Strength and Support

In this week's Come, Follow Me lesson, we read about the people of King Limhi and the people of Alma, who, being oppressed by the Lamanites, asked God to deliver them. God didn't deliver them right away, but He did ease their burdens and strengthen their backs, so that, even though they were still in bondage, they could endure their trials reasonably well.

Elder John A. McCune of the 70 spoke on a similar topic in his April 2020 General Conference talk, Come Unto Christ - Living as Latter-Day Saints:

As followers of Christ, we are not spared challenges and trials in our lives. We are often required to do difficult things that, if attempted alone, would be overwhelming and maybe impossible. As we accept the Savior’s invitation to “come unto me,” He will provide the support, comfort, and peace that are necessary, just as He did for Nephi and Joseph [and others]. Even in our deepest trials, we can feel the warm embrace of His love as we trust Him and accept His will.

God will not always deliver us from our afflictions, at least not right away. Often, He asks us to endure for a while first. Now, how long "a while" is can vary widely, from days to decades. Yet, even while we suffer under our afflictions, God often offers us some strength and support. It may not be enough to help us overcome our afflictions, but it should be enough to help us endure them.

God doesn't always offer us immediate deliverance. Sometimes, there are circumstances that need to be lined up and/or lessons that need to be learned first. Whatever His reasons, He doesn't always give us the deliverance we ask for, but in those times, we can take some comfort in the fact that, while we wait and work for deliverance, God usually offers us some strength and support in the meantime.

Same Storm, Different Boats

I recently saw a social media post critiquing the phrase "We're all in this boat together." The post instead said something along the lines of "We're all in the same storm, but we're in very different boats." Some of us, in smaller boats, and in very serious trouble, but those of us in larger, more stable boats, might be doing just fine. Some boats may be safely docked in a harbor, while others are desperately trying to stay atop the waves. Some boats are taking on water faster than they can pump it, and some boats may have already capsized. Some captains are panicking. Some wonder whether the lighthouses are leading us toward safety or danger. Some are holding a steady course, trying not to react. Some rage against the storm, while others are dancing in the rain.

We're all in the same general situation, up to a certain point, but we're all in very different circumstances, and that fact, plus our widely differing reactions, means that we're all being affected by this storm differently, and we're all going to experience different end results.

So, let's try to have compassion for each other, but let's try not to make any assumptions about how anyone is doing. We're all being affected by this storm differently. Most are being affected negatively, to differing degrees, some may be mostly unaffected, and some may even be benefiting from this storm in some ways. We don't really know what's going on with other people, so let's not assume. Let's ask, listen, have compassion, and be kind. We may not all be in the same boat, but we're all in this storm together. Maybe we can help each other weather it.

Explanations for Accessibility

Elder Ulisses Soares's talk focused on The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon, and as such, I didn't take many notes about it. I already knew the basics of the story. I knew about the Angel Moroni and the Gold Plates. I knew about the miraculous translation and the difficulties of publication. I knew about the witnesses and Moroni's Promise. There wasn't much in Elder Soares's talk that was new to me. However, I know that that's not true for everyone who heard his talk.

There must have been a few non-members within the sound of his voice that Saturday Afternoon. There must have been a few people who hadn't heard about the Book of Mormon, who didn't know much about it, or at least didn't know the details of how God got it to us through the service of Joseph Smith. There had to have been at least a few people for whom Elder Soares's talk was news to them, perhaps even earth-shattering news. Elder Soares didn't give his talk for me, someone who had been reading from and about the Book of Mormon since I was a child. He gave his talk for them.

Since I was raised in the church, and since most of the people I know have been members of the church about as long as I have, I sometimes forget that not everyone who might attend a church meeting (or stumble upon my blog) knows all the lore and stories we know. I could mention "Moroni's Promise" in passing, like I did earlier in this blog post, and sure, most people who read it would get it, but some people might not, and those people would almost certainly be timid enough not to ask. Sure, some people might be bold enough to ask, or curious enough to look for an answer themselves, but they shouldn't have to. If I'm going to talk about, or even mention, something that one of my readers might not know, it would be courteous of me to explain it, like I try to do with the D&D and Magic stuff, just in case.

Moroni's Promise is a common term for a promise given by an ancient prophet, Moroni, that if we would sincerely read and pray about the Book of Mormon, God would tell us that it's true. Moroni was the one who finished the work of compiling the Book of Mormon onto thin, gold plates. Much later, as an angel, Moroni delivered the plates to Joseph Smith, who translated the book through divine inspiration and managed to get it published, despite his poverty, through the generous financial support of a man named Martin Harris. Martin Harris and several others saw the plates personally and offered their witnesses of the book's truth and authenticity. One can learn more by reading Elder Soares's talk and/or The Book of Mormon itself.

Such explanations may take an extra moment or two to read or write, but if they help others, they're worth the extra effort. I need to remember that life-long members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints aren't the only ones who hear the messages I share. Those who are unfamiliar with our doctrine, lingo, and stories may need some explanations. I should try to be thoughtful enough to provide them, as Elder Soares did.

Imperceptible Progress

This morning, I watched a video that illustrated how progress can be slow to the point of being nigh imperceptible. The video argues that results take time and that we should be patient and persistent as we strive toward our goals.

I'm not particularly good at this. I've picked up the habit of blogging easily enough, and I'm sure I have other good habits as well, but when I try to develop new good habits, I often get frustrated with the apparent lack of results, or rather the lack of apparent results.

I need to learn to let go of my desire for quick solutions, easy answers, and instant gratification. Most diets and exercise routines take weeks, or even months of consistent application to begin to show results. Why should I expect spiritual development to be any faster? Our eternal progress is a process that will take the better part of eternity. I shouldn't expect to see a difference after only a day or two.

Most change happens slowly. Trees grow slowly. Mountains rise and erode slowly. People grow slowly. I shouldn't be alarmed or disheartened if my progress seems unbearably, imperceptibly slow.

The Merit of Mini and Major Goals

I recently watched a Youtube video about how to make habits stick using what the video called "Elastic Habits." These habits work because they involve multiple levels of goals, from mini goals to major goals. The major goals are the ultimate goals - what we know we should be doing. Yet we don't always have enough energy and motivation to complete those major goals. In those instances, if our major goals were our only goals, then we might be tempted to not do anything at all. After all, if we can't reach our goal, why even bother, right?

That's where the mini goals come in. The mini goals are extremely easy versions of our major goals - goals that we can complete quickly and easily, no matter how little energy we have left. For example, if your major goal is to jog a mile every day, then your mini goal may be to jog in place for a few minutes. Of course, the exact nature and intensity of your major and minor goals will depend on you, but your minor goals should be so easy that you never have to skip a day. And if you never have to skip a day, you will have a much easier time establishing and maintaining your habits. Mini goals aren't really the goals themselves. They're the goals that help you develop and maintain your habits as you work your way up to being able to complete your major goals regularly.

I plan to use this method to develop several spiritual habits, like studying the scriptures. I don't always feel like studying the scriptures for an adequate amount of time, so some nights, I don't study the scriptures at all. Yet I can set a mini goal to study the scriptures for at least a minute or two, and I think I can always force myself to do at least that much. And if I start reading the scriptures, planning to study them for only a minute or two, and I end up studying them for much longer, all the better.

This is the kind of program I've been needing. Too often, I've set goals that either were too lofty to be sustainable or too easy to make me stretch. Now I know that I can have goals at both levels, both mini goals that are always achievable and major goals that help me grow. I don't have to pick just one level of goal or the other. By using both major and minor goals, I can make sure I'm always making a reasonable amount of progress toward my goals, no make how much or how little energy I have with which to do it.

Personal Space

The trouble with working on personal matters for a significant portion of the day is that it leave me with a lot of thoughts that I can't blog about. I could try to blog about it anyway, but it would be very difficult to say anything useful without saying too much. So, yeah, no, I've got nothing today. I did a decent amount of thinking and maybe made some progress, but nothing that I'm willing to share with the entire internet. I hope you understand. Sometimes, people just need some personal space, and when they do, I think it's best to respect that. I don't want to tell you what I've been thinking about today, and I hope you can be okay with that.

Silent Expressions of and Pleas for Love

I've heard that all communication is either expressing love or asking for love, but I've also heard that we're always communicating, even when we're being silent, which led me to wonder, how can silent show love, and how can silence be a plea for love? I've thought of a few ways.

Loving silence could mean listening to others when it's their turn to speak or when they have something difficult and/or important to say. Loving silence can accompany a comfortable coexistence where two or more people are happy just to be around each other, whether they talk to each other or not.

A silent plea for love may involve being reserved and uncharacteristically quiet. It might look like shutting down or giving up. It might be someone saying that they're "just tired." In my limited experience, I think that, when a person is this kind of quiet, what that person most needs is for someone to lovingly listen to them.

Being quiet can be a silent plea for love, and quietly listening to them can be a silent expression of love. People can say "I love you" and "I need love" with their words or their deeds, but they can also say it by not saying anything.