My Selfish Christmas

I've been selfish. I was selfish when I was eager for my presents to come. I was also selfish when I decided that being forced to wait was a good thing because it was getting me something else I wanted. But more than that, I've been selfish this whole month. It's not that I got greedy for presents (okay, maybe I got a little greedy toward the end there). How I was greedy was in how I went a whole month trying to find ways the feel the Christmas Spirit without having a single thought of how I could helps others feel the Spirit, too.

Ironically, if I had spent more time trying to bring the Christmas Spirit to others, I might have succeeded in gaining the Christmas Spirit. It's often true that when we bless others, we gain blessings ourselves, so if we want blessings for ourselves, what we should really do is look for ways to bless others. I didn't really do that this year. I may have blessed others' lives as a by-product of singing hymns or doing other Christmasy things, but that's not why I did them. I did them for myself.

Next year, I'm going to try not to be so self-centered. I'm going to try not to worry about finding ways to get the Christmas Spirit, but rather, I'll look for ways that I can share the Christmas Spirit. And I'm pretty sure that if I can get someone else to feel the Christmas Spirit, I'll start to feel it, too. So next year, assuming I remember any of this, I'm going to focus less on myself and more on others. That's one of the lessons we're supposed to learn from Christmas anyway: To give is more blessed than to get. I'm going to try to remember to give more next year, mostly because I currently, selfishly, wish to be more blessed.

Presents Pending

One of the items on my wish list this year was a book that's not coming out out until early January. Two people ordered this book for me and didn't learn of the coincidence until Christmas, at which point, one of those gift-givers cancelled their order and ordered something else for me instead (possibly multiple somethings, if I heard her correctly). I was also given some money for a CTR ring that I'll get when I figure out my ring size and pick out a style a like. Because of these events, I know that I have a fair handful of gifts pending, and that has had a few interesting effects on my emotions.

First, I'm excited. I know a few of the gifts I'm getting, and I'm super-excited to get them. There is also a gift or two I have pending that I don't know exactly what it is/they are, and the suspense I feel about those gifts is similar to that which I would feel about any wrapped gift, except that I don't have an actual physical box to guess by, which heightens the mystery. It's like looking forward to Christmas all over again, but since I don't know exactly when the packages will arrive, I'm not sure when my next mini-Christmas will be. One or more package(s) could arrive any day now, for all I know, but at least one of the packages I'm getting I know won't come until early- or mid-January, and it's exciting to not know not only what I'm getting, but also when I'm getting it.

On the other hand, it's hard to be patient. With regular Christmas gifts, you open them on Christmas and get them instantly. Some gifts may take some time after Christmas to set them up or something, but generally, you get your gifts at Christmas and get to enjoy having them right away. This situation of knowing that I have gifts coming, but not knowing when I'll get them, is testing my patience, and the fact that my patience feels like it's being tested makes me think that I don't have enough of it. I should be able to live contently without those gifts for a few days/weeks, don't you think? After all, I had been had been perfectly satisfied before learning that I was going to get those things. Why should I feel anxious to receive those gifts, now that I know that I eventually will? It's good that I feel excited, and in a sense, I'm glad that I didn't get all my gifts right away, because the delay extends my anticipation. Yet, I also feel more impatient than I'm comfortable with feeling. I didn't think I was an impatient person, but the feelings I have about waiting for the rest of my Christmas presents makes me feel like I have room to improve.

This once again makes the delay a positive thing, and for that reason, I hope it lasts. I don't feel very patient, and a part of me doesn't feel like trying to be patient, but not having those Christmas presents right now gives me an opportunity to practice being patient. This experience is testing my patience, giving me a chance to exercise and increase it, which is something that, until recently, I didn't know I needed.

By getting me gifts that I can't possess and enjoy right away, those gift-givers got me more than just the pending presents than I'm excited and eager to get. They also gave me an opportunity to practice a Christlike attribute and thus become more like Jesus Christ. They gave me an experience in delayed gratification and a parallel experience to receiving promised blessings (plus a nice analogy and something interesting to blog about).

We all have gifts from our Heavenly Father pending their arrival or our arrival to them. There are gifts that He has promised us that we cannot receive until we are worthy or until the time is right. There are great blessings awaiting us, but we must be patient until we receive them. In some cases, whether we receive those gifts at all depends on whether we can wait for them patiently. In other cases, patience merely increases our happiness and contentment while we wait. God's not going to give us any blessings early, no matter how badly we want Him to, so we might as well learn to live without them for as long as we have to and learn to be satisfied in the knowledge that we will eventually get them, when the time is right. Similarly, my patience, or lack thereof, won't make my packages arrive any sooner or later than they will, but it will affect how content I am with waiting for them to come. I hope that I can learn to be more patient as I anxiously anticipate the arrival of my remaining presents, and I hope that we can all learn to be patient as we wait for our pending gifts.

Singing With Our Hearts

Last night, I participated in a Handel's Messiah Sing-Along Concert, and I deeply enjoyed it. Part of what made the event so enjoyable is that everyone there truly appreciated the music they were singing. Everyone who sang in that concert really sang with their hearts. They focussed their minds on the power of the music and the meanings of the lyrics, and they invested the talents they had into performing that music to the best of their abilities.

Of course, we were still amateurs. The pianist and conductor were both very talented, but none of us were professionals. Many choirs have sung the Messiah better than we did last night. Still, I'd say that we sang pretty well last night, partly because we were singing with our hearts.

Physically, singing is a mechanical matter of pushing wind through carefully-shaped tubes. With enough practice, focussing on technique and training their muscles, anyone could learn to sing, but if they sang that way, just pushing wind through their tubes, would you say that they were really singing? True singing is expressive. It's something you put your heart into. In order to sing well, a person has to do more than know the words, hit the notes, and maintain the right level of volume. A person has to really feel the music in order to sing it well.

We may not have had much professionally training. There were many times we stumbled over the lyrics or lost our place in the sheet music. Ours was a very amateur, imperfect performance. Yet, it was still a good performance for the same reasons the performances at the Ward Christmas Party I blogged about were good. Our performances may not have been professional, but they were good performances mostly because we put our hearts into them. You don't have to be able to sing well in order to be able to sing beautifully. While it's important to attempt to follow the lyrics and music, what's most important is that you sing not only with your voice, but also with your heart.

The Trouble With Christmas Music

This evening, the local missionaries talked with us about how we can keep Christmas with us throughout the year. Reminding us that the spirit of Christmas is the spirit of Christ, they recommended the usual things, such as regularly studying the scriptures, especially the passages about Jesus Christ. I didn't get a chance to slip it into the conversation, but I thought another good way to keep Christmas with us is through song. Music is a great way to attract the Spirit and keep it with you, especially through songs about Jesus Christ, including those about His birth. However, there is a problem with Christmas music.

Some people dislike Christmas music, and they especially dislike hearing Christmas music outside of the Christmas season. This only gives people who like Christmas music about a month in which to play and sing that kind of song, so they tend to take full advantage of the season to play and sing as much Christmas music as they can. This over-emphasis on Christmas music at Christmastime burns people out; by the end of December, they're sick of Christmas music and they don't want to hear any more of it. Thus, Christmas music is socially banned until December, at which time Christmas music lovers go overboard.

There has got to be a way for people to enjoy the music they like, and avoid the music they don't like, without irritating each other, and there is. The answer is in moderation. Christmas music lovers shouldn't overwhelm others during the Christmas season, and those who don't love Christmas music shouldn't forbid it during the other eleven months of the year. Rather, I think we should treat the liking of Christmas music the same as any other music preference. People who like Christmas music should be able to listen to it whenever they want to, but should never cram it down other people's throats (or ears).

I think that if people were more moderate in their liking and disliking of Christmas music, those who don't like Christmas music would be able to avoid it, even at Christmastime, and those who do like Christmas music will be able to listen to it, even when it's not Christmastime. On the other hand, with headphones and MP3 players, people can already do both of those things. Those who dislike Christmas music or who feel overexposed to it can grab an MP3 player and give themselves something else to listen to, and those who do like Christmas music can get some headphones and plug in to the Christmas spirit any time they want.

Was Jesus Born Jesus?

I wonder to what extent Jesus was born Jesus. How much of the man He was destined to become was already part of Him at the moment of His birth? How much wisdom did He have then? How much did He know about Himself? Mary certainly knew who He was, but did He? Was He born knowing who He was, or did He learn later?

On the other hand, whether or not Jesus was born with the knowledge that He was Jesus somewhat detracts from the original question. Whether or not a person knows he or she possesses certain traits is irrelevant to whether or not they possess those traits. If I never saw myself, I could have blue skin and not know it, and my lack of knowledge would have no effect on the color of my skin. Whether or not Jesus was born knowing His identity would have had no effect on whether or not He possessed that identity at that time.

We know Jesus as a wise teacher, and we know that Jesus grew in knowledge and wisdom over time, so He couldn't have been born with the knowledge and wisdom for which He was later known. In that sense, Jesus the Master Teacher was not born the Master Teacher.

Jesus was also known for working miracles, yet His first recorded miracle took place in His adulthood. Was it that He didn't have the power to work miracles until then? Unlikely. I think He had had the ability to work miracles since long before then. Mary seemed to expect something of Him when she told Him of the problem that He miraculously solved. It's possible that He had worked miracles before then, perhaps even in his childhood. But again, it's not clear whether He was born with that power or gained it later.

The same goes for Jesus' perfection. Jesus was perfect in that He never committed sin. Even in His childhood, Jesus was sinless. Then again, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe that all children are sinless, in a manner of speaking. I suppose it's possible that, some time in His early childhood, before the age  of accountability, Jesus might have done something that would otherwise be considered a sin. Yet, I don't think He would have. Jesus may not have been completely perfect at first, but I don't think He was ever mean. It's not in His nature, and that's something that I think He was born with.

I don't know much about children, but I do know that they develop and display personality traits fairly quickly. In fact, some might say that children are born with their personalities, and our belief in a pre-mortal existence supports that. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe that people exist as spirits long before they're born. Our spirits essentially are us: our consciousness, our identity, ourselves, just without our bodies. Before Jesus was born, His spirit was all He had, yet in terms of His personality, personal traits, and identity, I'd say that He was already Jesus. And since He had His spirit inside Him by the time of His birth, baby Jesus must have been born Jesus.

Still, I'm not fully satisfied with that conclusion. When we're born, we pass through a veil of forgetfulness. We forget our pre-mortal lives, everything we had learned when we were just spirits, and even that we have spirits at all. I think that forgetting our past may alter our personalities, and perhaps even change our identities. However, the question of how much of our identity is dependent on our past experiences may be a bit too deep of a question to tackle when one is growing tired. Perhaps I'll wrestle with that subject another day.

For now, let it suffice to say that no matter which of Jesus' other characteristics were developed rather than inherited, it's clear that Jesus was born with His spirit, His heart, already fully developed and firmly in place. Everything else is secondary. Jesus was born with the soul of Jesus, and that, in my opinion, is what made Him who He was.

A New Addition to Our Tradition

This year, my family made a few modifications to the Christmas Eve tradition I blogged about yesterday. First off, because of unusual scheduling, we ended up having our Christmas Eve dinner this evening instead of yesterday evening. However, the major difference is that, this time, we had more of a production than we usually do. We usually just share testimonies and other sacred thoughts. This time, we also had a structured program in which we read Christmas scriptures and sang Christmas hymns.

We still had all the traditional things. We still ate bread, fruit, and cheese by candlelight. It was still a quiet, sacred evening. Adding the hymns-and-scriptures program gave the evening a bit more focus. However, it also made the evening less quiet, so I feel that there was a slight trade-off, but I think that the retelling of the Christmas story was nice. Some families read Luke 2 every Christmas. Ours hasn't. Maybe we should.

Then again, just because some families do something, that doesn't mean that others should. Different traditions work out well for different families. Each family is unique, so it makes sense that they'd do things differently. We may borrow ideas from each other, and those ideas we borrow may turn into lasting traditions, or they may not. Each family needs to find the traditions that work best for them, and sharing family traditions and trying out new things are how we can each discover the traditions that work best for us.

A Sacred Christmas Tradition

My family has a wonderful Christmas tradition. Each year, on Christmas Eve, we have a quiet, reverent family dinner. We eat simple foods: fruit, bread, and cheese, and we eat them by candlelight or by the light of a fire. The food and the lighting remind us of the sacred evening when Jesus Christ was born, and it helps us invite His spirit.

This traditional dinner is very special to us. I might even go so far as to say that that evening is sacred to us, in light of what Elder Nelson said in the quote above, "Family time is sacred time." Most families have holiday traditions. The best of those traditions are the ones that bring family members closer together and closer to the Lord.

If you don't have any Christmas traditions like that yet, I invite you to borrow this one. It has always been one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season, a sacred moment that I get to share with my family and that helps us focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

Empty Manger - He Is Risen

I just had a sleep-deprived thought. Looking at Christmasy images on Facebook, I wondered if anyone ever intentionally mixed up their holidays by posting a photo of an empty manger with the caption "He is not here; for He is Risen." At first, I thought this would be a silly joke. Then I thought that it was almost profound in how true it is. Jesus was born with almost nothing. Very few people knew who He was, He had little in the way of material possessions, and He didn't have, or at least didn't exercise, much of the power he had had before birth, or even the same power as a regular adult. When Jesus Christ was born, He had very little of the power and recognition He deserved. He was essentially born at the bottom, but he has risen a lot since then.

The scriptures tell us that after His birth, Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature, in in favour with God and man" (Luke 2: 52), showing that he grew up, rising to adulthood. As an adult, He performed miracles and gained a following, again rising through the ranks of mortal status. Yet, He didn't remain popular forever, and even the peak of mortal popularity and power would have been a step down for Jesus. Yet, He rose again, and having risen from mortality back up to immortality and from humanness back up to Godhood, Jesus Christ will never again be that tiny baby in a manger in Bethlehem. You won't find Him in a tomb or in a stable, for He has risen considerably from there.

When Jesus came down to earth, He came down pretty far. He temporarily gave up godhood and universal praise and worship to be a humble teacher. However, His lowness didn't last very long, and He rose back up to His former glory, perhaps now even a little more glorious for having accomplished the Atonement. Jesus isn't a poor boy from a small family anymore. In some ways, He never was. He has risen from his humble, mortal status to become, once again, a Heavenly King.

When Was Jesus Born? Late Night, or Early Morning?

Sorry I didn't blog last night. I was invited to a Christmas party that went later than I expected. I tried to blog afterwards, but I couldn't put it together. In hindsight, I definitely should have blogged in the morning. I should always try to blog in the morning. I once had a seminary teacher who insisted that many important gospel-related events had happened, or would happen, in the morning. This makes me wonder what the exact time of Jesus' birth was. Was it early enough that it was still late at night, or was it late enough that I was early the next morning? Several of the songs and stories establish the birth of Jesus as being either at night or in the morning, but they're hardly a reliable source, especially since some of them say that He was born in December, and I'm pretty sure He wasn't.

The scripture don't shed much more light on the subject than the songs and stories do. Of course, there is the mention of "shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke 2: 8). However, when the angel told them about the birth of Jesus, he said "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2: 11). So was He born during the day, or at night? The shepherds were told about the birth at night, but depending on how much distance they'd have to travel to get to Bethlehem, it might have taken them several hours to get there. It's possible that their journey took all night, possibly placing their arrival in Bethlehem some time in the morning. However, by the time they got there, Jesus had already been born, wrapped, and laid down in the manger, implying that the shepherds arrived somewhere between several minutes and a few hours after Christ was born. The scriptures don't really seem to tell us whether Christ was born late at night or early in the morning.

This inconclusiveness seems to me to suggest that it isn't really important whether Jesus was born early in the morning or late at night. It might have been interesting to know whether it was morning or night, for symbolic reasons, but the exact timing of His birth doesn't seem to be nearly as important as the reality of His birth. What's important isn't when He was born, but that He was born. For example, many people believe that Jesus was born in April, yet we all celebrate His birth in December, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that we recognize and commemorate His birth by welcoming Him into our hearts, no matter when the recognition, the welcoming, or even the birth itself, took place.

Messiah - The Prince of Peace

Listening to Handel's Messiah this morning, I thought about how Jesus is "the Prince of Peace." When "the government shall be upon His shoulder," and He shall reign as "King of kings and Lord of lords" (in the earthly sense of those terms), Jesus Christ will quite literally be the king of the world. This will make Him royalty, making it appropriate to call Him a "prince," though it would probably be more appropriate to call Him a "king." Also, with Jesus Christ at the head of all the governments of the earth, there would be no wars anywhere on earth, and the world will experience a Millennium of peace.

However, while we can certainly look forward to Jesus' second coming and the peace the earth will experience then, we can also experience peace now, because of Jesus Christ. This is because all the things that detract from our peace can be reduced or eliminated through the power of the Atonement and the effectiveness of Christ's teachings. Sin, which robs us of our personal peace, can be avoided through careful adherence to the teachings of Christ, and can be removed through the Atonement. Other hardships can also be reduced through the Atonement and the eternal perspective the Gospel gives us.

By being both the ruler who will bring peace in the Millennium and being the source of the peace that's in our hearts now, Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace.

Renewing my Determination

One of the problems I have with my blog is that I'm not always very good at following the advice I give others. Recently, I shared two specific ways I could do better at drawing the Spirit of Christmas into my life, and I haven't been doing a very good job at either one of them. I've been listening to more Christmas music lately, but not as much as I should, and my other recreational pursuits haven't changed one bit. So tonight, I'd like to renew my determination to do more to develop the Spirit of Christmas, and because I know that I won't succeed in doing this unless I make a specific, measurable goal and tell you about it, I promise that tomorrow, I am going to play Christmas music all morning, blog before noon, and not play any games or videos that aren't directly related to Christmas. This way, I hope to actually focus on Christmas, and not just say that I would like to.

Good Singing

Tonight, I want to a Christmas Dinner/Party with my family. It was a nice evening, with lots of good food and good company. There was also a small program of volunteer performers, mostly singing songs about Jesus, and while I might not say that all of the performances were particularly good in terms of quality, I can definitely say that they were all good in terms of morality. There is a semantic difference in "good" as opposed to "poor" and "good" as opposed to "evil." Most of the performances I've seen tonight were the first kind of "good," and all of them were the second.

And that's what really matters. Conveying a good message, even if you can only do it poorly, is a very good thing to do. You may think you're not talented enough, but you don't have to be. If people really listen, they'll be able to look past the quality of the performance and see the quality of the message.

Some people don't like to go Christmas carolling because they think they can't sing. Personally, I don't think that's a good enough reason not to. As long as one has a testimony of Jesus Christ, I think they should feel free to sing about Him at Christmastime, even if they don't think they can sing quite as well as others. It's not how well a person sings that makes a performance good or bad; it's the message of a song that determines whether or not a song is good, and Christmas songs are about as good as songs get. I invite you to join in singing the hymns of Christmas, even if you think you can't sing. You may not be able to sing well, but you can certainly sing of good.

Two Ways We Can Focus on Christ

On Thanksgiving, I decided that I wanted to really focus on Christmas this year, so I could truly get into the spirit of Christmas and actually celebrate it the way we're supposed to. Unfortunately, up until yesterday, I was too busy with my school work and other sources of stress to actually do anything to the effect of celebrating Christmas. Now, with Christmas only a week away, I have very little time left to get myself into the proper mood if I'm actually going to appreciate Christmas this year. Thankfully, I've found a list of suggestions that will help me do exactly that.

I recently found an article titled "10 Ways Mormons Can Keep Christ in Christmas." This is an unfortunate title because any Christian can follow the article's suggestions, not just Mormons. The two suggestions I want to look at first are the Fourth and Fifth ones: "Listen to Christmas songs about Christ" and "Focus your entertainment around Christ."

Listening to hymns, particularly Christmas hymns about Jesus Christ, is a great way to attract the Spirit, especially at Christmas, and since I typically spend a good deal of my downtime on entertainment, focussing my entertainment on Jesus Christ would be a good way for me to keep Christ on my mind and hopefully put His spirit in my heart.

I've set myself the goal that I would really get into Christmas this year, and so far, I've been failing pretty badly at that, but I hope that now, while I still have a little bit of time to work on it, these suggestions will help me focus my thoughts on the Savior and help me really celebrate His birth.

Giving of Ourselves

Shortly after I found the picture quote I shared last night's blog post, I found this more complete version of the quote. I used the other version first because it was simpler and had a prettier background image, but now I want to look at the last part of the quote.

"One of the ways in which we obtain the Christmas spirit -- the Christ spirit -- is by willingly giving of ourselves to others."

I was just had a conversation about gift-giving with two of my siblings, and the general consensus between the three of us is that we don't really need any more stuff. And if we wanted more stuff, we could probably just get it ourselves. What we really wanted as gifts, if anything, was time. Time spent together, just having fun. Time spent in service to each other, helping each other with things. Things like that. The "gifts" we want most from each others are the gifts of ourselves.

This holiday season, try to spend some time with your family. Physical gifts are nice and all, but it's entirely possible that the only thing your family members really want for Christmas is you.

The Spirit of Christmas = The Spirit of Christ

I thank God that I wrote most of this yesterday, because I am literally sick and literally tired, and I really don't think I could blog very well right now if I hadn't already primed the pump, so to speak.

"To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable and it becomes the Spirit of Christ." - Thomas S. Monson

This makes a lot of sense to me. Honestly, I don't know how many distinct "spirits" there are, besides the spirits of individuals. Most of the spirits we read about in the scriptures, including the spirit of prophecy, the spirit of revelation, the holy spirit of promise, "the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:2), and many others, I'm sure, all seem to be other names or titles for the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of Christ, better known as the Holy Ghost. Then, it shouldn't be surprising to me that the "Spirit of Christmas" is yet another name or title for the Holy Ghost.

Given the knowledge that the Spirit of Christmas is another name for the Holy Ghost, this teaches us that we can cultivate the Spirit of Christmas in our hearts the same way we cultivate the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and vice versa. Singing hymns, particularly the hymns about Jesus Christ, being charitable, and spending time with family are all great ways to get in touch with the Spirit of Christ and of Christmas. I plan to do many of those things when Finals are over and I'm not so dead tired.

Christmas in Your Heart

While I was busy blogging about other things, I started to collect blogworthy, Christmasy picture quotes from Facebook to blog about later. I'll share one of them now.

There's Christmas in the home and church,
There's Christmas in the mart,
But you'll not know what Christmas is
Unless it's in your heart.
- Thomas S. Monson

When I first saw this picture quote, I knew I wanted to blog about it, and I even started to, but I didn't really want to blog about it yet. The reason for that was that, at the time, I wasn't sure if Christmas was in my heart then. It was about a week ago, nearly two weeks into December, and I just wasn't really feeling it, you know? It was probably just the stress of schoolwork and finals and trying to figure out gifts distracting me, but I also realized, and blogged about, the need for a conscious effort to attract and cultivate the Spirit of Christmas. Fortunately, through another picture quote, I found a good way to do that, and I'll blog about that tomorrow, but also fortunately, my trouble with finals will be over soon, and I'll be able to give my full attention to truly observing and enjoying Christmas. I look forward to that. In the meantime, I should probably go to sleep so I can be rested up for continuing to write my final essay tomorrow. I will be so glad when Finals Week is over and I can focus on more important things.

Messiah - And He Shall Reign Forever and Ever

One of the lines from the Hallelujah chorus proclaims that "He [God] shall reign forever and ever." This is an interesting statement, considering that for a person to rule, that person needs subjects to be ruled by them, and that we are God's subjects, as long as we are trying to be righteous. So, in order for God to reign over us forever and ever, we would need to keep striving for righteousness forever, which implies several interesting things.

First, there's the whole Eternal Progression thing, which I pretty much covered yesterday.

Second, there's the fact that even when we're Gods, God will still our God, which I also pretty much covered yesterday.

Third, continually striving for righteousness implies that we will always have room to improve, that we will always need God to guide us. This means that no matter how good, how holy, how perfect we eventually get, we will continue to look to God for additional council and correction.

Of course, I could be getting this all wrong. The prophecy only says that "He shall reign forever and ever." It say nothing about God reigning over us. Technically, as long as God has any subjects at all (and He can always just keep making more as long as He wants to), the prophecy will be satisfied. God will go one reigning forever, whether He's reigning over us or others. In the sort-term, however, it would be wise for us to subject ourselves to God and let His wisdom guide us through mortality, if not also through the eternities.

Messiah - King of Kings

Tonight, I enjoyed a sing-along performance of Handel's Messiah. I've blogged about the Messiah a handful of times, but apparently, so far, I've only ever blogged about one song from the Messiah, "All We, Like Sheep, Have Gone Astray." Another few times, I've blogged about the hymn "Rejoice, the Lord is King," which has a message similar to "Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," but for the most part, I haven't really gone into the lyrics of the hymns in the Messiah and the messages we can learn from them. I plan to correct that starting tonight.

Part of the Hallelujah chorus describes God as "King of Kings and Lord of Lords." We've probably all heard that title of God, but it was only recently that I thought about what that title implies. We acknowledge God as our King, but this title implies that the beings over which He is King is or will be, or at least can become, kings themselves.

This is an allusion to one of my favorite principles of the Gospel: the principle of Eternal Progression. Eternal Progression, as I'm sure I've blogged about before, means at least two things. It means that we can continue progressing forever, and that eternal progression means that our potential is literally limitless. We can ultimately become as wise, as powerful, and as great as God is. We can become Kings.

Yet, even when we become Kings, God will still be our King. Another part of the Hallelujah chorus, which I may blog about later, says that "He shall reign forever and ever," even when we become Kings ourselves. One thing about Eternal Progression that some people don't get is that our progress doesn't cheapen God's. Some say that the idea that we can become as great as God is sacrilegious, because we could never be as great as God is, but they're only half right. We can become as great as God is now, but we will never become equal with God because He has Eternal Progression, too.

In fact, I believe that our advancement increases God's glory. Perhaps an analogy would help me explain that view. Imagine a balloon with infinite elasticity. It can hold as much air as you can pump into it, and it can grow as large as the universe itself. Pump some air into that balloon so that it grows only slightly larger than a balloon usually gets. This represents the progress God has made up to this point. Now put an uninflated balloon inside the first. This represents us. Pump some air into the second balloon. As the second balloon inflates, it pushes more and more against the air already inside the first balloon, making it grow even larger. The larger the second balloon grows, the larger the first balloon grows, and the size of the second balloon will never exceed that of the first.

Thus, as we increase in glory, God's glory also increases. Our greatness doesn't diminish God's greatness; it improves it. No matter how Godlike we become, God will always be more Godlike, because God will always be a God to us. God is already, and will always be, our King. He will only become more Kingly as His subjects become Kings as well.

What Christmas Is and Is Not All About

Earlier this evening, I watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas with my family. During the first part of that movie, the film-makers go to great lengths to highlight the commercialism of Christmas, even going so far as to have one of the characters, Cindy-Lou's father, say that buying gifts for people "is what Christmas is all about."  At another point in the film, the Grinch says something similar. But by the end of the story, both characters had had a change of heart. After the Grinch steals all the gifts, and before he returns them, Cindy-Lou's father says that he's glad that the Grinch stole all the commercial trappings of Christmas, and that he didn't need anything more for Christmas than time with his family.

Christmas isn't really about the gifts we give and receive, even though some people might have us believe that that's what it's about. Christmas is a time for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ; a time to spend with family, and while gift-giving has long been a Christmas tradition, it's not the most central, defining element of the holiday. Gift-giving isn't what Christmas is all about. Jesus Christ and families are.

The Shepherd Boy's Gift

Last night, I attended a Live Nativity in Folsom, which has additional (Free!) showings tonight, tomorrow night, and I believe on Sunday night as well. The entire theatrical production was spectacular, very touching, and well-done. But while I enjoyed the Christmas hymns a messages, there was only one moment during the half-hour showing that touched me deeply enough to make me cry.

The show was a brief retelling of the Christmas story, as found in Luke, which, of course, included having shepherds come to see the Babe in the manger. One of the shepherds in the live nativity was a child, who had a sheepskin wrapped around himself for warmth, but when he saw the Holy Child, he laid the sheepskin in the manger for a blanket.

It was such a simple gift. It wasn't especially valuable or ornate, like the wise men's gifts, but it was special and important in its own way. For one thing, it had a little bit of symbolic significance, giving a lambskin to comfort the Lamb of God. For another thing, it was so practical. Jesus may have been cold, and I'm not sure exactly how comfortable it is to sleep in hay. Giving Jesus the lambskin blanket must have made Him more comfortable than He had been. And comfort is part of what made this gift so touching. In giving Jesus the lambskin blanket, the shepherd boy gave up some of his own comfort, which, in many ways, is symbolic of the gift Jesus gave us.

Jesus left His home in heaven, to walk among mortal men as a mortal man, before the days of electricity, sanitation, or even running water. He gave up a great deal of comfort to spend a lifetime in discomfort, solely for our benefit. Because of His selflessness, we now have what the Apostle Peter called "the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).

And that's not all. Jesus gave His life for us, sacrificing Himself as a sacrificial lamb, as payment for our sins. Through the agony of the Atonement and Crucifixion and the power of the Resurrection, Jesus Christ made it possible for all of us to overcome our sins and gain peace despite all our ailments. In other words, Jesus subjected Himself to intense discomfort so He could bring peace and comfort to us.

I am so thankful that that wonderful production included that special moment in which a humble shepherd boy gave that heartfelt gift of love and comfort to the Christ Child. May we each look for ways to love and serve others in similar ways, and be willing to sacrifice a small measure of our comfort, if necessary, to give comfort to others. Our gifts may be humble and simple, like the boy's sheepskin, but they may also touch hearts in ways that fancier, more valuable gifts never could.

A Conscious, Committed Effort

This season is always a busy one. There are gifts to buy or make, presents to wrap, plans to make and keep. We are always on the go, and stress levels are very high. So, this time of year especially, it's important to try to focus on Jesus Christ and to let His peace calm our hearts. It'll take a "conscious, committed effort," but for our spiritual well-being (and for our sanity), we need to try to focus on Jesus Christ so He can help us keep it all together.

Yes, Mary Did Know

Yesterday, Peter Hollens posted a beautiful a cappella rendition of Mary, Did You Know? As we were listening to it together, my mom said that she thought that Mary had known what made her child so special, and now that I've taken a moment to think about it, so do I.

When Gabriel told Mary that she was going to have a baby, he made it very clear who her child was going to be.

And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1: 31-33

If Mary was at all familiar with the prophesies concerning Jesus Christ, and she probably was, she would have recognized that description. If not, this experience would certainly have piqued her interest in any talk about revelations about "Jesus," "the Son of the Highest." If she hadn't already known, it wouldn't have taken her long to find out that her child was the prophesied Messiah.

In fact, Mary knew the prophesies of the Messiah better than I do, so I'm not sure how much she knew. While she probably didn't know the specific miracles Jesus would perform, like calming the storm or walking on water, she almost certainly knew He would perform miracles, and though she probably didn't know how He would do it, she knew He would deliver mankind from their sins. While the details may have been a bit fuzzy, I think it's safe to say that, for all intents and purposes, Mary knew exactly who her child was.

The Gift of Friendship

Last night, I mentioned having received gifts from my co-workers and feeling bad about not having anything to give them. Later that evening, I was met on the bus by a good friend of mine, and we exchanged pleasantries and silliness until neither of us could have stopped smiling if we had tried (and we did try, just to be silly). At the end of the day, though I was grateful for the physical gifts I'd been given, it was the time spent with a friend that had brought me even greater happiness.

This season, we're all likely to exchange gifts with other people. Let's try to exchange some smiles and friendship, too. While the gifts we give may be good ones, and may make people happy, it's entirely possible that our friendship and spending a little time with them will make them even happier.

Reciprocity

I recently saw a commercial for the Big Bang Theory in which Penny offers Sheldon a gift, and Sheldon becomes upset. "The foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity," Sheldon explains. "You haven't given me a gift; you've given me an obligation. ... The essence of the custom is that I now have to purchase for you a gift of commensurate value and and representing the same perceived level of friendship as that represented by the gift you've given me. It's no wonder suicide rates sky-rocket this time of year."

While I don't agree with much of what Sheldon says here, I must admit to having experienced similar feelings. Earlier today, I was given gifts from my co-workers, and I immediately felt bad for having no gifts to offer them. Similarly, each year, I worry that the gifts I give my siblings won't be as good as the gifts my siblings give me. Almost any time I receive anything, I feel a sense of obligation to adequately repay the giver, followed by a sense of shame when I fail.

Fortunately, many people don't expect anything in return for the gifts they give but gratitude. This is especially fortunate in the case of everything that God has given us, including His Son, Jesus Christ.

We cannot repay Jesus Christ for everything He has done for us. We cannot repay our Heavenly Father for all the things He has given us. Heck, we can't even repay our earthly parents for all they give and do for us! It is impossible for any of us to give that much. What we can and should give them is our thanks.

God does not expect reciprocity. He knows that we could never repay Him, and He doesn't obligate us to try. In recompense for the gifts He offers us, all He asks is that we be grateful for our blessings and try to be righteous. All Jesus Christ wants in exchange for the Atonement is that we use it to become pure. Most good gift-givers are the same way. When I give someone a gift, I don't expect them to give me anything in return. All I want is for them to say "thank you" and to benefit from and enjoy whatever I have given them, whether it's a Christmas present, an act of service, or anything else.

If even I, who am far from perfect, am charitable enough to not expect gifts in return for the gifts that I give, then it shouldn't surprise me when my co-workers and family members who are more Christlike than I am feel the same way about the gifts and service they give me. Good gift-givers don't expect reciprocity; they just give out of the goodness of their hearts.

So let's all try not to worry about whether or not we owe people gifts because of the gifts they give us. Odds are, they aren't anywhere near as concerned about reciprocity as we are.

Nothing Like the First

My mom is giving a lesson in church today, on the subject of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Speculating on how she might relate the topic to Christmas, if she does, it occurred to me that the Savior's Second Coming will be nothing like His first.

The lyrics of "Jesus, Once of Humble Birth" contrast the difference fairly clearly in the first two lines: "Jesus, once of humble birth, Now in glory comes to earth." When Christ was born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago, only a handful of people knew about it. He came to earth the same way that everyone else does, and He lived in much the same way that most people do. If you weren't one of the few-dozen people who were visited by angels, Jesus' birth would have seemed like a fairly normal occurrence, remarkable only in that it took place in a stable.

The Savior's Second Coming, in contrast, will be an incredibly remarkable event. At that time, Jesus Christ will descend from heaven as our Lord and Savior, and everyone will recognize Him as such. Once again, angels and astrological events will tell of His coming, but this time, I'm sure everyone will see and hear them. His life on earth after His Second Coming will be different, too. Rather than spending His days as a humble teacher, He will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When Jesus comes again, everyone will know Him for who He really is.

Thinking of the contrast between the first and Second Comings of Jesus Christ, it makes me wonder how Jesus must have felt during His mortal ministry, to know who He was, but know that almost no one else knew Him. He was the greatest person to ever set foot on this planet, yet very few people recognized that. Many people largely ignored Him. Many others reviled Him. Yes, there were also many who listened to Him, but very few people actually worshipped Him. In contrast, I'm pretty sure that everyone will worship Him when He comes the second time.

Because of His humble beginnings, only a small number of people recognized and worshipped Jesus at His first coming, and partly because of the grand entrance He'll get at His Second Coming, I think everybody will. Being somewhere between those two events, we have to decide whether we will recognize and worship Jesus or not. Will we see Him as a mortal man, a humble teacher, someone who was only a good man, and maybe even a prophet, but certainly not the Son of God, or will we give Jesus Christ the recognition and reverence He deserves? Every day, we choose whether we will listen to or read His words and hearken to His teachings. Every day, we choose to what extent we will truly worship our Savior. This Christmas season, let us think of the Savior, not just as the people of His generation thought of Him, but as all will think of Him when He comes to earth again.

Gifts for Christ - Kindness

On Facebook, I saw a picture quote that shared the same quote I shared half a year ago. The quote was from President Henry B. Eyring's  April 2015 talk, "Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen?": "When we offer to succor anyone, the Savior feels it as if we reached out to succor Him." On April 5, 2015, I shared that quote and the following message:

When Jesus Christ accomplished the Atonement, He took upon Himself all the pain and suffering any person would ever feel. Then, doesn't it make sense that He would also be able to feel all the relief anyone would ever feel, if only by experiencing the moment when the pain lessened or stopped? I'm not sure how I never thought of this before, but it's a wonderful thought. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus felt an extraordinary amount of pain. It's marvellous to think that we can help alleviate some of that pain by bringing comfort to anyone who suffers. In honor of Easter and all Christ has done for me, I'm going to keep my eyes open this week and hopefully find someone I can comfort or help in any way, especially now that I have a slightly better understanding of what He meant when He said "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my bretheren, ye have done it unto me." (Matt 25:40)

 I had written that with Easter in mind. Now, with Christmas in mind, and especially on the topic of giving gifts to Christ, this idea takes on a different meaning. Since it's very likely that Christ will feel anything we do for others, that makes serving others a way by which we can serve Christ. We can't serve Him personally, because He isn't here, but we can serve Him by serving others. We can be kind to Him by being kind to others. We can love Him by loving others.

I would love to give a gift of love and kindness to the Savior this year, and I know that I can do that by expressing love and kindness to others.

Giving Gifts to Christ

I was just about to blog about something that was even less Christmas-related than my last three posts had been, thinking "They can't all be Christmas-themed." Then I thought, "Why not?" Why couldn't all my posts this month be at least vaguely Christmas-related? That could be part of my gift to Christ.

I believe that, considering all the things Christ has done and does for us, we should occasionally do things for Him. These things might include being extra righteous, volunteering, donating money to charities, etcetera. Essentially, doing anything that Jesus would want us to do could count as a gift to Him. I wouldn't be surprised if He would be pleased if I devoted every blog post this month to the theme of Christmas, and I'm certainly willing to try, especially as a personal "Thank You" gift to Him.

Samuel the Lamanite - Karma

At the end of Helaman chapter 14, Samuel the Lamanite talks about agency and the principle of restoration. Speaking of the light and freedom God has given us, Samuel said, "He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you." - Helaman 14: 31.

This is such a core principle, not just of the gospel, but of morality in general, that it appears in virtually every religion in one form or another. Even many non-religious people subscribe to the Golden Rule. The idea of karma is fairly widely accepted, which is fortunate, since it gives people of many religious or philosophical backgrounds something in common.

As strange as it is, the holiday season tends to drive Christians and non-Christians apart. Despite the themes of love and brotherhood which generally prevail this time of year, some people make their celebration of Christmas too aggressive and divisive, while others distance themselves from Christianity, feeling overwhelmed. In times like this, we can try to make peace despite our differences by focussing on our common ground, including the almost universal belief that people generally get what they deserve.

Whether you believe Jesus was born in December or April, whether you believe He has come, and will come again, or hasn't come yet, but will, or whether you do or do not believe in Jesus Christ at all, we can almost all agree that, as Paul told the Galatians, "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." It's one of many commonalities we can hold on to, even when we can hardly help but notice the differences in how and what and whether we celebrate this time of year.

Samuel the Lamanite - The Other Set of Signs

I think I've got a mini-series going now. This is a good thing, since having a theme helps me think of ideas of things to blog about.

In addition to telling the Nephites about the signs of Christ's birth, Samuel the Lamanite also told them about about the signs of Christ's death. What struck me most about these two sets of signs is how much more intense the death signs were than the birth signs.

In the Americas, when Jesus Christ was born, they experienced a night in which the sky didn't darken. They had a day and a night and a day that all seemed to be one especially long day.

The death signs in the Americas included three days of darkness. It wasn't just a night and a day and a night that seemed to be one night; the effect lasted much longer than that. Also, the effect was more powerful. While you probably could have gone inside or underground to get away from the luminous birth sign, you could not have generated any visible light during the darkening death sign. All lights were extinguished and no new light could be made, so while the birth sign generated a short period of time in which I think natural shadows were still cast, the death signs included a much longer period of total darkness. And to top it all off, the three days of darkness were preceded by fires, storms, and earthquakes.

The rest of the world got the storms and earthquakes, too, but it was spared from experiencing the three days of darkness. However, it was also deprived of the night of light, and only given a new star as their birth sign, which the Americans got, too. No matter which side of the world you were on,  the signs of Christ's death were far more intense than the signs of his birth.

Why is that? Why would the signs of the Savior's death be more intense than the signs of his birth? Here, I have only speculation. Feel free to add your two cents in a comment below. One thought is that Christ's death may have been more significant than His birth, but I seriously doubt it. The birth of Jesus Christ was a pretty big deal, and though Jesus' death  was also a big deal, I don't think its deal was quite as big, mostly because the earthquakes and darkness took place a while after the Atonement, the days of darkness didn't end until Christ was resurrected. If I were to place astrological signs around the time of Christ's death, I would be just as likely to celebrate His resurrection as to lament His death.

Another possibility is that God wanted to keep Christ's birth relatively low-key so as not to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. The birth sign in Bethlehem was so subtle, people could have easily missed it, and thousands did. As a result, Jesus gained a following for the things He did and the things He taught, not because His birth coincided with a display of astrological theatrics. For Christ to fulfil His purpose in mortality, He needed to not make Himself too obvious. However, once His and His Father's purposes were accomplished, there was no longer a need to keep things under wraps, hence the signs of His death being far more intense than the sign of His birth.

However, that doesn't explain why His death signs were so much more intense in the Americas than His birth sign there had been.Since they were already in on the big secret, they didn't need a big reveal. Perhaps the intensity of the death signs in the Americas was partly to punish them for their iniquities? As I recall, they were fairly wicked at that time, though I could be remembering incorrectly.

As I mentioned, I don't know the answer here. Any guess I make now is really just a guess. I'm sure that we will someday learn why the signs of Christ's death were more intense than those of his birth, and then it will all make sense to us. But until then, I just thought that the difference would be interesting to point out and think about, if only for an hour or so.

Samuel the Lamanite - A Call to Repentance

In Mormon culture, Samuel the Lamanite is well-known for prophesying of the birth of Jesus Christ to the then-wicked Nephites, but what I had forgotten until reading Helaman 13 with my family earlier this evening was that before telling the Nephites about Jesus' upcoming birth, he gave them a much-needed call to repentance.

Christmastime is a time for the joyful celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, and I hope not to detract from that joy, but in light of what I read this evening, I wonder if Christmas isn't also a good time for self-reflection and repentance. While we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, let us also remember why He was born in the first place: to show us a perfect example and to make it possible for us to repent. Let us consider how we could better follow His example, and repent, if necessary. While thinking about the Atonement is really more of an Easter thing, striving to become more Christlike is something we should certainly do at Christmastime and all year round.

Christmas is a joyous time for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. While we celebrate His birth, let us think about what His birth and life mean to us and how we might repent and become more like Him.