The Sacrament - A Sacred Reminder

A few days ago, I blogged about the Sacrament and about a bowl of bread cereal. I talked about how the cereal reminded me of the Sacrament, which is a reminder of Jesus Christ, but I also said that I didn't want to link the Sacrament, a sacred ordinance, to a mundane and trivial bowl of cereal. Reminders like the Sacrament should be repeated as frequently as necessary to help us remember, but things which are sacred, like the Sacrament, should be kept sacred, not made trivial or common.

The main difference between the Sacrament and my usual breakfast cereal (besides the containers in which they're put, the temperature of the water, and the milk, sugar, and hot cocoa mix I mix into my breakfast), is that the Sacrament is blessed with sacred, Sacramental prayers, and my cereal is not. Of course, I pray for my breakfast, too, just as I pray for my other meals, but I don't use the Sacramental prayers to do so! The only times I utter the words of those prayers are when I'm blessing the Sacrament, or when I read them from the scriptures or a gospel manual. Those prayers are sacred, so we keep them sacred by not saying them any more frequently than it's respectful to do so. Those sacred, Sacramental prayers are what turn ordinary bread and water into the sacred Sacrament.

Though the initial substances are much the same, just regular store-bought bread and normal tap water, the Sacrament is holy, and my cereal is not. The Sacrament is blessed with sacred prayers, and my cereal is not. The Sacrament is the Sacrament, and my cereal is not. I don't need to worry about cheapening the Sacrament with my breakfast cereal because my cereal is not the Sacrament.

It is, however, a reminder of the Sacrament, which in turn reminds me of Jesus Christ whom I, in the sacred, Sacramental prayers, promised to always remember. As I've said before, "If my breakfast raises my thoughts to the subject of Jesus Christ, that's a good thing." We're supposed to remember Christ always, which may be the reason why all things testify of Him, even my morning breakfast. It doesn't have to be disrespectful, and bread and water don't have to be sacred to remind us of things that are. My breakfast can perform one of the main functions of the Sacrament, serving as a reminder of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, without diminishing the value of Christ, the Atonement, or the actual Sacrament. My cereal is just a regular reminder. The Sacrament is a sacred one.

Tips for Improving Prayers

I promise I'll get back to General Conference eventually. I even tried to lead into it with that blog post about breakfast and the Sacrament, thinking and hoping that I'd have time to link my thoughts together on Saturday or Sunday. But as it turned out, I didn't have time to do that, and now I think I've missed my moment. Besides, I have something else on my mind right now.

My prayers, at least my personal prayers, have improved recently, and I'd like to consider how and why. For one thing, I'm praying more honestly now than I was previously. I used to start almost all of my prayers with "We/I thank Thee for this day," and gratitude is certainly a good attitude to have, especially when praying, but I had repeated the phrase so often that it had become meaningless to me. It was just part of the script. It was the line that I said after saying "Dear Heavenly Father." It became a vain repetition.

To correct that, I've started using variations of that phrase, or even that phrase again, but I say it one word at a time now, and I think about whether I actually mean what I'm saying. It may still be a repetition, or something close to it, but the words aren't vain when I really mean them.

I've also started seeing God and I as a partnership, rather than allowing myself to be totally dependent on Him. When I pray for Him to help me be righteous and resist temptation, I acknowledge, at least internally, that it's my responsibility, too. In fact, it's my responsibility more than it is His, and I'm owning up to that. I just want His help, and all the help I really need (unless I'm weaker than I think) is a warning when I face temptation and don't realize it. Satan is very subtle. So subtle sometimes that I don't even notice that he's pulling my strings. As long as God points those moments out to me, and I pray for strength immediately during those moments, I don't have as much trouble pulling free. Hmm, I guess I am relying on God's strength, too, as well as His wisdom. Oh, well. It's more wise than relying on mine.

Another way my prayers have improved is by saying them more frequently. Not only am I praying any time I face temptation, I'm also praying earnestly at all the times that I'm supposed to, or at least more than I was before. I used to not really pray for my food, but now I use food as a reminder to pray, not just to ask God to bless the food, but to express other thoughts as well. I'm starting to think that maybe the reason we're asked to ask God to bless our food doesn't have so much to do with the dangers of eating unblessed food as it does with the benefits of praying at least as frequently as we eat. Theoretically, we should be praying all the time, but that's practically impossible. Developing the habit of praying just before we eat something ensures that we'll be praying at least several times per day, and that means we'll be connecting with God more frequently, and that means more blessings for us.

I'm glad my prayers are better now than they had been and I hope I keep up these good habits I've learned. I'm grateful that my prayers have been made more meaningful and frequent, and I hope that they stay that way.

It Still Stinks, But God Can Help

Right now, I think I have slightly more time than I had yesterday morning, but it's still nowhere near the amount of time I'd need to do what I need to do. I suppose that's part of becoming an adult - getting stuck with so many obligations that even though you're old enough to do whatever you want to do, you never have the time.

Satan likes to use that our business against us. He tries to convince us that we don't have time for spiritual things because we have so many other obligations to take care of, or that we're too tired after fulfilling our obligations to spend time studying the scriptures. Sometimes, he uses the stress of everyday life to upset us to the point where we emotionally cannot feel the Spirit.

The solution, I think, is prayer. We may not have much time for scripture study or Family Home Evening, but you can usually spare a few seconds to close your eyes (or leave them open, if you're driving) and say a quick prayer. That prayer will attract the Spirit, which will help soothe the stress of life, allowing us to be better able to make it through the day. And if we keep the Spirit with us, which is difficult, but doable, He may help us find the time for other Spiritual obligations, and He can certainly help us take care of our daily work so we can get it down faster and better, leaving us more time for spiritual things.

So, I'll pray for help. I pray for help in finding time to do everything I need to do so I can get it all done and still not be too tired to read my scriptures. And if I manage to read my scriptures despite the many other things I need to do, that might earn me a few brownie points with the Big Man, prompting Him to pull a few strings to help me get everything done.

Being Busy Stinks

Can't blog this morning. Too busy. Sorry.

Expect an actual blog post later today.

A Little Reminder

Two days ago, I posted something that's true again today:

For breakfast this morning, I'm having bread cereal, which is basically just bread torn into tiny pieces in a bowl with milk and sugar. I'm also having a glass of hot chocolate with it. As the first few steps of preparing my breakfast, I tore two slices of bread into tiny pieces and poured myself a glass of water. It's nice to get little reminders from time to time.

 The Sacrament itself is a "little" reminder of something much, much more significant than a bowl of breakfast cereal, and I wonder if it isn't disrespectful to connect the greatest event in the history of the Earth to an event so mundane as a plain, morning meal. At the same time, all things testify of Christ, including (apparently) a bowl of bread. If my breakfast raises my thoughts to the subject of Jesus Christ, that's a good thing, but if the ordinance that's supposed to remind me of the Atonement reminds me of bread cereal instead, that's terrible. The Sacrament is supposed to be a sacred experience. I don't want to to start to think of it as some common thing.

Christianity is Changing

As I was watching President Boyd K. Packer's talk, The Reason for Our Hope, the first thing that stood out to me was what he said about the Topical Guide's references to Jesus Christ.

18 pages, very fine print, single-spaced, listing references to the subject of “Jesus Christ.” It is one of the most comprehensive compilations of scriptural references on the subject of the Savior that has ever been assembled in the history of the world.

I had never thought that anything about the Topical Guide was very impressive, but this is. This also offers convincing evidence that we are, in fact, Christians (As if the name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints didn't already give it away). Many of those who claim that we're not Christian argue that point because we use a book of scripture other than the Bible, but if any of them actually read the Book of Mormon, they'd notice how many times it refers to Jesus Christ, and if they read it carefully, they'd notice that nothing in the Book of Mormon contradicts anything taught in the Bible. Of course, there many be some differences, caused by translation errors and limitations, and our personal beliefs about the nature of Jesus may differ from theirs, but I don't think the differences are great enough for either of us to not be considered Christians.

I think that the defining characteristic of a Christian is the desire and effort to follow the example of Jesus Christ. If you try to develop Christlike attributes and maintain a Christlike attitude, then you are a Christian. In fact, I'm not sure whether you even need to believe in the existence and divinity of Jesus Christ to be a Christian, according to the way I see it. I think that a person who strives to develop Christlike attributes just for the benefit of mankind, even if he thinks that there is no afterlife, that Jesus Christ was a lunatic, and that all organized religions are scams, is still more of a Christian than someone who professes to follow Jesus Christ but really doesn't even try. Being a Christian has less to do with one's mind or mouth and more to do with one's heart. You can believe in Jesus and say you follow Him, but if His teachings aren't in your heart, then aren't you kind of missing the point? Jesus isn't just trying to save us, He's trying to change us. If you're not changing, then are you really a Christian?

Personally, I do believe in Jesus Christ and I say (not in person so much, but at least online) that I try to follow Him, but is that really true? Am I really trying to follow Him? Are his teachings changing my heart? It's a matter of self-reflection, one that I think we should all undertake from time to time. To quote a historical fiction book that I just finished reading at around 2am the other night, "It has seemed to me that each year one should pause to take stock of himself, to ask: Where am I going? What am I becoming? What do I wish to do and become?"

I wish to be and become a better Christian. That's going to take a lot of work to change my nature and a lot of grace to forgive me for it, but it's an ongoing process for all of us, made possible by the One who wants nothing more than for us to undergo the changes required to emulate Him. Christ grew from grace to grace, and so should we. We should try to follow His example in all things, and that means that we should never stop trying to change for the better until we become perfect. None of us are perfect, so none of us who consider ourselves Christians should stop striving for self-improvement. It's a long, hard path, but it's the path the Savior followed, and we've all pledged to follow Him. That, in my opinion, is what Christianity means - continually changing to become ever more like Jesus Christ.

In Case Anyone Asks

In April 1996, Janette Hales Beckham shared an embarrassing personal story about a time she told her neighbor that we have a living prophet.

I told her briefly about the Restoration, and I explained that the restored Church of Jesus Christ has a living prophet today. This really seemed to pique her interest, and she wanted to know what the prophet had said. As I started to tell her about the Doctrine and Covenants and modern revelation, she said, “But what has he said lately?” I told her about general conference and that the Church had a monthly publication with a message from the prophet. Then she got really interested. I was so embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t read the current message. She concluded our conversation by saying, “You mean you have a living prophet and you don’t know what he said?”

We can avoid that awkward situation (and as a bonus, receive heaven's blessings for following prophetic counsel) simply by remembering what the prophet said in General Conference and by trying to apply it.

Without looking at my notes, I remember one talk President Monson gave. It was in the Priesthood Session, and it spoke of the mighty battleship Bismarck which was undefeated and deemed unsinkable until a torpedo disabled its rudder and it spun around in circles for hours, if not days, until it was eventually sunk. President Monson related us to that battleship. As long as we steer a proper course, we're unbeatable, but if we allow our rudder to become disabled (repentance repairs rudders, in this analogy) or if we spin around in circles of our own choice, we'll become easy targets for the Adversary.

Looking at LDS.org and my notes now, I'm reminded that he gave another talk called Ponder the Path of Your Feet. I remember this talk, but I didn't remember that it was President Monson who gave it, mostly because I'm actually remembering a different talk in which another General Authority quoted Proverbs 4:26. He had spoken of the importance of taking time to get your bearings and making sure you're on the right path. Shortly afterward, President Monson reminded us that the right path to follow is that of the Savior. Jesus endured temptations and trials, just as we all do, but He prevailed. President Monson told us of the examples hat Jesus had set of obedience, service, and prayer. "As we look to Jesus as our Exemplar and as we follow in His footsteps, we can return safely to our Heavenly Father."

Taking the two talks together, President Monson taught us that Jesus Christ showed the way that we should follow Him, and as long as we don't deviate from that course, we will be unstoppable. Perhaps that's because, as we follow Jesus Christ, we'll be doing the work of the Lord, and while Satan certainly has the power to frustrate us, he does not have the power to thwart the work of God. I find that thought encouraging. I know that I'm not undefeatable, but I know that God is. As long as we're on the same side, we can't lose. Actually, He won't lose, regardless of whose side I'm on, but I won't lose as long as I'm on His side. The Savior's example is a hard one to follow, but it's the only one that leads to certain victory.

So, in case anybody asks you some time in the next six months, President Monson told us that if we follow the path marked by the Savior, Satan will be unable to stop us. That's good to know to avoid an embarrassing situation, but it's also good to know to help us confidently follow Jesus into Eternal Life.