament, which teaches us a great deal about Jesus Christ, and He, in turn, teaches us how we should live our lives. Then I can transition to "It is not enough to just know the scriptures [or even just to love them]; we [also] have to live them." Knowing and loving our Savior, Jesus Christ, are both commendable things, but it's by actually following His example and keeping His commandments that we truly become His disciples.

And with that, I have found a common link between two seemingly unrelated talks. I guess I should have paid more attention to the part of Elder Oaks' talk where he said, "All of the messages of this conference help us follow in the footsteps of our Savior, whose example and teachings define the path for every follower of Jesus Christ."

If I find that I need to fill time, I can talk for a little while about Elder Falabella's talk, and the unspoken message that his talk implies - that we should teach our children while they're young the importance of following the Savior. But more likely, I'd rather spend the extra time talking about how we can act to show the world that we are followers of Christ (as there still seems to be some confusion on that subject). I'll try to organize the thoughts I want to share into a list that I can follow while I'm sharing these messages, then I'll see where I can slip in the mini-messages that don't entirely fit under the new thesis statement. There's enough material in these two talks that I should be able to fill all the time that I'm given, especially if I think of questions ahead of time to foster discussion during the lesson. I need to get better at that skill.

All General Conference talks are good ones, and according to Elder Oaks, they all have at least one thing in common. I like teaching these kinds of lessons because there's a great deal of relevance in them. In these talks, we know that the Prophets and Apostles are speaking to us, telling us what we need to do to gain Eternal Life. I'm grateful for these messages and for that fact that God still speaks to us through His servants. We're so blessed to have so much of God's words. Yet, having God's words and even loving God's words is not enough. We also have to live them. and we can all do a little bit better at that.

If The Savior Stood Beside Me

(( I TOTALLY posted this yesterday, September 17th. I remember clicking the "Publish" button. I don't know why this wasn't put up on my blog yesterday. But in any case, here it is now. ))

Many of my favorite hymns aren't actually in the hymnal, they're in the Children's Songbook. But the hymn I'm thinking of at the moment isn't actually in either, though it did appear in the Friend in October 1993 and in the New Era in August 2007. I'm referring to Sally Deford's thought-provoking hymn If The Savior Stood Beside Me.

If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true?
Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me? 

If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say?
Would my words be true and kind if He were never far away?
Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more rev’rently
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me? 

If the Savior stood beside me, would my thoughts be clean and pure?
Would His presence give me strength and hope and courage to endure?
Would His counsel guide my actions? Would I choose more worthily
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me? 

He is always near me, though I do not see Him there,
And because He loves me dearly, I am in His watchful care,
So I’ll be the kind of person that I know I’d like to be
If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me.

In April of 2010, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave a powerful talk against sin, especially sexual sin and pornography. In that talk, he shared a thought that tends to comes to my mind when I think of this song. 

Most people in trouble end up crying, “What was I thinking?” Well, whatever they were thinking, they weren’t thinking of Christ. Yet, as members of His Church, we pledge every Sunday of our lives to take upon ourselves His name and promise to “always remember him.”

This song and this quote can remind us that Jesus Christ, our loving savior and perfect example, is always watching over us, and wants us to do good. We are often tempted by unseen forces, namely Satan and the natural man, but we can also be strengthened and guided by other unseen forces, namely Christ and the Holy Ghost. Knowing that they are with us and on our side can, as the third verse says,  "give [us] strength and hope and courage to endure" the temptations that face us, and to resist them.

Followers of Christ

I'm teaching in church again next Sunday, but in a different class. In Priesthood and Relief Society, we have a monthly lesson based on a talk or two from the most recent General Conference. The two talks I've been asked to share a lesson from are Followers of Christ by Elder Dallin H. Oaks, and The Home: The School of Life by Elder Enrique R. Falabella. I'm not sure yet what common threads I can tie between these two talks to make a lesson the is contributed to by both talks, so I may have to simply study them both until I find a thought they have in common.

Elder Oaks' talk seemed to focus on the teachings of Jesus Christ as recorded in the New Testament, and what we do, and must do, in order to be His followers. There is some question in some religious circles as to whether Mormons are Christians. To those questions, I might ask "What makes one a Christian?" I believe that a Christian is one who believes in and tries to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. While on my mission, I heard from non-members that Mormons are not Christians because supposedly the Jesus we worship is different than everyone else's Jesus, but I've yet to hear any logical explanation as to what the differences are. Speaking of the Jesus Christ described in the King James Version of the New Testament, that is the Jesus Christ I worship. If you have a problem with "my Jesus," you have a problem with that one.

While I admit that some churches disagree on the exact meanings of some of Christ's teachings, I don't think the differences are severe enough to make someone non-Christian. We can all agree on basic Christ-like qualities, such as patience, charity, goodness, and faith. And certainly Jesus taught us to be kind to one another, which kindness (I should think!) includes not insulting each other's religions. Yes, religions vary, and yes, Jesus spoke very strongly about certain religious leaders of His day, but while He has the authority to judge the world, following Him does not give us the authority to judge others. Don't most Christians believe that Jesus taught "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7: 1)? Is it really our place to tell someone else whether or not they're a real Christian?

Where We Are Willing to Go

Not sure which talk this is from, but I've got a guess or two. I'd look it up, but I'm running low on time.

What I like about this quote (besides it's initial appeal by its message of redemption) is the phrase "where you are willing to go." It's interesting that even though God loves us enough to want what's best for us, He also respects us enough to let us choose. He knows we need guidance, and He gives it to us in the form of prophets, and other wise men; He knows we need motivation, and He gives it to us in the forms of promises of blessings and warnings of hell; but He also knows we need to make our own decisions, or A) the outcome wouldn't really be fair, and B) we wouldn't learn anything, so He lets us choose. Sometimes our choices lead us in bad directions, but that doesn't change the fact that God loves us and still wants what's best for all of His children, even the worst of us. He has a Plan of Redemption, and He let's us choose whether we'll follow that plan. He's very willing to help us make the right decisions, but the choice is always ours.

Tithing - The Lord's Richest Blessings

One last post on tithing, then I'll move on to other topics. In April 2011, Elder Carl B. Pratt of the Seventy gave a talk on tithing, which he titled "The Lord's Richest Blessings." In that talk, he shared the following story:

The early 1920s in Mexico were hard times. The violent revolution had just ended. There was little cash circulating, and most of it was in silver coins. People often conducted their business through barter, or exchange of goods and services. 

One day toward the end of summer, Grandpa John came home, having completed a trade and having received as part of the deal 100 pesos in silver coins. He gave the money to Ida with instructions it was to be used to cover the upcoming school expenses of the children. 

Ida was grateful for the money but reminded John that they had not paid any tithing all summer long. They had had no cash income, but Ida reminded him that the animals had provided meat, eggs, and milk. Their garden had provided an abundance of fruits and vegetables, and they had made other trades for goods not involving cash. Ida suggested they should give the money to the bishop to cover their tithing.

The law of tithing requires ten percent of our increase, but not all goods are monetary. John and Ida hadn't  received any cash that summer until John made a trade for those pesos, but Ida knew that they had received many other kinds of blessings that could only have come from the Lord. They had had their "increase," and Ida knew they should pay tithing on it.

Now, exactly how much tithing did they owe? How much increase had they received? It would have been impossible to judge the exact amount, but my guess is that they gave more than they technically owed, and there are a few good reasons to do that. First, you don't want to estimate too low and end up short-changing the Lord. It's better to give too much than too little. And second, there's the law of compensation to consider. The more we give to God, the more He gives back. If they had only owed 80 pesos worth of tithing when they paid 100, I wouldn't be surprised at all if God gave them at least an extra 20 pesos worth of blessings to balance the accounts. God is just, fair, merciful, and generous.

But He doesn't always pay in cash. As Elder Pratt said later in the talk:

We might conclude that since we pay tithing with money, the Lord will always bless us with money. I tended to think that way as a child. I have since learned it doesn’t necessarily work that way. The Lord promises blessings to those who pay their tithing. He promises to “open … the windows of heaven, and pour … out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). I testify that He fulfills His promises, and if we faithfully pay our tithing, we will not lack for the necessities of life, but He does not promise wealth. Money and bank accounts are not His richest blessings.

No, the Lord's richest blessings are the kind that we obtain in the eternities. But thankfully, we're promised that God won't let us starve because we paid our tithing. Elder Pratt testified that, "if we faithfully pay our tithing, we will not lack for the necessities of life." He also said that when we pay our tithing, God "blesses us with wisdom to manage our limited material resources, wisdom that enables us to live better with 90 percent of our income than with 100 percent."

I don't know if God ever promised any faithful person that they'd have a lot of money. Maybe Abraham, since he was pretty rich, as I recall. But usually those who are most blessed by the Lord aren't necessarily rolling in dough. They have sufficient for their needs, and enough inner peace to be okay with have only that much. God doesn't want us to be greedy or stingy, or to split hairs while we're counting coins. God wants us to give generously, so He can give generously (though not always financially) to us.

Again, as I may have said yesterday, it's relatively easy for me to say that. I don't deal with money much, neither giving nor receiving. But I do deal in time. God gives me just as much time as He gives everyone else, and I spend it just as quickly as everyone else does. Maybe I should be more careful with where my time goes, and spend more of it doing what God would want me to do. It's not exactly tithing, but it is a way I can repay God for my blessings, and maybe God'll do some good with my time, just as He does with everybody's tithing money. We should all thank God for our many blessings, whatever form those blessings take.

Tithing - Three More Reasons

In his October, 2001 General Conference talk, "Like a Watered Garden," Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gave a number of good reasons to pay a full tithe, and the promise of blessings was only one of those reasons. Today, I'd like to relay three more good reasons that Elder Holland gave.

One reason is to declare to the Lord and to ourselves that the accumulation of worldly wealth is not the most important thing in our lives. The world sees money as something of great value - something to work for, fight over, and horde. From a mortal perspective, money is useful, valuable, and even vital. It's with money that we are able to buy our basic necessities, such as food, clothing, and shelter. But once our needs are met, do we really need more money?

Greed is a vice that gets many people to shift their priorities in the wrong direction. Rather than focussing on the true purpose of life, some people spend all the time and energy they can trying to amass more money, just to leave it all behind when they die. When we pay tithing, we remind ourselves that some things are more important than money, and it the world we live in, that reminder can be necessary from time to time.

Another reason Elder Holland gave to pay our tithing was because that money (and everything else we have, really) legitimately belongs to God. He made the Earth and is merely letting us borrow it. Through tithing, He asks that we give ten percent of whatever we get out of the earth back to Him. In reality, He's being more than fair.

I heard a story of a man who felt that he rightfully owned and had personally earned all that he possessed, so that it all belonged to him and him alone. But another man asked him where he got the strength and energy to work for what he had. He said something about fruits and vegetables. "But who grew the vegetables?" the other man asked. "Farmers," the first man replied. "Yes," said the other, "they tended the plants. But who made the plants grow?" God made the sunshine, sent the rain, and gave the plants the ability and desire to grow. All that we have or could ever have on earth rightfully belongs to God. So when He asks for His ten percent, we owe Him at least that much. In fact, we owe Him everything.

The third and last reason I wish to share is closely related to the previous one. Actually, it's so closely related to the previous reason that I think I'll lump the two together and share a different third reason instead. The original third reason was gratitude, a way to thank God for His many blessings. The new third reason is to share the wealth.

When we give money to the church, it doesn't just go into massive bank accounts and sit there and rot. It goes back out into the world and does and incredible amount of good. Feeding the poor, helping people recover from natural and other disasters, and spreading the good news of the gospel to all the world, is made possible only through generous contributions through tithes and offerings. When we find that our needs are met and we have a little surplus, while we know that others are still in want, we should do what we can to help them. Now, this is easy for me to say because I don't make much money, so I don't donate much or often, but I do pay my tithing, and my tithing does some good. I'm grateful that God, through the church, has given me an easy way to help others.

We all have blessings which we got from God, and God only asks us to share a portion of the blessings that He has given us for free. It's our responsibility as those who are blessed to go and bless others. Our tithes and offerings give us a convenient way to do that.

Tithing - A Better Investment

I was going to blog about something else this morning, but since I'm giving a lesson in church this weekend, I figured I'd better start preparing for that. The lesson is on Tithing, and as I was reading over the manual, I was thinking about value and worth. Why do we value money? Why do we value blessings? How much money are promised blessings worth?

I think that things have value if they make us happy. The greater happiness they give us and the longer that happiness lasts, the more value that thing has. If there was a candy bar that would make me sort of happy for a little while, and a cookie that would make me a little happier for a little longer, the cookie would have a higher value to me. If I were going to buy one of them, I would probably buy the cookie. But then I'd have to consider the cost.

Most things have a cost - not necessarily a cost in money, but a cost of some kind. In order to get something, you usually have to give up something else. Things usually cost money, but they can also cost time or effort. Time, money, and effort are resources that have value because they can be traded for other things that have value. You can spend time (and some money for supplies) painting a picture, and that picture can make you happy.

In the game of life, everyone is trying to get as much happiness as they can, and since there are a lot of things that can bring happiness, people go about gaining happiness in a variety of ways. Some people try to accumulate money and material possessions. Some people pursue happiness that is even more temporary (but are usually easier to get), like entertainment and "fun." And some people turn to religion for happiness, because even though religion doesn't seem to yield much happiness in the short-term plan, it does offer a great deal of happiness in the long run, though it does cost a lot of time and effort, and sometimes even money.

Most churches collect tithes and offerings to keep themselves running. After all, the buildings, books, manuals, and budgets for activities all cost money. The idea is that the buildings, books, manuals, and activities will help people along the path to greater happiness than anything else the money could have been spent on could have given them. It's a rather bold investment, but it might be a wise one.

When we die, all the money we ever earned, along with everything we've ever bought with that money, will stay behind on earth as we pass on. Since we can't carry material items with us into the beyond, we must find other things of value to spend our resources on in order to continue to have happiness after we die. Things of value in heaven may include pleasant memories and strong family relationships, so it may be wise to spend some of our resources on those. Also, God has promised eternal blessings to those who keep His commandments. Although those commandments often involve making sacrifices, if His promises are sure, making those sacrifices would be a very wise investment of resources.

In a nutshell, you can spend money on material things and have more now and less later, or you can give that money to God through tithes and offerings, and have less now, but be rewarded with more later. The question is a matter of which package of happiness is greater and will last longer than the other. Which one has a greater total value? Which one is a better investment?

Mark 1: 35 - And In The Morning...

Last night, our family continued our reading of the New Testament by starting to read the Testimony of St. Mark. In this account, Mark shares a Jesus story that I was unfamiliar with, and one verse stuck out to me that I've never noticed before. According to Mark, after Jesus called Simon/Peter and Andrew, and James and John to "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men," He went with His new disciples to the house of Simon/Peter and Andrew. But a few healings and exorcisms had occurred at this point, so that evening, a multitude gathered at this house, bringing their sick and afflicted to Jesus until "all the city was gathered together at the door." I imagine that Christ was healing the sick and casting out devils late into the night. Then came the verse that stood out to me:

And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
-Mark 1: 35

Afterward, He and His disciples went to the next town, where the healing and other miracles continued.

This one verse stood out to me mostly because I had never noticed it before. There are plenty of Bible passages, especially in the New Testament, that nearly everyone has memorized - not because we all took the time to memorize them, but because we've heard them repeated so many times. If I say "For God so loved the world," you'll know exactly what comes next. You may even know the reference. It's not because you've memorized it (unless you have), but because the world has memorized it for you, and told it to you so many times, you couldn't possibly forget. That's very much not the case with Mark 1: 35.

But you know, that could be said about most bible verses. Many of them are transitional or anecdotal, "And Jesus went from this place to that place, healing the sick and wounded, and teaching the people of such-and-such-a-place." Sure, they're essential to the narrative of the story, but they aren't very interesting.

After thinking about what Mark 1: 35 really means, it doesn't seem too interesting either - "And the next morning, well before dawn, Jesus went out, and walked to a quiet place, and prayed." - And it wouldn't be interesting to me at all, if it weren't such phenomenally good advice.

I once had a Seminary teach who swore that all the best things that ever happened in the history of the world happened in the morning. I may be exaggerating, and at the time, I thought "Oh, he's just an enthusiastic seminary teacher, trying to get his students to be enthusiastic about being up so early in the morning." But now I'm thinking that he might have had a point.

As a Boy Scout, I once went camping near Point Reyes. On that camp out, I woke up early (because I needed to water a tree) and as I walked in the pre-dawn light, with dozens of stars still clinging to the sky, the chill in the air stirred me from my mental sleep, and I couldn't help noticing how beautiful it all was. That moment was what I was thinking of as I read Mark 1: 35, and I could see why Jesus chose a moment like that to be alone and to pray. The early morning is a great time to connect with God.

I think we may all need to set aside a time - not necessarily in the morning, but that is a good time - to rest, to pray, to meditate, and to draw ourselves closer to God. I know we're all busy, and you may not have time for that most days, but if you wake up in the middle of the night, you might consider thanking God for giving you a few extra waking minutes, and use at least part of that time He has given you to strengthen your relationship with Him. Talk with Him, take a walk with Him, maybe read some scriptures with Him. I promise it'll be time well-spent. It may even be more restful than sleep itself.

I'm grateful that Jesus set such a perfect example for us. I'm grateful that the Gospel writers saw fit to include such tiny details that can help us in our daily lives. I'm grateful that the Bible, and specifically this one moment, was so miraculously well-preserved that we can still read about it an learn from it over 2000 years after it happened. It was just one seemingly inconsequential morning for Jesus, but it became a pretty valuable lesson for me.

Our Complicated Lives

I said the other day that I wanted to go back to the basics again, and that has never been more true than it is now. I sometimes feel that life is too complicated, that there's too much going on that distracts us from what's really going on. I'm sure I'm not fulfilling the purpose of my life, but in order to fix that, I need to learn what the purpose of life in general, and specifically mine, is.

Thanks to the Plan of Salvation, we have a little more perspective on the purpose of life in general. We're here to gain bodies and experience, to learn and to grow, so we can eventually become like our Heavenly Father. Yet, though that is our ultimate goal, there's no way we can reach it in this life. There must be some post-mortal preparation between us and Eternal Life, which leads me to wonder what parts of our Eternal Education can only happen here? If we can learn what it takes to be like God after we pass through the veil, what are we supposed to learn here? With that logic, I talked myself into a circle and again needed to ask what the purpose of mortal life really was.

The answer I eventually came up with some time ago is linked to trials. The trials in heaven, if there even are any, are likely to be less severe and less numerous than the trials we face here. Through our trials, we learn some lessons that can't be learned any other way, and we gain experience and strength.

It seems that we're not really here for knowledge, but for wisdom and experience. Not for book smarts, but for street smarts. Not to learn, but to practice. Granted, to have wisdom or street smarts, or to practice, we need to gain a little knowledge first. Fortunately,  'a little knowledge' is exactly how much we have, especially compared to how much we'd need in order to be like God. All we really have is the basics, no matter how "deep" we try to get. Maybe practicing the basics of how to live the gospel is really all we're here for.

But if we're just here to practice basic Christianity, what's everything else in life for? Why is there so much complexity and confusion? I can think of three people that could be responsible for everything that's confusing about life, and each of them have their own reasons for making our lives more difficult.

The first person is God. He throws confusing and difficult challenges at us because He's trying to get us to think and act for ourselves. Another complicator is Satan, who tries to distract us from what's really important by getting us to think too much about things that are not important. And the third culprit is ourselves, or rather humanity, who, in its quest to solve the world's problems, ends up making more complicated problems for humanity to solve.

Whoever's responsible for the complications in life, God has worked out a plan for all aspects of life to work for our eternal advantage. We're supposed to learn to apply gospel principles to God's complications, learn to avoid Satan's distractions, and with man-made complications, I think it's usually best to apply one or the other of the previous solutions, but the real test is to learn to recognize which is which.

Life is complicated, and I sometimes think that it's more complicated than it needs to be. I often wish that it were simpler. But I know that God is in control of everything (or at least saw it coming and found a way to turn it into a good thing), including how complicated and confusing life is sometimes. I think He's trying to teach us wisdom - trying to teach us how to apply gospel principles, even when it's hard to do the right thing, or even to know what the right thing to do is. Maybe life's problems are designed to help us figure it out.

The Best (And Worst) Parts About Being Jesus

Last night, in Family Scripture Study, a comment was made that "This (the crucifixion) is not my favorite part of this story." The general consensus was that it probably wasn't Jesus' favorite part, either. That raised the question, "What is (or "was"?) Jesus' favorite part about being Jesus?" Here are a few of the possible answers that came to mind last night:

Healing

One of Jesus' special talents was the gift of healing. Through that gift, He ended pain and suffering in many individuals, and certainly seeing the joy in the faces of those who were healed and their loved ones was a great source of joy to Jesus.

Teaching

Jesus spent the majority of His adult life teaching the gospel, sharing parables and principles in quotes that are now memorized and repeated all over the world. Through His teachings, many millions of people have been spiritually healed. If a knowledge of the eventual results of His labors, knowing that millions would be brought into the light of the gospel through His words, weren't enough to bring some joy to His heart, I don't know what would have been.

Being with Children

Perhaps my favorite answer to last night's question was this one. In many videos that show scenes from Jesus' life, there is almost always at least one scene where Jesus spends some personal time with a child, and as far as I've noticed, in those scenes, the actors portraying Jesus have always been smiling. Children have a special spirit about them, a certain purity and innocence and inherent goodness that leaves us with no doubt at all that when a young child is called home early, taken before their time, they are bound to go back to heaven, and will fit in perfectly up there. I would guess that Jesus, being as pure and good as any child, would feel a little less homesick for heaven when He was in the presence of children.

Being Merciful

As we discussed Jesus' favorite part about being Jesus, I was eventually reminded of something that I was sure one of the modern Apostles had said at one point or another, something about being merciful to those who don't deserve it or expect it. After a lot of searching, I finally found the quote. Speaking of the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:

This parable—like all parables—is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats. This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.

I was a little disappointed to be reminded that the quote wasn't a sharing of doctrinal knowledge, or even of Elder Holland's personal opinion, but rather of a thought he had heard many years ago, originally shared by who-knows-whom, but then I figured that if this thought was worth sharing over the pulpit in General Conference (in April 2012), it's certainly worth sharing on my blog.

The Least-Favorite Parts

There were and are probably lots of good parts about being Jesus Christ, our Savior. Unfortunately, there were lots of bad parts, too. Mortal life isn't a picnic for anyone, and it certainly wasn't all pleasant for Him. Being mocked and constantly challenged by the scribes and pharisees must have put Him on edge, and maybe even annoyed Him. The crucifixion, as noted above, couldn't have been a whole lot of fun, and we practically have canonical, scriptural evidence that not only was the Atonement in Gethsemane not something that Jesus was anxiously looking forward to, He all but said that He'd rather not go through with it. But He did go through with it. Jesus did what He needed to do to become what we needed Him to become, and we all owe Him everything for that.

Conclusion

Every life has both good parts and bad parts - things that we get to do and things that we have to do. The trick is to look for the positive. What are the good things in our lives that we can look forward to and/or remember, and enjoy? If Jesus had focussed on the Atonement and the Crucifixion, He probably wouldn't have enjoyed life at all, but as He was able to look forward to the Resurrection, the conversion of millions, and the opportunity He'd have to show mercy to them, it probably made the least-favorite parts of His life a little less difficult to endure.

In the words of Maria from The Sound of Music: "When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and the I don't feel so bad."

The Villains of the Crucifixion

In our family scripture study, we're getting close to the end of Matthew, which means we've been going over the events of the crucifixion (in greater detail than we might otherwise have, since we started stopping to discuss what we're reading whenever there's something we want to comment on or discuss), and something that I've noticed is that there were a lot of people involved. It wasn't just Judas and Pilate. There were a number of chief priests and Roman soldiers, not to mention a large, angry mob. There were literally dozens of people that aided in the scourging and the crucifying of Christ.

Now, I can picture one person being totally and absolutely evil, completely cold and heartless, the devil's right-hand man. There could even be a dozen such people united in the purpose of accomplishing the greatest amount of evil that could possibly be performed. But this sequence of events called for more than just a handful of utterly evil people. It required dozens of people, and I can't imagine all of them being all bad.

Pilate doesn't strike me as being a completely evil person. He was just too afraid of the mob. And while the mob was shouting "Crucify him," one person must have shouted it first, and the rest may have simply being going along with it. Maybe they were hopelessly evil, or maybe they just weren't thinking. The Roman soldiers were the ones physically performing the act, and maybe some of them were truly evil in heart, but I strongly think that at least some of them were just following orders. And I highly doubt that Judas ever meant for all of this to go so far, because he hung himself when it did.

The crucifixion happened. It was probably the greatest act of evil in the history of the world, and just about everyone listed above had a hand in it, but I really don't think they were all evil. I think they were all human. Most people are neither all good or all evil. We all have both good and evil inside us, struggling to influence our actions. Maybe all of them happened to give in to the evil spirit at the exact same time, or maybe they were all responding to  natural feelings, such as pride and fear. I don't know what was in any of their hearts when they all did what they did, but they were all on the right side in the war in heaven, weren't they? There's got to be at least some good in each of them, and I think that some of them were (or could have been) mostly good, but they simply made a bad decision at a certain point - and which of us hasn't done that?

I don't know any of them well enough to judge them. Fortunately, judging them isn't my job. I've got my own soul to worry about. I'll let the one who suffered for their sins and said "Father, forgive them," worry about theirs.

The Lord's Prayer - For Thine is the Kingdom... For Ever

...For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Matthew 9: 13

Despite all the momentum and the fresh perspective and analogies I had for the first several parts of the Lord's prayer,  it's sad to say that these last two parts kind of fizzled out. I really thought I'd have more to say about the Deliver Us From Evil part, and maybe it was just the headache keeping me from being creative, or maybe I was allowing myself to get distracted, but I really disappointed myself back there; not having anything to say.

And this part looks like it might go down about the same way. Maybe I'll come back and re-do these when I actually have something unique to say about them, but for now, I'm just going to state the obvious and/or grasp at straws.

When I started this mini-series, I said:

Though we may strive to cultivate a Father-son or Father-daughter relationship with Him, and though He is our Heavenly Friend who helps us in our times of need, we must never forget that He is, and always will be, our God, not just our "Dad," or an emergency responder to call when we're in trouble.

Today, in light of the words "for ever" in Matthew 9: 13 above, I'd like to put an emphasis in he word "always." "He is, and always will be, our God."

I haven't thought much about godhood in the eternities. Mostly, I've just been trying to get my soul into a good place by the time I pass through the veil. Taking my spiritual life one day at a time, as it were. But there was a time when I was less worried about where my soul is right now, and then I did like to think about eternity and infinity, and I remember having the thought that we will never be equal to God. Sure, we may eventually grow to the point where we would be equal to how great God is now, but by then, God and His kingdom would have grown even greater, and here's why:

Picture a beach ball and a basketball each made out of a strong, yet incredibly elastic form of rubber, like a balloon that will never pop. Now, put the basketball inside the beach ball, and run an air pump to the basketball so you can pump more air into it. Now pump it up.

As more air is added to the basketball, it becomes bigger, but it will never reach the same size of the beach ball, because as the basketball grows bigger, it displaces more air in the beach ball, causing the beach ball to grow larger as well.

Maybe (not probably, but maybe) that could serve as an explanation for why God will always be greater than us. We are part of His kingdom. As we grow, His kingdom grows. Even as we grow to the level of Godhood and we have Spirit children who eventually grow to the level of Godhood as well, our God will still be a God compared to us.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this, other than speculating deeper and deeper into the deepest "deep doctrine" I know of, but one lesson I guess we could all learn from this is that God will always be our God. No matter how big we get, God will always be bigger. No matter how much we learn, God will always know more. No matter how wise we get, God will always be wiser. And that may sound a bit discouraging - like we'll never measure up - I personally find it encouraging. This means that we'll always have a Heavenly Father we can look up to. Someone who can give us good advice and guidance when our own wisdom falls short. Someone we can always pray to when we feel the need to pray.

Now, I'm not sure this is the way it actually is, but it makes sense to me. I won't count it as gospel truth until one of the Apostles say it, but it gives me a happy ending to hope for. I personally think that I'll always need some help, and I'd like to think that God will always be willing and able to provide such help. And I'd also like to think that any growth that I achieve will help to make God's kingdom greater, as a small way to pay Him back for everything He does for me. This level of deep doctrine is probably deeper than we have to worry about in this life, and it'd probably be better if I just stuck to the basic principles of the gospel (which I need to remind myself of occasionally), and focus on learning those for now. Speculation is fun, but it's not likely to help us because A) we don't know whether it's true or not, and B) even if it is true, what are we supposed to do about it? What lesson can we apply from the knowledge that God will always be on a higher level than us? Humility? There are simpler ways to teach that principle, and the simpler methods are usually best.

I think it's time for me to go back to the basics. Again.

The Lord's Prayer - Deliver Us From Evil

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil...

Matthew 6: 13

Again, with this scripture, translations vary, and in this case, the meaning does change. In the JST, this scripture reads "And suffer us not to be led into temptation, but deliver us from evil..." The difference is that God doesn't lead us into temptation, Satan does. In this prayer, we're asking God to help us escape temptation.

This part of the prayer confuses me, to be honest. It seems to me that God would want to help us resist temptation anyway, whether we ask Him to help us or not. But as I think about it, maybe this is part of the prayer just to get us to think about it. Usually, Satan attacks us so subtly, that we don't even realize that we're being tempted. By reminding ourselves that the temptations are coming, we put ourselves in a better position to recognize them and resist them.

That's really all I've got right now, unfortunately. I have a minor headache and can't think quite as clearly as I usually do. Maybe a shower would help. Anyway, lame blog post. Sorry. Better luck next time.

The Lord's Prayer - And Forgive Us Our Trash Baskets

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Matthew 6: 12

For this verse, as with many verses of the Bible, translations vary, but the meaning stays about the same. The King James Version uses the wording I quoted about. Other versions use the word "trespasses" instead of "debts." "And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." This makes the four-year-old's interpretation somewhat logical: And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets. And, as I figure, it still doesn't change the meaning much.

In life, we all have burdens to carry - trash baskets, if you will - and we sometimes ask God to help us carry them. The weight of our baskets depends on what's in them. Life puts trash in our baskets just because life is hard. And often, we foolishly put trash in our own baskets by sinning and making other foolish mistakes. And sometimes, people put more trash in our baskets because they're jerks, or they were simply insensitive and didn't think. From whatever source, trash keeps piling up in our baskets, and it's only natural for us to feel a little anger toward the people that put trash in our baskets (including ourselves).

Yet, the Lord has taught us to forgive and seek forgiveness. We must forgive ourselves, we must forgive those who have trespassed against us, we must seek forgiveness from those that we have trespassed against (willingly or accidentally), and we must seek forgiveness from the Lord, and here's why: Forgiveness lifts burdens.

So, a person wronged you. They put a big piece of smelly, heavy trash in your basket. It's quite an unpleasant burden to carry. But resentment, anger, and bitterness are another kind of burden - one that we put in our own baskets when we feel that people have trespassed against us. When we try to hold that burden over the offender's head, we're also putting more weight on our own shoulders. But if we forgive them, or at least try to, it may not get rid of the burden they placed on us, but it will get rid of the burden of resentment that we put on ourselves.

Forgiveness is also a good thing to pass on because it helps everybody. When we trespass against someone (especially including God), that places a burden of guilt and shame on our backs, but when they forgive us, the burden of our guilt is removed.

God loves us. He wants to forgive us. He wants to help us, and He wants us to help each other, and He certainly doesn't want us to pile up more trash in our own and everyone else's baskets. Sometimes trash just happens. Sometimes it's our fault, sometimes it's so-and-so's fault, sometimes it's nobody's fault. Whoever's fault it is, we'll only add to our burdens by blaming people for them. It will make our burdens lighter if we forgive the people who are responsible for them. And that includes forgiving ourselves. It won't take all of the burden away; there will always be more trash in our baskets, but at least it'll help make our burdens more bearable, and it may help other people bear up their burdens as well.

The Lord's Prayer - Our Daily Bread

Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6: 11

Do we want to interpret this physically or spiritually? Physically, God only gave bread to one group of people, as far as I can recall, and they had very limited resources, making them unable to make their own bread. More often, God gives us opportunities to earn our bread (or gives opportunities to go look for opportunities to earn bread). Yes, miracles do happen, often through charitable donations by Christlike people, but when it comes to getting enough bread to stay alive, we can't expect mana to fall from the sky for us unless we actually need it to.

But if we branch out from the "bread" concept, the fact that we're still alive is something of a miracle. The human heart is an amazing organ, and the fact that it doesn't wear up or shut down despite the daily strain it's under has got to be one of the great miracles of creation. The fact that we still have access to breathable air and drinkable water and opportunities to earn a living are all little miracles, without which, we wouldn't physically survive. God may not be dropping bread into our laps, but He's freely giving us so much of what we need to survive, and while I don't think He'll stop giving us those blessings if we forget to ask Him to keep it up, I think we should at least thank Him for the continued opportunity to be alive.

On the spiritual side, there are even more blessings that we need from God, one that we may need to ask for in order to receive (and for this part, I'm going to try very hard not to cross into the areas of "forgive us our debts" and "deliver us from evil." Those will come later).

Let's start with peace. We live in a complicated, stressful, high-strung, and emotional world. We're constantly being pushed and pulled in every direction, and some of us never seem to get a moment's rest. Yet, Christ offers us the gospel of peace. Through Him, we can have personal peace in this life, and a more full and eternal peace in the next (if we're righteous). Inner peace is a blessing given to the righteous men and women who ask for it, and it can help us endure the trials of life.

To help us navigate our way through the trials of life, we can request to have the guidance of the holy ghost. Everyone had the Light of Christ, or a conscience, to help them recognize right from wrong, but not all of our choices are that black and white. Sometimes when we come to a fork in the road and we have to make a choice, it's not a choice between right and wrong, but between right and left. Both paths seem equally good, and we don't know what the outcome of either path will be. When faced with such a decision, we need to either flip a coin or receive direct personal revelation through the holy spirit. God knows what the results of our choices will be, and He's willing to help guide us down the right paths, but often He requires us to ask for that blessing first.

I'm sure there are other little miracles included in our daily spiritual bread, and we just need to recognize them, give thanks for them, and ask God to let them continue. God loves to bless His children, especially those who thank Him for their blessings. By asking God to grant us our daily bread, we remind ourselves that all our blessings, from the food we eat to the peace we feel to life itself, are little gifts from God. I'm grateful for the many little gifts God gives me. I know that I wouldn't be here without them.

The Lord's Prayer - Thy Will Be Done

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6: 10

I'm not going to touch that "Thy kingdom come" part, because I don't understand it. I've heard that the "Kingdom of God" and the "Kingdom of Heaven" are two different things and that one of them means God's church, which is on the earth right now, and the other one is probably in heaven right now and/or on earth during the Millennium. But since I have no idea what I'm talking about, I should probably just stop talking.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

At my first thought, this seems to be a strange thing to pray for. As a request, we're asking God to "do whatever You want," and I kind of figure that He was going to do that anyway, whether we ask Him to (or not to) or not.

For those reasons, I don't think it's a request. I think it's an acknowledgement. God has all knowledge and wisdom, and we don't. What God wants and what we want are sometimes different things. "Thy will be done" could then be an acknowledgement that God's ideas, plans, and desires are better than ours. And rather than asking Him to do whatever He wants, we're telling Him that we're okay with Him doing things His way (and perhaps subtly, subconsciously asking Him to help us be okay with it).

I think there's another aspect to this element of the prayer as well. Perhaps we're not just asking God to do His will or telling Him that we're okay with Him doing His will, but also telling Him that we're willing to do His will. Oftentimes, God's plan requires some work at the hands of His servants (us). This part of the prayer tells God that we're willing to be His servants and to strive to do His will.

Taken this way, this part of the prayer can also be a request for divine favor (including guidance, courage, strength, and if needed, a miracle) to help us to accomplish His will, since we may not be able to do it without His help.

I takes faith to acknowledge that God's ways are better than ours, and it takes humility to be willing to say "Not my will but Thine be done," but we can be certain that if we say that with a sincere heart and act courageously on the impressions we get, that God will accomplish miracles in our lives, and miracles in other's lives through us.

The Lord's Prayer - Hallowed By Thy Name

On Thursday, August 22nd, a blog called Maybe Worth Sharing shared a number of cute snippets about Children in Church, including:

One particular four-year old prayed,
"And forgive us our trash baskets
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

I don't think about the Lord's Prayer much, because we don't recite it often in the Mormon church, but since the Lord said "After this manner... pray ye," which I take to mean "Say prayers that are kind of like this," perhaps it'd be important for me to take note of exactly what was in that prayer. And even though I'd like to start with the "trash baskets" (because it's funny), I should probably start at the beginning.


After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Matthew 6: 9

"Hallowed" isn't a word we use often. Various online dictionaries define the word as meaning, holy, sacred, sanctified, consecrated, or at the very least, highly venerated. (I don't know what that means for the "Deathly Hallows." Maybe a Potter fan reading this could clear that up for us in the comments section.)

Taken literally, it seems to be saying that the name of God is sacred - That God is such an exalted being that even His name is holy. That would explain why it doesn't appear much in the scriptures, if it's even in the scriptures at all. If it were, I'm sure thousands of people would take it in vain, as they do with the words "God," "Christ," and "Jesus."

But, and this is just personal interpretation, I don't think God's name is really all that important. I mean, what's in a name? It's a word that denotes identity, but it's the Person Himself who's special, and if His name is sacred, too, it's only because of its association with Him. And I have it on good authority that "His power and glory are not diminished should we disregard, deny, or even defile His name." -President Uchtdorf, Love of God. I don't know if His name actually matters at all.

But I do know that He matters, and that we need to respect Him, which I guess includes respecting His name. To get closer to the meaning of the phrase, "Hallowed be thy name," I think it's meant to be a sign of respect to the Being to whom the pray-er is speaking. When we say that, I don't think we're saying "You've got a great name." I think it's more like "You're so great, even your Name is great." At least, that's the feeling I get from it.

Whether His name is literally sacred or not, it doesn't change the fact that He, God, is holy (or "Hallowed," if you will), and we would do well to remember that, especially when we pray to Him. Though we may strive to cultivate a Father-son or Father-daughter relationship with Him, and though He is our Heavenly Friend who helps us in our times of need, we must never forget that He is, and always will be, our God, not just our "Dad," or an emergency responder to call when we're in trouble. In order to have a healthy relationship with Him, and I might argue, in order to have a healthy life, we must remember to respect and properly worship God. And it would seem, according to the Lord's Prayer, that such respect includes giving some amount of reverence to our Father's name.

Joseph of Egypt - Trust During Trials

I've been thinking a lot about adversity and trials, why we have them, how they can be good for us, and even how they may be essential for our spiritual progress (which goes a long way toward explaining why we're all on Earth in the first place). Now that I've learned this about adversity, I think I better understand the story of Joseph who was sold into Egypt.

Joseph had a lot of bad things happen to him, none of which he deserved. Okay, maybe he could have been a little more diplomatic toward his brothers, and probably should have kept one or two of his dreams to himself, but I personally don't think that gave his brothers any right to sell him into slavery. Yet, being sold into slavery was essential for what happened next.

Joseph came to work for Potiphar, and since he, Joseph, stayed faithful to the Lord despite his trials, everything he did flourished. Because Joseph was such a good servant, Potiphar put Joseph in charge of nearly everything while he, Potiphar, went on a trip of some kind (I don't remember all the details). While Potiphar was gone, his wife tempted Joseph to sleep with her. Because he resisted her, repeatedly, she accused him of sexual assault and had him arrested. He didn't deserve to be thrown into prison, but it was essential for what happened next.

In prison, Joseph stayed faithful to the Lord and continued to prosper. When two other prisoners had strange dreams, Joseph had the God-given ability to interpret them. One of those prisoners was the Pharaoh's butler, who got rehired to the same position. Later, Pharaoh had a strange dream, and his butler knew just who to call to interpret it.

Joseph was brought to interpret the Pharaoh's dream, in which it was revealed that there would be seven years on plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph was put in charge of storing food against the coming famine, and since he had remained faithful to the Lord through all his trials, his work went as well as it always had. Egypt was able to endure through a terrible famine, and even had enough food to sell to others, including Joseph's family.

From an eternal perspective, that series of unfortunate events was probably the best thing that could have happened, but Joseph didn't have that perspective. He didn't know why those trials were happening to him or what was going to happen next any more than we do. We can't see the future, and neither could he (unless he was interpreting a dream that predicted the future). Joseph probably felt about the same about his trials as we do about ours, but Joseph was wiser than some of us might have been.

Rather than blaming God for his trials and asking "why me?" Joseph stayed faithful to the Lord through all his troubles, and his afflictions were consecrated to his gain and to the benefit of millions.

The moral of the story is that, once again, God knows what He's doing. Sometimes bad things have to happen now so that good things can happen later. And in this case, God needed Joseph to stay faithful and worthy enough to maintain the gift of interpreting dreams in order for any of the suffering to have done any good. If Joseph hadn't stayed faithful, not only would hundreds of people have starved, but he personally would never have known in this life what all of those trials were for.

In our lives, there are trials. Sometimes God closes doors on us so He can guide us through others. Sometimes our suffering helps us to become stronger, wiser people, or puts us into a position where we can do more good. There is always a purpose for every trial and affliction God allows to happen to us. Our part is to be faithful to God despite our trials, and try to fulfill the purpose God intended them to have.