"Conquer"

In D&C 10:5, the Lord urged Joseph Smith to "Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work." The "come off conqueror" part is a little off-putting, in my opinion. We're not conquerors. If anything, our battle is a defensive one. We are to defend ourselves (and perhaps others) from Satan's influence. But perhaps that's not quite what God meant. So, I looked it up. What does it mean to conquer?

con·quer
verb
1. overcome and take control of (a place or people) by use of military force.
"the Magyars conquered Hungary in the Middle Ages"
2. successfully overcome (a problem or weakness).
"a fear she never managed to conquer"
3. climb (a mountain) successfully.
"the second American to conquer Everest"

Well, Satan isn't a place or a people, and he isn't a mountain, so I assume we are to use the second definition: to successfully overcome. But what does it mean to overcome?

o·ver·come
verb
1. succeed in dealing with (a problem or difficulty).
"she worked hard to overcome her paralyzing shyness"
2. defeat (an opponent); prevail.
"without firing a shot they overcame the guards"
3. (of an emotion) overpower or overwhelm.
"she was obviously overcome with excitement"

And Satan isn't an emotion, and neither are we, so I assume are are to use the first to definitions: to succeed in dealing with him, and to defeat and prevail over him. And, one last one. What does it mean to prevail?

pre·vail
verb
1. prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious.
"it is hard for logic to prevail over emotion"
2. be widespread in a particular area at a particular time; be current.
"an atmosphere of crisis prevails"
3. persuade (someone) to do something.
"she was prevailed upon to give an account of her work"

We're not trying to convince Satan to do anything, but I find those first two definitions of prevail especially interesting. I find it encouraging that we can "prove more powerful" than Satan. He has had eons to gather his strength, whereas we have been alive for only a handful of decades. But there's part of the answer: We've been alive. Satan hasn't. Joseph Smith taught that "All beings who have bodies 
have power over those who have not." Even just by being born, we have become more powerful than
Satan, and I find that fairly encouraging.

Furthermore, I cannot disregard the definition to "be widespread in a particular area at a particular time." This is also something that we are supposed to do. That's why we have missionaries. That's why we have temples all over the globe. We may not be trying to "overcome and take control of (a place or people) by use of military force," but we are certainly trying to spread out. And inasmuch as Satan has taken control of certain places and people, it would be prudent for us to drive him out and take that control back. So, maybe we are supposed to be conquerors. We have an interest in (re)taking territory that has been conquered by Satan, including our own.

The word "conquer" has a negative connotation these days, but by certain denotative definitions, conquering can be a good thing. Defeating Satan is certainly good, as retaking any region in which he has gained a foothold. We are to take the Gospel to all the world and to reduce Satan's power over it. If that makes us "conquerors," so be it.

Tireless Assistance

I sometimes feel sorry for God. There are so many people who depend on Him for so much. I bet not even one moment goes by without someone somewhere in the world asking for His help. People ask Him for help with everything from saving souls to blessing food. I imagine that He might get tired of it. But, of course, my imagination can conjure up all sorts of nonexistent problems. God doesn't get tired of helping people, and there are at least three reasons why that's the case.

One, God has infinite time. Tie works differently for God that it does for us, if time even works on Him at all. God has all the time in the world to hear and answer each prayer one-by-one, even when many prayers come at Him at the same time, at all times. When He needs to, God can stretch out time or travel through it, so He can spend one-on-one time with everyone, even all at once.

Two, God has infinite energy. Helping everyone at all times sounds exhausting, but maybe that's only because I have a body that can get exhausted. God is perfect. His body is perfect. God cannot get tired or run out of energy or burn Himself out. Rather, God has all the energy He needs to work miracles for everyone, no matter how many miracles they need. God is omnipotent. He will never run out of power.

And finally, three, God has infinite love. God uses His time and energy to help us because He loves us, and just as His time and energy will never run out, His love will never run out, either. His infinite love motivates Him to continue to help us tirelessly, no matter how many needy souls there are or how much help we need. God will never stop wanting to use His infinite time and energy to help us because He will never stop loving us. God will always love us enough to want to help us, and He will always have the time and energy He needs to do so.

The rest is up to us. God will always want to help us, and He will always have the ability to help us. All He needs now is our permission. In order to help us, God needs us to accept His help, whether that means asking for it through prayer or making good use of it once we get it. God will never get tired of helping His children, but He still needs us to be willing to accept His help.

Sometimes I feel sorry for God for having so many people who need His help, and sometimes, I feel jealous of God for His inexhaustible ability to grant it.

"Other Records"

In Doctrine and Covenants, Section 9, Oliver Cowdery was told that he wasn't going to continue to help translate The Book of Mormon, but the Lord told him that he'd get otther opportunities: "behold, other records have I, that I will give unto you power that you may assist to translate" (D&C 9:2). The first footnote on this verse says that the part about "other records" alludes to the Joseph Smith Translation and The Book of Abraham, but this verse also reminds me of the existence of scripture that we don't currently have.

Naturally, there are the 116 lost manuscript pages from the first part of The Book of Mormon. Also, Mormon's compilation of The Book of Mormon involved some summary and curation. There are undoubtedly some Nephite prophets whose writings we don't have. Similarly, there are countless Old Testament Era prophets whose writings didn't make it into the King James Version of The Bible. And goodness knows how many prophets there were all over the globe whose prophecies and counsel was never written down or whose writings were never found.

And that's only the writings that may already have existed. Only God knows how many years this Earth has left and how many prophets will inhabit the Earth during those remaining years. There were and are "other records" that already came, and the are still "other records" which are yet to come. This includes our records of the General Conferences that took place twice a year for decades and will continue to take place far into the foreseeable future.

When we add up every revelation that has ever been or will ever be given in the history of the world (past, present, and future), there's no way that all that revelation could fit in one book or be read in one lifetime. There are countless "other records" that did exist, that do exist, and that will exist, beyond that which we currently have in our Standard Works. We believe in ongoing revelation and that God will reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, perhaps even some things that have remained hidden since before this church was formed.

We already have many records, and I'm grateful for them, but I'm also excited by the possibility, even the certainty, that we will be given even more.

Study It Out in Your Mind

I just spent some time trying to think of some insight I could pull from the scriptures we read tonight, but I was having trouble, and now I think I know why. As we read the scriptures, that was all I was doing - reading them. I wasn't thinking especially hard about them. I wasn't pondering them. I wasn't studying them. I was just converting written words into spoken words. I'll try not to make that mistake next time. Next time, instead of just reading the words, I'm going to follow the Lord's counsel to Oliver Cowdery in D&C 9:8 and "Study [them] out in [my] mind," so that I can better understand them (and hopefully gain some blogworthy insights from them).

How (Not) to Seek Perfection

I just finished rewatching Tron: Legacy, in which an Artificial Intelligence called Clu, the antagonist of the film, seeks to create "the perfect system" by destroying every part of the system that he deems imperfect. Like Clu, we ultimately seek to attain perfection, but I hope we use wiser and less drastic methods.

We are not perfect. We have many aspects which, individually, are not perfect. Yet, the way to perfect ourselves is not to destroy or eliminate those aspects, but rather to gradually improve them until no further improvements can be made. For example, our bodies aren't perfect. Rather than destroying our imperfect bodies, we should take care of them, maintain them, and improve them to the best of our abilities. For another example, our thoughts are imperfect, but instead of not thinking, we should improve our thoughts by practicing thinking that way the Savior would. In both cases, perfection is unattainable by our own efforts, but our own efforts can yield improvements, and God can get us the rest of the way, so long as we don't shoot ourselves in the foot too badly first.

We should seek perfection, but not by destroying ourselves or the parts of ourselves that we deem imperfect. Rather, we should take that over which the Lord gave us stewardship, respect it, and do what we can to gradually improve it. God gave us stewardship over ourselves and every aspect of ourselves. Rather than destroying those things, we should try to do what little we can to maintain and improve them.

Clu was right to seek perfection, but his method for doing so was, ironically, flawed.

Faith to Endure the Storm

 There's a crazy storm outside right now. There's strong wind, heavy rain, and even a power outage. But I'm not worried. I trust that our walls and roof will protect us and that diligent men and women will restore our power before too long.

Similarly, I trust that God will help us weather the various storms of life and will more than restore whatever we lose along the way.

We'll be alright. We just need to exercise patience and a little bit of faith.

Balance

There are many good things that are important to have. These include water, air, food, work, rest, recreation, time with family, time with friends, and time alone. In the right amounts, all these things can be Godsends. If you have too little of any one of them for too long, your life will suffer for it (and possibly end). But it's also true that too much of any of them and any given time could also be harmful. As with just about everything, it's important to have a proper balance. Not too much or too little of any given thing at any given time.

If your life is out of balance, consider making some adjustments. If there's too much of something, find ways to reduce it, and find other things to take its place. If there's too little of something, find some ways to get more of it, and decide what to reduce to make room for it. Everyone's ideal balance will be different, and no one's balance will be perfect at any given time. The trick is to find the imbalances and to continually make adjustments. You don't need to find the ideal amount of anything, especially since that theoretical ideal is likely to change over time. Just find out whether you need more or less of something (or whether you have enough) and make changes (or don't) accordingly.

Along with the rest of humanity, I need to continually work on my balance, especially as my life situation changes. I need more of some things, and less of others. But knowing that is half the battle. As I recognize which parts of my life need adjustment, I can better make plans to bring my life more into balance.

Perspectives on Sacrifices

Today, I heard a handful of messages about sacrifice and how we can look at sacrifices in a more positive light. Often, we think of sacrifices as something we have to give up, something we have to do without, just because God says so. But another way to look at sacrifices is as an offering, something we are giving to God as thanks for the blessings He has given us and in anticipation of the blessings He may yet give us.

God has given us many blessings, and He offers us many more on the conditions of obedience. When we are obedient and make sacrifices for God, we can qualify for further blessings which are far greater than that which we are asked to give up.

So, when we think about making sacrifices, perhaps it's best not to focus on what we're giving up, but rather to focus on what we have been given and may yet be given.

Prophetic Imperfection

There's a group of LDS bloggers called The Practical Dreamers, and they share their comments and questions about our Come, Follow Me lessons. This week, they shared some thoughts, including a comment on something they called "Prophetic Imperfection." The idea of prophetic imperfection is that, even though prophets are called of God and do great and good things, they're still human, and they still have imperfections.

Joseph Smith wasn't perfect when he allowed Martin Harris to borrow and lose the 116 pages. Jonah wasn't perfect when he rejected the call to preach to Nineveh and ended up inside a whale. Aaron wasn't perfect when he made a golden calf for the children of Israel to worship. And Captain Moroni wasn't perfect when he condemned Pahoran for something that was completely outside of Pahoran's control. Those good, prophetic men were not perfect. And neither are we.

But that's okay. The prophets are and were living proof that we don't have to be perfect, at least, not yet. We don't have to be perfect to still be good people, and we don't have to be perfect to do good and important things. Those prophets all did things that were very good and very important, even though they also did some things that weren't so good. And that, hopefully, describes just about all of us. 

We all do things that aren't so good. My hope is that we do plenty of things that are so good as well. We are not perfect, just as the prophets aren't and weren't. My hope is that, even though we are likewise imperfect, we are also likewise good.

Concordance

In one of the D&D supplement books I sometimes use, there's a resource called Concordance. One gains Concordance when they do things that their deity wants them to do, and they can spend that Concordance seeking special aid from their deity. I think it's somewhat unfortunate that real blessings don't work like that. I would like to earn Concordance for doing good deeds and then spend them on the blessings I want. Though, since one of the blessings I want is forgiveness, I'd probably end up in tremendous debt. Instead, I should be grateful that God is generous with His blessings, especially when we are generous with our service.

God, thankfully, doesn't keep close track of how much we owe Him for the blessings He gives us. Concordance makes sense for a role-playing game, but for real life, I think I'll stick with God's system of being generous and not keeping track.

God Loves You No Less

 

"Even when you fail, you can choose not to give up, but rather discover your courage, press forward, and rise up. ...God knows that you are not perfect, that you will fail at times. God loves you no less when you struggle than when you triumph." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I am grateful for the reminders I've been getting that God is forgiving. He knows that we're not perfect, and He knows that the world we live in isn't perfect, either. There are many opportunities to make mistakes and bad choices, and we sometimes fall into those traps. The plan accounts for that. In fact, making mistakes, and learning from them is, arguably, part of the plan. We're here to learn, and some lessons can only be learned the hard way.

It's okay to struggle. It's okay to fail sometimes. God doesn't love us any less for being human, and neither should we. God loves us infinitely, regardless of our imperfections. We should never let our imperfections discourage us into giving up.

So, if and when we fail, we need to trust in God's love and in the power of the Atonement, forgive ourselves, and keep trying.

A Late, Lame Blog Post

When someone makes a mistake or a bad decision, the best thing they can do is accept that it happened, apologize to those affected, and try to do better next time. I'm sorry this blog post is late and lame. I'll write a better one earlier tomorrow (or, technically, later today).

An Oft-Repeated Folly

Tonight, for Family Scripture Study, we read the story of how Joseph Smith allowed Martin Harris to lose the 116 translated pages that were the Book of Lehi. Martin Harris's desires were understandable. His wife doubted the validity of the work. He wanted to show her proof that he was investing his time and money well. It was a valid request, and Joseph took it to the Lord. But the answer was no, and that should have been the end of it. Yet, it wasn't. Martin Harris wasn't happy with that answer, and I can't blame him, so he asked for a different answer. Unfortunately, he got the same one: no. Still not satisfied (and I'm not sure I would have been), Martin Harris asked Joseph Smith to ask God again, and this third time, God basically said "do whatever you want," so they did, and it went badly for them. The 116 manuscript pages were lost. Both Martin Harris and Joseph Smith were miserable, and this whole experience cost both of them serious repentance and severe consequences.

Now, the moral of this story is obvious in hindsight. When you pray and get an answer, you accept that answer. Don't go back and ask God to change His mind. He won't, and even if He does, it won't go well for you. God's commandments are there for our protection. They're warnings against the bad things that will happen if we break them. Martin Harris was bound to lose those 116 pages, but heeding God's warning would have prevented that. It seems so obvious. And yet...

How often do we find ourselves in a similar situation? How often do we know the Lord's will, but still ask for His permission to defy it? How often do we ask to be the exception to the rule? How often do we know the Lord's will, but do our own will anyway? And how often do we pay the price for it?

Every sin is a reenactment of Joseph Smith's and Martin Harris's folly. Every time we knowingly break one of God's many commandments, we essentially tell God "I know you said not to do this, but I'm doing it anyway." Every infraction is just as damning as that of Joseph Smith and Martin Harris, and the consequences are always just as severe... just maybe not for us.

Our Savior paid the price for all our sins, regardless of whatever price we'll ultimately have to pay. Joseph Smith and Martin Harris paid dearly for their infraction. Maybe we will, too, or maybe we won't. But whether we have to pay or not, we know that Christ will have to. 

Personally, I'd like to think that I'd rather spare us all the heartache. I'd like to think that I'd try not to disappoint God and make mistakes that Jesus would then have to pay for. I'd like to think that I'd be wiser than Joseph Smith and Martin Harris, but would I?

I know God's will. At least, I know enough of it that I know I don't always do it, just as Joseph Smith and Martin Harris didn't. I disobey, and I know that a price needs to be paid for it. I need to repent, and to keep repenting until I finally learn the lesson that seems so obvious now: When the Lord commands, do it. When the Lord commands not to do it, don't do it.

It seems so simple. Foolproof, even. Unfortunately, we are all fools, and this plan isn't quite foolproof. We all defy the will of God from time to time, and the consequences for doing so are always great. You'd think we'd learn from Joseph Smith and Martin Harris and listen to God the first time.

Blessed America

This afternoon, I heard a man talking about how he had lived in America for 20-some years, and he made a point of saying how blessed he felt to live in America, even despite the problems we're having right now. Despite its flaws, America has it's upsides, too, especially compared to certain other countries, and I think that we, as native-born Americans, sometimes take those upsides for granted. It's easy to think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, especially when we can clearly see the brown spots in our own lawns, but many of those on the other side of the fence still seem extremely eager to cross it. Perhaps we're still doing better than we're sometimes led to think. God has blessed America, and I think that, despite the nation's wickedness, He's still blessing us. At the very least, we're still doing better than many other nations, and we should be thankful for that. This nation, despite its many flaws and follies, is still a blessed nation, and I still consider myself blessed to live in it.

Never Give Up. Not Ever.

I think one thing that's going to stick with me from last week's lesson is that "a convert never gives up. Not ever." Granted, this was said in the context of someone who found the gospel late enough in life to appreciate it trying persistently to share the gospel with their family, but I think we can expand it. Everyone, whether they were born into the church or not, needs to experience a personal conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and, once converted to the gospel, they must never give up on trying to live it. Not ever.

Conversion is a process of eternity, and it can only be fully successful if the process never stops. If we give up on self-improvement, we will stagnate, regress, and never reach our eternal goals. We have to keep trying. We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, every day, forever. We cannot give up. We must never give up. Not Ever.

More Time in Better Places

Tonight, my family read and listened to a devotional from President Russell M. Nelson in which he encouraged his audience to spend more time in holy places and to make their homes more holy. He said that doing so would help us better access the power of heaven, which we all need more often than many of us would like to admit. I know that I could certainly do better at spending more time in better places, and it would almost certainly help me if I did. I'll work on that. I could use the peace and spirit found in holy places, and if I could make my home and mind holy places, all the better.

Small Habits, Great Goals

Today, the YouTube channel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints published a video about how to accomplish goals "through small and simple things." This video spoke of the folly of trying to accomplish Eternal Goals by sprinting toward them with every ounce of energy we have. The video drew parallels to the race between the Tortoise and the Hare and to the process of watering plants regularly rather than giving them a lifetime supply of water all at once. This video recommended breaking our Eternal Goals down into smaller steps, and breaking those steps down into habits that we can develop one at a time. As those habits become a regular part of our lives, we can build on them, and they will help us take those steps toward accomplishing our goals. Small, daily and weekly habits, even seemingly insignificant ones, can gradually bring about great changes, just like erosion or the growth of a tree. The daily progress may seem insignificant, but over a long enough period of time, the resulting difference can be immeasurable.

I plan to continue to look for ways to break my Eternal Goals into actionable habits and to make those habits part of my daily life. As I do, I plan to take the steps necessary to accomplish my Eternal Goals, even if it takes me an eternity. Great goals can seem overwhelming, but if we break them down into smaller habits, they can become a lot more possible.

How to Be a Hero

I've thought a bit about what it takes to be a hero. Many heroes do brave, noble, good things which often involve some amount of danger. But unlike superheroes and D&D heroes, real-world heroes don't often have to throw themselves into combat, at least not physically. To be a real-world hero, sometimes all it takes is to inspire others and do good deeds. By that metric, anyone can be a hero. Anyone can do good deeds and inspire others to do the same. We don't have to be "super" to be heroes. Any of us can be heroes. I can be a hero to at least a handful of people, and so can you.

Incitement vs Agency

I just opened the Book of Mormon to a random chapter, and I got Helaman 8, in which "Corrupt judges seek to incite the people against Nephi." I kind of don't want to write about incitement right now, partly because I'm not sure how big of a deal it really is.

Yes, on a macro level, stirring up a lot of people to do something dangerous or stupid is, in itself, morally wrong. But on a micro level, I believe that people have agency and can make their own decisions. If you tell me to smash a window, and I smash a window, that window got smashed because I chose to smash it, not because you made me do it. People are responsible for their own actions, and they should be held accountable for their own actions, regardless of what anyone else says or does.

Now, should people be held at least partly responsible for the behavior they encourage? Perhaps. I'd have to think about that moral question before coming to any conclusions on it. But in the meantime, I believe that people should be held responsible for their own decisions, not for other people's. If the people acted against Nephi, I think that's more on "the people," than it is on the corrupt judges who incited them.

On Not Blogging About Myself

Sometimes, I find myself in the position of not knowing what to blog about because, even though I may have had blogworthy experiences, I don't want to use myself as an example of any kind of behavior, good or bad. I don't want to use myself as an example of good behavior, because that seems too self-aggrandizing. At the same time, I don't want to use myself as an example of bad behavior because I don't want to belittle myself.

I could blog about what I did today and what was so good or bad about it, but I worry that that might take me out of context. I'm not a good person, and I'm not a bad one either. Not fully. People are complex. People have both good and bad in them. Focusing only on the good or only on the bad will leave you with an incomplete, distorted view of that person.

I don't want to do that. I don't want to put myself on a pedestal, and I don't want to put myself down either. So, as blogworthy as a few of my experiences today were, I'd rather not blog about them, because I don't want to blog too positively or too negatively about myself.

Kinds of Love

There are many different kinds of love. The exact number of types of love can be difficult to pin down, but there are few who would argue for any fewer than half a dozen. Most of these types of love have to do with different types of relationships. For example, the love we have for our immediate family is different from the love we have for humanity as a whole. The love we have for our significant others is different than the love we have for our best friends. There are many different kinds of love to be expressed, appreciated, cherished, and cultivated. 

So, let us try to be aware of and grateful for the many kinds of love we have in our lives, and let us try to strengthen those bonds of love in appropriate ways. Let us be family to our family, neighbors to our neighbors, and friends to our friends. Granted, the kinds of love we have for people can change as our relationships with them change, but each kind of relationship is important, and each kind of love should be respected and strengthened appropriately. We don't have to love everyone with every kind of love imaginable, but we should love everyone with the right amounts of the right kinds of love.

Love Your Enemies - Even If You Don't Like Them

Today, is Sunday School, we talked about the commandment to "Love Your Enemies," and I thought about how it's possible to love someone without necessarily liking them. Essentially, it's possible to have Christlike love for someone, to care about their welfare and want what's best for them, to appreciate and respect their inherent humanity, without necessarily wanting to spend time with them. There are many people we disagree with, and even oppose, but that doesn't mean we have to hate them. We can love people the same way Jesus loved the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the moneylenders in the temple. He cared about them, and He wanted what was best for them, but He also wanted them to stop what they were doing, and in some cases, He was even willing to use force to stop them. He spoke honestly about them, even though the truth was unflattering. Yet, no matter how much they fought against each other, and no matter what they did to provoke Him, He never stopped loving them, and He died for their sins along with everyone else's. He wanted everyone to enjoy salvation, and that included everyone. He didn't like what they were doing, but He still loved them, and so can we.

Even when dealing with adversaries and enemies, we can "love our enemies" with the same kind of love that Jesus had for His. We should always forgive others, and we should probably always be kind to them, but that doesn't mean that we have to like them.

Hearken

Tonight, we read and listened to President Nelson's talk "Hear Him" in which he said something interesting and topical about the word hearken:

The very first word in the Doctrine and Covenants is hearken. It means “to listen with the intent to obey.” To hearken means to “hear Him”—to hear what the Savior says and then to heed His counsel.

Frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about the use of the word "hear" in the commandment to "Hear Him." Hearing is passive. If there is any sound nearby, we can hardly help hearing it. Listening, or even better, hearkening is much better. To listen means to more actively focus on a sound, and to hearken, as stated above, means "to listen with the intent to obey." It's an active verb that implies future action.

That, I believe, is important. It's not enough to merely hear the Gospel. We must live it. It's not enough to merely hear the commandments. We must obey them. It's not enough to merely hear the words of Christ. We must follow Him. As James says, we must be "doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22). Of course, hearing is essential. But it is insufficient. We must not only hear the words of Christ and the prophets, but we must "listen with the intent to obey."

Walking by Faith

When I get the chance, I like to play/run a D&D game by myself. The current game follows Erevan Yealdrin, commonly called Evan, as he seeks to reclaim a set of holy relics that once belonged to an angel. One of those relics was placed in a treasure hoard guarded by a mummy in the center of a maze. Evan found his way through the maze and defeated the mummy fairly easily, but the mummy struck him with a curse of feeble-mindedness, making it almost impossible for Evan to find his way out of the maze with the relic. Fortunately, Evan wasn't alone. Evan has a spirit guide named Faith, and Faith was not struck by the curse of feeble-mindedness. So, as the game stands now, Faith is doing her best to find them both a safe way out of the maze while Evan follows behind her. In essence, Evan is walking by faith.

I recently blogged about what a blessing it is that we can have the Spirit's guidance in all things, but that guidance will only help us if we trust the Spirit enough to follow Him. But the thing is, it should be fairly easy to trust the Spirit's guidance rather than our own thoughts. We're all a little feeble-minded, and we each only have our own limited perspective. In contrast, the Spirit gets His wisdom and intelligence directly from our all-knowing God. The Spirit knows what He's doing, and He knows what we should do, too. We often don't completely know what we're doing, so we're almost always better off following Him.

It's sometimes tempting to try to find our own answers for things or to try to make our own way in the world, but most often, we're better off trusting, following, and even relying on our spiritual guide, the Holy Ghost. If we put our faith in Him, He can tell us where we need to go and what we need to do. We don't need to know all the answers. We just need to trust the answers that come from God.

Relying on our own limited knowledge and wisdom will only get us so far. We're all much better off walking by faith.

"Guided in Matters Large and Small"

Tonight, my family listened to President Russell M. Nelson's talk, Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives, in which he spoke of the blessing of the Holy Ghost and personal revelation:

Imagine the miracle of it! Whatever our Church calling, we can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive guidance and direction, be warned about dangers and distractions, and be enabled to accomplish things we simply could not do on our own. If we will truly receive the Holy Ghost and learn to discern and understand His promptings, we will be guided in matters large and small.

There are many matters, both in the church and outside it, that require careful handling. Often, it can be difficult to know what's best, at least partly because we don't know what lies ahead. Getting guidance and revelation can be a great blessing to us in all aspects of our lives. And what's especially nice is that we can receive that guidance on all aspects of our lives, even in matters that may seem relatively inconsequential. Truly receiving the Holy Ghost means having a constant companion who can help us with just about everything. That help can sometimes be essential, and it could never hurt. Having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost can be a great blessing in our lives. I hope we all will try to live worthy of it and make good use of it, in matters large and small.

America Needs to Repent

I used to think that America was a good country. Best in the world, maybe. And maybe it still is, as sad as that would be. But after today, I have serious doubts about how Good this country is, or at least about how Lawful it is. 

I'm worried. I'm worried that we have lost our way and will lose the blessings of God, if we haven't already. We've had wars. We've had recessions. We've even had a bit of a plague. I'm worried that if we, as a nation, don't shape up and start repenting, things are only going to get worse.

I don't want a civil war. I don't want new, deadlier strains of the virus. I don't want any of the natural disasters climatologists are always warning us about. We're in bad shape right now, and it looks like things might get worse, and I really hope they don't. I hope that we come to our senses and return to God before it's too late. I want America to be Good again. Heck, at this point, I'd settle for Decent.

America is not as good as she needs to be. If we want things to get better, and I think we all do, we need to be better.

Struggling

The word "struggling" has a negative connotation. If someone is struggling with something, it means that they're having a hard time. It could mean that they're weak or otherwise incapable. But I don't see it that way. I see struggling as a good thing. A person who is struggling is a person who hasn't given up the struggle. It's a person who is attempting to accomplish something difficult, and who is facing difficulty, but who isn't giving up. Struggling is noble. Struggling is inspiring. The greatest heroes of both fiction and reality have struggled. They faced great challenges, were most often challenged by them, but they rose to face those challenges. Even those who were unsuccessful were inspiring because of how hard they struggled.

There are a few things I'm struggling with, but I am struggling with them. And for better and worse, I expect that I'll keep struggling for a long time. I won't overcome my challenges any time soon, but I'm not going to give up, either. I'm going to keep struggling as long as I live, or at least as long as it takes, and that, I think, is a good thing.

Repentance Is a Process

Something I thought bout this morning is that repentance is a process. Repentance means change, and change takes time. It's not a once-and-done kind of thing. It's something we have to keep working at as we gradually change. I can't fully say that I've repented of my sins, because I'm still changing for the better. I'm still improving, and I still have room for improvement. I suppose it's fair to say that I have changed, and thus have repented, but it's far more true to say that I am changing, that I am repenting. It's not a matter of a single pray or a single commitment or "resolution." Repentance is a process of change. Until we're done changing, we're not done repenting.

Calm Emotions

There are various emotional states that make it difficult to feel and follow the Spirit. Tired is one of them, as are angry and proud. In fact, I wonder if it could be said that any strong emotion could drown out the voice of the Spirit. After all, it's a still, small voice. If there's too much noise of any kind, it could be hard to hear it. That's part of why it's important to seek out moments of peace and quiet, to calm our strong, noisy emotions, so we can better hear the Spirit. That's what I should do when I get tired and/or emotionally charged. I should excuse myself from the situation and try to find some peace and quiet, where I can pray, calm down, and try to get the Spirit back. Every so often, it's critical to just take a breather. The next time I find myself in such a moment, I hope I'm wise enough to do so.

Losing the Light - He That Repents Not

D&C 1:33 And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.

Everyone is born with some spiritual light. This light is called The Light of Christ, or more commonly, a conscience. By following this conscience, people can be led to more and greater light, gradually growing in light and strength and blessings. Light builds upon light.

Unfortunately for some, the reverse is also true. While those who follow the light they have are led to greater light, those who fail to follow their light instead fall into darkness. If we aren't careful to feed and follow our light, we may lose it. The insidious thing about this process of losing the light is that it's gradual, making it difficult to notice. Worse, the problem compounds upon itself. The more the light fades, the harder it is to find more and brighter sources of light. Eventually, a person can fall into darkness so deep that it's difficult to get back out.

Thankfully, to some extent, light can be shared. If we know of someone in darkness, we can offer to share our light with them. And if, God forbid, we find ourselves losing the light, we can draw some strength from the light of others. And of course, the One with the greatest light is God. If we ever find our light not quite as bright as we'd like it to be, we can repent, turn to Him, and draw on some of His light and strength. Naturally, we each need to grow our own individual lights as well, but when ours are weak, we can lean on His.

Maintaining and growing our lights takes constant effort, and it's far too easy to let our lights dim over time, which can make it more difficult to retain and restore our light. Yet, if we will turn to God and to others, we can let their light help us find ways to strengthen ours.

Darkness leads to deeper darkness, and light leads to greater light. We must take care to consistently grow the light that is within us, and to not let the darkness in us diminish our light.

Fun and Family

Today was a good day, mostly because I spent a significant portion of it talking with my brother. We shared funny stories and computer highjinks, and we basically just had a good time enjoying each other's company. It was a good way to start the year. I hope that the rest of the year will include stuff like this. Fun and family are both important to staying positive and staying sane. I hope I get to continue having fun with my family in the near future. I don't know what all 2021 will hold (to be fair, I'm not sure anyone saw 2020 coming, either), but I hope that it includes a decent amount of fun and family time.