Last Thursday night, at an institute class focussing on the teachings of the living prophets, we read several passages from President Henry B. Eyring's talk, "Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen?" Each student was asked to select a sentence or two from this talk or another one we were reading that evening, to share with the group. The sentence I selected from that talk was "He [who fasts] will have the spiritual blessing of power to receive inspiration and greater capacity to resist temptation." In essence, fasting strengthens our connection to God.
I'm not sure exactly what it is about fasting that brings about this effect. Perhaps it's the prayer, the sacrifice, the practice in self-control, or any combination of those things. Whatever it is, fasting helps us connect more deeply to God and our Savior, allowing us to draw on some of their wisdom and strength. This is a miraculous ability and a remarkable privilege. Regardless of the other good that fasting does, fasting once a month would be worth it, just for how it helps us draw upon the strength of the Lord. In our day, we need that strength. We need the strength to resist temptation and the wisdom to avoid it. We need the wisdom to know what to do and the strength of will to do it. In our daily lives, we need God's help. And God has promised that we can get it just by exercising a little bit of self-control.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Many Enemies
Earlier today, I watched an animated film version of a story about a group of rabbits that face innumerable dangers in their search for a good home. It is suggested, in both the movie and in the book on which it was based, that rabbits have many enemies, and it seems as though the world itself were trying to kill them. If we were speaking of spiritual peril, the same could almost be said for us. The world has become a place of dangerously low standards. We are surrounded by evil influences and those who yield to them. In that sense, we have as many enemies as the rabbits did in the story.
In the story, Watership Down by Richard Adams, the rabbits had to be quick and clever to survive, and even then, there was a good deal of divine intervention. In our story, swift responses and wise plans can help us resist and escape personal temptations. As Frith said to the first rabbit (in the film version, at least), "If [your enemies] catch you, they will kill you. But they'll have to catch you first." Temptations to commit sin are all around us and they can destroy us if they catch us, but with wisdom and with God's help, we can escape them.
Yet, we can take advantage of strengths rabbits don't have. Avoiding and escaping temptation aren't our only options, which is lucky, because sometimes they aren't options. Alternatively, or rather Additionally, we can stand our ground. When we can't escape temptation, we can resist it. Unlike rabbits, we can fight most of our enemies and win. Of course, divine aid often plays a role in our spiritual battles, as it does with helping us avoid and escape temptation, but God frequently lets us exercise our own strength and succeed with our own abilities.
Though our tactics are in some ways different than those of the rabbits in Watership Down, there are also similarities in our conditions and what we can do about them. Sometimes, there's nothing we can do about our situations except escape or endure them. Sometimes, we have the power and cunning to change our conditions. Regardless of whether we fight our enemies or merely escape them, we have plenty of spiritual enemies to fight and escape. Whether through strength or wisdom or swiftness or cunning, we can defeat the many enemies we face in this life, or at least prevent them from destroying us.
In the story, Watership Down by Richard Adams, the rabbits had to be quick and clever to survive, and even then, there was a good deal of divine intervention. In our story, swift responses and wise plans can help us resist and escape personal temptations. As Frith said to the first rabbit (in the film version, at least), "If [your enemies] catch you, they will kill you. But they'll have to catch you first." Temptations to commit sin are all around us and they can destroy us if they catch us, but with wisdom and with God's help, we can escape them.
Yet, we can take advantage of strengths rabbits don't have. Avoiding and escaping temptation aren't our only options, which is lucky, because sometimes they aren't options. Alternatively, or rather Additionally, we can stand our ground. When we can't escape temptation, we can resist it. Unlike rabbits, we can fight most of our enemies and win. Of course, divine aid often plays a role in our spiritual battles, as it does with helping us avoid and escape temptation, but God frequently lets us exercise our own strength and succeed with our own abilities.
Though our tactics are in some ways different than those of the rabbits in Watership Down, there are also similarities in our conditions and what we can do about them. Sometimes, there's nothing we can do about our situations except escape or endure them. Sometimes, we have the power and cunning to change our conditions. Regardless of whether we fight our enemies or merely escape them, we have plenty of spiritual enemies to fight and escape. Whether through strength or wisdom or swiftness or cunning, we can defeat the many enemies we face in this life, or at least prevent them from destroying us.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Bonking on Branches
When a person bonks their head on a low-hanging branch of the tree, they usually become slightly annoyed (either at themselves or at the tree) and make a mental note to pay more attention to that limb in the future.
If that person bonks their head on the same branch a second time within the same morning, both the irritation and the resolution to be cautious increase.
By the third time a person hits their head on that same tree limb, it becomes very likely that they'll take some form of action to prevent the incident from happening again. For instance, they might hang a rope from that branch in such a way that they might see the rope and remember to avoid the limb.
This may work several times.
It also might happen that, even with the rope hanging visibly from the low-hanging branch, the person still manages to hit his or her head on the branch again by walking toward it backward.
Some people are not terribly bright.
Though, to be fair to the person who repeatedly accidentally hit their head on the same branch on the same day, many other people, most of us in fact, repeatedly make similarly foolish mistakes. Maybe we fall victim to the small vices we may have. Maybe we make mistakes, but fail to learn from them. I'm sure we all do things we wish we wouldn't do. A wise man is not one who never makes foolish mistakes, but one who learns from such mistakes and takes measures to prevent them.
The question is what measures we can take to reduce the likelihood of repeated mistakes, and what we do if and when those measures fail. Tying a rope to a tree branch may help us see the branch before we hit it, but only if we're watching where we're going. When a preventative measure fails, we should try to find out whether the preventative measure was simply ineffective or whether it merely failed to prevent all possible causes of the problem.
Also, trying a rope to a tree branch is not the universal solution to our everyday mistakes. Unfortunately, each problem is different, and thus requires different solutions. As a person may have done with a rope and a tree branch, we may just have to try something and see if it works, though the Prophets tend to be good sources of ideas to try, depending on the problem.
Another important thought to consider after hearing this hypothetical story is how many times one is willing to suffer the results of a poor decision before they take active measures to prevent it from happening again. Do we try to fix the problem as soon as we learn that there is one, or do we wait until we decide that the problem is serious and/or frequent enough that we need to do something about it? While it may not be practical to take measures to prevent any mistake we could possibly make, it's certainly foolish to make the same mistake repeatedly when you could do something to prevent it. Some people only need to hit their head on a branch once to learn well enough to avoid it in the future. Others may hit their heads two or three times before they manage to prevent it from happening again. And some of us are still bonking our heads on branches, wondering how we could be so foolish, when the question we really ought to be considering is what we would have to do to become wise.
The ability to prevent repeated mistakes lies in seeing patterns of behavior and occurrences leading up to the mistakes. If we notice that we hit our heads on branches when we push a wheelbarrow full of dirt toward a trailer or when we go to where we left our backpacks to get a drink of water, we might learn to take extra care and look up when we push wheelbarrows or take a water break. If we can find the patterns in our lives, we can begin to look for ways to change them.
We make foolish mistakes, sometimes repeatedly. But if we can learn why we keep making mistakes like those, and take active measures to prevent them, we might bonk our heads on branches a few fewer times than we might have.
If that person bonks their head on the same branch a second time within the same morning, both the irritation and the resolution to be cautious increase.
By the third time a person hits their head on that same tree limb, it becomes very likely that they'll take some form of action to prevent the incident from happening again. For instance, they might hang a rope from that branch in such a way that they might see the rope and remember to avoid the limb.
This may work several times.
It also might happen that, even with the rope hanging visibly from the low-hanging branch, the person still manages to hit his or her head on the branch again by walking toward it backward.
Some people are not terribly bright.
Though, to be fair to the person who repeatedly accidentally hit their head on the same branch on the same day, many other people, most of us in fact, repeatedly make similarly foolish mistakes. Maybe we fall victim to the small vices we may have. Maybe we make mistakes, but fail to learn from them. I'm sure we all do things we wish we wouldn't do. A wise man is not one who never makes foolish mistakes, but one who learns from such mistakes and takes measures to prevent them.
The question is what measures we can take to reduce the likelihood of repeated mistakes, and what we do if and when those measures fail. Tying a rope to a tree branch may help us see the branch before we hit it, but only if we're watching where we're going. When a preventative measure fails, we should try to find out whether the preventative measure was simply ineffective or whether it merely failed to prevent all possible causes of the problem.
Also, trying a rope to a tree branch is not the universal solution to our everyday mistakes. Unfortunately, each problem is different, and thus requires different solutions. As a person may have done with a rope and a tree branch, we may just have to try something and see if it works, though the Prophets tend to be good sources of ideas to try, depending on the problem.
Another important thought to consider after hearing this hypothetical story is how many times one is willing to suffer the results of a poor decision before they take active measures to prevent it from happening again. Do we try to fix the problem as soon as we learn that there is one, or do we wait until we decide that the problem is serious and/or frequent enough that we need to do something about it? While it may not be practical to take measures to prevent any mistake we could possibly make, it's certainly foolish to make the same mistake repeatedly when you could do something to prevent it. Some people only need to hit their head on a branch once to learn well enough to avoid it in the future. Others may hit their heads two or three times before they manage to prevent it from happening again. And some of us are still bonking our heads on branches, wondering how we could be so foolish, when the question we really ought to be considering is what we would have to do to become wise.
The ability to prevent repeated mistakes lies in seeing patterns of behavior and occurrences leading up to the mistakes. If we notice that we hit our heads on branches when we push a wheelbarrow full of dirt toward a trailer or when we go to where we left our backpacks to get a drink of water, we might learn to take extra care and look up when we push wheelbarrows or take a water break. If we can find the patterns in our lives, we can begin to look for ways to change them.
We make foolish mistakes, sometimes repeatedly. But if we can learn why we keep making mistakes like those, and take active measures to prevent them, we might bonk our heads on branches a few fewer times than we might have.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Define Guile
What is guile? Why is it a bad thing to have guile? And if guile is such a bad thing, why isn't it a bad thing that Ammon caught King Lamoni with it?
Though the usually dictionary definitions suggest that guile can refer to any kind of cunning or craftiness, not necessarily deception, the Guide to the Scriptures makes the term unfortunately clear: "In the scriptures, guile is deceitful cunning." Judging by the General Conference talks that have mentioned guile and many of the scriptures that also do, guile seems to be a bad trait to have.
Elder Ringwood's talk, Truly Good and Without Guile, mentions guile many times, mostly stating that those who are truly good and without guile do what's right, without any consideration of glory-seeking. But the phrase "truly good and without guile" did not come from Elder Ringwood. He borrowed that phrase, and the entire paragraph in which he heard it, from President Deiter F. Uchtdorf's talk, "Lord, Is It I?" However, President Uchtdorf used the word "guile" only this one time during that talk:
Yet, in the Book of Mormon and in the New Testament, two servants of God caught those whom they were preaching to with guile, and one of them openly admitted it. In Alma chapter 18, Ammon asked King Lamoni if he would believe what he was about to teach him. "And the king answered him, and said: Yea, I will believe all thy words. And thus he was caught with guile" (Alma 18: 23). And in Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians, he confessed that, "being crafty, I caught you with guile" (2 Corinthians 12: 16).
I'm going to have to do more studying to find out why it was okay for Ammon and Paul to use guile, even though it's clear from many scriptural sources that possessing guile is not usually a good thing. Perhaps possessing guile is bad, but catching someone with it isn't? But that doesn't make any sense. Like I said, more study is required. I'll look more closely at the story of Ammon to determine exactly how he caught King Lamoni with guile and whether he did anything crafty or deceitful in doing so. It would be harder to find out when and how Paul caught the Corinthians with guile. The records of that event may not even exist. So I'll just work with what I have. Did Ammon do something wrong by catching King Lamoni with guile? If not, what made that okay? I look forward to finding the answers to those questions. But first, I have some chores to do.
Though the usually dictionary definitions suggest that guile can refer to any kind of cunning or craftiness, not necessarily deception, the Guide to the Scriptures makes the term unfortunately clear: "In the scriptures, guile is deceitful cunning." Judging by the General Conference talks that have mentioned guile and many of the scriptures that also do, guile seems to be a bad trait to have.
Elder Ringwood's talk, Truly Good and Without Guile, mentions guile many times, mostly stating that those who are truly good and without guile do what's right, without any consideration of glory-seeking. But the phrase "truly good and without guile" did not come from Elder Ringwood. He borrowed that phrase, and the entire paragraph in which he heard it, from President Deiter F. Uchtdorf's talk, "Lord, Is It I?" However, President Uchtdorf used the word "guile" only this one time during that talk:
Over the course of my life, I have had the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the most competent and intelligent men and women this world has to offer. When I was younger, I was impressed by those who were educated, accomplished, successful, and applauded by the world. But over the years, I have come to the realization that I am far more impressed by those wonderful and blessed souls who are truly good and without guile.Thankfully, my search of the scriptures turned up more results, though no more answers. In the Doctrine and Covenants, a few individuals are said to be without guile, in a context that implies that that trait made them trustworthy. An example of this is George Miller, who is mentioned in D&C 124: 20:
And again, verily I say unto you, my servant George Miller is without guile; he may be trusted because of the integrity of his heart; and for the love which he has to my testimony I, the Lord, love him.In the New Testament, when Jesus Christ described Nathanael as "an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile" (John 1:47), He seemed to have meant it as a compliment. But Nathanael wasn't the only person alive at time who lacked guile. In 1 Peter 2:22, Jesus Christ was described as being a man "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." And this came after verse 21, which tells us that Jesus set an example for us to follow!
Yet, in the Book of Mormon and in the New Testament, two servants of God caught those whom they were preaching to with guile, and one of them openly admitted it. In Alma chapter 18, Ammon asked King Lamoni if he would believe what he was about to teach him. "And the king answered him, and said: Yea, I will believe all thy words. And thus he was caught with guile" (Alma 18: 23). And in Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians, he confessed that, "being crafty, I caught you with guile" (2 Corinthians 12: 16).
I'm going to have to do more studying to find out why it was okay for Ammon and Paul to use guile, even though it's clear from many scriptural sources that possessing guile is not usually a good thing. Perhaps possessing guile is bad, but catching someone with it isn't? But that doesn't make any sense. Like I said, more study is required. I'll look more closely at the story of Ammon to determine exactly how he caught King Lamoni with guile and whether he did anything crafty or deceitful in doing so. It would be harder to find out when and how Paul caught the Corinthians with guile. The records of that event may not even exist. So I'll just work with what I have. Did Ammon do something wrong by catching King Lamoni with guile? If not, what made that okay? I look forward to finding the answers to those questions. But first, I have some chores to do.
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
The Nameless Faithful
As I read and listened to Elder Micheal T. Ringwood's talk, Truly Good and Without Guile, two things stood out to me. The first is that I'm not 100% sure I know what the word "guile" means. I looked it up in the dictionary; it means something like cunning or cleverness, especially when used to deceive others. But then, what does it mean to be "truly good and without guile"? Sincerity, perhaps? And what does it mean when King Lamoni was "caught with guile" by Ammon, the Nephite missionary. He hadn't been deceived, but there was some cleverness involved. Yet, there was sincerity as well, so I remain confused.
The second thing that stood out to me, and the one I want to blog about today is what Elder Ringwood said about those who do service outside of their callings.
Right now, I want to share my testimony that God sees and appreciates every good thing we do, even if no one else does. Small acts of service aren't small to God. He cares about the love and thoughtfulness that motivated the acts, rather than the magnitude of the acts themselves.
However, I don't mean to underestimate the effects of those small acts of service. Though many of those who benefit from that service may not notice it or fully appreciate it, some will, and those people will be touched by the thoughtfulness and diligence of those who did that service, and they may be inspired to perform acts of service as well. And even if nobody (besides God) notices the service, the benefits that service provides is real. The beneficiaries may not be perceptive enough to notice it, but the service that good, anonymous people do for them does have a positive impact on their lives.
I think that most people that do good don't get the thanks and recognition they deserve, and I know it can be discouraging to them to think that no one notices them and that they're not really making a difference. But they are, we are, all making a difference, and I promise that there's at least one person who notices that. Elder Ringwood spoke of serving with a diligent and faithful missionary companion who wasn't recognized as such by the other missionaries, perhaps partly because he had never held a position in missionary leadership, as most missionaries eventually do. But as Elder Ringwood got to know this missionary, he wanted to let everyone know how faithful and diligent missionary was.
The second thing that stood out to me, and the one I want to blog about today is what Elder Ringwood said about those who do service outside of their callings.
I honor those who selflessly serve each week in wards and branches around the world by going above and beyond in fulfilling callings. But callings come and go. Even more impressive to me are the many who without formal callings find ways to consistently serve and lift others. One brother shows up early for church to set up chairs and stays after to straighten up the chapel. One sister purposely selects a seat near a blind sister in her ward not only so she can greet her but also so she can sing the hymns loudly enough that the blind sister can hear the words and sing along. If you look closely in your ward or branch, you will find examples like these.Faithful servants like these often go without worldly recognition. They frequently do the little things that just need doing, whether other people notice them or not. I imagine that these people sometimes wonder whether they're really doing any good at all or if anyone notices or cares how much work they put into doing it.
Right now, I want to share my testimony that God sees and appreciates every good thing we do, even if no one else does. Small acts of service aren't small to God. He cares about the love and thoughtfulness that motivated the acts, rather than the magnitude of the acts themselves.
However, I don't mean to underestimate the effects of those small acts of service. Though many of those who benefit from that service may not notice it or fully appreciate it, some will, and those people will be touched by the thoughtfulness and diligence of those who did that service, and they may be inspired to perform acts of service as well. And even if nobody (besides God) notices the service, the benefits that service provides is real. The beneficiaries may not be perceptive enough to notice it, but the service that good, anonymous people do for them does have a positive impact on their lives.
I think that most people that do good don't get the thanks and recognition they deserve, and I know it can be discouraging to them to think that no one notices them and that they're not really making a difference. But they are, we are, all making a difference, and I promise that there's at least one person who notices that. Elder Ringwood spoke of serving with a diligent and faithful missionary companion who wasn't recognized as such by the other missionaries, perhaps partly because he had never held a position in missionary leadership, as most missionaries eventually do. But as Elder Ringwood got to know this missionary, he wanted to let everyone know how faithful and diligent missionary was.
I shared with my mission president my desire to correct this misunderstanding. His response was, “Heavenly Father knows this young man is a successful missionary, and so do I.” He added, “And now you know too, so who else really matters?”The truth is that it doesn't matter whether anyone on Earth notices the good we do, as long as one person in Heaven does. God knows about the service you do, even when others don't, and He's grateful for it, even when others aren't. You may not get any thanks or recognition from the people you serve, but you will receive thanks and recognition from Almighty God. No act and no person go completely unnoticed. The world may never know your name, but I'm sure that God will call you by name when He personally thanks you for all the good you have done.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
I'll Keep Trying
I did not blog on the day before yesterday. There is a blog post that was posted on the day before yesterday, but that's because it was posted after midnight the night before. If that post counted for the day before yesterday, then it didn't count for the day before that. Either way you look at it, if I'm truly being honest with myself, I missed a day.
Now, normally, missing a day of blogging isn't a terrible thing. I don't write in my journal every night, and that doesn't matter too terribly much, so why should it bother me that I missed a day of blogging? Partly, the reason I'm bothered by missing a day is that I had made a commitment to blog daily. I had promised God that I would blog every day. Also, until recently, it's a commitment that I had managed to keep.
Keeping commitments is important to me, but perseverance is not my strong suit. I could have imagined me going a month or two blogging every day, but I never thought I'd be able to blog every day for several months, let alone a year or two. Keeping this blog going is something that I'm proud of, and I was especially proud of being able to say that, except for a few days when I literally could not have blogged, I had never missed a day.
But now I have. I've missed at least one day of blogging. I've failed to keep the commitment. Naturally, I don't feel really great about that. But thankfully, God, in His infinite mercy, made a way for us to reforge broken covenants and repent of having fallen short.
Usually, that way is by partaking of the Sacrament. When we partake of the Sacrament, we renew every covenant we've made with God, or at least every sacred covenant we made as part of an ordinance. My blogging commitment, and the commitments we make to each other, are even easier to remake. I can remake my blogging commitment by deciding to make a renewed effort to blog every day, which I already did.
Sometimes, when a person fails to keep a commitment or to do what they know they should, there's a temptation to give up. For a moment, I was slightly tempted to believe that I don't have to blog every day because blogging isn't all that important. Besides, I can no longer say that I've blogged every day since early February two years ago. I'm never going to get that back. Why bother to continue?
Because it's important. At least, it is to me. And missing one day is not a good reason to miss another. You know what they say about falling off horses. The same goes for failing to blog, or breaking any other commitment or commandment. Most of us do our best to do what we promise to do, but even with the best of intentions, we sometimes fall short. When that happens, we don't just give up completely; we keep trying. I am going to keep trying to keep my commitment to blog daily, no matter how many days I miss between now and whenever I stop blogging.
Now, normally, missing a day of blogging isn't a terrible thing. I don't write in my journal every night, and that doesn't matter too terribly much, so why should it bother me that I missed a day of blogging? Partly, the reason I'm bothered by missing a day is that I had made a commitment to blog daily. I had promised God that I would blog every day. Also, until recently, it's a commitment that I had managed to keep.
Keeping commitments is important to me, but perseverance is not my strong suit. I could have imagined me going a month or two blogging every day, but I never thought I'd be able to blog every day for several months, let alone a year or two. Keeping this blog going is something that I'm proud of, and I was especially proud of being able to say that, except for a few days when I literally could not have blogged, I had never missed a day.
But now I have. I've missed at least one day of blogging. I've failed to keep the commitment. Naturally, I don't feel really great about that. But thankfully, God, in His infinite mercy, made a way for us to reforge broken covenants and repent of having fallen short.
Usually, that way is by partaking of the Sacrament. When we partake of the Sacrament, we renew every covenant we've made with God, or at least every sacred covenant we made as part of an ordinance. My blogging commitment, and the commitments we make to each other, are even easier to remake. I can remake my blogging commitment by deciding to make a renewed effort to blog every day, which I already did.
Sometimes, when a person fails to keep a commitment or to do what they know they should, there's a temptation to give up. For a moment, I was slightly tempted to believe that I don't have to blog every day because blogging isn't all that important. Besides, I can no longer say that I've blogged every day since early February two years ago. I'm never going to get that back. Why bother to continue?
Because it's important. At least, it is to me. And missing one day is not a good reason to miss another. You know what they say about falling off horses. The same goes for failing to blog, or breaking any other commitment or commandment. Most of us do our best to do what we promise to do, but even with the best of intentions, we sometimes fall short. When that happens, we don't just give up completely; we keep trying. I am going to keep trying to keep my commitment to blog daily, no matter how many days I miss between now and whenever I stop blogging.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Why I Should Blog in the Morning
I really ought to blog in the mornings. I had a chance to blog yesterday morning, but I was lazy and missed my opportunity. Part of my problem is that I assumed I'd get another chance after church, but due to a few technical difficulties, that didn't happen. I guess the bottom line is that you never know which chance will be your last chance, so if you're going to do something, you had better do it while you still can.
But an even better reason for me to blog in the morning is to get my day off to a good start. When I started this blog, I had the idea that when I blogged, I'd be sharing spiritual insights that I could continue to ponder throughout the day. This would help me have the Spirit with me, which would have a host of other benefits. This has worked in the past, and I enjoyed working out the answers to spiritual questions raised in one blog post and answered in another. Blogging used to be my opportunity to connect to the Spirit. Now, I'm afraid I just see it as a chore.
Perhaps the shift from beneficial exercise to time-consuming chore started when I started to grow casual about blogging. When I wasn't able to (or was too lazy to) blog in the morning, I told myself that that was alright because I could just blog later. I didn't give my blog the respect it deserves, and many of us, myself included, are probably making the same mistake with scripture study. How often, when we read the scriptures, do we just read them, without considering the messages God is trying to share with us and without tapping into the spiritual blessings that scripture study can bring. Reading the scriptures without thinking about them is probably no more beneficial than reading any other book, and blogging just because I have to blog every day probably isn't any more beneficial than any other form of typing practice. I want to get more out of my blog than simply knowing where each letter's keys are, and you deserve interesting and insightful blog posts, not just apologies for my blog posts being lame and late.
During this month, I'm going to put a renewed effort into blogging early and well. I'm going to recenter my mind on spiritual matters and share thoughts that are actually worth sharing. I'm going to have spiritual insights, record them, and share them, so we can all benefit from them, including myself. I benefit from this blog more than any of you probably do, and that's lucky for me because I really need the blessings that come from blogging. This blog is important to me. I think it's time that I proved that importance by giving my blog first-thing-in-the-morning priority.
But an even better reason for me to blog in the morning is to get my day off to a good start. When I started this blog, I had the idea that when I blogged, I'd be sharing spiritual insights that I could continue to ponder throughout the day. This would help me have the Spirit with me, which would have a host of other benefits. This has worked in the past, and I enjoyed working out the answers to spiritual questions raised in one blog post and answered in another. Blogging used to be my opportunity to connect to the Spirit. Now, I'm afraid I just see it as a chore.
Perhaps the shift from beneficial exercise to time-consuming chore started when I started to grow casual about blogging. When I wasn't able to (or was too lazy to) blog in the morning, I told myself that that was alright because I could just blog later. I didn't give my blog the respect it deserves, and many of us, myself included, are probably making the same mistake with scripture study. How often, when we read the scriptures, do we just read them, without considering the messages God is trying to share with us and without tapping into the spiritual blessings that scripture study can bring. Reading the scriptures without thinking about them is probably no more beneficial than reading any other book, and blogging just because I have to blog every day probably isn't any more beneficial than any other form of typing practice. I want to get more out of my blog than simply knowing where each letter's keys are, and you deserve interesting and insightful blog posts, not just apologies for my blog posts being lame and late.
During this month, I'm going to put a renewed effort into blogging early and well. I'm going to recenter my mind on spiritual matters and share thoughts that are actually worth sharing. I'm going to have spiritual insights, record them, and share them, so we can all benefit from them, including myself. I benefit from this blog more than any of you probably do, and that's lucky for me because I really need the blessings that come from blogging. This blog is important to me. I think it's time that I proved that importance by giving my blog first-thing-in-the-morning priority.
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