D.J. Teichert, author of Lest They Forget, an article on byui.edu, recommends reviewing notes immediately after the class or lecture, 24 hours later, one week later, and a month later, for optimal retention. The Cornell Note-Taking system encourages reviewing your notes once a week. This may seem excessive, if not impossible, and I don't expect you to commit that kind of time to studying your General Conference notes, but I am sure that if you review your notes at least once after Conference, you'll get more out of them than if you don't.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Review to Remember
I almost always take notes in class, and I always take notes in General Conference, but from what I'm learning in my Pathway class, taking notes by itself isn't as effective as taking notes and reviewing them. It goes along with the principle of repetition, which President Uchtdorf taught is "a law of learning." We often need to hear something multiple times over a period of time for the message to really sink in. I'm sure that many of you are planning to take notes in General Conference. I'd encourage you to take it a step further and review your notes sometime after Conference.
D.J. Teichert, author of Lest They Forget, an article on byui.edu, recommends reviewing notes immediately after the class or lecture, 24 hours later, one week later, and a month later, for optimal retention. The Cornell Note-Taking system encourages reviewing your notes once a week. This may seem excessive, if not impossible, and I don't expect you to commit that kind of time to studying your General Conference notes, but I am sure that if you review your notes at least once after Conference, you'll get more out of them than if you don't.
D.J. Teichert, author of Lest They Forget, an article on byui.edu, recommends reviewing notes immediately after the class or lecture, 24 hours later, one week later, and a month later, for optimal retention. The Cornell Note-Taking system encourages reviewing your notes once a week. This may seem excessive, if not impossible, and I don't expect you to commit that kind of time to studying your General Conference notes, but I am sure that if you review your notes at least once after Conference, you'll get more out of them than if you don't.
Monday, September 29, 2014
Seven Plus One Tips For General Conference - Plus One Bad Reason Not to Go
The question of the day is How can we get the most out of General Conference, regular church meetings, and our personal scripture study? I was about to search LDS.org's various talks and articles to compile a list of oft-repeated tips, but by the looks of things, there's already an article with some good tips compiled for me. But before I get into their tips, I'd like to state the obvious, in case it isn't.
Tip 0: Take Notes
The human brain is, by technological standards, absolutely hopeless at remembering things. Thankfully, if all you were going to do is record the words of the talks for your memory's sake, you don't need to bother. The text of the General Conference talks will be available online sooner than you think, and there will be audio and video versions as well. For Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting, you're more on your own, but the lesson manuals and any talks or scriptures they quote will be found online, so you'll at least have access to the speakers' source materials. And for your personal study, I should think it's clear that you don't need a hand-written copy of materials you already have access to. You usually don't need to copy things down word-for-word.
You should, however, record your impressions. Promptings of the Spirit usually come only once or twice before they fall silent. Then, if we haven't recorded the promptings, their messages will be forgotten, and their value lost. In General Conference, Sacrament Meeting, and your own studies, make sure to write down anything that really stands out to you. Get it on paper before your brain forgets it, or save it to your computer before it's lost forever. You may only have one chance to record your impressions. Don't miss that chance.
And once you've recorded your spiritual impressions, you may find it beneficial to revisit them before too long. I plan on making several blog posts out of my notes from this Conference. Hopefully, that'll help me remember the key points and apply them, which brings me to the next point.
Tip 1: Look for Invitations and Encouragements
Messages from God are almost always calls to action. During this Conference, I'm sure that you'll hear, in your ears or at least your heart, some reference to what God wants you to do. Keep your ears open for such things, and write them down when you hear them. God knows what you can be and become, and He knows what you need to do to become it. Follow His guidance and you'll begin to achieve the potential He sees in you.
Tip 2: Watch for Cause-and-Effect Statements
Sometimes, it's difficult to interpret the exact meanings of prophesies. Other times, their readily spelled out for us. "If this happens, then this will happen," is about as plain as a prophesy ever gets, and when God hands us such a revelation on a silver platter, He expects us to take notice. The Savior taught in parables because He knew that not everyone would understand or accept what He was saying, and He didn't want to place the burden of knowing something on those who weren't going to act on what they would have understood had Jesus spoken plainly. God will speak plainly this General Conference. If you don't want to have the responsibility to act on what you know you're going to hear, don't go.
The prophesies we get this General Conference will likely include promised blessings for specific acts of righteousness, warnings of consequences of various sins, and perhaps even general facts about the near future, just as a "head's up." No matter what revelations we get, they'll be good to know, so long as we're prepared to act on that knowledge.
Tip 3: Prepare Questions
This really should be higher on the list, chronologically, but whatever.
It's astounding how often people don't see what's right in front of them when they don't know what they're looking for. By preparing questions before Conference and pondering them during Conference, we're far more likely to find the answers to our questions than if we walk into Conference unprepared, simply hoping for the best. Even when God is openly dispensing message after message out to all the world, He tends to expect us to put forth SOME effort to receive the blessings He has in store for us. By preparing questions and listening for the answers, we show God that we really want to learn, and it encourages Him to point out to us when His servants give the answers to our questions and help us remember them long enough to write them down.
Tip 4: Look for Lists
Speakers in General Conferences frequently use lists when they want to be sure that they've made their point. Help them make their point by listening for the lists and paying attention for them. They're usually full of valuable, if not vital, information.
Tip 5: Watch for Repeated Phrases and Overall Themes
Has it ever stood out to you how frequently multiple talks in one Conference seem to be on the same subject? That's not a coincidence. The speakers did not coordinate their messages. If they had, they might have gone for more breadth of topics rather than covering the same topic three or four times. God often uses repetition to help His messages sink in. He usually needs to, since our minds are, as noted, rather forgetful. By repeating the same phrases and thoughts multiple times, God hopes to engrave those thoughts on our memories. The General Authorities don't repeat things to fill time. They repeat things because they're important.
Tip 6: Study Particular Words, Scripture References, and Notes
Hearing a message once may teach you something. Hearing a message once, then returning to it and making it part of your personal scripture study can teach you a lot. The insights and information to be gained from General Conference cannot be absorbed in the space of only a few hours. It takes time and effort to gain deeper understanding and lasting remembrance. Like I said last Conference, the way to drink from a fire hose is to fill a swimming pool with it and drink from that. Sanitation aside, the only way to make sure you learn as much as you can from General Conference is to invest a significant amount of time into learning it.
Tip 7: Set Goals to Practice What You've Learned
Most information is useless unless you act on it, and that includes most revelations. God's advice isn't hypothetical and it isn't meant only for other people. We don't even have the doubt that I often fall back to, that God's words in the scriptures may only have applied to those to whom they were originally given. For example, we aren't all supposed to build arcs or offer burnt sacrifices. Some commandments were commandments for other people and simply don't apply to us. But that cannot be said about anything that will be said at General Conference! The messages from this General Conference have been specifically prepared for us. The commandments, warnings, and prophesies are all meant for us. They are modern revelations. They are very relevant and very applicable. If you turned on the news and heard about a natural disaster that's going to happen within hours, you wouldn't shrug it off, thinking that it must be an old report. These messages are for us! I don't know if they'll be warnings or once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, but whatever they'll be, they'll be specifically meant for us. Treat them as if God personally came down in a cloud and spoke them directly to you, and you won't be far off.
General Conference is a magnificent blessing, but with it comes a special responsibility to learn as much as we can from it and act on all that we learn. We can make the messages of this Conference a guiding influence in our lives, or we can ignore them at our own peril. Be it known that the things we'll be warned of will happen whether we listen to the warnings or not. Understand that if we don't seize the opportunities presented to us, they're going to pass us by. Remember that if you don't go to General Conference because you don't want to be responsible for knowing what you're going to hear, it's not going to go well for you. God is not so easily fooled into letting people off the hook for ignoring information that they know they're supposed to have. I have no right to call people to repentance for not acting on knowledge and wisdom they could or should have, but I can tell you that when God speaks and we don't listen, we'll be the ones to suffer for it, and we may not be the only ones.
Listen to General Conference. I can't tell you how awesome a blessing and responsibility it is.
Tip 0: Take Notes
The human brain is, by technological standards, absolutely hopeless at remembering things. Thankfully, if all you were going to do is record the words of the talks for your memory's sake, you don't need to bother. The text of the General Conference talks will be available online sooner than you think, and there will be audio and video versions as well. For Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting, you're more on your own, but the lesson manuals and any talks or scriptures they quote will be found online, so you'll at least have access to the speakers' source materials. And for your personal study, I should think it's clear that you don't need a hand-written copy of materials you already have access to. You usually don't need to copy things down word-for-word.
You should, however, record your impressions. Promptings of the Spirit usually come only once or twice before they fall silent. Then, if we haven't recorded the promptings, their messages will be forgotten, and their value lost. In General Conference, Sacrament Meeting, and your own studies, make sure to write down anything that really stands out to you. Get it on paper before your brain forgets it, or save it to your computer before it's lost forever. You may only have one chance to record your impressions. Don't miss that chance.
And once you've recorded your spiritual impressions, you may find it beneficial to revisit them before too long. I plan on making several blog posts out of my notes from this Conference. Hopefully, that'll help me remember the key points and apply them, which brings me to the next point.
Tip 1: Look for Invitations and Encouragements
Messages from God are almost always calls to action. During this Conference, I'm sure that you'll hear, in your ears or at least your heart, some reference to what God wants you to do. Keep your ears open for such things, and write them down when you hear them. God knows what you can be and become, and He knows what you need to do to become it. Follow His guidance and you'll begin to achieve the potential He sees in you.
Tip 2: Watch for Cause-and-Effect Statements
Sometimes, it's difficult to interpret the exact meanings of prophesies. Other times, their readily spelled out for us. "If this happens, then this will happen," is about as plain as a prophesy ever gets, and when God hands us such a revelation on a silver platter, He expects us to take notice. The Savior taught in parables because He knew that not everyone would understand or accept what He was saying, and He didn't want to place the burden of knowing something on those who weren't going to act on what they would have understood had Jesus spoken plainly. God will speak plainly this General Conference. If you don't want to have the responsibility to act on what you know you're going to hear, don't go.
The prophesies we get this General Conference will likely include promised blessings for specific acts of righteousness, warnings of consequences of various sins, and perhaps even general facts about the near future, just as a "head's up." No matter what revelations we get, they'll be good to know, so long as we're prepared to act on that knowledge.
Tip 3: Prepare Questions
This really should be higher on the list, chronologically, but whatever.
It's astounding how often people don't see what's right in front of them when they don't know what they're looking for. By preparing questions before Conference and pondering them during Conference, we're far more likely to find the answers to our questions than if we walk into Conference unprepared, simply hoping for the best. Even when God is openly dispensing message after message out to all the world, He tends to expect us to put forth SOME effort to receive the blessings He has in store for us. By preparing questions and listening for the answers, we show God that we really want to learn, and it encourages Him to point out to us when His servants give the answers to our questions and help us remember them long enough to write them down.
Tip 4: Look for Lists
Speakers in General Conferences frequently use lists when they want to be sure that they've made their point. Help them make their point by listening for the lists and paying attention for them. They're usually full of valuable, if not vital, information.
Tip 5: Watch for Repeated Phrases and Overall Themes
Has it ever stood out to you how frequently multiple talks in one Conference seem to be on the same subject? That's not a coincidence. The speakers did not coordinate their messages. If they had, they might have gone for more breadth of topics rather than covering the same topic three or four times. God often uses repetition to help His messages sink in. He usually needs to, since our minds are, as noted, rather forgetful. By repeating the same phrases and thoughts multiple times, God hopes to engrave those thoughts on our memories. The General Authorities don't repeat things to fill time. They repeat things because they're important.
Tip 6: Study Particular Words, Scripture References, and Notes
Hearing a message once may teach you something. Hearing a message once, then returning to it and making it part of your personal scripture study can teach you a lot. The insights and information to be gained from General Conference cannot be absorbed in the space of only a few hours. It takes time and effort to gain deeper understanding and lasting remembrance. Like I said last Conference, the way to drink from a fire hose is to fill a swimming pool with it and drink from that. Sanitation aside, the only way to make sure you learn as much as you can from General Conference is to invest a significant amount of time into learning it.
Tip 7: Set Goals to Practice What You've Learned
Most information is useless unless you act on it, and that includes most revelations. God's advice isn't hypothetical and it isn't meant only for other people. We don't even have the doubt that I often fall back to, that God's words in the scriptures may only have applied to those to whom they were originally given. For example, we aren't all supposed to build arcs or offer burnt sacrifices. Some commandments were commandments for other people and simply don't apply to us. But that cannot be said about anything that will be said at General Conference! The messages from this General Conference have been specifically prepared for us. The commandments, warnings, and prophesies are all meant for us. They are modern revelations. They are very relevant and very applicable. If you turned on the news and heard about a natural disaster that's going to happen within hours, you wouldn't shrug it off, thinking that it must be an old report. These messages are for us! I don't know if they'll be warnings or once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, but whatever they'll be, they'll be specifically meant for us. Treat them as if God personally came down in a cloud and spoke them directly to you, and you won't be far off.
General Conference is a magnificent blessing, but with it comes a special responsibility to learn as much as we can from it and act on all that we learn. We can make the messages of this Conference a guiding influence in our lives, or we can ignore them at our own peril. Be it known that the things we'll be warned of will happen whether we listen to the warnings or not. Understand that if we don't seize the opportunities presented to us, they're going to pass us by. Remember that if you don't go to General Conference because you don't want to be responsible for knowing what you're going to hear, it's not going to go well for you. God is not so easily fooled into letting people off the hook for ignoring information that they know they're supposed to have. I have no right to call people to repentance for not acting on knowledge and wisdom they could or should have, but I can tell you that when God speaks and we don't listen, we'll be the ones to suffer for it, and we may not be the only ones.
Listen to General Conference. I can't tell you how awesome a blessing and responsibility it is.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Justification vs Forgiving Ourselves
We're supposed to let go of past sins. We are supposed to forgive everyone, including ourselves. When we make a wrong choice, we shouldn't dwell on it and let it drag us down. Rather, we should put it behind us and move forward. But on the other hand, we aren't supposed to rationalize our sins as being "no big deal." We can't just sin and say "Well, that's okay," and forget it. We need to repent. Once we've repented and been forgiven by God, then we can forgive ourselves and stop worrying about it, but how can we know if we've repented enough? Where's the line between justifying our behavior and forgiving ourselves?
Sadly, I wasn't able to find much doctrine on this topic this morning. Too many of the references to Justification refer to us being justified by God. So we'll be going off of my own thoughts today. Hopefully, I'll stumble onto some gospel truth.
I think the difference starts with what, exactly, is being forgiven or justified. I'm sure we've heard the phrase "Hate the sin, but love the sinner." Though "hate" is a strong word to use, I think this may be applied to us as well. Maybe we can love ourselves enough to forgive ourselves without trying to justify our behavior. Maybe we can acknowledge that we did something wrong without believing that we're terrible people for doing it. Yes, it was a bad thing to do, and we're sorry, and we're going to try very hard to not do it again, but we don't have to beat ourselves up over it.
Repentance isn't a matter of paying off a debt (unless I'm wrong and it is). Repentance isn't punishment by which we suffer the penalty for our sins. If it were, it'd be a lot more painful. Repentance means change. D&C 58:43 says "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them." An essential element of repentance is to stop doing the sin you're repenting of. The idea isn't to justify the sins of the past, but to make sure we don't repeat them.
If we a a sin in our past, but we commit ourselves to leave it in the past, confessing our sin to God and asking His forgiveness, then, I believe, we can forgive ourselves without risking justifying our sins.
But what of the persistent sins? The ones that keep coming back, even though we try to forsake them? The bad habits and addictions? It's hard to leave those in the past, and it's to commit not to repeat the offense when we know how difficult it'll be to actually stop. So what then? Can we forgive ourselves for those sins as long as we're trying to repent of them, or do we actually need to overcome those sins before we forgive ourselves for them?
The purpose of self-forgiveness (or at least one of them) is (probably) to help us have inner peace and contentment. God doesn't want us to be miserable - Satan does. God wouldn't want us to dwell on past sins unless it was for our own good. As Alma wisely taught his son, Corianton, "And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things trouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance." If we're already repenting of our sins, we don't need to continue to feel badly about them, but if we need help repenting, maybe we do. I've been told that guilt is a God-sent emotion used to encourage us to repent. We shouldn't dull ourselves to that guilt if we're not repenting. But if we are repenting, or at least trying to, those feelings of guilt should go away naturally.
However, the guilt we felt might be mingled with or replaced by feelings of shame, which are caused by Satan to make us think that, because we have sinned, we're no good. We should try to learn the difference between feeling guilt and feeling shame, and we should learn what it means to repent and try to do it. Once we're repenting of our sins and feel that God is forgiving us, then we may be totally justified in forgiving ourselves.
Sadly, I wasn't able to find much doctrine on this topic this morning. Too many of the references to Justification refer to us being justified by God. So we'll be going off of my own thoughts today. Hopefully, I'll stumble onto some gospel truth.
I think the difference starts with what, exactly, is being forgiven or justified. I'm sure we've heard the phrase "Hate the sin, but love the sinner." Though "hate" is a strong word to use, I think this may be applied to us as well. Maybe we can love ourselves enough to forgive ourselves without trying to justify our behavior. Maybe we can acknowledge that we did something wrong without believing that we're terrible people for doing it. Yes, it was a bad thing to do, and we're sorry, and we're going to try very hard to not do it again, but we don't have to beat ourselves up over it.
Repentance isn't a matter of paying off a debt (unless I'm wrong and it is). Repentance isn't punishment by which we suffer the penalty for our sins. If it were, it'd be a lot more painful. Repentance means change. D&C 58:43 says "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them." An essential element of repentance is to stop doing the sin you're repenting of. The idea isn't to justify the sins of the past, but to make sure we don't repeat them.
If we a a sin in our past, but we commit ourselves to leave it in the past, confessing our sin to God and asking His forgiveness, then, I believe, we can forgive ourselves without risking justifying our sins.
But what of the persistent sins? The ones that keep coming back, even though we try to forsake them? The bad habits and addictions? It's hard to leave those in the past, and it's to commit not to repeat the offense when we know how difficult it'll be to actually stop. So what then? Can we forgive ourselves for those sins as long as we're trying to repent of them, or do we actually need to overcome those sins before we forgive ourselves for them?
The purpose of self-forgiveness (or at least one of them) is (probably) to help us have inner peace and contentment. God doesn't want us to be miserable - Satan does. God wouldn't want us to dwell on past sins unless it was for our own good. As Alma wisely taught his son, Corianton, "And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things trouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance." If we're already repenting of our sins, we don't need to continue to feel badly about them, but if we need help repenting, maybe we do. I've been told that guilt is a God-sent emotion used to encourage us to repent. We shouldn't dull ourselves to that guilt if we're not repenting. But if we are repenting, or at least trying to, those feelings of guilt should go away naturally.
However, the guilt we felt might be mingled with or replaced by feelings of shame, which are caused by Satan to make us think that, because we have sinned, we're no good. We should try to learn the difference between feeling guilt and feeling shame, and we should learn what it means to repent and try to do it. Once we're repenting of our sins and feel that God is forgiving us, then we may be totally justified in forgiving ourselves.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Starting the Day Studying
I've been doing this wrong. Most of the time, when I blog, I look for quick, inspirational thoughts to share, when what I really should be looking for is inspiration itself. I believe that this blog has many purposes, but one of the main purposes is to help my get my morning started on the right foot - to get me thinking about spiritual things and increasing my testimony daily. Instead, most days, I just pull something off of Facebook or LDS.org, and comment on it. Yesterday, I didn't even have time to comment much on what I'd found because I had already wasted my morning completely.
Back when this blog was young, I used to do some serious pondering and studying, and I had some really good insights that were certainly blogworthy. It seems that, since then, I've lowered my standards. Now I think it's time for me to raise them again. Tomorrow morning, I think I'll start with a question. I'm not sure what the question will be yet, but I have some time to decide. That morning, I'll start searching for an answer to the question, if I haven't done so already, and I'll report what I find out, or at least how the studying goes.
The idea is that I need to really think about these "insights" I'm sharing. Otherwise, they won't do me any good. If I just find a nice quote or photo and share that, I'll have already forgotten it by the end of the day, and it certainly won't help me set my mind on spiritual thoughts during the day. But if I start my day by actively pondering spiritual matters, and searching through answers through study and prayer, odds are, it'll stick with me for much longer.
Back when this blog was young, I used to do some serious pondering and studying, and I had some really good insights that were certainly blogworthy. It seems that, since then, I've lowered my standards. Now I think it's time for me to raise them again. Tomorrow morning, I think I'll start with a question. I'm not sure what the question will be yet, but I have some time to decide. That morning, I'll start searching for an answer to the question, if I haven't done so already, and I'll report what I find out, or at least how the studying goes.
The idea is that I need to really think about these "insights" I'm sharing. Otherwise, they won't do me any good. If I just find a nice quote or photo and share that, I'll have already forgotten it by the end of the day, and it certainly won't help me set my mind on spiritual thoughts during the day. But if I start my day by actively pondering spiritual matters, and searching through answers through study and prayer, odds are, it'll stick with me for much longer.
Friday, September 26, 2014
Guide, Not Define
One great thing about mistakes is that they can teach us important lessons. One great thing about the Atonement is that it allows us to move forward. We were meant to learn from our mistakes, not dwell on them.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
One Good Reason to Repent Right Now
People say that it's never too late to repent, but it's never too early, either. Holding on to past sins and regrets is pointless. It prolongs your misery and may make repentance more difficult when you finally get around to it. People don't usually ask forgiveness from other people immediately because people usually need time to find it in their hearts to forgive others, but I don't think God has that problem. I don't know what His concept of time is, but His concepts of love and mercy are unparalleled. He's ready to forgive us as soon as we're ready to repent. Actually, He's usually ready well before we are. So don't wait under the dark cloud of despair any longer. If you have something to repent of, repent now and let the warm light of mercy enter your life. When it comes to making peace with ourselves and our creator, and experiencing the brilliance and hope of a fresh start, sooner is better than later.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Making Sacrifices
The discussion in Institute yesterday reminded me of a principle that I learned on my mission. When we do anything for God's sake, we should treat it as an offering to God, and and try to give Him the very best we can. The Institute class was about Cain and Abel yesterday, and we talked about the difference between offering the "firstlings of [your] flock and the fat thereof" (Gen. 4:4), and offering the "fruit of the ground," "in process of time" (Gen. 4:3). It's better to give God your best and do it early than to give Him only what's left over after your harvest.
My favorite reason for accepting this principle is, admittedly, a selfish one. God rewards His faithful followers. When we make a sacrifice for God, He repays us in proportion to the offering we made. The more we give Him, the more He gives us, and His blessings are always greater than our offerings. Thinking of it in a horrifically materialistic way, it's like we're not giving God anything at all, but rather loaning it to Him, and He pays generous interest when He pays us back. Plus, the only things we can "loan" to Him are things that He is already lending to us, so really, we're just giving back things that He has given us, and in return, He gives us even more.
To clarify, the Lord's blessings are not usually material. Most often, they're much better. God has the power to give us things that no amount of money can by, such as inner peace, true understanding of gospel principles, and a good standing with Him in the day of judgment. Sacrifices have to be made to obtain those things, but I consider it an investment - an incredibly profitable investment.
When I think about keeping the commandments and abandoning sin as a way of making an offering to God, it makes me want to give Him my best efforts, not only because I expect a high return on my investment, but because I already owe Him so much that He deserves my best. I struggle with everything from deep doctrine and apparent contradictions to even the most basic principles of faith, and God has stuck with me through all of it. That means a lot to me, and I should show how much it means to me by making generous offerings. He has asked me to sacrifice a few things that I sometimes find hard to let go of, but I really should let them go (no reference intended), if only to thank Him for His patience with me so far and to show some faith that what He's offering me is more desirable than what He's asking me to give up.
Over the last few days, I've established that I should trust God and keep His commandments, even though it requires faith. Now, I've added that trusting God and keeping His commandments often requires sacrifices as well. Or maybe making sacrifices is how we show that we have faith. Any way you look at it, for me to truly follow God will require that a few sacrifices be made. It's not going to be easy, but I should try to have faith that it'll be worth it. And I should also remember who it is that's asking this sacrifice of me, and how much I owe it to Him.
My favorite reason for accepting this principle is, admittedly, a selfish one. God rewards His faithful followers. When we make a sacrifice for God, He repays us in proportion to the offering we made. The more we give Him, the more He gives us, and His blessings are always greater than our offerings. Thinking of it in a horrifically materialistic way, it's like we're not giving God anything at all, but rather loaning it to Him, and He pays generous interest when He pays us back. Plus, the only things we can "loan" to Him are things that He is already lending to us, so really, we're just giving back things that He has given us, and in return, He gives us even more.
To clarify, the Lord's blessings are not usually material. Most often, they're much better. God has the power to give us things that no amount of money can by, such as inner peace, true understanding of gospel principles, and a good standing with Him in the day of judgment. Sacrifices have to be made to obtain those things, but I consider it an investment - an incredibly profitable investment.
When I think about keeping the commandments and abandoning sin as a way of making an offering to God, it makes me want to give Him my best efforts, not only because I expect a high return on my investment, but because I already owe Him so much that He deserves my best. I struggle with everything from deep doctrine and apparent contradictions to even the most basic principles of faith, and God has stuck with me through all of it. That means a lot to me, and I should show how much it means to me by making generous offerings. He has asked me to sacrifice a few things that I sometimes find hard to let go of, but I really should let them go (no reference intended), if only to thank Him for His patience with me so far and to show some faith that what He's offering me is more desirable than what He's asking me to give up.
Over the last few days, I've established that I should trust God and keep His commandments, even though it requires faith. Now, I've added that trusting God and keeping His commandments often requires sacrifices as well. Or maybe making sacrifices is how we show that we have faith. Any way you look at it, for me to truly follow God will require that a few sacrifices be made. It's not going to be easy, but I should try to have faith that it'll be worth it. And I should also remember who it is that's asking this sacrifice of me, and how much I owe it to Him.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Faith, Trust, and Being Lawful
The answer, which seems obvious now that I think about it, is to have faith; Faith in God, and faith in my judgement of the nature of God. God is good and completely trustworthy. I can and should trust Him with my entire life and even a behavioral blank check. And if He ever turns out to be secretly evil, which He won't, because He isn't, that'll be an interesting day. It'll never happen, but if it does, I guess I'll have to make my ultimate stand then. But until then, I'm going to try to trust God completely enough to obey all of His current and future commandments, no matter what.
I don't suppose any of you would be surprised to learn that my decision to trust God completely was largely influenced by my understanding of what a Paladin would do. Paladins are not only Good, they are Lawful Good, which means that they respect authority, keep their promises, and obey the rules. Just yesterday, I was riding my bike and I violated a traffic law. I did so safely, but another biker called me out on it. At first, I was angry at the other biker for being judgmental, but then I had to acknowledge, if only to myself, that I was in the wrong. I want to be a Paladin, and Paladins obey the law. If that's not enough reason to stop for Stop signs, stay off the sidewalk, and only ride on the right (or correct) side of the street, I need only remind myself of the 12th Article of Faith.
Of course, things get interesting for Paladins when the authorities turn out to be tyrants and those to whom they made promises had tricked them into promises that, for moral reasons, the Paladin couldn't keep, but Paladins are more committed to Goodness than to Lawfulness. A Paladin cannot commit an evil act and remain a Paladin. If a Paladin does something evil, he will lose his Paladinic blessings and must seek Atonement to regain them. However, no such restrictions or penalties apply to doing something chaotic. A Paladin must be Lawful, but there are cases in which a Paladin may break the law, or even their own word. Such circumstances are extremely rare, and might only occur when the authorities are completely evil or when their God turns out to be. Such events are highly unlikely, and most of the time, a Paladin would consider them unthinkable. Paladins trust their religious leaders, and so should I. I may not know all the reasons a particular commandment was given, but I know who it came from, and I know that I can trust Him.
I don't suppose any of you would be surprised to learn that my decision to trust God completely was largely influenced by my understanding of what a Paladin would do. Paladins are not only Good, they are Lawful Good, which means that they respect authority, keep their promises, and obey the rules. Just yesterday, I was riding my bike and I violated a traffic law. I did so safely, but another biker called me out on it. At first, I was angry at the other biker for being judgmental, but then I had to acknowledge, if only to myself, that I was in the wrong. I want to be a Paladin, and Paladins obey the law. If that's not enough reason to stop for Stop signs, stay off the sidewalk, and only ride on the right (or correct) side of the street, I need only remind myself of the 12th Article of Faith.
Of course, things get interesting for Paladins when the authorities turn out to be tyrants and those to whom they made promises had tricked them into promises that, for moral reasons, the Paladin couldn't keep, but Paladins are more committed to Goodness than to Lawfulness. A Paladin cannot commit an evil act and remain a Paladin. If a Paladin does something evil, he will lose his Paladinic blessings and must seek Atonement to regain them. However, no such restrictions or penalties apply to doing something chaotic. A Paladin must be Lawful, but there are cases in which a Paladin may break the law, or even their own word. Such circumstances are extremely rare, and might only occur when the authorities are completely evil or when their God turns out to be. Such events are highly unlikely, and most of the time, a Paladin would consider them unthinkable. Paladins trust their religious leaders, and so should I. I may not know all the reasons a particular commandment was given, but I know who it came from, and I know that I can trust Him.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Obedience and Trust Issues
Over the last two days, I've heard and thought a lot about obedience, and the message that I seem to hear the most is that we must obey God's laws from the bottom of our hearts, no matter what He commands us to do or what we want to do.
I'm not sure how well I like this. I like to understand the reasons for things, and I have a certain aversion to what others might call "blind obedience." While I have faith that God and the prophets are totally trustworthy, it seems foolish to offer even them a behavioral "blank check," by promising to obey their laws, no matter what.
Then again, even if I don't trust the Prophets and Apostles well enough to pledge to obey their counsel no matter what, I can still trust God with that kind of faith. I know that God has good reasons for things. I may not like His reasons or logic all the time, but I trust that His love, wisdom, and logic are greater than mine. As the Gospel Principles manual says, I can obey God's commandments without needing to understand the reasons for them.
Yet, it still feels like a loss of freedom to me, and to willingly give up my freedom seems extremely dangerous, even to the point of being an exceptionally stupid thing to do. Who in their right minds would sign a contract without understanding and agreeing to the terms of the contract? Even if you trust the person with whom you're making this deal, that's just not something that wise people do. Is it wise to pledge to keep all of God's commandments, not knowing what He may command you to do later?
In fact, doesn't making a promise to do something without knowing exactly what it is you're agreeing to do sound an awful lot like the secret combinations we read about in the Book of Mormon? Haven't we already been warned that making open-ended promises is a really bad idea? And yet, the same God who warned us about such promises is asking us to make such a promise to Him, by pledging to obey all current and future commandments, whatever they may be. I don't mean to be divisive or incite rebellion, but it seems odd to me that God would give us freedom of choice, teach us how important it is, and then ask us to give it back to Him.
Maybe this is a test. "You know how important freedom is. Now, will you protect it, even from the being you trust more than any other being, even from me?" Actually, since the issue of trust has come up, perhaps we should evaluate whether we, ourselves, are trustworthy enough to be entrusted with the power to make our own decisions. We each know how unwise and how foolish we are. We know how ignorant we are of the future consequences of our actions. Are we sure that we want our own, blind selves to be in command of our lives? Making the question less general and more personal, I know that I don't trust my own ability to make decisions. I am in idiot. If I want my life to not be a total train wreck, I have to put in charge of it someone who is wiser than myself. Fortunately, I know the Perfect Man for the job.
So, we've come full circle. I trust God enough to obey His will, mostly because I don't trust myself or my own will to lead me where I really want to go. I trust the Prophets and Apostles because they seem like good, wise people, and they seem to have a deep devotion to God, whom I trust more than I trust myself. It seems wise to me to put total faith in God because it seems foolish for me to put faith in myself. That may not be the best reason to obey God, but it's the best reason I've got right now.
I still struggle with the commitment part, though. I feel that it's more wise to obey His will than mine right now, but can I wisely pledge to abide by that decision forever? Can I give God a behavioral blank check? I suppose what I'm really asking is that, if I pledge myself to God, and God turns out to secretly be evil (I have a pretty good imagination), would it be better for me to continue to obey God, or to break my pledge and strive to be righteous without His guidance? Is it better to keep ones word or to follow ones conscience? If it's more essential to keep ones word than it is to do good, then I don't want to make any promise such that the fulfilling of which could potentially lead to evil, which means that I don't want to promise loyalty to anyone, even God, no matter how trustworthy they seem.
Then again, if it's better to be good than to keep a foolish promise to an evil trickster, then I don't have a problem. If that's the case, I can promise loyalty to God, and if He turns out to be evil (which I highly doubt will ever happen), I can break all ties to Him and try to be righteous some other way. However, if I go into this commitment with the understanding that if He turns evil, I'll turn on Him, is it even a commitment at all?
Suppose I don't commit myself to serving God. What if, instead, I commit myself to serving the cause of good? To being good and doing good? And since God is good, and commands us to be good, I can follow His commandments, not because I'm committed to obeying Him, but because I'm committed to doing good, and He's telling me how I can best do that. Thus, even without promising to obey God no matter what, I can obey God out of a desire to do good, because I know that He commands us to do good.
It feels like cheating. It feels unfair to me to not trust God completely, when, to my knowledge, He hasn't done anything to betray that trust. I know that He's good. Why can't I just make the promise and take the risk that He isn't, especially when I know that there's actually no risk at all? Except that there is a risk. I know I can trust God because I've judged Him to be trustworthy, but can I trust my own judgement? What if my judgement was incorrect? What if He is evil, and He has just fooled everyone into thinking that He isn't? Then again, if I can't trust my judgement now, what makes me think that I can trust my judgement later? Why do I think that I could be wrong about God being good now, and think that I won't be wrong about God being evil later?
I've run out of time to talk about this now, but I'll continue to think about it. I'll probably blog about it more later.
I'm not sure how well I like this. I like to understand the reasons for things, and I have a certain aversion to what others might call "blind obedience." While I have faith that God and the prophets are totally trustworthy, it seems foolish to offer even them a behavioral "blank check," by promising to obey their laws, no matter what.
Then again, even if I don't trust the Prophets and Apostles well enough to pledge to obey their counsel no matter what, I can still trust God with that kind of faith. I know that God has good reasons for things. I may not like His reasons or logic all the time, but I trust that His love, wisdom, and logic are greater than mine. As the Gospel Principles manual says, I can obey God's commandments without needing to understand the reasons for them.
Yet, it still feels like a loss of freedom to me, and to willingly give up my freedom seems extremely dangerous, even to the point of being an exceptionally stupid thing to do. Who in their right minds would sign a contract without understanding and agreeing to the terms of the contract? Even if you trust the person with whom you're making this deal, that's just not something that wise people do. Is it wise to pledge to keep all of God's commandments, not knowing what He may command you to do later?
In fact, doesn't making a promise to do something without knowing exactly what it is you're agreeing to do sound an awful lot like the secret combinations we read about in the Book of Mormon? Haven't we already been warned that making open-ended promises is a really bad idea? And yet, the same God who warned us about such promises is asking us to make such a promise to Him, by pledging to obey all current and future commandments, whatever they may be. I don't mean to be divisive or incite rebellion, but it seems odd to me that God would give us freedom of choice, teach us how important it is, and then ask us to give it back to Him.
Maybe this is a test. "You know how important freedom is. Now, will you protect it, even from the being you trust more than any other being, even from me?" Actually, since the issue of trust has come up, perhaps we should evaluate whether we, ourselves, are trustworthy enough to be entrusted with the power to make our own decisions. We each know how unwise and how foolish we are. We know how ignorant we are of the future consequences of our actions. Are we sure that we want our own, blind selves to be in command of our lives? Making the question less general and more personal, I know that I don't trust my own ability to make decisions. I am in idiot. If I want my life to not be a total train wreck, I have to put in charge of it someone who is wiser than myself. Fortunately, I know the Perfect Man for the job.
So, we've come full circle. I trust God enough to obey His will, mostly because I don't trust myself or my own will to lead me where I really want to go. I trust the Prophets and Apostles because they seem like good, wise people, and they seem to have a deep devotion to God, whom I trust more than I trust myself. It seems wise to me to put total faith in God because it seems foolish for me to put faith in myself. That may not be the best reason to obey God, but it's the best reason I've got right now.
I still struggle with the commitment part, though. I feel that it's more wise to obey His will than mine right now, but can I wisely pledge to abide by that decision forever? Can I give God a behavioral blank check? I suppose what I'm really asking is that, if I pledge myself to God, and God turns out to secretly be evil (I have a pretty good imagination), would it be better for me to continue to obey God, or to break my pledge and strive to be righteous without His guidance? Is it better to keep ones word or to follow ones conscience? If it's more essential to keep ones word than it is to do good, then I don't want to make any promise such that the fulfilling of which could potentially lead to evil, which means that I don't want to promise loyalty to anyone, even God, no matter how trustworthy they seem.
Then again, if it's better to be good than to keep a foolish promise to an evil trickster, then I don't have a problem. If that's the case, I can promise loyalty to God, and if He turns out to be evil (which I highly doubt will ever happen), I can break all ties to Him and try to be righteous some other way. However, if I go into this commitment with the understanding that if He turns evil, I'll turn on Him, is it even a commitment at all?
Suppose I don't commit myself to serving God. What if, instead, I commit myself to serving the cause of good? To being good and doing good? And since God is good, and commands us to be good, I can follow His commandments, not because I'm committed to obeying Him, but because I'm committed to doing good, and He's telling me how I can best do that. Thus, even without promising to obey God no matter what, I can obey God out of a desire to do good, because I know that He commands us to do good.
It feels like cheating. It feels unfair to me to not trust God completely, when, to my knowledge, He hasn't done anything to betray that trust. I know that He's good. Why can't I just make the promise and take the risk that He isn't, especially when I know that there's actually no risk at all? Except that there is a risk. I know I can trust God because I've judged Him to be trustworthy, but can I trust my own judgement? What if my judgement was incorrect? What if He is evil, and He has just fooled everyone into thinking that He isn't? Then again, if I can't trust my judgement now, what makes me think that I can trust my judgement later? Why do I think that I could be wrong about God being good now, and think that I won't be wrong about God being evil later?
I've run out of time to talk about this now, but I'll continue to think about it. I'll probably blog about it more later.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
More Lessons From the Ropes Course
I know that the Bishop shared several insights, but right now, I can only remember a few of them. I share the ones I remember, and maybe more will come to me as we go.
Trust the Ropes, Trust Your Quorum
A lot of us would have been in serious danger if the ropes and cables we were using hadn't been completely trustworthy. By the same token, a few of us would be in great danger if the belayers (the people on the ground, holding the ropes) hadn't been trustworthy as well. But because the ropes were strong and the belayers were focussed, everyone on the ropes course was pretty safe. The application is that we can trust God, His commandments, and His prophets to guide us safely through life and lead us to heaven. Naturally, life is still going to be difficult, and we're almost sure to get spiritually wounded, no matter who we follow, but at least by following those we know we can trust, we won't lose our spiritual lives.
We Couldn't Do it Without Each Other
Just as no one could safely complete the course without a belayer, we can hardly make it through life without getting help from time to time. The church is designed to help us help each other, which is why we take turns teaching each other and we volunteer to serve each other. Even with inspired guidance, life is often too difficult to get through it without help.
Words of Encouragement
Sometimes, we need more help than we want. On the ropes course, their was a "confidence pole." This pole was much like a telephone pole, except that the lower rungs of the ladder were removable, to make sure no one could climb it when it wasn't safe. One of the young men who were interested in climbing the confidence pole became less and less confident the higher he got. About halfway up, he wanted to quit, but when he was told that the climbing would be easier to climb when he reached the permanent rungs, he got the courage to climb a little higher. Still, he was intimidated, but when he was reminded of how close to the top he was, he managed to reach the top of the pole and sit on it. Without the encouragement from his friends, he would probably have never made it to the top.
What Will You Wish You Had Done?
When the young man got done from the confidence pole, the Bishop encouraged him to think forward to how he would feel about that moment later in his life. Yes, it was difficult and intimidating, but later on, he would be glad that he had had the courage to conquer the confidence pole. We often don't think about the future when we're caught up in the present. What we want now is often deemed more important than what we'll want later. With wisdom, perspective, and patience, we can set our minds on the future and do what we'll later be glad that we did.
The Greater the Challenge, the Greater the Victory
I'm not sure if the Bishop shared this one or if I only thought it, but despite what I said last night, the ropes course was very challenging. Though the physical tasks might not have been terribly demanding, it was a struggle to overcome the fear of heights. The test wasn't a physical one so much as a mental one, and those who passed should be proud of themselves. I have a saying, "The Greater the Challenge, the Greater the Victory." It means that when things get really hard, that just makes it even more impressive when you overcome anyway. The harder a temptation is to resist, or the harder a commandment is to keep, or the harder any challenge is to complete, the greater our victory will be when we resist that temptation, keep that commandment, or complete that challenge. That ropes course was pretty difficult, and those young men won proper bragging rights for completing it.
What I learned most yesterday, however, is that not only is there a spiritual lesson in almost everything, there's almost certainly more than one. I easily pulled one or two spiritual lessons from that experience, but there turned out to be at least three or four more. Different people with different perspectives may learn different things from the same lesson. That's why parables are such effective ways to teach a large group of people - everyone who really thinks about the parable will see the message that they really need, whatever that message may be. The young man who climbed the confidence pole might have learned about the value and power of encouragement, or he might have learned about how persuasive peer pressure can be and how it can coax us into places where out hearts warn us not to be. That's a valuable lesson, too. There are many lessons in every experience, and that itself is yet another lesson I learned at the ropes course.
Trust the Ropes, Trust Your Quorum
A lot of us would have been in serious danger if the ropes and cables we were using hadn't been completely trustworthy. By the same token, a few of us would be in great danger if the belayers (the people on the ground, holding the ropes) hadn't been trustworthy as well. But because the ropes were strong and the belayers were focussed, everyone on the ropes course was pretty safe. The application is that we can trust God, His commandments, and His prophets to guide us safely through life and lead us to heaven. Naturally, life is still going to be difficult, and we're almost sure to get spiritually wounded, no matter who we follow, but at least by following those we know we can trust, we won't lose our spiritual lives.
We Couldn't Do it Without Each Other
Just as no one could safely complete the course without a belayer, we can hardly make it through life without getting help from time to time. The church is designed to help us help each other, which is why we take turns teaching each other and we volunteer to serve each other. Even with inspired guidance, life is often too difficult to get through it without help.
Words of Encouragement
Sometimes, we need more help than we want. On the ropes course, their was a "confidence pole." This pole was much like a telephone pole, except that the lower rungs of the ladder were removable, to make sure no one could climb it when it wasn't safe. One of the young men who were interested in climbing the confidence pole became less and less confident the higher he got. About halfway up, he wanted to quit, but when he was told that the climbing would be easier to climb when he reached the permanent rungs, he got the courage to climb a little higher. Still, he was intimidated, but when he was reminded of how close to the top he was, he managed to reach the top of the pole and sit on it. Without the encouragement from his friends, he would probably have never made it to the top.
What Will You Wish You Had Done?
When the young man got done from the confidence pole, the Bishop encouraged him to think forward to how he would feel about that moment later in his life. Yes, it was difficult and intimidating, but later on, he would be glad that he had had the courage to conquer the confidence pole. We often don't think about the future when we're caught up in the present. What we want now is often deemed more important than what we'll want later. With wisdom, perspective, and patience, we can set our minds on the future and do what we'll later be glad that we did.
The Greater the Challenge, the Greater the Victory
I'm not sure if the Bishop shared this one or if I only thought it, but despite what I said last night, the ropes course was very challenging. Though the physical tasks might not have been terribly demanding, it was a struggle to overcome the fear of heights. The test wasn't a physical one so much as a mental one, and those who passed should be proud of themselves. I have a saying, "The Greater the Challenge, the Greater the Victory." It means that when things get really hard, that just makes it even more impressive when you overcome anyway. The harder a temptation is to resist, or the harder a commandment is to keep, or the harder any challenge is to complete, the greater our victory will be when we resist that temptation, keep that commandment, or complete that challenge. That ropes course was pretty difficult, and those young men won proper bragging rights for completing it.
What I learned most yesterday, however, is that not only is there a spiritual lesson in almost everything, there's almost certainly more than one. I easily pulled one or two spiritual lessons from that experience, but there turned out to be at least three or four more. Different people with different perspectives may learn different things from the same lesson. That's why parables are such effective ways to teach a large group of people - everyone who really thinks about the parable will see the message that they really need, whatever that message may be. The young man who climbed the confidence pole might have learned about the value and power of encouragement, or he might have learned about how persuasive peer pressure can be and how it can coax us into places where out hearts warn us not to be. That's a valuable lesson, too. There are many lessons in every experience, and that itself is yet another lesson I learned at the ropes course.
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Risk at the Ropes Course
I'm late. I try to blog every morning, and when I can't blog in the morning, I try to blog as soon as I can later that day. Today, I've failed on both of those accounts, and I don't have any excuse for it except that I'm pretty tired. This morning, and most of this afternoon, I was with the Young Men of our ward, facilitating a ropes course. It's the kind of thing where you strap yourself into a harness, climb dozens of feet up into the trees, and then attempt to jump between platforms and walk across balance beams. The difficulty in such tasks is not in performing the tasks themselves, but in doing so when you're several stories off the ground.
Personally, I like climbing and balancing and jumping. I do such things for fun, whenever I feel like I can. But I don't usually do them at such great heights. It's strange that things that are easy when things seem relatively safe become extremely difficult when there's a perceived element of risk. In reality, the Young Men were safer today than I usually am when I attempt such things. They were strapped into harnesses, attached to secure ropes. Had any of them missed their jump or lost their balance, the risk of injury was actually pretty small, whereas I'm likely to turn a joint or at least get some bad scrapes one of these days.
I don't know how to pull a gospel message out of this, but it seems odd to me that tasks can be so paralyzingly frightening when they seem difficult, but are actually pretty safe, or fearlessly easy when they seem safer, but may actually be more dangerous. The magnitude of the potential injuries is much less in the latter case, but the likelihood of injury is far greater, yet I have no fear about taking that risk. On our way back from the ropes course, we saw a dry riverbed filled with granite boulders, and I had some desire to climb on them and jump from one to the other, while my desire to do such things at the actual rope course was much less.
Perhaps we could learn that things are rarely as they seem. Some things are safe, but seem dangerous while others are dangerous while appearing safe. The lesson could be in exercising good judgement, and perhaps controlling our fears so that we have fewer reservations about doing things that are actually safe, and perhaps more about doing things that are actually dangerous. Applied in a gospel setting, we could dampen our fears about keeping the commandments and taking whatever risks that involves, and magnify our fears about breaking the commandments, which is certainly more of a risk than any of us should be willing to take.
Our Bishop, who went with us and, as far as I know, made the visit to the ropes course possible, shared dozens of blogworthy, ropes-course-related insights today, beside what I just mentioned. I'll list as many as I can remember tomorrow morning. But for now, I'm due to go bed.
Personally, I like climbing and balancing and jumping. I do such things for fun, whenever I feel like I can. But I don't usually do them at such great heights. It's strange that things that are easy when things seem relatively safe become extremely difficult when there's a perceived element of risk. In reality, the Young Men were safer today than I usually am when I attempt such things. They were strapped into harnesses, attached to secure ropes. Had any of them missed their jump or lost their balance, the risk of injury was actually pretty small, whereas I'm likely to turn a joint or at least get some bad scrapes one of these days.
I don't know how to pull a gospel message out of this, but it seems odd to me that tasks can be so paralyzingly frightening when they seem difficult, but are actually pretty safe, or fearlessly easy when they seem safer, but may actually be more dangerous. The magnitude of the potential injuries is much less in the latter case, but the likelihood of injury is far greater, yet I have no fear about taking that risk. On our way back from the ropes course, we saw a dry riverbed filled with granite boulders, and I had some desire to climb on them and jump from one to the other, while my desire to do such things at the actual rope course was much less.
Perhaps we could learn that things are rarely as they seem. Some things are safe, but seem dangerous while others are dangerous while appearing safe. The lesson could be in exercising good judgement, and perhaps controlling our fears so that we have fewer reservations about doing things that are actually safe, and perhaps more about doing things that are actually dangerous. Applied in a gospel setting, we could dampen our fears about keeping the commandments and taking whatever risks that involves, and magnify our fears about breaking the commandments, which is certainly more of a risk than any of us should be willing to take.
Our Bishop, who went with us and, as far as I know, made the visit to the ropes course possible, shared dozens of blogworthy, ropes-course-related insights today, beside what I just mentioned. I'll list as many as I can remember tomorrow morning. But for now, I'm due to go bed.
Friday, September 19, 2014
"Quite the Experience"
Very early yesterday morning, my newest nephew was born. Of course, we went to visit him and his family as soon as we could, and we were pleased to hear what a wonderful baby he has been. He wasn't fussy when his siblings held him, and he hasn't been crying much, either, though we had been told that he cried a little bit when he had his first diaper change. That was understandable, as my mom had said, it must have been "quite the experience."
Since then, I've been thinking about what an experience that newborn is in for. I've thought of my own life and the experiences I've had, how my experiences have shaped my personality and helped me to grow. I don't think that Samuel has had many opportunities to show his personality yet, but I imagine that his new life will alter his personality anyway. No one goes through life unchanged.
Life itself is a great experience. Sometimes life is good, sometimes it seems terrible. For some, life is harder than it is for others. Some love life; others hate it. Whatever life experiences Samuel has over the next several decades, they are certainly going to have a strong influence on the man he goes up into and the life he ends up having hereafter. These experiences will not only comprise his mortal life; they will also have a strong impact on his eternal one. Thankfully, it's clear that his parents are up to the task of raising him well.
Life itself is "quite the experience," and I wonder how often we stop to reflect on how our lives have affected us - how they've changed us from the people we were before we were born to the people we are now. I wouldn't be too surprised if we've all changed quite a bit. Life is a life-changing experience. That's why we all came here to experience it. Samuel just started his life-changing life, and none of us know exactly how it'll turn out, but one thing is certain: whatever experiences he has, they will certainly be great ones. Our little Samuel is in for the adventure of his life.
Since then, I've been thinking about what an experience that newborn is in for. I've thought of my own life and the experiences I've had, how my experiences have shaped my personality and helped me to grow. I don't think that Samuel has had many opportunities to show his personality yet, but I imagine that his new life will alter his personality anyway. No one goes through life unchanged.
Life itself is a great experience. Sometimes life is good, sometimes it seems terrible. For some, life is harder than it is for others. Some love life; others hate it. Whatever life experiences Samuel has over the next several decades, they are certainly going to have a strong influence on the man he goes up into and the life he ends up having hereafter. These experiences will not only comprise his mortal life; they will also have a strong impact on his eternal one. Thankfully, it's clear that his parents are up to the task of raising him well.
Life itself is "quite the experience," and I wonder how often we stop to reflect on how our lives have affected us - how they've changed us from the people we were before we were born to the people we are now. I wouldn't be too surprised if we've all changed quite a bit. Life is a life-changing experience. That's why we all came here to experience it. Samuel just started his life-changing life, and none of us know exactly how it'll turn out, but one thing is certain: whatever experiences he has, they will certainly be great ones. Our little Samuel is in for the adventure of his life.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
The Night I Was a Paladin
Last Tuesday evening, as I was biking home from school, I found a library book lying on the road. Since the library was close to my home, I decided to take the book back to the library so I could get it back to its rightful owner or its rightful borrower. As I arrived at the library (I'm certain God had a hand in the timing), I overheard a conversation between another cyclist and a security guard. The cyclist didn't have a lock for her bike, and the guard was explaining that, with everything she had to keep her eyes on, she couldn't guarantee that the bike wouldn't get stolen. But I could. I carry two bike locks, which a usually use to make my bike doubly-secure. This time, I used only one lock for my bike, and let the other cyclist borrow the other.
Inside the library, I learned that the library book I'd found on the ground wasn't actually part of our library's system. It actually had belonged to another library, but it wouldn't be in that library's system either. It had been "withdrawn," and there was no way of knowing now who the book currently belonged to.
With my business at the library unsuccessfully concluded, and since the cyclist needed to stay a bit longer, I left instructions with the cyclist to leave the lock locked to the bike rack when she was done with it, and leave the key with the security guard. On my way home from the library, I left a note near where I had found the book, giving my contact information in case the book's owner should come looking for it. I later biked back out to the library to retrieve my lock and key, singing hymns and Disney songs all along the way.
Reflecting on the events of that evening, I realize that I had been on a sort of adventure, and during that adventure, I did many good things that, several months ago, I might have left undone. I'm learning, by observing my own actions, that I'm becoming more and more like a Paladin, and I love that. I'm becoming a better person, and that's really encouraging to me. It's like watching a sapling grow leaves and branches, except that the sapling is me. Watching my life from the outside, I'm proud of how I'm growing and what I'm becoming. I'm even starting to think that maybe I am a Paladin. Maybe I am a valiant, noble, virtuous son of God. I know now that I at least have the potential to be. And if I do, we all do. We all can be virtuous and good, if we decide to be and learn how to. I decided several months ago that I wanted to be a Paladin, and I'm now starting to become one. That tells me something about human potential. It may take a while, but anything is possible.
I'm glad I chose to become a Paladin. I like the change it's making in me.
Inside the library, I learned that the library book I'd found on the ground wasn't actually part of our library's system. It actually had belonged to another library, but it wouldn't be in that library's system either. It had been "withdrawn," and there was no way of knowing now who the book currently belonged to.
With my business at the library unsuccessfully concluded, and since the cyclist needed to stay a bit longer, I left instructions with the cyclist to leave the lock locked to the bike rack when she was done with it, and leave the key with the security guard. On my way home from the library, I left a note near where I had found the book, giving my contact information in case the book's owner should come looking for it. I later biked back out to the library to retrieve my lock and key, singing hymns and Disney songs all along the way.
Reflecting on the events of that evening, I realize that I had been on a sort of adventure, and during that adventure, I did many good things that, several months ago, I might have left undone. I'm learning, by observing my own actions, that I'm becoming more and more like a Paladin, and I love that. I'm becoming a better person, and that's really encouraging to me. It's like watching a sapling grow leaves and branches, except that the sapling is me. Watching my life from the outside, I'm proud of how I'm growing and what I'm becoming. I'm even starting to think that maybe I am a Paladin. Maybe I am a valiant, noble, virtuous son of God. I know now that I at least have the potential to be. And if I do, we all do. We all can be virtuous and good, if we decide to be and learn how to. I decided several months ago that I wanted to be a Paladin, and I'm now starting to become one. That tells me something about human potential. It may take a while, but anything is possible.
I'm glad I chose to become a Paladin. I like the change it's making in me.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Being Born Again - A Life-long Process
Yesterday, a Christian, after learning that I was a Christian, asked me if I felt I had been "born again." That was a difficult question for me to answer, because in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we don't really talk about being "born again" much. I'm not even 100% sure what the phrase means.
"Born again" suggests some form of rebirth, similar to what we experience as we become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or so I would imagine. The trouble is that being converted, which we do talk about frequently, is an ongoing process. You don't just become converted, and then you're done. Baptism is an important milestone in becoming converted, and it signifies a form of rebirth, but it is by no means the end of the conversion process. I have been baptized, but I wouldn't say that I have been conclusively "born again."
I answered that I hadn't been born again, but that I was being born again. The process had certainly started. It started at my baptism, if not earlier, but it hadn't been completed yet, nor do I imagine that it ever will be - not in this life, anyway. Being born again, as I understand it (which I don't), is a process in which we become more like God, and I'm not done doing that yet. I have a lot more progress to make before I stop. I have made a significant amount of progress, I'll admit, but I'm not going to sit back and say "Well, I've been 'born again' now. I guess I'm done trying to become more like my Heavenly Father." Not ever. There's always going to be more progress to make before I become exactly like Him, partly because He's constantly making progress, too.
That's what life is all about - making progress. Growing. Becoming stronger, better people. I'm still working on becoming a better person, and I think I always will be. Have I been "born again?" Yes. Am I done being "born again?" Never.
"Born again" suggests some form of rebirth, similar to what we experience as we become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or so I would imagine. The trouble is that being converted, which we do talk about frequently, is an ongoing process. You don't just become converted, and then you're done. Baptism is an important milestone in becoming converted, and it signifies a form of rebirth, but it is by no means the end of the conversion process. I have been baptized, but I wouldn't say that I have been conclusively "born again."
I answered that I hadn't been born again, but that I was being born again. The process had certainly started. It started at my baptism, if not earlier, but it hadn't been completed yet, nor do I imagine that it ever will be - not in this life, anyway. Being born again, as I understand it (which I don't), is a process in which we become more like God, and I'm not done doing that yet. I have a lot more progress to make before I stop. I have made a significant amount of progress, I'll admit, but I'm not going to sit back and say "Well, I've been 'born again' now. I guess I'm done trying to become more like my Heavenly Father." Not ever. There's always going to be more progress to make before I become exactly like Him, partly because He's constantly making progress, too.
That's what life is all about - making progress. Growing. Becoming stronger, better people. I'm still working on becoming a better person, and I think I always will be. Have I been "born again?" Yes. Am I done being "born again?" Never.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
The First Arrow
I should start carrying pencil and paper again, so I can record inspiration any time it comes to me. Yesterday, while watching the fourth episode of the first season of Downton Abbey, I and my family noted two inspirational and profound statements, and now I can only remember one of them: "No one hits a bullseye with their first arrow."
This comment was made to someone who had applied for a job as a secretary and was rejected. They had found someone "better suited and more qualified for the post." Despairing, she said that she felt that there would never be anyone less suited or less qualified than her. As a person who has had beliefs of a similar nature, I knew how she felt.
The encouraging comment reminded her, and me, of the need for perseverance in the face of failure. I'm sure you've heard the saying "if at first, you don't succeed, try, try again." The version I'm in most agreement with concludes with a phrase similar to "and then, if you fail again, give up. There's no sense in being impractical." This makes logical sense to me, yet it's a terrible motto to live by. If Thomas Edison had lived by this motto, the lightbulb would have been invented by someone else, and history would have all but forgotten Edison's name.
Sometimes, success comes only after multiple failed attempts. Such attempts can be discouraging, but they can also make success feel much more rewarding when it is finally achieved. Mastery, too, takes a significant number of attempts. I remember reading (unfortunately, I can't remember where) about the gradual attainment of perfection in terms of learning to play the piano. The logic is that failing to play the piano perfectly is no reason to stop learning altogether. Many things take endless hours of practice in order to gain the desired skills, and countless mistakes will be made along the way, but progress would be made, too, even if it's painfully slow and imperceptible.
If luck is any factor at all, which it almost always is, that adds to the complication. A rare few succeed through sheer luck when they should have failed, and some fail out of sheer luck when they rightfully should have succeeded. How can we know that we're not part of that latter group? The attempted secretary might have been the best suited and most qualified person for the position, and perhaps she would have gotten that job, if not for a whim of fate and a spell of bad luck, and if that was the case, as it might have been, she'd have all the more reason to try again.
Failure is discouraging, but it doesn't need to be final. As long as we keep trying, success may eventually come. And while we're waiting and working for success, we'll find that we're becoming far more capable people than we would have been if we had simply given up after the first failed attempt. A quiver has many arrows in it. Never give up after firing only one.
This comment was made to someone who had applied for a job as a secretary and was rejected. They had found someone "better suited and more qualified for the post." Despairing, she said that she felt that there would never be anyone less suited or less qualified than her. As a person who has had beliefs of a similar nature, I knew how she felt.
The encouraging comment reminded her, and me, of the need for perseverance in the face of failure. I'm sure you've heard the saying "if at first, you don't succeed, try, try again." The version I'm in most agreement with concludes with a phrase similar to "and then, if you fail again, give up. There's no sense in being impractical." This makes logical sense to me, yet it's a terrible motto to live by. If Thomas Edison had lived by this motto, the lightbulb would have been invented by someone else, and history would have all but forgotten Edison's name.
Sometimes, success comes only after multiple failed attempts. Such attempts can be discouraging, but they can also make success feel much more rewarding when it is finally achieved. Mastery, too, takes a significant number of attempts. I remember reading (unfortunately, I can't remember where) about the gradual attainment of perfection in terms of learning to play the piano. The logic is that failing to play the piano perfectly is no reason to stop learning altogether. Many things take endless hours of practice in order to gain the desired skills, and countless mistakes will be made along the way, but progress would be made, too, even if it's painfully slow and imperceptible.
If luck is any factor at all, which it almost always is, that adds to the complication. A rare few succeed through sheer luck when they should have failed, and some fail out of sheer luck when they rightfully should have succeeded. How can we know that we're not part of that latter group? The attempted secretary might have been the best suited and most qualified person for the position, and perhaps she would have gotten that job, if not for a whim of fate and a spell of bad luck, and if that was the case, as it might have been, she'd have all the more reason to try again.
Failure is discouraging, but it doesn't need to be final. As long as we keep trying, success may eventually come. And while we're waiting and working for success, we'll find that we're becoming far more capable people than we would have been if we had simply given up after the first failed attempt. A quiver has many arrows in it. Never give up after firing only one.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Fighting for a Worthy Prize
People who know what prize they're fighting for often have a better attitude about how hard they have to fight for it. The greater the goal is, the harder you'll be willing to fight to get it, which is fortunate, since the greatest victories often come with the greatest costs. I saw a quote on facebook that says "If you saw the size of the blessing coming, you would understand the magnitude of the battle you're fighting." If we truly understood what we're fighting for, we wouldn't feel the need to complain about how difficult the battle is, because we'd know that any hardship we have to face would be overshadowed by the prize we stand to win.
We are fighting for Eternal Life, the Greatest of All the Gifts of God. To obtain such a gift would be worth any struggle or sacrifice, which is lucky, since just as Eternal Life would be worth a lot to us to obtain it, it'd be worth just as much to Satan to keep it away from us. Gaining Eternal Life would be a very good thing for us, and since Satan doesn't want any good thing to happen to us, he's as much opposed to our Eternal Progress as we should be for it. He's fighting as hard as he can. We should be too.
Life is difficult because there's a lot at stake. We stand to lose a lot if we're not careful, but we stand to gain infinitely more if we are. Because Satan understands what stakes we're fighting for, he's giving it all he's got. If we truly understood what we were fighting for, so would we. We've all been told how important it is to be valiant and keep the commandments, but in this world, it's easy to forget. In pursuit of other goals, we sometimes lose sight of our true prize, and we sometimes put too much effort toward the wrong endeavors and too little effort toward the ones that really matter. But if we could make ourselves understand what it is that truly matters, it wouldn't be as hard to keep our eyes on the prize and to fight for it.
We face a lot of opposition, but that's okay. The prize we have in store for us is well worth fighting for, no matter how hard the fight may be.
We are fighting for Eternal Life, the Greatest of All the Gifts of God. To obtain such a gift would be worth any struggle or sacrifice, which is lucky, since just as Eternal Life would be worth a lot to us to obtain it, it'd be worth just as much to Satan to keep it away from us. Gaining Eternal Life would be a very good thing for us, and since Satan doesn't want any good thing to happen to us, he's as much opposed to our Eternal Progress as we should be for it. He's fighting as hard as he can. We should be too.
Life is difficult because there's a lot at stake. We stand to lose a lot if we're not careful, but we stand to gain infinitely more if we are. Because Satan understands what stakes we're fighting for, he's giving it all he's got. If we truly understood what we were fighting for, so would we. We've all been told how important it is to be valiant and keep the commandments, but in this world, it's easy to forget. In pursuit of other goals, we sometimes lose sight of our true prize, and we sometimes put too much effort toward the wrong endeavors and too little effort toward the ones that really matter. But if we could make ourselves understand what it is that truly matters, it wouldn't be as hard to keep our eyes on the prize and to fight for it.
We face a lot of opposition, but that's okay. The prize we have in store for us is well worth fighting for, no matter how hard the fight may be.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Credit for Trying
This morning, I was unable to blog because of technical difficulties. Now, I should be able to.
I'm grateful to know that God's okay with us not being perfect right now, and that He's patient with us. Sometimes, I feel discouraged, like I'm not making any progress, but that's okay. I'm probably making better progress than I realize, but even if I'm not, at least I'm trying. I think that all that God really asks of us is that we try. If we desire to keep the commandments, I'm sure that that counts for a lot, even if we struggle from time to time. God knows that we're not perfect, and He understands how hard it is to try to be. He sees how hard we're trying to keep His commandments, and I believe that He'll give us credit for trying. I've made a commitment to blog every morning before noon. I haven't been able to keep that commitment, but every day, I try to, and I think that that means something to Him.
I'm grateful to know that God's okay with us not being perfect right now, and that He's patient with us. Sometimes, I feel discouraged, like I'm not making any progress, but that's okay. I'm probably making better progress than I realize, but even if I'm not, at least I'm trying. I think that all that God really asks of us is that we try. If we desire to keep the commandments, I'm sure that that counts for a lot, even if we struggle from time to time. God knows that we're not perfect, and He understands how hard it is to try to be. He sees how hard we're trying to keep His commandments, and I believe that He'll give us credit for trying. I've made a commitment to blog every morning before noon. I haven't been able to keep that commitment, but every day, I try to, and I think that that means something to Him.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
How God Would Change the World
A family conversation recently reminded me of something I heard in General Conference a while back. As it turns out, what I had heard was a quote which was originally given only a few months after I was born.
God knows this, so rather than changing people by the use of external influences, He works directly on their hearts. It's commonly believed that the world is not as it should be. God could miraculously fix the world, but that really wouldn't solve the world's problems because the cause of those problems is us. Human beings have caused many of the world's problems, and I believe that we have the power to fix them, but to do so would require a change of heart, or rather, a change of a lot of hearts.
To effect such a change, society could impose strict moral and environmental laws, hoping that people's minds and hearts would change to accept the new rules, but God doesn't work like that. He would rather change our natures to help us be more loving, more thoughtful, and more righteous, so we would chose to change our behavior ourselves. God is in an interesting position of having all the power in the universe, but not actually wanting to use it. He could literally change our minds for us, but He won't. He could physically fix the world Himself, not He's not going to - not until the end, anyway. This is our Earth, and our hearts. He gave them to us. It's up to us to fix them ourselves. He'll help us, if we let Him, but the responsibility is ours.
In order for us to change our behavior, we have to want to change. In order for our neighborhoods, country, or world to change, the people that live there have to want them to change. It starts on the inside, or in other words, at the roots. If we change ourselves at the center, that change will grow outward from there.
The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.Almost everyone knows that it's more effective to kill weeds by pulling out their roots than by cutting down the parts that we can see. That's because if the root of the weed remains, it'll grow right back. The same goes with most problems, including societal ones. If we only treat the symptoms of the problem, the problem will remain, but if we can get to the cause of the problem, we can neutralize the problem altogether and thus end its effects.
- President Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign July 1989
God knows this, so rather than changing people by the use of external influences, He works directly on their hearts. It's commonly believed that the world is not as it should be. God could miraculously fix the world, but that really wouldn't solve the world's problems because the cause of those problems is us. Human beings have caused many of the world's problems, and I believe that we have the power to fix them, but to do so would require a change of heart, or rather, a change of a lot of hearts.
To effect such a change, society could impose strict moral and environmental laws, hoping that people's minds and hearts would change to accept the new rules, but God doesn't work like that. He would rather change our natures to help us be more loving, more thoughtful, and more righteous, so we would chose to change our behavior ourselves. God is in an interesting position of having all the power in the universe, but not actually wanting to use it. He could literally change our minds for us, but He won't. He could physically fix the world Himself, not He's not going to - not until the end, anyway. This is our Earth, and our hearts. He gave them to us. It's up to us to fix them ourselves. He'll help us, if we let Him, but the responsibility is ours.
In order for us to change our behavior, we have to want to change. In order for our neighborhoods, country, or world to change, the people that live there have to want them to change. It starts on the inside, or in other words, at the roots. If we change ourselves at the center, that change will grow outward from there.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Looking Back With Gratitude or Regret
A few days ago, I found a photo on Facebook that encourages people to spend more time with those they love, saying that "one day, you'll say either 'I wish I had' or 'I'm glad I did.'" The funny thing is that that's true for just about any good thing we could do. We get opportunities to do good all the time, and one day, we're going to look back and remember whether we took those opportunities or not. When I look back on my life, I want to be able to remember that I did as much good as I could have. I want to look back with gratitude toward my past self, rather than regret.I'm going to try to let that desire influence my decisions. Human nature is to make decisions based on how you feel in the moment. Wise men make decisions based on how they're going to feel about those decisions later. Some people make bad choices simply because they weren't thinking ahead.
I want to think ahead more and make decisions based on how I'll feel about those decisions later. Some times, I think that heaven and hell aren't places where we get special rewards or punishments to make us either happy or miserable. I think heaven and hell are places where we can spend a lot of time thinking about what we think of ourselves. There, we can either be proud of ourselves for the good decisions we've made, or upset with ourselves for the bad decisions we've made. We get to choose, but the tricky part is that we have to make the decisions now, long before the benefits or regret kick in.
It's hard to maintain an eternal perspective, but it's worthy trying, mostly because I know I'm going to regret it if I don't.
I want to think ahead more and make decisions based on how I'll feel about those decisions later. Some times, I think that heaven and hell aren't places where we get special rewards or punishments to make us either happy or miserable. I think heaven and hell are places where we can spend a lot of time thinking about what we think of ourselves. There, we can either be proud of ourselves for the good decisions we've made, or upset with ourselves for the bad decisions we've made. We get to choose, but the tricky part is that we have to make the decisions now, long before the benefits or regret kick in.
It's hard to maintain an eternal perspective, but it's worthy trying, mostly because I know I'm going to regret it if I don't.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
3 John 1:13-14 - Face-to-Face Communication
Part of me wants to blog about something I shared on Facebook a few days ago, another part of me wants to blog about something that happened just now, but the largest part of me just wants to blog about pretty much anything, as long as it's quick, so I can get to school. Random Scripture Time!
Bible or Book of Mormon? -flips coin- Bible.
Old or New Testament? -flips coin- New Testament.
There are... -checks- 27 books in the New Testament. Which one should we pull our scripture from? -rolls dice- The 25th one, 3rd John.
3rd John only has one chapter, so that part's easy. Which verse should we read? -rolls dice- Verse 13. It's short. I'll throw in 14 as well.
In the verses above, John notes at the end of a letter that he could write a lot more. He "had many things to write," but he decided not to write all that because he trusted that he'd soon have an opportunity to speak to his readers face to face, and he decided that that would be better. And in many ways, it is.
With face-to-face communication, you can communicate so much more than just the words of your message. You also share the tone of your voice and your physical positions. Your emotions are more easily read in person than on paper, and if emotion is what you're trying to convey, a visit, or even a phone call, would be much more powerful than just sending someone a text or an email.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say anything bad about texts or emails. It's really awesome that we have this technology, and we should use it for good as much as we can, including sending quick, loving notes to each other to strengthen and encourage each other. That's really good. But if you get the chance to bear your testimony or share your love with someone in person, that's even better. John had such an opportunity, and he didn't let it go to waste. On anniversaries like these, we get reminders that we might be separated from our loved ones sooner than we think, so we should share our love with each other, through any means at our disposal, as frequently as we can. But remember, words said and heard are more powerful than words written and read. If you love someone, tell them - face to face, if you can.
Bible or Book of Mormon? -flips coin- Bible.
Old or New Testament? -flips coin- New Testament.
There are... -checks- 27 books in the New Testament. Which one should we pull our scripture from? -rolls dice- The 25th one, 3rd John.
3rd John only has one chapter, so that part's easy. Which verse should we read? -rolls dice- Verse 13. It's short. I'll throw in 14 as well.
I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee:
But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name.
3 John 1: 13-14Have you ever heard of the Vlogbrothers? They were really big on Youtube a few years back. Basically, they were two brothers who lived in different states and really only communicated through texts and emails and such. Knowing that face-to-face communication was more personal than textual communication, they decided that, for an entire year, they would A) not send any textual communications to each other, and B) send a video-blog message to each other every day, alternating days on which they gave or received videos. Since, between the two of them, they were posting videos on Youtube every day and because, partway through the year, one of them wrote and performed a song about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was all anyone was talking about at that time, they quickly gathered a large following, and the group became a dedicated force for good in the world, collectively donating millions of dollars to charities and engaging in countless worthwhile and frequently international projects. They're awesome. And it all started when two guys decided that their relationship would be strengthened more by (semi) face-to-face communication than by continuing to just text and email each other, and boy were they right!
In the verses above, John notes at the end of a letter that he could write a lot more. He "had many things to write," but he decided not to write all that because he trusted that he'd soon have an opportunity to speak to his readers face to face, and he decided that that would be better. And in many ways, it is.
With face-to-face communication, you can communicate so much more than just the words of your message. You also share the tone of your voice and your physical positions. Your emotions are more easily read in person than on paper, and if emotion is what you're trying to convey, a visit, or even a phone call, would be much more powerful than just sending someone a text or an email.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say anything bad about texts or emails. It's really awesome that we have this technology, and we should use it for good as much as we can, including sending quick, loving notes to each other to strengthen and encourage each other. That's really good. But if you get the chance to bear your testimony or share your love with someone in person, that's even better. John had such an opportunity, and he didn't let it go to waste. On anniversaries like these, we get reminders that we might be separated from our loved ones sooner than we think, so we should share our love with each other, through any means at our disposal, as frequently as we can. But remember, words said and heard are more powerful than words written and read. If you love someone, tell them - face to face, if you can.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
My Mother is an Angel
Today is my mother's birthday, so I'd like to write this morning's blog post about her. In Elder Holland's October 2008 General Conference talk, The Ministry of Angels, he taught that:
My mother is an angel. In fact, she's the most angelic person I know. There are a number of people in my family circle that could be described as angelic, and many of them have their mother's influence to thank for that. If I am, in any way, angelic, I'm certain that I owe that trait to my mother, to whom I also owe my life, my spirituality, my hope, and all of my happiness. I would literally be nothing if she hadn't given birth to me, and I'd be less than nothing if she hadn't raised me. There is, I'll admit, some small measure of good in me, and most of it came from her.
So I'd like to wish a happy birthday to the angel I call my mother. I love you. Thank you for setting such a good, angelic example for me.
not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my [Elder Holland's] case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind.My mother is an angel, but just in case she thinks the term angelic couldn't apply to her, let me add a little bit of clarification. Angelic, a quality possessed by many women, especially mothers, does not mean perfect, which is a quality that, sadly, no mortal being possesses. Angelic, as defined in our copy of The World Book Dictionary, means "like an angel; pure, innocent, good, or lovely." No human being is perfectly pure or innocent, but as far as I can tell, my mother comes pretty close. She is also certainly a good person. No one who knows her could honestly deny that. And, though she may claim otherwise, she is lovely, and more importantly, loving. The defining characteristic of any heavenly being is love, and she exemplifies it better than anyone else I know.
My mother is an angel. In fact, she's the most angelic person I know. There are a number of people in my family circle that could be described as angelic, and many of them have their mother's influence to thank for that. If I am, in any way, angelic, I'm certain that I owe that trait to my mother, to whom I also owe my life, my spirituality, my hope, and all of my happiness. I would literally be nothing if she hadn't given birth to me, and I'd be less than nothing if she hadn't raised me. There is, I'll admit, some small measure of good in me, and most of it came from her.
So I'd like to wish a happy birthday to the angel I call my mother. I love you. Thank you for setting such a good, angelic example for me.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Trusting my Brothers
A while back, my brother, Joe, handed me some mail that had come for me. I don't usually get mail, though I do occasionally get solicitations from a group of Eagle Scouts, asking me to join their prestigious, exclusive group. When Joe told me that that was all this was, I tore it up without even looking at it. When he asked me why I tore up a piece of mail without reading it first, probably mentioning that it could have been something important, I told Joe that I trusted him. If he told me it was just a piece of junk mail, I believed that enough to take the risk that it wasn't.
A short time afterward, I casually mentioned to Ben that the water from a certain drinking fountain tasted terrible, and he recommended another drinking fountain whose water he claimed was better. When I came to the drinking fountain, I filled my water bottle with it without tasting the water first. Again, the reason was trust. I knew Ben wouldn't lie to me, so I felt sure that the water was good, even before I had tried it.
Of course, I tasted the water later by taking a drink from my water bottle, and after Joe's comment, I decided to put the torn pieces of junk mail back together so I could read it after all, just for fun, but in both cases, I found that my trust in my brothers was well-placed.
We all have some brothers who are equally trustworthy. We usually call them The Brethren, the General Authorities, or Elder or President So-And-So. They frequently tell us things that, like all things, may or may not be true. They teach us doctrine, which, like all doctrine, is either true or false. And they give us advice and counsel, which, like all advice, is either good or bad. Some people wonder how we can tell whether what they tell us is true or false. There are ways to check. We can check their words against what's found in the scriptures. If they match up, it's probably good. We can test their advice and see how it works out for us before we whole-heartedly commit to it. Or, once we've come to understand that everything they've told us that we've tested has proven to be good and true, we could simply start taking their word for it.
For me, the Brethren have developed a reputation for trustworthiness, just as my brothers have. I don't need to read the junk mail, taste the water, or double-check General Conference talks against the scriptures. As far as I'm concerned, the General Conference talks are just as good as scripture. I'd trust it to the end of the Earth.
Or would I? When you trust that information is true, you usually act on it. When I tore up my mail, I was acting on the belief that, as Joe had told me, it actually was just some junk mail. When I filled my water bottle from the untested drinking fountain, I was acting on Ben's testimony that the drinking fountain's water was good. When the Brethren tell us that it's important to, say, study the scriptures diligently every day, do I give such study the priority that befits the importance that the Brethren say it has, or do I just skim through the books and read a few verses casually, because I know I'm supposed to, but not like it's actually all that important after all?
If I truly trust the General Authorities, and they say that this or that is of vital importance to the welfare of my soul, shouldn't I then act like that thing is of vital importance to the welfare of my soul? Shouldn't I put full faith in not only the truthfulness of their words, but also in the soundness of their counsel? The Brethren give us a lot of good advice, and I don't actually follow hardly any of it. But I should. I do trust the Brethren. I should commit to trust them and their counsel, even to the end of the Earth. It takes a lot of commitment to do that, and a lot of faith, just as it took some faith to tear up the junk mail and refill my water bottle, but I trust my brothers, and I know I can trust my Brethren too.
A short time afterward, I casually mentioned to Ben that the water from a certain drinking fountain tasted terrible, and he recommended another drinking fountain whose water he claimed was better. When I came to the drinking fountain, I filled my water bottle with it without tasting the water first. Again, the reason was trust. I knew Ben wouldn't lie to me, so I felt sure that the water was good, even before I had tried it.
Of course, I tasted the water later by taking a drink from my water bottle, and after Joe's comment, I decided to put the torn pieces of junk mail back together so I could read it after all, just for fun, but in both cases, I found that my trust in my brothers was well-placed.
We all have some brothers who are equally trustworthy. We usually call them The Brethren, the General Authorities, or Elder or President So-And-So. They frequently tell us things that, like all things, may or may not be true. They teach us doctrine, which, like all doctrine, is either true or false. And they give us advice and counsel, which, like all advice, is either good or bad. Some people wonder how we can tell whether what they tell us is true or false. There are ways to check. We can check their words against what's found in the scriptures. If they match up, it's probably good. We can test their advice and see how it works out for us before we whole-heartedly commit to it. Or, once we've come to understand that everything they've told us that we've tested has proven to be good and true, we could simply start taking their word for it.
For me, the Brethren have developed a reputation for trustworthiness, just as my brothers have. I don't need to read the junk mail, taste the water, or double-check General Conference talks against the scriptures. As far as I'm concerned, the General Conference talks are just as good as scripture. I'd trust it to the end of the Earth.
Or would I? When you trust that information is true, you usually act on it. When I tore up my mail, I was acting on the belief that, as Joe had told me, it actually was just some junk mail. When I filled my water bottle from the untested drinking fountain, I was acting on Ben's testimony that the drinking fountain's water was good. When the Brethren tell us that it's important to, say, study the scriptures diligently every day, do I give such study the priority that befits the importance that the Brethren say it has, or do I just skim through the books and read a few verses casually, because I know I'm supposed to, but not like it's actually all that important after all?
If I truly trust the General Authorities, and they say that this or that is of vital importance to the welfare of my soul, shouldn't I then act like that thing is of vital importance to the welfare of my soul? Shouldn't I put full faith in not only the truthfulness of their words, but also in the soundness of their counsel? The Brethren give us a lot of good advice, and I don't actually follow hardly any of it. But I should. I do trust the Brethren. I should commit to trust them and their counsel, even to the end of the Earth. It takes a lot of commitment to do that, and a lot of faith, just as it took some faith to tear up the junk mail and refill my water bottle, but I trust my brothers, and I know I can trust my Brethren too.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Asking Questions and Explaining Concepts - The Gospel Education Cycle
Here's how this blog works; if I understand a concept (or at least think I do), I explain it to the best of my ability; if I don't understand a topic, but want to blog about it anyway, I speculate, sharing what little I know on the subject, then using logic to figure out the rest. As I speculate and suppose and look up information, I usually learn a little bit more about the subject than I previously knew, though I usually still don't understand it. As I explain topics that I already understand, I find that I understand them better and better. In our church, it's said that a person who gives a talk feels like they learn more from it than anyone who hears them do. That's sometimes also true for our blogs. So, if I understand something, I explain it. If I don't, I ask.
This, in my opinion, is a good method for multiple individuals to share knowledge. As people tell each other "I understand this," or "I don't understand that," and explain, in as great detail as possible, what they do or don't understand, they're able to share insights and ideas with each other, the pieces start coming together, and everyone's knowledge improves on virtually every topic they cover.
Learning and teaching gospel principles wasn't one of the reasons I started this blog. I started it partly for typing practice, but mostly because God told me to. Before that, it was just a place where Mom posted the messages I sent back home while I was on my mission. I'm not sure what all reasons there were for God asking me to start blogging again. Maybe teaching and learning gospel principles were some of His reasons. I'd also guess that my blogging habit is supposed to compliment my daily scripture study, which hasn't been happening. I'm sure that for some of the questions I've asked on my blog, the answers can be found in the scriptures. And already, some of the insights I've found in the scriptures have been shared on my blog. That would be a good cycle for me to continue - to ask questions and find answers, and share my thoughts on my blog. Of course, that'd mean that I'd have to start reading scriptures again, which will take a little bit of effort and planning, but it's doable, and it's a good habit to get back into.
I think I've said before that this blog is really for my benefit, and it is. It helps me to understand the gospel better, and it encourages me to make good choices, like studying the scriptures more regularly. If you, my readers, get anything out of it, that's great. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the teacher and the listener are edified, and both are brought closer to Christ.
This, in my opinion, is a good method for multiple individuals to share knowledge. As people tell each other "I understand this," or "I don't understand that," and explain, in as great detail as possible, what they do or don't understand, they're able to share insights and ideas with each other, the pieces start coming together, and everyone's knowledge improves on virtually every topic they cover.
Learning and teaching gospel principles wasn't one of the reasons I started this blog. I started it partly for typing practice, but mostly because God told me to. Before that, it was just a place where Mom posted the messages I sent back home while I was on my mission. I'm not sure what all reasons there were for God asking me to start blogging again. Maybe teaching and learning gospel principles were some of His reasons. I'd also guess that my blogging habit is supposed to compliment my daily scripture study, which hasn't been happening. I'm sure that for some of the questions I've asked on my blog, the answers can be found in the scriptures. And already, some of the insights I've found in the scriptures have been shared on my blog. That would be a good cycle for me to continue - to ask questions and find answers, and share my thoughts on my blog. Of course, that'd mean that I'd have to start reading scriptures again, which will take a little bit of effort and planning, but it's doable, and it's a good habit to get back into.
I think I've said before that this blog is really for my benefit, and it is. It helps me to understand the gospel better, and it encourages me to make good choices, like studying the scriptures more regularly. If you, my readers, get anything out of it, that's great. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the teacher and the listener are edified, and both are brought closer to Christ.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Speculation on the Immutability of God's Laws
Last night, I saw a quote that says "Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Right is right, even if you are the only one doing it." And it got me thinking, if right is always right and wrong is always wrong, is that truly constant, or could God change the rules if He wanted to?
My first thought is that God is omnipotent. He made the rules, and He can change them, right? Well, maybe not. I did a search for "unchangeable" on LDS.org, and I found a few talks and articles that said that natural and moral laws are unchangeable. If something is unchangeable, that means that it cannot be changed - by anyone. On the other hand, if a being is omnipotent, that means that they can do anything, even the impossible. This is something of a conundrum. Did God make rules that He is now incapable of bending or altering?
I doubt it. From what I know about God (and I know that a lot of non-Mormons, and maybe also a few Mormons will disagree with this), He didn't actually write the laws of the universe. We know from modern revelation that God was once a human being. As a human being, He had to obey moral laws and principles in order to qualify for godhood. If the moral laws He had to obey are the same laws that we now have to follow, then I'd guess that they truly are unchangeable, or at least that there's no reason to change them because they're already perfect. If His moral laws were different than ours are, then I'd guess that He made the rules that we now have to follow, and I'd also guess that He, as a wise being, would retain the authority to alter them at will.
The rules might be unchangeable because we certainly can't change it, and the only being who can already considers the laws to be perfect, so He won't change them. Or maybe the laws truly are unchangeable, and God must act in accordance with them, the same as any of us. In fact, that's striking a chord with me. It reminds me of a scripture, and of one man's interpretation of that scripture.
Alma 42: 25 What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.
This might be saying that the laws of God, or in this case, the law of justice, cannot be broken, and that if the law were broken somehow, it would create some kind of paradox in which God would cease to be God. I don't understand that, but I do understand another interpretation - Sure, God could break or bend the rules, because He's omnipotent like that, but if He did, He'd get in trouble for it.
I'm running out of time to articulate this very well, but in a nutshell, the standards of godhood are really high, and even if we achieve godhood ourselves, I would guess that we'd still be subject to God's authority, because He would still be our Heavenly Father. In like manner, God has a Heavenly Father whose rules, I would guess, even He still has to obey. If He broke them, He would no longer be perfect in His adherence to His God's laws, so He would be removed from His place. Theoretically. That's my take on it, anyway.
So, no, I'd say that God's laws can't be broken, not without consequences, not even by Him, partly because those laws might not really be His to begin with.
My first thought is that God is omnipotent. He made the rules, and He can change them, right? Well, maybe not. I did a search for "unchangeable" on LDS.org, and I found a few talks and articles that said that natural and moral laws are unchangeable. If something is unchangeable, that means that it cannot be changed - by anyone. On the other hand, if a being is omnipotent, that means that they can do anything, even the impossible. This is something of a conundrum. Did God make rules that He is now incapable of bending or altering?
I doubt it. From what I know about God (and I know that a lot of non-Mormons, and maybe also a few Mormons will disagree with this), He didn't actually write the laws of the universe. We know from modern revelation that God was once a human being. As a human being, He had to obey moral laws and principles in order to qualify for godhood. If the moral laws He had to obey are the same laws that we now have to follow, then I'd guess that they truly are unchangeable, or at least that there's no reason to change them because they're already perfect. If His moral laws were different than ours are, then I'd guess that He made the rules that we now have to follow, and I'd also guess that He, as a wise being, would retain the authority to alter them at will.
The rules might be unchangeable because we certainly can't change it, and the only being who can already considers the laws to be perfect, so He won't change them. Or maybe the laws truly are unchangeable, and God must act in accordance with them, the same as any of us. In fact, that's striking a chord with me. It reminds me of a scripture, and of one man's interpretation of that scripture.
Alma 42: 25 What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God.
This might be saying that the laws of God, or in this case, the law of justice, cannot be broken, and that if the law were broken somehow, it would create some kind of paradox in which God would cease to be God. I don't understand that, but I do understand another interpretation - Sure, God could break or bend the rules, because He's omnipotent like that, but if He did, He'd get in trouble for it.
I'm running out of time to articulate this very well, but in a nutshell, the standards of godhood are really high, and even if we achieve godhood ourselves, I would guess that we'd still be subject to God's authority, because He would still be our Heavenly Father. In like manner, God has a Heavenly Father whose rules, I would guess, even He still has to obey. If He broke them, He would no longer be perfect in His adherence to His God's laws, so He would be removed from His place. Theoretically. That's my take on it, anyway.
So, no, I'd say that God's laws can't be broken, not without consequences, not even by Him, partly because those laws might not really be His to begin with.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Heroes, Super or Not
After spending about two hours searching for any lousy, quick, semi-inspirational thought to share, I finally found one.
Superheroes - Are they Heroes because they are Super, or are they Super because they are Heroes?
Let's use Superman as our example. He has more superpower than just about anyone else in the business. Even in his original form, he was "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, [and] able to leap over giant buildings in a single bound," and he has only gotten more powerful since, gaining additional powers like flight, laser-vision, super-hearing, and even super-breath. But what I love most about Superman isn't any of that. In fact, for a long time, I've hated how many super-powers he had.
But my prejudice against the unbeatable son of Krypton ended when I learned more about him. He's not just super-human. He's also super good. He's well-known for defending "truth, justice, and the American way," which I didn't know before, but having seen enough episodes of the Justice League cartoons to learn his personality, I'm really impressed with him. I remember one exchange he had with a handful of young kids. One of them had been dared by the others to climb up an electrical tower, and he got stuck up there. After rescuing the boy, Superman had a heart-to-heart with all participants. He taught them about being safe, not hazing each other, and resisting peer pressure. I was impressed, first of all, that Superman took the time to save a single life, but then he took even more time to make sure that that would never happen again, and he did so in a way that was inspirational and decidedly non-violent. Even if he hadn't had any superpowers or done anything particularly "heroic," I'd call him a hero just for that.
We don't have superpowers, but any of us can be heroes. Being a hero isn't about what you can do, it's about doing what you can. The best superheroes are the ones who do as much good as they can, whether they have superhuman abilities or the same abilities as any of us. Superheroes aren't heroes just because they have abilities, in fact, to be a super hero, you don't need to have superhuman abilities at all.
Friday, September 5, 2014
Personal Peace Amidst Trials
Personal peace is different than the kind of peace we normally think of. Normally, we think of peace as being the absence of trouble, trials, and fear, but the kind of peace Christ offers us is that we will have peace in our hearts, even with the trials of life still going on. I've noticed that God doesn't often take burdens away from people as frequently as He makes people strong enough to bear their burdens. In a similar way, He's more likely to give us peace in our hearts than peace in our lives. Now, that may not seem very comforting to those of us who would rather obtain peace by having our trials removed, but God always does what's in our best interest, whether that's what we prayed for or not. But whether God calms the storms in our lives or whether He lets the storm rage while He calms His child, the effect, internally, is the same. And externally, we become stronger and more patient as we continue to endure our troubles, so it's really a win-win situation. Through the power of the Atonement and through righteous living, we can experience the positive results of trials without having to suffer too much from the negative effects of trials, whereas if our trials had simply been removed from us, sure we wouldn't suffer the effects of our trials, but we also wouldn't get the results. Through the grace of Christ, we can have our growth experiences and have peace, too. In reality, giving us personal peace during our trials is an even greater miracle than simply taking our trials away.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Another Way He Saves Us
When I think of Jesus as the Savior, I think of Him saving us from our sins. We've all transgressed God's perfect laws at some point or another, and those sins would hold us back from Eternal glory were it not for Christ's Atonement saving us from them. That's the way I've always seen it.
But yesterday, at Institute, Brother Reynolds shared an insight that gave me a fresh perspective on how Christ saves us from our sins. He did so by looking up the definition of the word "Save." According to Dictionary.com, the first definition of "Save" is "to rescue from danger or possible harm, injury, or loss: to save someone from drowning." That's what comes to my mind when I think of Christ saving us from our sins, but the second definition is just as important, if not more so. It means "to keep safe, intact, or unhurt; safeguard; preserve: God save the king."
Jesus saves us from the effects of the sins we've already committed, but He also teaches us the commandments so we can avoid committing sins in the first place. Looking at it both ways, the kind of healing that Jesus Christ offers us is both a restorative and a preventative cure. The Atonement covers the sins in our past, but Christ's teachings help us to avoid the sins in our future. By following Jesus Christ and striving to keep His commandments, we'll have few sins that we need to repent of, so we can keep our slates clean rather than needing Jesus to wipe our slates clean afterward.
But there's something that bothers me about this. If not committing a sin in the first place is the same as committing the sin and being forgiven, why do we need to try so hard to avoid sin? Can't we just have Christ forgive us, and it'll be the same as if we never committed the sins in the first place (except that this way is easier and usually more fun)? There are several reasons why this doesn't work.
First, repentance isn't easy. An article on LDS.org says that "repentance is more than simply acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness." The next paragraph in the article expressly says that repentance requires effort. I personally believe that it's easier to avoid sin than to effectually repent of them, though neither of those things are easy.
Second, I'd like to address the matter of "fun." Some sins are fun, or popular, or simply more appealing than keeping the commandments forbidding them. Having fun and feeling popular are good feelings, but en even better feeling is the feeling of purity and worthiness, or in other words, joy. Eternal joy is what God offers those who keep His commandments. Fleeting fun is what Satan offers those who break them. And get this: You can keep the commandments and have fun, if you pursue such fun in wholesome ways, such as playing good, clean games with your family and friends. My family and I had fun camping a few weekends ago, and last weekend, we had fun at the Ward Dance and Game Night, and we didn't have to break any commandments to do so.
Also, repenting of a sin is not exactly the same as never committing the sin in the first place, just as making a mistake on a paper and erasing the mistake isn't the same as never having made the mistake to begin with. There will be some residue of the mistakes left behind after the erasing. Even if it's only a memory, that memory can give us feelings of guilt and shame, whereas if we kept the commandment, the memory of that good decision can fill us with pride (and I mean the good kind of pride, being proud of yourself. That's a good feeling, in my opinion).
It is better to avoid sins than to have to repent of them, and fortunately, Christ made it possible for us to do both. We have to do both in order to make it to the Celestial Kingdom, since we have to repent of all our past sins and we have to avoid such sins in the future in order to have truly repented of them. By repenting of sins and avoiding them, we can gradually grow to become more like God, and that's what we're all ultimately working toward. I'm grateful that Christ helps us with both.
But yesterday, at Institute, Brother Reynolds shared an insight that gave me a fresh perspective on how Christ saves us from our sins. He did so by looking up the definition of the word "Save." According to Dictionary.com, the first definition of "Save" is "to rescue from danger or possible harm, injury, or loss: to save someone from drowning." That's what comes to my mind when I think of Christ saving us from our sins, but the second definition is just as important, if not more so. It means "to keep safe, intact, or unhurt; safeguard; preserve: God save the king."
Jesus saves us from the effects of the sins we've already committed, but He also teaches us the commandments so we can avoid committing sins in the first place. Looking at it both ways, the kind of healing that Jesus Christ offers us is both a restorative and a preventative cure. The Atonement covers the sins in our past, but Christ's teachings help us to avoid the sins in our future. By following Jesus Christ and striving to keep His commandments, we'll have few sins that we need to repent of, so we can keep our slates clean rather than needing Jesus to wipe our slates clean afterward.
But there's something that bothers me about this. If not committing a sin in the first place is the same as committing the sin and being forgiven, why do we need to try so hard to avoid sin? Can't we just have Christ forgive us, and it'll be the same as if we never committed the sins in the first place (except that this way is easier and usually more fun)? There are several reasons why this doesn't work.
First, repentance isn't easy. An article on LDS.org says that "repentance is more than simply acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness." The next paragraph in the article expressly says that repentance requires effort. I personally believe that it's easier to avoid sin than to effectually repent of them, though neither of those things are easy.
Second, I'd like to address the matter of "fun." Some sins are fun, or popular, or simply more appealing than keeping the commandments forbidding them. Having fun and feeling popular are good feelings, but en even better feeling is the feeling of purity and worthiness, or in other words, joy. Eternal joy is what God offers those who keep His commandments. Fleeting fun is what Satan offers those who break them. And get this: You can keep the commandments and have fun, if you pursue such fun in wholesome ways, such as playing good, clean games with your family and friends. My family and I had fun camping a few weekends ago, and last weekend, we had fun at the Ward Dance and Game Night, and we didn't have to break any commandments to do so.
Also, repenting of a sin is not exactly the same as never committing the sin in the first place, just as making a mistake on a paper and erasing the mistake isn't the same as never having made the mistake to begin with. There will be some residue of the mistakes left behind after the erasing. Even if it's only a memory, that memory can give us feelings of guilt and shame, whereas if we kept the commandment, the memory of that good decision can fill us with pride (and I mean the good kind of pride, being proud of yourself. That's a good feeling, in my opinion).
It is better to avoid sins than to have to repent of them, and fortunately, Christ made it possible for us to do both. We have to do both in order to make it to the Celestial Kingdom, since we have to repent of all our past sins and we have to avoid such sins in the future in order to have truly repented of them. By repenting of sins and avoiding them, we can gradually grow to become more like God, and that's what we're all ultimately working toward. I'm grateful that Christ helps us with both.
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
A Motivational Reminder
Yesterday, while I was on my way to school, I saw a bunch of papers scattered on the road. I figured that they belonged to someone, and some of them looked pretty important. Still, I wanted to get to class on time, so I almost rode past them, but then I thought "Are you a Paladin or not?" So, I stopped my bike and dodged traffic while picking up the papers and trying to figure out who they might belong to. I eventually found a name and address on one of them, and I took those papers back to their rightful owner later that day.
It occurs to me now that the papers that I thought might be important are probably old enough by now that it was just a bunch of recyclable scrap paper, but still, I felt like I made the right decision by stopping my bike, gathering the papers, and getting them home. And all of that was motivated by remembering who I am and who I want to be.
We are not Paladins, nor are almost any of you seriously considering trying to be like Paladins, so the phrase that inspired me to accept that little "quest" probably wouldn't inspire any of you the same way. However, there is one phrase that might do the same trick for each of us: "Are you a Christian or not?"
Many of us are, or at least are trying to be, good Christians, and one of the chief aspects of Christianity is giving selfless service. When I saw those papers, I knew that they weren't really my problem and that I didn't have much to gain by solving the problem. I didn't know how far out of my way the quest would take me or how much it would require of me. But I knew that it was the right thing to do, and once I was reminded that I want to be the kind of person who does what's right, that was all it took to motivate me to pick up the papers. Plus, it was kind of fun to think that I was on a sort of adventure.
Maybe you don't need that kind of motivational reminder. Maybe being a Christian is already at the center of your decision-making process. Maybe all of the choices you make in your life are weighed by the question "What would Jesus do?" If so, that's great! But if you're not quite there yet, (And I know I'm not!) maybe an occasional reminder might be good for you, just like the reminder I got yesterday was good for me. Think about what kind of person you want to be, and think about how that desire should influence your choices. I did a good thing yesterday because I wanted to be like a Paladin. Think of what good things we can do because we want to be good Christians.
It occurs to me now that the papers that I thought might be important are probably old enough by now that it was just a bunch of recyclable scrap paper, but still, I felt like I made the right decision by stopping my bike, gathering the papers, and getting them home. And all of that was motivated by remembering who I am and who I want to be.
We are not Paladins, nor are almost any of you seriously considering trying to be like Paladins, so the phrase that inspired me to accept that little "quest" probably wouldn't inspire any of you the same way. However, there is one phrase that might do the same trick for each of us: "Are you a Christian or not?"
Many of us are, or at least are trying to be, good Christians, and one of the chief aspects of Christianity is giving selfless service. When I saw those papers, I knew that they weren't really my problem and that I didn't have much to gain by solving the problem. I didn't know how far out of my way the quest would take me or how much it would require of me. But I knew that it was the right thing to do, and once I was reminded that I want to be the kind of person who does what's right, that was all it took to motivate me to pick up the papers. Plus, it was kind of fun to think that I was on a sort of adventure.
Maybe you don't need that kind of motivational reminder. Maybe being a Christian is already at the center of your decision-making process. Maybe all of the choices you make in your life are weighed by the question "What would Jesus do?" If so, that's great! But if you're not quite there yet, (And I know I'm not!) maybe an occasional reminder might be good for you, just like the reminder I got yesterday was good for me. Think about what kind of person you want to be, and think about how that desire should influence your choices. I did a good thing yesterday because I wanted to be like a Paladin. Think of what good things we can do because we want to be good Christians.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Trials and Motivation
Here are some of the highlights from the lesson I gave on Sunday (and by the way, I have no idea why I didn't think to blog about this yesterday).
My topic talks were Grateful in Any Circumstances by President Uchtdorf and Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease by Elder Bednar, so I wanted to talk about how, with a little bit of perspective, we could not only endure our burdens, but also actually be grateful for them. The trouble was that most of the members in my Elder's Quorum already understood that. In their comments, they talked about trials as being growing experiences and they told me that often their trials motivated them to draw closer to God. One of them even suggested that God sometimes gives us trials, or allows trials to happen to us, to let us know that He misses us and wants us to draw closer to Him, knowing that our problems often cause us to do that.
Previously, I've blogged about experience and exercise, and how adversity can make us stronger, but I've neglected to mention the aspect of motivation. A lot of people, at least on some level, think that if something isn't broken, there's no need to fix it. With that mindset, if we're already feeling pretty blessed, we aren't going to feel any urgent need to seek out more blessings. When that happens, our spiritual progression stagnates, and that's when Satan gets us. If God allows us to continually face opposition, that will keep us stirred up and trying to move forward. Our afflictions may even be necessary, if we're not wise enough to try to progress, spiritually, without them.
We all face adversity and affliction, trials and tribulations, but what we often don't realize is that we may need them. Not only do they make us stronger and give us chances to use our strength, they also often prove to us that our own strength isn't enough. If our burdens are heavy enough, they can force us to call upon God, which we should have been doing anyway. We need God. We always need Him, whether we're feeling particularly burdened or not. Sometimes, God feels the need to step back an remind us that we need Him. Hopefully, we can be wise enough to make that unnecessary. Hopefully, we can be wise enough to call upon God whether we're experiencing trials or not. But if not, maybe a good trial is exactly what we need to remind us.
My topic talks were Grateful in Any Circumstances by President Uchtdorf and Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease by Elder Bednar, so I wanted to talk about how, with a little bit of perspective, we could not only endure our burdens, but also actually be grateful for them. The trouble was that most of the members in my Elder's Quorum already understood that. In their comments, they talked about trials as being growing experiences and they told me that often their trials motivated them to draw closer to God. One of them even suggested that God sometimes gives us trials, or allows trials to happen to us, to let us know that He misses us and wants us to draw closer to Him, knowing that our problems often cause us to do that.
Previously, I've blogged about experience and exercise, and how adversity can make us stronger, but I've neglected to mention the aspect of motivation. A lot of people, at least on some level, think that if something isn't broken, there's no need to fix it. With that mindset, if we're already feeling pretty blessed, we aren't going to feel any urgent need to seek out more blessings. When that happens, our spiritual progression stagnates, and that's when Satan gets us. If God allows us to continually face opposition, that will keep us stirred up and trying to move forward. Our afflictions may even be necessary, if we're not wise enough to try to progress, spiritually, without them.
We all face adversity and affliction, trials and tribulations, but what we often don't realize is that we may need them. Not only do they make us stronger and give us chances to use our strength, they also often prove to us that our own strength isn't enough. If our burdens are heavy enough, they can force us to call upon God, which we should have been doing anyway. We need God. We always need Him, whether we're feeling particularly burdened or not. Sometimes, God feels the need to step back an remind us that we need Him. Hopefully, we can be wise enough to make that unnecessary. Hopefully, we can be wise enough to call upon God whether we're experiencing trials or not. But if not, maybe a good trial is exactly what we need to remind us.
Monday, September 1, 2014
God Knows You're Awesome
I just saw a quote on Facebook that said, in less family-friendly language, "God gives us only what we can handle. Apparently, God thinks I'm awesome." And you are. God held his choicest spirits in reserve to be sent to earth at this time, and that includes all of us. As difficult as it is to believe, we were some of the most valiant spirits in the war in heaven, and God knows that we can be just as valiant here.
God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows how strong we really are and how much we can really handle. He sent us down to Earth at this time because He knows that we can handle today's challenges. And if He can have that much confidence in us, maybe we can have that much confidence in ourselves. Knowing that God believes in us can give us the confidence to believe in ourselves. And we're going to need that confidence to face the challenges that God knows we can handle. God knows that you're awesome. And I think so, too.
God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows how strong we really are and how much we can really handle. He sent us down to Earth at this time because He knows that we can handle today's challenges. And if He can have that much confidence in us, maybe we can have that much confidence in ourselves. Knowing that God believes in us can give us the confidence to believe in ourselves. And we're going to need that confidence to face the challenges that God knows we can handle. God knows that you're awesome. And I think so, too.
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