tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10499657974695124042024-03-05T17:20:30.410-08:00LDSReddit Blog"This is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!"LDSReddithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11656542421811173000noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-73536031958406146092014-06-13T08:25:00.001-07:002014-06-14T06:33:08.136-07:005 Keys to Understanding Mormon Revelation<br />
In light of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/us/two-activists-within-mormon-church-threatened-with-excommunication.html">recent possible excommunications of activists within the Mormon faith</a> I wanted to shed a broader perspective and historical context around the dynamics which surround these aspects of Mormonism. I know this is a very emotionally sensitive topic. So please don't take my writing this as an attempt to belittle or ignore any pain or confusion people might be feeling (esp. those individuals and families directly affected by excommunication). First off I do want to empathize even just a bit. I have relatives who have dealt with disfellowship in their life. It's a deeply, deeply, personal thing and I will not pretend to know what is ultimately between individuals, their local priesthood leadership, and the Lord. I also want to state that I am not an authority in the church. So I won't be speaking specifically towards either individual's case but instead towards broader principles.<br />
<br />
What pains me is to see people hinge their testimony of God or the restoration of the gospel on these current matters. Mormons are called to stay in the household of faith because we have faith in God, in the restoration, the word of God manifest in scripture, and modern revelation. While current policies around social issues may give us pause, they do not determine the veracity and power of those things. We need to evaluate each on their own terms.<br />
<br />
My personal opinion here is that recent disciplinary actions from the LDS church has more to do with addressing the methods used to promote change rather than just the opinions themselves. I don't interpret this as some change in policy about the topics themselves but instead a strong re-iteration and emphasis on the pattern of revelation the LDS faith has. Overall, I'm saddened by any loss of faith. But I also see the reasoning for these types of actions by church officials and wish to provide what insights I personally have.<br />
<br />
I want to offer 5 keys to understanding Mormon revelation to consider in navigating the Mormon faith in the context of recent events.<br />
<br />
<h2>
1. Revelation is a process</h2>
<span style="text-align: justify;">I like this quote from President Lorenzo Snow (back in 1900):</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNd-7TozgEvQ75Uc2fAb-DpHSgwAQ2V4w3ov1n7BeRybfqUEtMrFJmZSOikRbujmc7JWF6u5hkihzchaB7L2zGIYw-NOiLuoPR_KJTXoZGyg4nYoZenyTpqJtanvueHUKQwUIXoF8MiN4/s1600/Lorenzosnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgNd-7TozgEvQ75Uc2fAb-DpHSgwAQ2V4w3ov1n7BeRybfqUEtMrFJmZSOikRbujmc7JWF6u5hkihzchaB7L2zGIYw-NOiLuoPR_KJTXoZGyg4nYoZenyTpqJtanvueHUKQwUIXoF8MiN4/s1600/Lorenzosnow.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lorenzo Snow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Seventy years ago this Church was organized with six members. We commenced, so to speak, as an infant. We had our prejudices to combat. Our ignorance troubled us in regard to what the Lord intended to do and what He wanted us to do. We advanced to boyhood, and still we undoubtedly made some mistakes, which generally arise from a lack of experience. We understand very well, when we reflect back upon our own lives, that we did many foolish things when we were boys. Yet as we advanced, the experience of the past materially assisted us to avoid such mistakes as we had made in our boyhood.<br />
<br />
It has been so with the Church. Our errors have generally arisen from a lack of comprehending what the Lord required of us to do. But now we are pretty well along to manhood. When we examine ourselves, however, we discover that we are still not doing exactly as we ought to do, notwithstanding all our experience. We discern that there are things which we fail to do that the Lord expects us to perform, some of which He requires us to do in our boyhood. While we congratulate ourselves in this direction, we certainly ought to feel that we have not yet arrived at perfection. There are many things for us to do yet.<br />
<br />
Source: <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Y7UUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA1&dq=%22Seventy+years+ago+this+Church+was+organized+with+six+members%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OA5TUsGcB4LcrAHdpIHAAQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Seventy%20years%20ago%20this%20Church%20was%20organized%20with%20six%20members%22&f=false">President Lorenzo Snow 6 April, 1900, CR</a></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
In Mormonism, revelation and church authority are not infallible. There's a saying I heard once that in Catholicism the Pope is infallible but nobody believes it and in Mormonism the prophet is fallible but nobody believes it.<br />
<br />
Revelation in Mormonism is not a way for God to give immovable edicts. It is a process through which God inspires prophets called to lead His church. It moves from principle to principle, truth to truth, "until the perfect day" (<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/50.24?lang=eng#23">D&C 50:24</a>).<br />
<br />
<h2>
2. The pattern of revelation</h2>
Five months after the organization of the church that Lorenzo Snow was referring to, a crisis arose in the church. Hiram Page had claimed to have received revelations regarding how to build up Zion which several other church members had accepted as revelation from God (including Oliver Cowdery - the "Second Elder" of the church).<br />
<br />
Prior to a conference, Joseph Smith received this revelation which laid out the pattern of revelation the Lord wished to have in this dispensation (echoing patterns from other dispensations):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
1 Behold, I say unto thee, Oliver, that it shall be given unto thee that thou shalt be heard by the church in all things whatsoever thou shalt teach them by the Comforter, concerning the revelations and commandments which I have given.<br />
2 But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses.<br />
3 And thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as Aaron, to declare faithfully the commandments and the revelations, with power and authority unto the church.<br />
4 And if thou art led at any time by the Comforter to speak or teach, or at all times by the way of commandment unto the church, thou mayest do it.<br />
5 But thou shalt not write by way of commandment, but by wisdom;<br />
6 And thou shalt not command him who is at thy head, and at the head of the church;<br />
7 For I have given him the keys of the mysteries, and the revelations which are sealed, until I shall appoint unto them another in his stead.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/28.1-7?lang=eng#0">D&C 28:1-7</a></blockquote>
<br />
Now, we can take this form of authoritarianism too far. But what the Lord clearly is calling for here is order in how His word is revealed and accepted institutionally in the church. It's a spectrum where we have authority squelching diversity and free expression on one end and on the other disorder and the conflict of interpretation against which Mormonism itself arose. Both are extremes which don't have a place in Mormonism. I think what we're seeing in light of these disciplinary actions is a navigation along that spectrum; and we need to understand the larger picture here.<br />
<br />
My personal opinion is that what's at issue here isn't women ordination, gay rights/fellowship, or whether doubters are welcome. What's at issue is the Lord's established pattern of revelation and authority. Nearly 40 years ago, excommunication with regards to <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood">race and the priesthood</a> occurred as close as <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19771015&id=oh1OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QhMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6904,3033393">several months before that policy change</a> in 1978. Clearly those weren't about the issue itself which was already in the process of changing; they were about those who would steady the ark -- those who insist on a mode outside this established pattern. <i>That's</i> the issue being addressed here in my opinion. Not whether certain policies are "true" or whether the church is "with the times". I personally feel there can be a future for a greater & more full role for women, greater fellowship for gays, and more understanding for doubters. But I want any required institutional policy change or additional doctrine related to this to come from the Lord, not from those who mistake activism for the priesthood of God.<br />
<br />
And when <a href="http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/church-asks-activist-group-to-reconsider-general-conference-protest-plans">the direction that has come</a> is, "No." or "Not now." We need to trust in modern revelation and not steady the ark.<br />
<br />
<h2>
3. We are entitled to personal revelation, but under "strict command"</h2>
To balance this out, we need to understand that in Mormonism we are <i>promised</i> the ability to receive personal revelation with regards to the mysteries of God (even beyond the words revealed by prophets). This is a huge part of my faith & testimony in the restored gospel. I won't be part of a faith that does not allow one to form their own opinions by faith and study. But that does not mean we have a free-for-all bazaar of confusion and contention. The Lord has called for a "house of order" (<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132.8?lang=eng#7">D&C 132:8</a>). Remember, an environment of confusion and contention is exactly against which <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.8-17?lang=eng#7">the restoration emerged</a>.<br />
<br />
This is explained in <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/12.9-11?lang=eng#8">Alma 12:9-11</a> when the prophet Alma was contending with Zeezrom:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
9 And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.<br />
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.<br />
11 And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.</blockquote>
<br />
God <i>wants</i> us to learn the mysteries of the kingdom and form our own opinions, but God is not an anarchist. He, an eternal Being who has seen countless worlds come and go, sees the need for order. So we should go learn all we can "<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/109.7?lang=eng#6">by study and also by faith</a>". But when we feel the need to command or impel others because of something we feel strongly about beyond the revealed word, then we are breaking the "strict command" by which we received that knowledge in the first place and step into the realm of unrighteous dominion and apostasy.<br />
<br />
A key here in navigating this dynamic in the household of faith is that if someone comes to you insisting church members hold an opinion that can't firmly be grounded in the words revealed by prophets who have the "keys of the mysteries" for the church then you can know either 1) they are breaking that "strict command" from Alma 12:9 and/or 2) they are seeking to "command him who is at [the] head" -- independent of the veracity of their statement. It's a balance. Freedom on one hand, responsibility on the other.<br />
<br />
The language in one of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/12/us/two-activists-within-mormon-church-threatened-with-excommunication.html">letters sent to the NY Times</a> from the activists which they received from the LDS church seems to align with this doctrinal/policy approach:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The letter said, “you are not required to change your thinking or the questions you may have in your own mind,” but that she must keep her questions private and resolve them by talking to her bishop.</blockquote>
<br />
This is a exhortation to adhere to this pattern of revelation. The chastisement isn't for having an opinion. It's for promoting that opinion outside the Lord's pattern of revelation.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
4. We need to have empathy towards the Lord's anointed</h2>
<br />
If find it very telling of God's desires for us that he places us in this situation where we each have our own passions/opinions/insights/knowledge/testimony but must come together in unity in order to grow. Surely he didn't do so that we would fight it out and resolve matters through protest, activism, or PR campaigns. Instead He requires faith, hope, forgiveness/repentance, and charity. Only through those can a true diversity of opinion, doctrine, and faith be maintained with (rather than against) living prophets.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiuayA0vgqaHN3__aG6sX65w_TkwMncjcZUqDDuAOWkSAYnQ61gu6cI1p0a68QaPmVwABHUSIM1pfZGfYer8BX9geFPCT3gbFP_ndkB4U-Ydat8oUa7A-I25c24-muOCCR2xBWDNrIxN1/s1600/Sky_full_of_kites,_Cervia_2007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfiuayA0vgqaHN3__aG6sX65w_TkwMncjcZUqDDuAOWkSAYnQ61gu6cI1p0a68QaPmVwABHUSIM1pfZGfYer8BX9geFPCT3gbFP_ndkB4U-Ydat8oUa7A-I25c24-muOCCR2xBWDNrIxN1/s1600/Sky_full_of_kites,_Cervia_2007.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mormonism promotes a diversity of opinions balanced with unity in faith.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I think much of this can be expressed in the dynamics of kites. Interestingly, kites work because of <br />
opposing forces: lift and an anchor line. The wings, streamers, dowels, and wind provide the lift. But without the line to the ground that anchors it, the kite will quickly spiral down to the ground.<br />
<br />
In the pattern of revelation above, Mormonism provides both sets of tools (lift and anchoring). We just have to understand and use both in the right balance. We get our lift through personal revelation and study, but that lift must be balanced and cannot overrun the anchoring to the ground found in prophetic revelation. The two dynamics work together to produce the desired effect and joy of the kite's flying.<br />
<br />
Placing myself in the shoes of living prophets for a moment I realize that they have a sacred responsibility to provide these lines and anchors and are held accountable to God for how they fulfill that responsibility. Different individuals will have different lift and security to the lines based on their own personal relationship with God, what winds they fly in, and how they've built their own kite. But when individuals come along and insist that the lift they attained must be given to all they risk many of the other kites.<br />
<br />
Given that the living prophets are the ones in charge of the lines, if they do not feel inspired through revelation to change the lines, one option for someone seeking that other kites lift the way they are is to have the other kites fly in their stronger winds. But when that is done it places more strain on the line which the kites are secured to. This will happen from time to time and can be healthy. We all have our faith and testimonies tried and our lines can be strengthened by it. But what are those in charge of the lines and the safety of the kites to do when the winds begin to threaten the security of the lines to other kites? At a certain point, a decision to preserve the security of the lines must be made over other dynamics or individuals.<br />
<br />
So when I see church institutional policies which give me pause or that might be labeled "behind the times", I choose to put myself in the shoes of God's prophets and it seems clear that they are worried about loosing the footing and anchor that's needed for members to soar in the unity of faith. It's up to us (as individuals) to soar -- that's our right, but we cannot endanger the lines and anchors of others in doing so. An understanding and application of this balance is part of the essence of practicing Mormonism.<br />
<br />
Tying the metaphor back to the recent events, these disciplinary actions towards activists, I think, are about how those in the priesthood have a responsibility for the safety of all kites (not just a select few) and see individuals & trends which are trying to force lift on others which are straining and even severing the lines which anchor people to the gospel of Christ. Their responsibility is to ensure those lines and anchors (they are accountable to that). So at a certain point they are called to halt things that threaten the lines or anchors of others.<br />
<br />
<h2>
5. Guiding Principles</h2>
For me, daily personal practice of Mormonism boils down to these things:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Covenants: </b>These are the "commands" which we have received that anchor me to Christ. I stand by my covenants as my iron rod. These are my stronghold that I will not let go of and which I keep free of the "fluff" others would seek to attach to it. With covenants comes <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-power-of-covenants.html">great strength</a>.</li>
<li><b>Learning:</b> We, as Latter-day Saints, should be voracious learners. Especially in the miraculous age we live in where nearly all of mankind's information is literally at our fingertips. This will include individual 'mysteries' being revealed about God (through study/faith) and as well as the world around us through the miracles of science (through study/reason). We should discuss these, weigh them, refine them, and expound on them. But we cannot forget God's Kingdom and think that knowledge alone supplants the authority of God.</li>
<li><b>Patience:</b> I have to step back and realize that God has a plan for how/why He reveals mysteries to the church as a whole vs. how I feel He might reveal things to me. And to be patient both with the prophet when I feel differently about something but to also be patient with myself retaining humility in my opinions and beliefs always open to more information and God's revealed word.</li>
</ol>
<br />
There's a warning from the Book of Mormon that also touches on this dynamic. It contains an exhortation to gain personal knowledge and wisdom but also couples it with a warning to not let that draw one away from God and His counsels:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.<br />
29 But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.<br />
<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/9.28-29?lang=eng#27">2 Nephi 9:28-29</a></blockquote>
<br />Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-90863260133404747422014-05-18T21:52:00.000-07:002014-05-20T14:53:53.164-07:00Choices, Consequences, and Powers Beyond Our Control.Our speaker in church today was riveting. With his permission, I'm going to share the main point of his talk on Choices.<br />
<br />
Every summer for one week, Kyle's family would visit a resort on a huge lake in Canada. The resort had all kinds of boating equipment available for use, and the kids took full advantage of the opportunity to get out onto the water.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://phdboys.com/images/trips/aziscohos07/shore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://phdboys.com/images/trips/aziscohos07/shore.jpg" height="235" width="320" /></a></div>
One day, Kyle went with his eight year old brother, and his ten year old brother, and borrowed a large plastic kayak type of boat. Kyle was twelve. They took this boat out across the wide, deep lake, and found a spot to go explore on the opposite shore. Each end of the boat had a rope attached to it, and the boys used one of these ropes to secure the boat on the shoreline. They simply tied it to a decent sized rock to prevent it from floating away.<br />
<br />
After playing on the shore, the boys climbed back in their boat and paddled out into the water. For some reason, they decided to keep the rock attached, and they dragged it out with them till it was suspended underwater beneath their boat.<br />
<br />
Something about that arrangement tickled their imagination to no end, and they played with a rock on the end of a rope for a while, till it slipped out of the loop and sunk to the bottom. They looked at each other and reasoned "if a big rock at the end of a rope is big fun, a bigger rock would be bigger fun!"<br />
<br />
So back to shore they went. This time they selected a very large rock that took quite a bit of effort to move around. They secured the rope around it and went back out into deeper water. After some fun and splashing, pulling the rope and imagining the rock dangling below them, the rock slipped out of its knots and disappeared.<br />
<br />
Again, the boys considered. "If a big rock was big fun, and a huge rock was huge fun, an enormous rock would be enormous fun!"<br />
<br />
Back to shore they went. This time the rock was almost too big for the three of them to move. It was more of a boulder than a rock. They secured the rope around it tightly, and after much heaving and pushing, loosened it from the surrounding dirt and, paddling mightily, slowly dragged it into deeper waters.<br />
<br />
This time they were amazed to see the massive rock pulled the front end of the boat to just an inch or two above the water line. The ten year old sat near the front, while the eight year old was seated in the rear with a life jacket on. Kyle was in the middle.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/uploadedImages/Website_Library_Assets/Images/Products/Kayak_Images/TwinHeron_sunrise_top_zoom.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.oldtowncanoe.com/uploadedImages/Website_Library_Assets/Images/Products/Kayak_Images/TwinHeron_sunrise_top_zoom.png" height="97" width="320" /></a>As they approached the center of the lake, which was tremendously deep, Kyle decided to use the rope on the rear of the boat to keep his youngest brother safe. He tied it tightly to his brother's life jacket.<br />
<br />
At one point, though, the ten year old stood up to move around for some reason. His motion disturbed the balance enough that the front end dipped forward just a bit, and the back end lifted up just a bit.<br />
<br />
That change in surface area and displacement was all it took for disaster to strike. The boat, pulled by the incredible weight of the boulder below, instantly flipped into a vertical position. Kyle was launched into the air. In one of those terrifying slow-motion-replay moments of life, he was able to see the boat disappear below the surface lighting fast, pulling his brother down after.<br />
<br />
At this point in the story, the speaker paused to share some scriptures. He must have been a TV producer or something. Luckily, I'll not take any longer than this sentence to return to the story.<br />
<br />
Kyle swam back to the spot where he last saw his brother. To his shock, and relief, he could see his brother only about 15 feet underwater, struggling against his life jacket, but slowly rising upwards. Kyle dove and swam with his might, trying to raise his brother.<br />
<br />
Finally, they broke the surface, gasping for air. The combined buoyancy of the life jacket and the boat were just barely enough to overcome the weight of the rock. But as soon as the jacket reached the surface, the rock would rise no higher. If the rock had been but a few pounds heavier, Kyle's brother would have been lost.<br />
<br />
A passing vacationer in a motorboat had seen the accident and quickly arrived. He dove in and cut the rope with a knife, freeing Kyle's brother and sending the plastic kayak to the bottom of the lake.<br />
<br />
As he shared this story on the stand today, he was quite emotional. "I think about that day all the time," he said. "We were messing with forces beyond our understanding."<br />
<br />
All of our choices have consequences. And some of those consequences are eternal in nature. Think about Alma the Younger, who, perhaps sick and tired of his father's unbelievable religion, went about trying to destroy it. He was messing with forces beyond his understanding, and soon found himself facing a crisis he had not imagined possible, and for which he was woefully unprepared.<br />
<br />
All of us will someday face the consequences of our choices. Some come now, and some don't come till an unexpected wave or shift in the balance sends us plummeting into danger.<br />
<br />
<br />
The safety the gospel offers is a tremendous gift. I'm not suggesting that every commandment supplies us with safety against some danger of the world. But I do firmly believe that a real strength pours into our lives when we live the gospel. That strength helps us get through the hard times, and to not only endure trials, but be improved by them as well.<br />
<br />
I love this gospel, and the safety for the soul that it offers. Greg Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16423674727626416220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-60234001178372496422014-03-07T22:28:00.001-08:002014-03-08T13:28:56.191-08:00The Spiritual Significance of Gender: A husband and wife's conversation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Old_couple_in_love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Old_couple_in_love.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Six years ago, my wife and I were discussing the gospel on Sunday afternoon and the topic of gender came up. We talked about what our thoughts on gender roles are, what strength that can bring to a relationship, and how the roles can be abused. This lead itself to a discussion on some of the most frequent misconceptions about the priesthood we've heard--either inside or outside the LDS church. They boiled down to four categories:<br />
<ol>
<li>Men need the priesthood to be as righteous as women</li>
<li>A women shouldn't want the priesthood and should be glad to have men handle it for her</li>
<li>Women should have the priesthood in the same way that men do</li>
<li>Childbearing and nurturing are a "woman's priesthood"</li>
</ol>
<br />
Wanting to understand why, if at all, these are in fact misconceptions as we felt, we decided to explore each of these ideas. The following are some of the results of our conversation. And yes, depending on who you are, our Sunday afternoons are either very mentally stimulating or absolutely boring.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Misconception 1: Men need the priesthood to be as righteous as women</h2>
Contrary to some modern ideals, the
scriptures teach that either sex is incomplete, imperfect, and
will fall short of its highest potential without the other. Rather than a competition or battle between the sexes, a pathway of partnership is described:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1XzdnNVqdJdBPI660EUaP1Dy1r9dcyOoUjKt5ZByGrGgaIy_fA2FeykMjtOrAolIzSL1u0w1Guj5weiNODawosOGvCH_ALnLt-9COwrBVIs-zg2KSRRN4EpTEEX382Z_EXkzBIRAtEMw/s1600/couple-254683_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1XzdnNVqdJdBPI660EUaP1Dy1r9dcyOoUjKt5ZByGrGgaIy_fA2FeykMjtOrAolIzSL1u0w1Guj5weiNODawosOGvCH_ALnLt-9COwrBVIs-zg2KSRRN4EpTEEX382Z_EXkzBIRAtEMw/s1600/couple-254683_640.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a>Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.<br />
<br />
For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/11.11-12#10">1 Cor. 11:11–12</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; <br />
<br />
And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of
the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage];<br />
<br />
And if he does not, he cannot obtain it.<br />
<br />
He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/131.1-4#0"><br /><br />D&C 131:1–4</a> (note that [] is in original text)</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if
ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject
this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.<br />
<br />
For
all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was
appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were
instituted from before the foundation of the world.<br />
<br />
And as
pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for
the fulness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fulness thereof must
and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132.4-6?lang=eng#3"><br /><br />D&C 132:4–6</a></blockquote>
<br />
Speaking on the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage, Spencer W. Kimball said:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Spencer_W._Kimball3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Spencer_W._Kimball3.JPG" height="200" width="151" /></a>This is the word of the Lord. It is very, very serious, and there is
nobody who should argue with the Lord. He made the earth; he made the
people. He knows the conditions. He set the program, and we are not
intelligent enough or smart enough to be able to argue him out of these
important things. He knows what is right and true.<br />
<br />
--Spencer W. Kimball, Marriage and Divorce: An Address [Salt Lake City: Desert Book Co., 1976], 30</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
The
main point here is that either sex will be damned, meaning falling
short of their fullest potential, without entering the New and
Everlasting Covenant of Marriage with the other. It's important to point out that a man or woman can still be exalted and return to God's presence without entering into the covenant with the other sex. But that what's being said above is that even within that exaltation there's a limitation (a damning) that prevents receipt of the the fullness of God's glory.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, the
concept that a certain individual is inherently inferior to another
goes against fundamental principles of the gospel. There is no room for
misogyny or misandry in God's plan.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,
whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit.<br />
<br />
For the body is not one member, but many.<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/12.13-14?lang=eng#12"><br /><br />1 Cor. 12:13–14</a> (note the context of Gifts of the Spirit and unity in Christ)</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.<br />
<br />
And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/gal/3.28-29?lang=eng#27"><br /><br />Gal. 3:28–29</a> (note allusion to Abrahamic covenant which includes New and Everlasting Covenant)</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:<br />
<br />
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/col/3.10-11?lang=eng#9"><br /><br />Col. 3:10–11</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which
is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain
unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and
partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black
and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the
heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile. <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/26.33?lang=eng#32"><br /><br />2 Ne. 26:33</a></blockquote>
<br />
<h2>
Misconception 2: A women shouldn't want the priesthood and should be glad to have men handle it for her</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Couple_01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Couple_01.JPG" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
While
it is true that offices and callings of the church should not be sought
after for worldly status, shying away from blessings the Lord wishes to
bestow upon us is self-damning. Women are promised 'all' that God has
and the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage is what allows women to
enjoy the fullness of blessings the priesthood has to offer in this
life. Should women seek the priesthood for their own? No. God, for
whatever reason, has entrusted priesthood keys in this life to men and
through the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage has provided a
means whereby women can, should, and must, enjoy the blessings of the
priesthood through unity with their spouse.<br />
<br />
As for the exact state between the sexes in
the life hereafter, we simply don't have the details. But I take God at
His word that 'all' that He has will be given to those who are exhaled. I
don't think the word 'all' is merely an exaggeration. This life is a
period of training/trails/tests and we only see in <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">part. We only have an
incomplete picture here in this life. W<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">e are here, in mortality, out of God's presence, in this moment in time, in this dispensation, on this planet, etc. So we have only a shadow of God's will, not the whole picture. We have to trust and have faith that the shadow God reveals is for our benefit and will lead us to a more complete picture in His due time--whatever that might be.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Misconception 3: Women should have the priesthood in the same way that men do</h2>
<h2>
</h2>
This is the old confusion of 'oneness' = 'sameness'. God designates distinct rights, authority, and responsibilities in order to avoid confusion and to require unity between His children in order for them to enjoy the fullness of His blessings (see <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-cor/12?lang=eng">1 Cor. 12</a>). The fact that one person has different rights, authority, or responsibilities does not diminish the rights, authority, or responsibilities of another. Rather, it is only through the unity of faith, hope, and charity that all rights, authorities, and responsibilities are enjoyed by all through one another. It is interesting that charity both fulfills the law in that it ensures one always lives according to God's will while at the same time it is also the virtue through which we are able to enjoy and share the blessings of others and ultimately all that God has. Charity fulfills the law on a personal level but is also the means through which all of God's blessings are both received and bestowed. It is of no surprise then that only through perfect charity between couples in the New and Everlasting Covenant of marriage are they able to enjoy perfectly, and with unity, the blessings each of the other has. The alternative is to see the differences in others as a threat. That one's gifts somehow diminish me. To let pride and fear take root in our world-view.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Luca_Rossetti_Trinit%C3%A0_Chiesa_San_Gaudenzio_Ivrea.jpg/800px-Luca_Rossetti_Trinit%C3%A0_Chiesa_San_Gaudenzio_Ivrea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Luca_Rossetti_Trinit%C3%A0_Chiesa_San_Gaudenzio_Ivrea.jpg/800px-Luca_Rossetti_Trinit%C3%A0_Chiesa_San_Gaudenzio_Ivrea.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holy Trinity, fresco by Luca Rossetti da Orta</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
An example of this at the highest level is the Godhead. Does the fact that Christ (the Son) alone performed the atonement (see <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/27.6?lang=eng#5">Matthew 27:6</a>) diminish God the Father or the Holy Ghost in any way? No. Why? Because Christ is one with God and every gift, power, blessing, and authority Christ has obtained through performing the atonement is fully enjoyed by both God the Father and the Holy Ghost through Him. It is the perfect unity of purpose exercised by the Godhead that allows each full access to the gifts, powers, blessings, and authorities of the other. Another example of this is the fact that the blessings of the atonement are enjoyed by us through the Holy Ghost. Does this fact diminish Christ in any way? No. Instead, Christ uses His authority and power gained by performing the atonement and blesses mankind through the Holy Ghost. Conversely, does the fact that the Holy Ghost is the only member of the Godhead without a tangible body diminish Him in His role? No. Actually, the fact that the Holy Ghost has no physical body enables him to permeate space all at once and become a conduit through which God the Father and Christ can bless mankind (see <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130.22?lang=eng#21">D&C 130:22</a>). This is possible because the Holy Ghost is one with God and equally shares all of His gifts, powers, blessings, and authorities with the other members of the Godhead in perfect unity. Similarly, God the Father, rather than hoarding His gifts, powers, blessings, and authorities and using them to assert status, instead seeks to share them with His children either directly or through others. This is what is meant when Christ commanded that we should be one even as He and His Father are one (see <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/17.21-24?lang=eng#20">John 17:21–24</a>). Note that in Christ's intercessory prayer, that He several times mentions that it is through this unity that those who believe in Him may enjoy the blessings of the gospel.<br />
<br />
This same focus on unity as the means of enjoying all of God's blessings is woven into the oath and covenant of the priesthood itself:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.<br />
<br />
They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.<br />
<br />
And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;<br />
<br />
For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;<br />
<br />
And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;<br />
<br />
And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.<br />
<br />
And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.<br />
<br />
Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved.<br />
<br />
But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/84.33-41?lang=eng#32"><br /><br />D&C 84:33–41</a></blockquote>
<br />
In fact, the idea that in order for there to be oneness or perfect unity everyone must be the same is a satanic idea as it presupposes that such unity between different individuals is impossible when the Godhead and the words of the prophets teach otherwise. It also rejects the individuality God has bestowed upon us through agency and has so carefully guarded at great cost. This could have been part of what the war in Heaven was fought over. Christ and His followers fought to maintain individuality and agency with unity coming through the Atonement, priesthood, and chrarity and Satan and his followers fought to remove individuality and agency seeing unity as incompatible with them because of fear, hate, and pride. Knowing this, it brings into perspective why we must share our gifts, talents, and blessings with others in perfect unity of faith and how if we fail to do so, we will never be able to establish the Kingdom of God on Earth.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Misconception 4: Childbearing and nurturing is the "women's priesthood"</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Mother-Child_face_to_face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Mother-Child_face_to_face.jpg" height="281" width="320" /></a></div>
Childbearing is a unique gift that women enjoy on a higher level then men. And just like the the priesthood is designed by God to bless all mankind (men and women), the miracle of creating human life is designed to bring man and woman together in greater unit. Calling this 'priesthood' dilutes the meaning of both priesthood and childbirth and is just as misleading as saying the priesthood is "childbearing for men". Again, this is the fallacy of mandatory sameness. Just as women must be blessed with the priesthood in order to be exalted (which they cannot do alone), men must be blessed with partnership increasing posterity (which they also cannot do alone). God has carefully structured His plan such that unity and charity with the other sex brings the fullness of His gifts.<br />
<br />
Sheri L. Dew, in her wonderful October 2001 General Conference talk <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2001/10/it-is-not-good-for-man-or-woman-to-be-alone?lang=eng">"It Is Not Good for Man or Woman to Be Alone"</a>, explained it this way:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media.ldscdn.org/images/videos/general-conference/october-2001-general-conference/2001-10-1040-sheri-l-dew-590x331-ldsorg-article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.ldscdn.org/images/videos/general-conference/october-2001-general-conference/2001-10-1040-sheri-l-dew-590x331-ldsorg-article.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Satan understands the power of men and women united in righteousness. He is still stinging from his banishment into eternal exile after Michael led the hosts of heaven, comprised of valiant men and women united in the cause of Christ, against him. In the chilling words of Peter, “The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Lucifer is determined to devour marriages and families, because their demise threatens the salvation of all involved and the vitality of the Lord’s kingdom itself. Thus, Satan seeks to confuse us about our stewardships and distinctive natures as men and women. He bombards us with bizarre messages about gender, marriage, family, and all male-female relationships. He would have us believe men and women are so alike that our unique gifts are not necessary, or so different we can never hope to understand each other. Neither is true. </blockquote>
<br />
We must either learn to live together in unity or all fail together in pride. The New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage truly is an essential and equally beneficial exalting covenant!<br />
<br />
In a recent speech, Sheri L. Dew directly addressed the issue of women not having the priesthood in the LDS church:<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dUI79EdDH9E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</center>
<br />
<br />
From a BYU Women's Conference talk titled "Becoming Bone of Bone and Flesh of Flesh", Eugene England states that our current earthly assignments are mortal schoolmasters and as we progress towards perfect love and charity we will transcend these distinctions:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I believe that the Melchizedek Priesthood and bearing the bodies of mortal children are simply assignments made for mortality. This does not mean the two are equivalent: certainly priesthood should not replace the nurturing duties of fatherhood nor does bearing children replace the spiritual gifts, including healing, nor the administrative gifts and duties given to women. But I believe priesthood and child-bearing are alike in providing, if we let them, similar opportunities to learn charity, to love and serve unconditionally. If we learn those lessons, we will pass beyond Melchizedek Priesthood and physical motherhood to a higher state of more perfect equality. That higher state, promised in the eternal marriage covenant, is called becoming kings and queens, priests and priestesses unto the most high God. Fatherhood and motherhood are equivalent right now in their intrinsic responsibilities. (President Lee said to both men and women that the most important work we will ever do is within the walls of our own home "and President McKay said to us both that no success could compensate for failure there.) The roles of man and woman are absolutely equivalent in their intrinsic joys and opportunities to learn the greatest joy--and the ground of our salvation--which is that pure love of Christ.</blockquote>
<br />
<h2>
The Family: A Proclamation to the World</h2>
<a href="https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/magazine/liahonlp.nfo:o:4a8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/magazine/liahonlp.nfo:o:4a8.jpg" width="153" /></a>In September 23, 1995 <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation">"The Family - A Proclamation to the World"</a> was read by Gordon B. Hinckley in the General Relief Society Meeting. It expounds on the LDS doctrinal view of the roles of men and women in God's plan. In it, it states:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.</blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
This and the doctrines described above can, at times, be at odds with world-views that people have. But just as Mormons hope that their beliefs are respected, so too should they seek to love and respect others even (and especially) with different world-views. Rather than attempt to use this proclamation as a way to argue or exclude, which undercuts the thread of charity woven through these doctrines, I feel the challenge is for Mormons to find the compassionate interpretations. To understand and uphold the doctrine, to find the compassionate application that will lead to better unity and charity, and to see the "divine nature and destiny" in all of God's children.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We believe in being honest, true, chaste,
benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the
admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things,
and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good
report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://mormon.org/beliefs/articles-of-faith">Article of Faith 13</a></blockquote>Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-1600100485500016282014-01-07T23:57:00.001-08:002014-01-08T00:10:30.771-08:00Lessons on leaders, wildfires, trust, and jumping into the burn.A couple of stories were brought to my attention yesterday, which highlight important lessons on inspired leaders, crisis, and trust.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Mann Gulch Fire </h3>
<br />
<br />
In August 1949, lightning struck a slope above the Missouri river in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness in a place called Mann Gulch. It started a fire that would go down in history.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Smokejumpers,_1948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Trusting your church leaders" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Smokejumpers,_1948.jpg" height="236" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SmokeJumpers 1948</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Soon after the fire started, a team of 15 smokejumpers - a profession then only 9 years old - parachuted into the Wilderness and joined with another young firefighter already on the ground to begin working on containing the blaze.<br />
<br />
From the beginning, the circumstances seemed particularly challenging.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Trouble starts </h3>
<br />
The team and their equipment were scattered widely due to the conditions of the air currents and layout of the land. The radio was destroyed. The single firefighter already on the scene, a 20 year old named James Harrison, had been fighting the fire alone for 4 hours, and was getting tired. <br />
<br />
With the fire on the south side of the Gulch, the foreman, 33 year old R. Wagner Dodge, instructed the team to walk along the north side of the gulch to get in a better position to steer the fire into less flammable areas.<br />
<br />
The firefighters, all between the ages of 17 and 28, got spread out. Dodge was bringing up the rear with Harrison when he saw the smoke at the front of the fire begin to boil up - a sure sign that the wind had changed and the fire was intensifying. He hurried to try and catch his men.<br />
<h3>
<a name='more'></a></h3>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Mann_Gulch_02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mann Gulch Fire and Lessons on Leadership" border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Mann_Gulch_02.JPG" height="240" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mann Gulch</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
The "Blow Up." </h3>
<br />
By the time he reached them, the fire had jumped from the south slope to the north. They didn't know it, but the smokejumpers were pinned between a raging inferno at the bottom of the slope, and a ridge of impassible rock at the top of the gulch. The thick, dry grass on the north slope was ready fuel, and the wind blew furiously. It is estimated today that the fire consumed 3000 acres in just 10 minutes during this "blow up," and these brave young men were caught right in its path.<br />
<br />
When they finally realized the fire was approaching, they only had one option: run for the ridge and hope to find a crack in the high stone formation that would let them through to the other side. Dodge ordered his men to drop all their heavy equipment and their packs. One author described what happened this way:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dodge's order was to throw away just their packs and heavy tools, but to
his surprise some of them had already thrown away all of their heavy
equipment. On the other hand, some of them wouldn't abandon their heavy
tools, even after Dodge's order. Diettert, one of the most intelligent
of the crew, continued carrying both his tools until Rumsey caught up
with him, took his shovel and leaned it against a pine tree. Just a
little further on, Rumsey and Sallee pass[ed] the recreation guard, Jim
Harrison, who, having been on the fire all afternoon, was now exhausted.
He was sitting with his heavy pack on and was making no effort to take
it off</blockquote>
I have no idea what these men were going through. I don't intend to judge their motives or reasoning, or anything that caused them to behave the way they did. Maybe they weren't afraid. Maybe they were too afraid. Whatever the reasons, It has been pointed out that the tragedy that follows <i>might</i> have been avoided if they had followed orders to unload their burdens, giving them the energy they needed to reach the crest of the ridge.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Crisis and Inspiration </h3>
<br />
Now in the lead, and with the fire closing in to only a hundred yards, Dodge realized his men would not make it to the ridge line in time. In a moment which I consider to be pure inspiration, he did something that had never been done by a firefighter before. He took out a match and lit the grassy slope in front of him.<br />
<br />
Winds created by the huge wildfire behind them carried the flames of his escape fire up and away from the smokejumpers. He turned to the three men with him and said "Up this way."<br />
<br />
They either did not believe following him would help, or they did not understand his instruction, but the three with him kept running for the ridge line instead of stepping through the flames into the burned-out area Dodge had created. Only once they reached the top of the ridge, when they could see Dodge safely in the center of the burned-out area did they understand. But by then it was too late. The fire was nearly on them and the smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see which fissures in the rocky ridge would let them through to safety on the other side, and which were death traps.<br />
<br />
Dodge called out to the other men on his team as they approached, telling them to go <i>through the fire</i> and come into the burn. He heard one of the men saying "To hell with that, I'm getting out of here." And they all continued on towards the ridge. <br />
<br />
The fire was too fast. It overtook the firefighters. Those who were not able to reach a safe place in the hogback formation were killed. Only Dodge and two of his men survived. James Harrison, tired by his long fight with the fire and his heavy gear, was one of the dead. <br />
<br />
<h3>
Are There Lessons in Tragedy?</h3>
<br />
While their deaths were a tragedy, and are never, never to be taken lightly, we can at least draw a lesson or two from what happened to them. The forest service certainly did, and safety rules exist today due to the Mann Gulch Fire. Now I suggest we take this same event and apply what principles we find to our spiritual lives.<br />
<br />
For example, do we carry burdens which make it hard for us to escape from spiritual danger? Have we developed enough trust in our leaders to listen even when we think we don't need to? Or we don't understand why it's important? Or even when it seems like the completely wrong thing to do? Having that level of trust can be the difference between spiritual life and death.<br />
<br />
To provide a positive counter example I have another firefighting story. Val Jo Anderson, a professor at BYU, tells about fighting fires in his younger years. His team was saved by applying the lessons learned by the Mann Gulch fire, especially the emphasis to "trust your leaders." Here is his experience:<br />
<br />
<h3>
Into the Burn!</h3>
"I took a summer job with the U.S. Forest Service. One of our duties was
to be part of a twenty-man fire crew that could be
called out from time to time to fight wildfires. Earlier, a wildfire had
claimed the lives of four firefighters when in a panic they failed to
follow the direction of their crew boss and tried to outrun an
unexpected and fierce advance of a fire. The shockwaves of that incident
were
felt all around the region, and rigorous training ensued. Following the
command of the crew boss without question or hesitation was given
particular emphasis.<br />
<br />
"We fought several fires that season, and then, late in August, our
crew was called out to fight a wildfire in
Southern California. This was a large fire that had many crews
dispatched to fight it. Our crew, along with two other crews, was
assigned a
sector of the fire. It was a chaparral brush fire that had a
tremendously fine fuel load of dried grasses and weeds in the
understory. We were
obliged to make a two-mile hike from the nearest road through the brush
to where the fire was burning.<br />
<br />
"It was not a particularly
intense blaze, and we were to build black line—a fire line right against
the burning edge of the fire. As our three twenty-man crews, marching
single file through the brush, approached the fire, the sector boss
suddenly appeared on a nearby ridgeline. His urgent command was to
become
indelibly impressed upon my mind. His voice screamed through our radios,
“She’s blowing up, she’s blowing up! Into the
burn!”<br />
<br />
"My pulse raced and my heart sank as I watched the small
campfire-type flames, fanned on by an intense wind shift, transform
into a raging inferno racing directly toward us. The command “Into the
burn!” meant that we would charge through the fire and into the area
where the fire had consumed the fuel. My instinctive impulse was to turn
and run, and I could see others considering that option. Our crew boss,
without hesitation, reiterated the command “Into the burn!” and though
it did not seem the intuitive thing to do, my training and my memory
of the tragic earlier deaths compelled me to follow my leader through
that wall of fire. On the other side we found a blackened moonscape
where
the fire could not return. With eyes and lungs burning from the heat in
the whirling smoke and ash, we resorted to dancing on the top of hot
rocks to protect our feet from the searing deep ash. We had made the
right decision and were preserved.<br />
<br />
"After about thirty minutes the
wind died down, and we were able to cross back out of the burn and begin
our black line. That was an intense lesson that helped me to understand
the importance of knowing in advance who you should trust and follow
without hesitation, especially when the correct choice may be obscured
by
our own limited experience or instinctive bias."<br />
<br />
<h3>
Testimony </h3>
<br />
I testify that the leaders of the church are our watchmen on the towers today. They point us to the sure foundation. They are given inspiration and instruction which can keep us safe. But trust must be built up. We can't wait until the moment of crisis to decide if we're going to take their advice.<br />
<br />
The church will pass through trial after trial. As each wall of flame approaches and is blown into an inferno by the winds of opposition, will we trust our leaders and pass through with them?<br />
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Resources:</h3>
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/5.12?lang=eng#11">Helaman 5:12</a><br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/4.17-19?lang=eng#16">2 Nephi 4:17–19</a><br />
<a href="http://speeches.byu.edu/index.php?act=viewitem&id=1963">"Into the Burn!" </a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mann_Gulch_fire">Mann Gulch Fire on Wikipedia </a>Greg Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16423674727626416220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-20428804315287982502013-11-27T22:48:00.000-08:002013-11-27T22:51:15.023-08:00Testimony and Gratitude<br id="docs-internal-guid-09128799-9d62-74f9-7ada-09db957825ac" />
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a story from my life about gratitude and how it changed my life during one of the times of my life when I was at my least thankful.<br />
<br />
We have all experienced times when our testimonies felt weak or inadequate. Usually we find ourselves saying “How can I get to where I was? How can I find my faith again?” I propose to illustrate how the principle of gratitude can help us build our testimonies. To do this I will mostly rely on a single story from my mission. <br />
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/GuadalupeNOLA15Oct07Thanks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/GuadalupeNOLA15Oct07Thanks.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
There are three steps I want to point out to building your testimony with gratitude, which you will see in this story.<br />
<br />
1. Choosing to believe blessings come from God, <br />
<br />
2. Choosing to give credit to God, <br />
<br />
3. Choosing to act on the blessings God presents you with.<br />
<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Choosing to believe blessings come from God.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
There was a moment, about 5 months into my mission, where everything changed. It was the moment when I went from being an unwilling, unhappy missionary to a happy, and successful missionary.<br />
<br />
This is the story of when it “clicked” for me. It is probably the key point in my mission, if not my life, and you’ll notice that it all hinges on gratitude.<br />
<br />
When I first arrived on the island of Taiwan, my mission president asked me “what sort of companion do you want to have?”<br />
<br />
Knowing how incredibly lazy I am, and wanting to be the best missionary I could be, I answered immediately with “one who works hard.”<br />
<br />
President listened.<br />
<br />
Man, did he listen.<br />
<br />
I was blessed with a hard working trainer. But the phrase “hard working” doesn’t quite encompass the intensity of this great missionary. He was driven. He was a maniac. I’ll try to explain just how much this guy loved working.<br />
<br />
Most evenings we would spend our time knocking on every door we could find. Companion knew that it took about X minutes to get home on bike, so when we reached X minutes until curfew, he’d knock two or three more doors, till the time was X minus 1 minute. We would then have to jump on our bikes and pedal our brains out to try and make it home before our 9:30 curfew. <br />
<br />
I hadn’t ridden a bike in years, so usually he would get ahead of me and I would get frustrated that he wouldn’t wait up.<br />
<br />
He’d say “Can’t wait! We’ll be late! Push harder!” <br />
<br />
I’d say “I can’t!”<br />
<br />
He’d say “Where’s your faith, elder?!” <br />
<br />
Then I’d pedal harder so I could try and punch him in the face...<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
We lived in an apartment on something like the thirtieth floor. There was no air conditioning and we were on a tropical island. Because companion was obsessed with using every single moment and then rushing home, we’d arrive sweaty and breathless, then spend the rest of the night with a fan on, trying to get cool again. We had the choice of leaving the windows open to let in a breeze, but also let in mosquitos, or keep the mosquitos out and die of heat.<br />
<br />
His commitment level was something I struggled to match. I loved the idea of working as much as I could, but sometimes it almost seemed like he wanted to make things even more difficult for us, as if our suffering would somehow bring us greater blessings in the work. This method started to grate after a few days. It made me angry after a couple weeks. After a month I was full of resentment and anger.<br />
<br />
After 6 weeks – one transfer - I was pretty beat. We had no baptisms during that transfer which was a first for my companion. He had never had a transfer without at least one baptism.<br />
<br />
The night before the new transfer we arrived home as usual, smashing through the apartment door just seconds before we were due to call in and report our work for the day. Companion was furious that he was reporting his end-of-transfer numbers with a big fat zero in the baptisms column.<br />
<br />
I, on the other hand, sat in my chair in front of my fan and sulked. I probably should have updated the area book or made some plans for the next day or studied the language or something. Instead I let my mind wander.<br />
<br />
As I sat there in the heat I did the thing that missionaries should probably never do. I started thinking about home. It was late May. Every year in May I would take a trip to Disneyland. I thought about previous trips. <br />
<br />
My thoughts went something like this: If I were home right now, I’d be in Disneyland. I’d ride a roller coaster. I’d get myself a milkshake. And most of all, I’d sit down in New Orleans Square and listen to the jazz band there.<br />
<br />
I don’t remember all the items on my list of “things I would do if only I were free,” but there were about 5 things I wished I was doing that being on a mission simply wouldn’t allow.<br />
<br />
I went to bed that night angry and frustrated.<br />
<br />
About an hour into trying to fall asleep in the sweltering heat, I rolled over and saw my companion still kneeling by his bed, praying. I selfishly thought to myself that he was probably praying about me – praying that I would start working harder so he could get back to his precious baptisms.<br />
<br />
The next day was a new transfer and we took over a neighboring proselyting area. That made our area perhaps the largest in the mission both in size as well as population. Companion decided we ought to go to the other area and visit a recently baptized member who hadn’t been showing up to church lately. It would also give us a chance to start learning the new roads. So, first thing in the morning, we rode across a bridge we lovingly called “The Bridge of Death,” and went to find our member.<br />
<br />
She lived on top of a small mountain on the far side of the new area. The ride was excruciating. Finally, we got to the top and knocked on the door.<br />
<br />
It turned out she wasn’t home in the middle of the day on a work day. On further contemplation, we realized she might have been working at her job instead of home for our convenience.<br />
<br />
I remember thinking “Jeez, Companion, you couldn’t have called first to check?” I might have even been so rude as to say it out loud.<br />
<br />
So we started riding back down the hill. My companion was going super slow. I asked him why he was going so slowly.<br />
<br />
“I hate going down hills.” he said.<br />
<br />
I said, “Going down is the best part!” <br />
<br />
He shook his head. “No, I hate it. I like going up. Going down is… scary.”<br />
<br />
Our next task for the day was to try and visit a former investigator to see if we could get her to come back to church again that Sunday. And her house was on the top of another mountain. In our old area. On the farthest point possible from where we currently were.<br />
<br />
So, back across the Bridge of Death we went.<br />
<br />
Back in our old area we started up the mountain to our investigators home.<br />
<br />
Now this road remains, to this day, the steepest road I’ve ever seen. Maybe you’ve seen the movie Kung Fu Panda? You may remember when it shows the panda trying to climb the endless stairs to the temple? It was like that, except it was a road instead of stairs. It was so steep we couldn’t ride up the road even in our lowest gear. We had to zig zag back and forth across the road to incrementally gain altitude. Occasionally we would jump off the bikes and simply walk them up since that was just as fast as riding. We would see people on scooters try to drive up, only to have their scooters die halfway up.<br />
<br />
We finally reached her door and knocked.<br />
<br />
Not surprisingly, in the middle of the day on a work day there was nobody home.<br />
<br />
My companion cheerfully opened the area book and started looking for a less-active member to visit. <br />
<br />
I sat and stewed, blaming my companion for having such poor plans for the day and dragging me across the entire area and up one mountain, then up another, and murmur murmur murmur…<br />
<br />
Eventually he chose somebody for us to visit. I knew basically how to get there, so I decided to take the lead.<br />
<br />
I set a goal at that point that I would not touch my brakes. <br />
<br />
I kicked off, and started down the mountain road.<br />
<br />
I don’t know how fast we were going, but I don’t recall ever going faster on a bike. My nametag clung to my shirt in terror. My poor companion was probably tortured by his desire to stay obedient to the rule of always staying with your companion, and his fear of going down hills.<br />
<br />
We came to a stop under a freeway overpass. After a few minutes, Companion caught up, looking only slightly terrified. I think he figured I was upset at that point because he asked if I wanted to grab a bing-sha (basically a slushy) before our next appointment. I happily agreed.<br />
<br />
Once we arrived at the home of the less-active member, she would not let us into her home, but she did stay in the alley to talk with us. My grasp of the language was poor, and my interest was low, so I found myself walking around, peering into crates, and examining our surroundings.<br />
<br />
Only looking back do I realize just how rude and unhelpful I was. At the time I felt like I was acting perfectly appropriately considering my circumstances.<br />
<br />
The alley was a row of dingy homes on one side, and a long brick wall on the other. behind the brick wall was a high school. The building of the high school was a few stories taller than the wall and the upper floor had a large window propped open to let in the breeze. I leaned against the wall and waited for my companion to finish talking with the member.<br />
<br />
Just then, from out of that upper window, I heard the school band start blasting out some the best sounding big band jazz you’ve ever heard. I mean it was HOT. It sounded great. I perked right up and started edging even closer to that open window.<br />
<br />
My companion’s eyes got wide and he gestured for me to get away from the wall. I knew he was thinking “Babylon alert! Babylon alert!”<br />
<br />
I pretended I didn’t notice.<br />
<br />
“Companion!” he hissed at me. “Come on!”<br />
<br />
Reluctantly, I pulled myself away and stood next to my trainer till we finished our visit with the member. Strangely, the band finished their song and remained silent the rest of the time we were there. As we got on our bikes and headed to lunch I asked my companion if he heard the band. His response was “We’re not supposed to listen to stuff like that.”<br />
<br />
I opened my mouth to say “I used to go to disneyland every year and one of my favorite parts was listening to the jazz bands.” But instead I just sat on my bike with my mouth open.<br />
<br />
In my mind I went over all the things I had lusted after the night before. The roller coaster ride, the shakes, the jazz band, and so on. As I thought about it, I realized that every single thing I had thought about I had already experienced that day as a missionary. The ride down the mountain was more thrilling than any roller coaster. The bing-sha was just as delicious as any shake. The jazz band was the best I’d ever heard. And so on.<br />
<br />
It felt like a bolt of lightning striking me. I can’t think of how else to describe it. That was the moment I made the decision to see God in my life instead of coincidence. (All it took was a literal brass band to get me to pay attention.)<br />
<br />
I realized that it wasn’t even noon and already a loving and merciful Heavenly Father had given me not just peace, but the specific things that I had insisted to myself I needed to be happy.<br />
<br />
I hadn’t prayed about it. I hadn’t told God about how badly I wanted to be home. I didn’t complain out loud.<br />
<br />
But in that moment it became shockingly clear to me that God knew what was in my heart and mind and how hard it had been for me. And more than that – that He wanted me to be happy and would bless me for serving him.<br />
<br />
I had always had a testimony. But suddenly I had a new heart. A grateful heart.<br />
<br />
I was able to let go of my resentment. I was able to start focusing not on how difficult my life was, but how blessed it was. The work was the same. I was different - because I saw every good thing in my life as a blessing from God.<br />
<br />
Pause. Time out.<br />
<br />
Can you see how nothing had changed for me until the moment I recognized God’s hand in the good things in my life? If I hadn’t recognized that those little blessings came from God I would have just gone on as I had. I could have chosen to believe that the jazz band was a freak coincidence. But once I accepted the hand of God, everything changed in a big, big way.<br />
<br />
Lesson one: Choose to believe the good things in your life come from God.<br />
<br />
That would be a great story right there. I could just leave it at that and it would be perfectly satisfying. But there’s more. <br />
<br />
There’s Companion’s side of the story.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>
Lesson two in letting gratitude build your testimony: <b>Choose to give credit to God.</b> In other words, “Give Thanks.”<br />
<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Healing_of_Ten_Lepers_(Gu%C3%A9rison_de_dix_l%C3%A9preux)_-_James_Tissot_-_overall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Gratitude and Testimony" border="0" height="202" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Healing_of_Ten_Lepers_(Gu%C3%A9rison_de_dix_l%C3%A9preux)_-_James_Tissot_-_overall.jpg" title="" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Healing of Ten Lepers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
About a year later I was in a totally different area serving as a district leader. One of my zone leaders was my old trainer, now just a few days from heading home. We had a chance to go on exchanges one night. (That’s where you swap companions for a day or so.) We talked about how the past year had gone for each of us. The subject of that first transfer came up. I told him my story.<br />
<br />
He said: “I remember that day very well. It was also the day my mission changed forever.”<br />
<br />
I asked him to explain.<br />
<br />
That night, when I had noticed him kneeling at his bed for an hour, he had also had his own change of heart. Here’s what he said to me about that night:<br />
<br />
“I had never had a transfer without a baptism. The mission president had told me the very best thing I could do for my trainee [me] was to have a baptism in the first transfer, and I had failed. I was depressed. I was angry. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I thought it was the worst day of my entire life. So when we finished the last day of the transfer and went to say our personal prayers I ran into a problem: You know how you follow a pattern in your prayers? Like, ‘Heavenly Father, I thank thee… I ask thee…’ like that? Well I still remember my prayer. It was like this:<br />
<br />
“‘Heavenly Father, I thank thee…’<br />
<br />
“then I couldn’t think of anything for about five full minutes. Literally nothing. Do you know how long five minutes is when you’re praying? It’s forever. Finally I knew I had to say something, so I said ‘I thank thee… that we didn’t die.’<br />
<br />
“Then I remember thinking that was about the most lame prayer ever in the history of lame and I should do better. So I kept thinking. What can I be thankful for? There’s got to be something. So I was kneeling there, trying to think of something else to be grateful for. After a while I was like, well, I guess that stupid fan feels pretty good right now. ‘I thank thee for this electric fan.’ What else? Well, I guess there aren’t very many mosquitoes in here right now. ‘I thank thee that there aren’t too many mosquitoes in here tonight.’<br />
<br />
“This went on and on. Eventually it got easier, and soon I couldn’t keep up with all the things I thought of that I was thankful for. I ended up spending the entire hour praying about things I was grateful for. I didn’t ask for anything at all. I had never done that before. When I finished, I felt more refreshed and uplifted than I ever had over my whole mission. It changed my attitude about training, and about being a missionary, and about everything. I felt closer to God than I had ever been before.”<br />
<br />
Companion told me that from that point on whenever he found himself struggling he would have a prayer of gratitude and things always got better.<br />
<br />
Pause again.<br />
<br />
Can you see how the act of thanking God opened the conduit of revelation for my companion? How he was able to go from depressed and dismissive to grateful and acknowledging of God’s love for him? <br />
<br />
Elder Bednar says that “Gratitude enlarges the conduit for revelation.” If we need revelation we might consider first being grateful.<br />
<br />
Lesson two: get on your knees and actually thank God.<br />
<br />
Now that’s not quite the end of our missionary story. There’s what happened afterwards, which illustrates the third step in developing a testimony through gratitude:<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b> choosing to act on the blessings, or in other words, being changed by gratitude.</b></span><br />
<br />
My companion and I had had a dismal transfer. No baptisms, and very little in the way of prospects for the work we had covenanted to do. However something changed in both of us that one special night and day and it was evident in our work.<br />
<br />
For me, I changed my lousy behavior. It was easier to do because I started training myself to see God in all the good in my life. I made myself pay attention in discussions, but more than that, I was determined to be Alfred to my companion’s Batman.<br />
<br />
If he needed an address, I would have it ready. I’d learn the discussion so that if he needed me to take over at any point for any reason I would totally be there. If he needed me to make phone calls - a task which I hated with the fury of a thousand suns - I would do it. <br />
<br />
I was not going to be grateful and murmur at the same time. I don’t think that’s even possible. I latched on to my new, thankful attitude and refused to let go, even when my companion said “pedal harder!”<br />
<br />
Within a week we had 16 people committed to baptism. By the end of the transfer we were the highest baptising companionship in the Asia Area. Our convictions were strong, and the power of the Holy Ghost went with us to discussions. And I spent the rest of my mission enjoying my life instead of suffering through it. <br />
<br />
I believe those results had more to do with our attitude of thankfulness than anything else. <br />
<br />
Lesson 3: let the blessings and your gratitude for them change your behavior. Change without motivation is hard. It will be easier when you’ve gone through the first two steps and found a desire to be changed. And you’ll soon look around and wonder how you ever could have struggled, how it was possible that you could have thought your testimony was flagging. <br />
<br />
President Hinkley said that “Gratitude is of the very essence of worship. ... When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your life.”<br />
<br />
Can you see how much easier it is to recognize God, when you are genuinely grateful for his blessings? <br />
<br />
During this Thanksgiving and holiday season, I am grateful to a loving God who patiently pours out blessings on me, even when I don’t notice them. I know He loves us and blesses each of us. I wish you a peaceful and abundant life, and the ability to recognize the source of those blessings. <br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>Greg Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16423674727626416220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-41647123352491070262013-11-06T22:42:00.000-08:002013-11-07T07:31:28.652-08:00The Power of Covenants<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32501/32501_all_020_01-SacramentCup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32501/32501_all_020_01-SacramentCup.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I love studying the gospel as much as I do the world/universe around us. As I've studied and encountered different world views that are sometimes pitted against each other, I've seen people lose faith in God when they feel they've discovered irreconcilable differences.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I'm not going to go into the philosophical reasons why that doesn't have to be the case (though those are interesting as well). Instead, I'm going to just point out and testify that when we suppose to have found a ideological discord we must remember to back up for a minute and focus on covenants.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Covenants Make Us Free to have Faith</span></span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I think we can take a cue from Nephi in how he treated the covenants he made with God:</span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><br /></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">5 And also my soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death.</span><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/11.5?lang=eng#4"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">2 Nephi 11:5</span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></a></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I love that phrase, "delighting in covenants". Notice the train of thought here. Nephi is saying that by appreciating and celebrating his covenants that he is able to gain faith in grace, justice, power, mercy, and the atonement. Nephi sees his covenants as a source of his faith in those things. And I think that is a powerful reminder that we should seek to better understand our covenants and the faith that they enable. </span></span></span>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Covenants Make Us Free from Dogmatism</span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Far too often, we allow ourselves to get bogged down in secular or religious dogma. The problem with a dogmatic approach to religion is that it dehumanizes it and turns it instead into merely a set of intellectual or philosophical ascents. Now, philosophy and intellect are important, but not at the expense of this faith in Christ born out of making and keeping covenants with Him. The power of religion, especially Christian religions, is that we can have a human relationship here and now with God.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, <b>hath</b> eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/6.54?lang=eng#53">John 6:54</a></span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Notice what is said here. Those who "hear my word", "believe in him that sent me", "eat of my flesh", and "drink my blood", those people <i>have</i> eternal life right here and now. Faith in Jesus Christ is active; not some yet-to-be unrealized wishful or intellectual thinking. Christ promises us an eternal relationship here and now. And He does so through covenants.</span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">So when this, that, or some other dogma or philosophy comes up, I try to understand it from the context of my covenants.</span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to believe a particular thing about the age of the earth or the detailed biology of life? Nope.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to have a myopic view of native American history? Nope.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to have particular political viewpoints? Nope.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to literally interpret all of scripture? Nope. </span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Etc. etc. etc.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The problem with this perspective, again, is that it tries to anesthetize covenants by making them merely beliefs or ideologies. Covenants aren't a promise to think something. Covenants are promises to act. </span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><br /></span></span><br />
<ul>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to not partake in alcohol/tobacco? Yes.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to avoid any/all pre/extra-marital sex? Yes.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to regularly attend church? Yes.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to serve others? Yes.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to continually repent? Yes.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to love and forgive others? Yes.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Have I covenanted to pay an honest tithe? Yes.</span></span></span></li>
<li>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Etc. etc. etc.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">When we see our faith merely as abstract ideologies we empty the life from our testimony and faith. Christ taught in His mortal ministry that knowledge and testimony of His gospel is to be found in action, not dogma:</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/7.17?lang=eng#16"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">John 7:17</span></span></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Covenants Free Us to Meet God</span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">King Benjamin put it best when he praised the covenant his people made with God:</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">7 And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">8 And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">9 And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.</span></span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/5.7-9?lang=eng#6"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Mosiah 5:7-9</span></span></span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">So, as I go about my studies in various topics and encounter people with different world-views, I don't let supposed ideological discords overrun the power of my covenants. And while "the glory of God is intelligence" (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/93.36?lang=eng#35">D&C 93:36</a></span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">), we cannot forget that the source of testimony is not merely dogma, but instead faith and a covenant life.</span></span></span>
Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-34415112825101003062013-10-27T23:00:00.000-07:002013-10-28T11:28:48.284-07:00The Holy Ghost and Ohm's LawIn 1899 James E. Talmage, a renowned chemist in England and America and apostle in the LDS church, wrote a book titled '<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42238/42238-h/42238-h.htm">The Articles of Faith</a>' analyzing the doctrines laid out by Joseph Smith in a <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/a-of-f/1?lang=eng">letter he wrote titled by the same name</a>. Despite its age, it remains today one of the seminal works discussing Mormon Theology. From <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42238/42238-h/42238-h.htm#Page_162">the section titled "The Holy Ghost"</a>, Talmage writes:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32502/37-07.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32502/37-07.gif" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lds.org/liahona/2010/03/small-and-simple-things/james-e-talmage-18621933">James E. Talmage</a> (1862-1933)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Subtler, mightier, and more mysterious than any or all of the physical forces of nature are the powers that operate upon conscious organisms, the means by which the mind, the heart, the soul of man may be energized by spiritual forces. In our ignorance of the true nature of electricity we may speak of it as a fluid; and so by analogy the forces through which the mind is governed have been called spiritual fluids. The true nature of these manifestations of energy is unknown to us, for the elements of comparison and analogy, so necessary to our human reasoning, are wanting; nevertheless the effects are experienced by all. As the conducting medium in an electric circuit is capable of conveying but a limited current, the maximum capacity depending upon the resistance offered by the conductor, and, as separate circuits of different degrees of conductivity may carry currents of widely varying intensity, so human souls are of varied capacity with respect to the higher powers. But as the medium is purified, as obstructions are removed, so resistance to the energy decreases, and the forces manifest themselves with greater intensity. By analogous processes of purification our spirits may be made more susceptible to the forces of life, which are emanations from the Holy Spirit. Therefore are we taught to pray by word and action for a constantly increasing portion of the Spirit, that is, the power of the Spirit, which is a measure of this gift of God unto us.</blockquote>
<br />
Talmage is drawing an analogy from Ohm's law which was widely accepted by the scientific community some 50 years before Talmage had this insight. Having studied the physics covering electromagnetism myself, this idea brought back many memories of working through simple circuit diagrams with voltage, intensity, and resistance. The relationship between these three values is expressed in Ohm's law:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyos-vwqUIEth_wI6WP-cQwq98pKlncw6yyotBY1qGX20esr47tM-RBWNaMPQqCx20MJlgFnHSl2QISye0cBbUIYFP3nxz3vK9EDeAPpwT5xmCEYxXO2uGhHZlxK_UfGDarjxgRLDfc_LC/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-10-27+at+9.16.46+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyos-vwqUIEth_wI6WP-cQwq98pKlncw6yyotBY1qGX20esr47tM-RBWNaMPQqCx20MJlgFnHSl2QISye0cBbUIYFP3nxz3vK9EDeAPpwT5xmCEYxXO2uGhHZlxK_UfGDarjxgRLDfc_LC/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-10-27+at+9.16.46+PM.png" /></a></div>
Here, the intensity of current in a circuit (measured in amps) is equal to the voltage (electrical potential) of a power source divided by the resistance of the medium through which that current flows. The greater the voltage the greater the current. However, the greater the resistance the less current. By analyzing this equation and see what insights it gives drawing from Elder Talmage's analogy above, much can be learned.<br />
<br />
In the Book of Mormon Alma chapter 30 gives an account of a trail between the high priest, Alma, and Korihor who had been accused of blaspheme. After Korihor insists that a sign must be given before anyone should exercise faith, Alma responds:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Behold, I am grieved because of the hardness of your heart, yea, that ye
will still <b>resist</b> the spirit of the truth, that thy soul may be
destroyed.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/30.46#45">Alma 30:46</a></blockquote>
<br />
Sometime later, Alma - in preaching to the poor and rejected class of the Zoramites - makes a wonderful analogy between the word of God and a seed. Here, he also uses the word 'resist' when speaking of wickedness and hardheartedness (possibly referring to his previous encounter with Korihor):<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="verse"></span>Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief,
that ye will <b>resist</b> the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to
swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye
will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good
seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul;
yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/32.28#27">Alma 30:28</a></blockquote>
<br />
In modern times, Christ - speaking to Lyman Sherman through Joseph Smith - in December 26, 1835 - spoke similarly:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... <b>resist</b> no more my voice.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/108.2?lang=eng#1">D&C 108:2</a></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
In basic circuits, to which this analogy relates to, the voltage is constant. That constant voltage relates to God and his power which is described as "... the same yesterday today and forever..." (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/10.18?lang=eng#17">1 Ne. 10:18</a>). God's power is always there, available to anyone, and it's potential is unchanging.<br />
<br />
Given the voltage is constant, the resistance becomes the determining factor for the intensity in the circuit. Likewise, as God's power is constant, unchanging, and is always extended towards each one of His children, our will compared to His becomes the determining factor of the efficacy of that power flowing through our lives. Again from the above Talmage quote:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
.... as the medium is purified, as obstructions are removed, so resistance to
the energy decreases, and the forces manifest themselves with greater
intensity.</blockquote>
<br />
So, what is the resistance that is required to allow God's power to more fully flow through us? It, surprisingly, is not zero given the equations above. If a resistance of zero, or analogously an empty will, is introduced to the equation impossible or undefined results are found. Such is life without free will or with an empty will (see <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2.11-13?lang=eng#10">2 Ne. 2:11-13</a>). Could this begin to describe the situation where Satan sought to deny the power of God and place Himself above it by destroying the agency of man (see <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/4.3?lang=eng#2">Moses 4:3</a>)?<br />
<br />
So, if having zero resistance introduces problems in the equation and the analogy then what <i>should</i> "R" ideally be? To answer the question it helps to rearrainge Ohms law.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkOYohuWdvn02LBixvgVA7qo3ryIduB9SL4XQNouN6sK2TYDUQimm-AOMM7LDT-nQnbP5Y4Rlbgvmxtg11QRKCydcIbdBiXUS4lvUEI4TVwbjqAq9dMxgGuZQ2q7pWl8JHUiNr3_pDabL/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-10-27+at+10.28.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjkOYohuWdvn02LBixvgVA7qo3ryIduB9SL4XQNouN6sK2TYDUQimm-AOMM7LDT-nQnbP5Y4Rlbgvmxtg11QRKCydcIbdBiXUS4lvUEI4TVwbjqAq9dMxgGuZQ2q7pWl8JHUiNr3_pDabL/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-10-27+at+10.28.40+PM.png" /></a></div>
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What would "R" have to equal in order for "V" and "I" to equal each other?" The resistance would have to be 1. While trying to avoid taking the analogy too far, the notion of "one" has great implications in the gospel and appears throughout it. <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/tg/one?lang=eng&letter=o">The term "one" appears frequently in scriptures</a> to indicate harmony, alignment, equality, and unity. The Lord has said:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/38.27?lang=eng#26">D&C 38:27</a></blockquote>
<br />
It is especially prominent in the <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/17.20-23?lang=eng#20">Lord's Intercessory Prayer</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
20<span class="verse"></span> Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; <br />
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="21"><br /></a><span class="verse">21 </span>That they all may be one; as thou, Father, <span class="clarityWord">art</span> in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.</div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="22"><br /></a><span class="verse">22 </span>And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:</div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="23"><br /></a><span class="verse">23 </span>I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Knowing and understand this, it becomes quite clear that the only way the power of God will flow through us is if we choose to become one--harmonizing and aligning our desires and actions with the will of God. Only when this oneness is achieved will the power of God flow through us unobstructed. Nephi (the second) achieved, to some degree, this oneness. Nephi, pondering upon the wickedness of the people at the time, heard the voice of the Lord saying:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for ... thou hast ... sought my will, and to keep my commandments. <br />
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="5"></a><span class="verse"></span><br />
5 And
now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I
will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in
deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/10.4-5?lang=eng#3">Helaman 10:4-5</a></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
Through God's blessing, Nephi's righteousness and unity lead to receiving great power from heaven. And we too can be given power as we align our will with the will of God. The means through which this power is given is through the Holy Ghost, but it is activated through the gift of the atonement. It is of no coincidence that the word "atonement", influenced by the Latin word <i>adunamentum </i>meaning 'unity', came from an older verb "onement" meaning "to unite" or "make one".<br />
<br />
This is how we harness and utilize the gift of the Holy Ghost. As a gift and blessing, it is predicated upon obedience (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130.20-21?lang=eng#19">D&C 130:20-21</a>; <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132.5?lang=eng#4">D&C 132:5</a>). And it is only when our will becomes one with the will of God, through the atonement of Christ, that we may be blessed with His eternal power.<br />
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<br />Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-69353295485095287692013-10-13T00:01:00.001-07:002013-10-13T00:28:06.541-07:00Degrees of GloryIn section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord uses a metaphor
to compare the differences in glory between his kingdom.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32493/32493_all_076_04-3degreesVision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32493/32493_all_076_04-3degreesVision.jpg" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/section-69-80/section-76-the-vision-of-the-degrees-of-glory?lang=eng">D&C 76: Vision of degrees of glory</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.<br />
<br />
71 And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament.<br />
<br />
81 And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/76.70-71,81?lang=eng#69">D&C 76:70-71, 81</a></blockquote>
<br />
The Celestial
kingdom's “glory is that of the sun” (v70), the Terrestrial kingdom's
“glory differs... even as that of the moon differs from the sun” (v71), and the Telestial kingdom's glory is “even as the glory of the stars differs
from that of the glory of the moon” (v81).<br />
<br />
What is generally interpreted by this mapping of the Lord's kingdoms
to objects we observe in the sky is that 1) The power and glory of the
Celestial kingdom is infinite and 2) God's other kingdoms will have a
wide range of types of people in them and that the idea of one universal
heaven and one universal hell is a false dichotomy. There is a third
very powerful lesson that can be learned with a little help from
astronomy.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://prints.iiap.res.in/retrieve/256820" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://prints.iiap.res.in/retrieve/256820" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._R._Pogson">Normon Pogson</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the 19th century, during the 1830s, it was discovered that the eye
detects light intensity logarithmically rather than linearly. This
combined with the need to have a universal way to measure and compare
the intensity of light from objects observed in the sky lead the
astronomer Norman Pogson to propose, as a starting point for a light
intensity scale, that a star that has a magnitude equal to 1 is 100
times brighter than a star of magnitude 6. This lead to the standard
that a difference in 1 magnitude translates to 2.512 times in brightness
or intensity.<br />
<br />
Since then, astronomers have charted the brightness of objects they
observe in the sky. An interesting fact emerges when one looks at these
charts and calculates the difference in brightness between the sun,
moon, and stars.<br />
<br />
<br />
On this scale, the sun has a magnitude value of -26.74. The moon has a
magnitude value of -12.74. Therefore the difference in brightness
between the sun and the moon is 2.51214, which is a factor of 398,359. Put another
way, the sun is 398,359 times brighter than the moon.<br />
<br />
Following this method of calculation, the following results can be determined for different kinds of objects in the sky:<br />
<br />
<br />
<table><thead>
<tr>
<th align="left">Object</th>
<th align="left">Magnitude</th>
<th align="left">Scale</th>
</tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left">Full moon</td>
<td align="left">-12.74</td>
<td align="left">Sun is 394,359 times brighter</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Sirius (brightest star)</td>
<td align="left">-1.46</td>
<td align="left">Sun is ~12.95 billion times brighter</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Faintest observable by human</td>
<td align="left">8</td>
<td align="left">Sun is ~78.82 trillion times brighter</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">Faintest observable (natural light)</td>
<td align="left">36</td>
<td align="left">Sun is ~12.51 septillion times brighter (1.25 x 10<sup>25) </sup></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Abraham was promised, “I will multiply thee, and thy seed... and if
thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy
seeds” (Abr. 3:14). In Doctrine and Covenants 76 verse 109 it says, “we
saw the glory of the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were
as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand
upon the seashore.”<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-sJpeTXTUV5oWmggt37QKAsJyXXRFGmte3CHO-xpUXl5bhn0hOIr083_uyNzcoxzYs866j9J5w-tvjY-wCd397bVpOOn5lTolu2NtPMGEhIgH29zrjAcfTwjHTXlVXGybt-ih71MIj-6/s1600/Hubble-Captures-a-Collection-of-Ancient-Stars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-sJpeTXTUV5oWmggt37QKAsJyXXRFGmte3CHO-xpUXl5bhn0hOIr083_uyNzcoxzYs866j9J5w-tvjY-wCd397bVpOOn5lTolu2NtPMGEhIgH29zrjAcfTwjHTXlVXGybt-ih71MIj-6/s400/Hubble-Captures-a-Collection-of-Ancient-Stars.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_56">Globular cluster Messier 56</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It is interesting to note that <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2012/09/17/161096233/which-is-greater-the-number-of-sand-grains-on-earth-or-stars-in-the-sky">rough calculations</a> of things such as
the number of grains of sand on earth or the number of stars in the
universe are estimated in the 10<sup>18</sup> to 10<sup>22</sup> range, close to this
same septillion scale. The same scale involved in those metaphors is
the same scale involved in the metaphor of the sun, moon, and stars.
These numbers are so large that they begin to blur the line between the
quantifiable and the infinite.<br />
<br />
But what does all this mean? While numbers and estimates are
interesting and informative, we should avoid getting too caught up in
the exactness of them since our mortal view of the universe will always
be imperfect. The Lord prefaces this by <a class="imgScanned" href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88.46?lang=eng#45">rhetorically asking</a>,
"Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?", so
this metaphor is only to relate something beyond our understanding into
something that we have some understanding about. The overarching lesson to be learned from this is that our Heavenly
Father's plan is literally large enough for each and every one of His
unique children. His plan is infinitely diverse to fit his infinitely
diverse creations. What we can learn is that when someone says, “Your
Heavenly Father has a plan for you.” they're not just saying something
trite or platitudinous. The scale, scope, diversity, and glory of
Heavenly Father's kingdoms are literally large enough for all.Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-13126443552479055132013-10-02T23:47:00.000-07:002013-10-03T09:28:59.005-07:00Charity and the Destiny of Man<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I've been thinking a lot about charity recently, why the scriptures place so much emphasis on it, and how we can better live it in our lives. The following are some of my thoughts as I've tried to dig at this principle.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">In the Book of Mormon, <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/12.28,33-34?lang=eng#27">Ether chapter 12</a> talks about charity:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">34 And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">It makes me think of some of the insights from the Parable of The Good Samaritan:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<center>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/53Pqw20xK10?list=PLQQ3t70Mz7GAGOqzlw8WZEjjKy7OF3L27" width="560"></iframe></span></span>
</center>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Here, a Samaritan helps a Jew left for dead on a road between Jericho and Jerusalem. This parable is a wonderful story illustrating the power of our shared humanity. But there's a deeper lesson when we look at the historical context around the Jewish and Samaritan nations at the time of Jesus.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The history between the Samaritans and Jews is fascinatingly</span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> tragic, and we can learn a lot about the intent of Christ's parable by understanding that. Some highlights:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The separation of Samaritans and Jews went back more than 700 years by the time of Christ. These tensions and differences were very much woven into the fabric of each other's race, culture, religion, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan#Genetic_studies">even their genes</a></span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> The conflict can even be attributed back further to the sons of Israel.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The Jews and Samaritans make conflicting claims of ancestry, priesthood authority, scripture, land rights, and temple worship. There's lots more to read about that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan#History_and_origin">here</a></span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Less than 200 years before Christ, probably still very fresh in the minds of the Jews and Samaritans, Antiochus IV Epiphanes decided to establish a universal religion with the penalty for resistance being death. Facing certain genocide, the Samaritans aligned themselves with Antiochus requiring cutting any relationship with the Jews in the south. Naturally feeling betrayed, the Jews viewed the Samaritans as traitors, heathens, and heretics.</span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">About 100 years before Christ, the Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus waged war on the Samaritan kingdom eventually conquering them, destroying their temple, and treating them as slaves since they weren't considered true worshipers of Jehovah.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bc/scriptures/nt/luke/10/images/044-044-TheGoodSamaritan-display.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bc/scriptures/nt/luke/10/images/044-044-TheGoodSamaritan-display.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Needless to say, these weren't just neighbors who didn't get along, this was a deep, deep, rooted hatred and distain for each other that had attached itself to the very identity many had of what it was to be a Jew or Samaritan at that time. It must have pained Jesus, who was the covenant God of the Old Testament, to see this rift of hate between the children of Israel. So it's important to acknowledge that Christ choosing to make a Samaritan the protagonist of this parable wasn't a random thought, but instead a divine call for those hearing it to see past what society sees as insurmountable or unfathomable differences and conflicts and instead choose to see each other as our fellow man and children of God.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Martin Luther King gave this insight on this parable</span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> (ironically and tragically) just 1 day before his assassination in his "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27ve_Been_to_the_Mountaintop">I've Been to the Mountaintop</a>" speech:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road I said to my wife, "I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable." It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem... above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho fifteen or twenty minutes later, you're... below sea level. That's a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the "Bloody Pass." And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking, and he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked, the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?" </span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">I absolutely love this insight here because it gets at the essence of charity. That charity fundamentally changes our nature and perspective.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://charterforcompassion.org/the-charter/">The Charter For Compassion</a> is an organization dedicated to the idea of restoring compassion as the root of worship and ethics. Their charter uses the imagery that compassion leads us to dethrone ourselves and place another there:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect. </span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/general-relief-society-meeting/2010/09/charity-never-faileth">President Monson elaborated on the essence of charity</a> and its need in this world in a General Relief Society broadcast in 2010</span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">:</span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Needed is the charity which refuses to find satisfaction in hearing or in repeating the reports of misfortunes that come to others, unless by so doing, the unfortunate one may be benefited. The American educator and politician Horace Mann once said, “To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is godlike.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">So when God says "except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father" (Ether chapter 12) He's not saying that to be cute or poetic. And when Christ chose to strike the nerve of hatred between two nations and cultures He wasn't merely trying to be inflammatory. Both Christ and God are warning us that unless we get a handle on this principle of charity we all face together a very negative future.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Makes me think of another quote from Martin Luther King:</span></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Martin Luther King also gave, what I consider, one of the best sermons on the topic of love in his inspired speech "<a href="http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_loving_your_enemies/">Loving Your Enemies</a>"</span><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">. Seriously, if you have an hour or two to spare, this sermon will change your entire perspective on the role of love and charity in the destiny of man. Speaking about Christ's command to "love your enemies" he says:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of Oriental hyperbole, just a sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips of our Master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So coming back to <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/12.28,33-34?lang=eng#27">Ether chapter 12</a>, we can see that the warning that we must have charity</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> is not merely a platitude, but a divine truth on what is ultimately what will determine our eternal destiny individually and the destiny of man here on Earth.</span></span></span>Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-65706052905344068802013-09-20T01:31:00.001-07:002013-09-20T09:25:00.442-07:00Faith, Creation, and ProgrammingAs a programmer, my greatest creative outlet is writing code. While deep inside a interconnected web of bits and logic hunting down that perpetual last bug can seem to someone from the outside to be anything but creative, there is a unique type of creativity that is found in writing software. This type of creation is beautifully described in one of my favorite quotes from Fredrick P. Brooks, Jr’s book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Mythical-Man-Month-Engineering-Anniversary/dp/0201835959">The Mythical Man Month</a>. It lists several reasons why programming is joyful:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Fred_Brooks.jpg/398px-Fred_Brooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Fred_Brooks.jpg/398px-Fred_Brooks.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fredrick P. Brooks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Why is programming fun? What delights may its practitioner expect as his reward?<br />
<br />
First is the sheer joy of making things. As the child dlights in his mud pie, so the adult enjoys building things, especially things of his own design. I think this delight must be an image of God’s delight in making things, a delight shown in the distinctness and newness of each leaf and each snowflake.<br />
<br />
Second is the pleasure of making things that are useful to other people. Deep within, we want others to use our work and to find it helpful. In this respect the programming system is not essentially different from the child’s first clay pencil holder “for Daddy’s office”.<br />
<br />
Third is the fascination of fashioning complex puzzle-like objects of interlocking moving parts and watching them work in subtle cycles, playing out the consequences of principles built in from the beginning. The programmed computer has all the fascination of the pinball machine or the jukebox mechanism, carried to the ultimate.<br />
<br />
Fourth is the joy of always learning, which springs from the non repeating nature of the task. In one way or another the problem is ever new, and its solver learns something: sometimes practical, sometimes theoretical, and sometimes both.<br />
<br />
Finally, there is the delight of working in such a tractable medium. The programmer, like the poet, works only slightly removed from pure thought-stuff. He builds his castles in the air, from air, creating by exertion of the imagination. Few media of creation are so flexible, so easy to polish and rework, so readily capable of realizing grand conceptual structures.<br />
<br />
Yet the program construct, unlike the poet’s words, is real in the sense that it moves and works, producing visible outputs separate from the construct itself. It prints results, draws pictures, produces sounds, moves arms. The magic of myth and legend has come true in our time. One types the correct incantation on a keyboard, and a display screen comes to life, showing things that never were nor could be.<br />
<br />
Programming then is fun because it gratifies creative longings built deep within us and delights sensibilities we have in common with all men. </blockquote>
<br />
Put in a spiritual context, these reasons can be restated as the following:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>The joy of creation</li>
<li>The joy of service</li>
<li>The joy of seeing your creation in action</li>
<li>The joy of learning</li>
<li>The joy of having free and limitless creative medium</li>
</ol>
<br />
Brooks goes on to expand on the “creative longings built deep within us.” Citing Dorothy Sayers’ book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Mind-Maker-Dorothy-Sayers/dp/0060670770">The Mind of the Maker</a>, he recognizes creativity as having three separate stages:<br />
<ol>
<li>The idea</li>
<li>The implementation</li>
<li>The interaction</li>
</ol>
<br />
Expanding on this, Brooks writes:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A book, then, or a computer, or a program comes into existence first as an ideal construct, built outside time and space, but complete in the mind of the author. It is realized in time and space, by pen, ink, and paper, or by wire, silicon, and ferrite. The creation is complete when someone reads the book, uses the computer, or runs the program, thereby interacting with the mind of the maker.<br />
<br />
This description, which Miss Sayers uses to illuminate not only human creative activity but also the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, will help us in our present task. </blockquote>
<br />
To restate this description in the spiritual context of creation:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This world, then, came into existence first as an ideal construct*, built outside time and space spiritually (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/3.5?lang=eng#4">Moses 3:5</a>; <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/29.34?lang=eng#33">D&C 29:34</a>), but complete in the mind of the author (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/abr/2.8?lang=eng#7">Abr. 2:8</a>). It was realized in time and space (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/40.8?lang=eng#7">Alma 40:8</a>), using the elements that now surround us (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/abr/3.24?lang=eng#23">Abr. 3:24</a>). Finally, God did not consider His creation complete until someone (man) was placed on this world to interact with it and thus His mind and will (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/abr/3.24?lang=eng#23">Abr. 3:24</a>; <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/2.26?lang=eng#25">Moses 2:26</a>; <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/30.44?lang=eng#43">Alma 30:44</a>).<br />
<br />
* – "The head God called together the Gods and sat in grand council to bring forth the world. The grand councilors sat at the head in yonder heavens and contemplated the creation of the worlds which were created at the time." (from <a href="http://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-student-manual-genesis-2-samuel/genesis-1-2-the-creation?lang=eng&query=The%20head%20God%20called%20together%20the%20Gods%20and%20sat%20in%20grand%20council%20to%20bring%20forth%20the%20world.">Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 348</a>)</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke on this aspect of creation in his talk titled, "<a href="http://www.lds.org/ensign/2008/11/happiness-your-heritage">Happiness, Your Heritage</a>" in the General Relief Society Meeting in October 2008:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop
ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and
mold it into something of beauty. …<br />
<br />
The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your
capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your
destiny in the life to come.</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RhLlnq5yY7k" width="560"></iframe>
</center>
<br />
<br />
<br />
It is interesting how closely intertwined joy and the creative process are. If celestial, or God’s, joy is in His creations (<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/59.18-20?lang=eng#17">D&C 59:18-20</a>) it is of no wonder our spirits become joyous as we participate in the creative process. The child’s mud pie, the poem, the sonnet, the musical score, the mathematical construct, the painting, the program, and the ultimate creation of another human body; all give us a glimpse into the eternal nature of the creation. The joy of creation carries with it a glimpse of our infinite potential.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOBZ1fZZ3yBk9YWblzESZy5a9m2b_9ngP2QuQryIanq7AtXgYgW9sL3mdhB_KdmjkiLYLP4S7CvlChfTbKwsCHeKkUSRlFechvRwpiZgYliuphLgspTb1xBuTAYUZqzr3tyRDpypAd-tz/s1600/code.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOBZ1fZZ3yBk9YWblzESZy5a9m2b_9ngP2QuQryIanq7AtXgYgW9sL3mdhB_KdmjkiLYLP4S7CvlChfTbKwsCHeKkUSRlFechvRwpiZgYliuphLgspTb1xBuTAYUZqzr3tyRDpypAd-tz/s400/code.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://raw.github.com/torvalds/linux/master/kernel/sched/clock.c">clock.c from the Linux Kernel</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What is particularly interesting about programming is that the creative process occurs in the abstract only. Yes, the program is stored on disk in the form of magnetic variations, but even this is invisible to the human eye and is not the purpose for which the program is created. A program is not the series of characters typed by the programmer. Rather the substance of a program is thought itself, concept described. Working this close to raw thought not just at the beginning of the creative process but all throughout the program’s creation requires a high level of concentration and mental exertion but likewise delivers a high level of satisfaction and joy.<br />
<br />
While the details of exactly what 'spiritual creation' is may be unclear, this process of creating implementable concepts and structures mentally surely must play a pivotal role. Thus, as we practice and participate in the process of creation and exercise our faculties (mental, physical, and spiritual), we draw nearer to God and learn more about the nature of eternity. This is why programming is, and many other creative processes are, so joyful. The creative process is itself a symbol of Eternity.Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-42123309390977918982013-08-24T01:54:00.000-07:002013-08-25T06:51:56.596-07:00A Cosmic Gospel: A Cosmic RelationshipPrevious: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-savior.html">A Cosmic Savior</a> <br />
<br />
<h2>
A Cosmic Relationship</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Jan_Wijnants_-_Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan.jpg/240px-Jan_Wijnants_-_Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Jan_Wijnants_-_Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan.jpg/240px-Jan_Wijnants_-_Parable_of_the_Good_Samaritan.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="verse">25 </span>And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?<br />
<br />
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="26"></a><span class="verse">26 </span>He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?</div>
<br />
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="27"></a><span class="verse">27 </span>And
he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.</div>
<br />
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="28"></a><span class="verse">28 </span>And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.</div>
<br />
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="29"></a><span class="verse">29 </span>But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?<span class="verse"> </span><br />
<span class="verse"><br />33 </span>But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion <span class="clarityWord">on him,</span><span class="verse"><br /><br />34 </span>And went to <span class="clarityWord">him,</span>
and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his
own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.<br />
<br />
<span class="verse">36 </span>Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?<br />
<br />
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="37"></a><span class="verse">37 </span>And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/luke/10.25-29,33-34,36-37?lang=eng#24" target="_blank">Luke 10:25-29, 33-34, 36-37 </a></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
This parable and the exchange between Christ and the lawyer contain a profound and universal truth<span style="font-family: inherit;">. One
of the most empowering aspects of the cosmic relationship made possible
through the Atonement is the fact that God not only seeks to have a
relationship with us, but that He invites us to cultivate eternal
relationships with all those around us.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="verse">27 </span>Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, <span class="clarityWord">and</span> to keep himself unspotted from the world.<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/james/1.27?lang=eng#26" target="_blank"><br /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/james/1.27?lang=eng#26" target="_blank">James 1:27 </a></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Christ exemplified this principle during His ministry. </span>After going through many towns and villages healing the sick, Christ challenges His disciples to labor with Him in this work:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="verse">35 </span>And
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every
sickness and every disease among the people. <br />
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<span class="verse">36 </span>But
when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no
shepherd.</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<span class="verse">37 </span>Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly <span class="clarityWord">is</span> plenteous, but the labourers <span class="clarityWord">are</span> few;</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<span class="verse">38 </span>Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/9.35-38?lang=eng#34" target="_blank">Matthew 9:35-38</a> </div>
</blockquote>
<br />
Another example is Christ's parable of sheep and goats:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="verse">34 </span>Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world:<br />
<br />
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="35"></a><span class="verse">35 </span>For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="36"></a><span class="verse">36 </span>Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="37"></a><span class="verse">37 </span>Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed <span class="clarityWord">thee?</span> or thirsty, and gave <span class="clarityWord">thee</span> drink?</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="38"></a><span class="verse">38 </span>When saw we thee a stranger, and took <span class="clarityWord">thee</span> in? or naked, and clothed <span class="clarityWord">thee?</span></div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="39"></a><span class="verse">39 </span>Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="40"></a><span class="verse">40 </span>And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done <span class="clarityWord">it</span> unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done <span class="clarityWord">it</span> unto me.</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/25.34-40?lang=eng#33" target="_blank">Matthew 25:34-40</a> </div>
</blockquote>
<br />
"Visit[ing]
the fatherless and widow[ed]", "preaching the gospel", "healing every
sickness and every disease", "[feeding the] hungry", "[taking in] a
stranger", "[clothing the] naked", "[visiting the] sick" or
"[prisoner]". These are anti-entropic acts. They restore both body and
Mind to higher states of order and function. They bind us to each other,
to God, and they allow us to become fellow "labourers" in God's "work"
and "glory".<br />
<br />
In <a href="http://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation" target="_blank">The Family: A Proclamation to the World</a>, the family is highlighted as one of the central organizations for God's plan for mankind:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
...the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children... <span class="dominant">We declare</span> the means by which mortal life
is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and
of its importance in God’s eternal plan.<br />
<br />
<span class="dominant">Husband and wife</span> have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (<a class="scriptureRef" href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/ps/127.3?lang=eng#2">Psalm 127:3</a>).
Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and
righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to
teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of
God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live.</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The
family's role is to create physical bodies for, and cultivate
Minds/Intelligences--the thing most precious to God in the universe.
What could be more important than that?</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a poem by a 13th century Sufi poet named
Rumi, some of these same eternal perspectives on God and family are echoed. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rumionfire.com/images/rumiport.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.rumionfire.com/images/rumiport.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(soruce: www.rumionfire.com)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Your children are not your children.</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">They come through you but not from you,</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">You may give them your love but not your thoughts,</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">For they have their own thoughts.</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">You may house their bodies but not their souls,</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">You may strive to be like them,</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">but seek not to make them like you.</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">You are the bows from which your children</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">as living arrows are sent forth.</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">and He bends you with His might</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">that His arrows may go swift and far.</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;</span><br />
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">For even as He loves the arrow that flies,</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">so He loves also the bow that is stable.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
-'On Children' by Rumi</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By understanding man's relationship to Mind,
matter, God, family, and eternity, we begin to see the true identity of others
as fellow eternal Minds which are likewise God's greatest "work" and
"glory" that He invites us to uplift, heal, teach, and learn from.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This
goal, to be an anti-entropic force in the lives of all of those around
us, becomes the challenge of a lifetime. This lifestyle makes each of us
participants in the "<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/ps/145.9?lang=eng#8" target="_blank">tender mercies</a>" of the Lord, fellow "</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">labourers"
with God in His "work" and "glory", and binds each of us to our
families, communities, and the world through the Atonement of Christ.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
hymn "Have I Done Any Good?", written by Wil L. Thompson, wonderfully
expresses this sentiment of seeking to be an anti-entropic force both
physically and spiritually in the lives of those around us:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0aUeLeKlrac" width="560"></iframe>
</span>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hymnary.org/files/hymnary/person/Thompson_WL.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.hymnary.org/files/hymnary/person/Thompson_WL.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will L. Thompson<br />
(source: www.hymnary.org)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Have I done any good in the world today?<br />
Have I helped anyone in need?<br />
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?<br />
If not, I have failed indeed.<br />
Has anyone's burden been lighter today<br />
Because I was willing to share?<br />
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?<br />
When they needed my help was I there?<br />
(chorus)<br />
<br />
There are chances for work all around just now,<br />
Opportunities right in our way.<br />
Do not let them pass by, saying, "Sometime I'll try,"<br />
But go and do something today.<br />
'Tis noble of man to work and to give;<br />
Love's labor has merit alone.<br />
Only he who does something helps others to
live.<br />
To God each good work will be known.<br />
(chorus)<br />
<br />
Chorus:<br />
Then wake up and do something more<br />
Than dream of your mansion above.<br />
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,<br />
A blessing of duty and love.</blockquote>
<br />
<h2>
Conclusion</h2>
Viewing Blaise Pascal's original question "For in fact
what is man in nature?" from a religious perspective, we can see that
when <i>compared</i> with God man is nothing; but <i>to</i> God man is
everything. This importance is born out of God's love for the Mind and
body of man and His desire to overcome the entropic forces which
threaten them. Because this is "[His] work and [His] glory", He provides
a universal and all-encompassing relationship through the Atonement of
His Son, Jesus Christ. That Atonement provides the anti-entropic forces
necessary for us to know God and become like Him--and for Him to
comprehend and know us. But one of the greatest blessings and
opportunities of this cosmic relationship between man and God is that
man can be a fellow "labourer" with God. The souls of men, you and I,
are not merely God's "work" and "glory", but can also be a means through
which He can accomplish His work in the Atonement of Christ.Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-7469184232330904522013-08-24T01:50:00.001-07:002013-08-24T22:41:24.311-07:00A Cosmic Gospel : A Cosmic SaviorPrevious: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-mind.html">A Cosmic Mind </a><br />
<br />
<h2>
A Cosmic Savior </h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://religionnerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Mormon-christus-at-salt-lake-1024x769.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://religionnerd.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Mormon-christus-at-salt-lake-1024x769.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_law_of_thermodynamics" target="_blank">second law of thermodynamics</a>
states that entropy, a measurement of disorder or chaos, in a system
ultimately increases. In other words, matter tends towards
disorganization (more entropy). <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay" target="_blank">Matter decays</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star#Post-main_sequence" target="_blank">stars burn out</a> (taking with them any ecosystems of their planets), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawking_radiation" target="_blank">black holes evaporate</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy#Future_trends" target="_blank">galaxies eventually cool</a>. Isaac Asimov's favorite personal work was <a href="http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm" target="_blank">'The Last Question'</a>,
in which he imagines mandkind's struggle against the increasing entropy
of the universe playing out over trillions of years. Indeed, anyone who
has owned a home or a car is intimately aware of this cosmic principle.
Despite our best efforts, windshields crack, wood rots, tires run bare,
furniture breaks, etc--often at the worst possible time. We expend
great time and resources to repair these fits of entropy only to be
doomed to inevitably do it again in the near future often on the very
thing we previously repaired.<br />
<br />
The same holds true for
Mind as well. Left without hope, light, knowledge, or guidance,
Mind/Intelligence falls into sin. Sin can be seen as a spiritual form of
entropy; it leads to chaos, disorder, degeneration, destruction, and
separation from God. A child, left to their own devices and without any
parental or mentorship guidance, will become emotionally and physically
maladjusted. Their behavior becomes irrational, disorganized, and
chaotic. Societies which allow hate and intolerance to rule quickly find
social disorder, chaos, war, and destruction. Marriages strained by
unchecked spiritual entropy dissolve into divorce, often tearing the
family apart.<br />
<br />
This is why the Atonement of Christ must
have a dual nature. It must provide an anti-entropic power to overcome
both the degeneration of body and Mind. And it's this anti-entropic
power that becomes the means for God to accomplish His "work" and
"glory".<br />
<br />
Jacob, in the Book of Mormon, explains how the Atonement is an anti-entropic force for the body of man: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
4
For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things
to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away
and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God.<br />
<br />
5
Yea, I know that ye know that in the body he shall show himself unto
those at Jerusalem, from whence we came; for it is expedient that it
should be among them; for it behooveth the great Creator that he
suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for
all men, that all men might become subject unto him.<br />
<br />
6
For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of
the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the
resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the
fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they
were cut off from the presence of the Lord.<br />
<br />
7
Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an
infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption.
Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have
remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid
down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/9.4-7?lang=eng#3" target="_blank">2 Nephi 9:4-7</a></blockquote>
<br />
Peter also taught of the incorruptible nature of the Atonement:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
18
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,
as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition
from your fathers;<br />
<br />
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:<br />
<br />
22
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another
with a pure heart fervently:<br />
<br />
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.<br />
<br />
24
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of
grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:<br />
<br />
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/1-pet/1.18-19,22-25?lang=eng#17" target="_blank">1 Peter 1:18-19,22-25</a></blockquote>
<br />
Alma,
in the Book of Mormon, explains how the Atonement provides a spiritual
anti-entropic power through an infinitely intimate comprehension of the
Minds of man:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
10 And behold,
he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our
forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall
be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring
forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.<br />
<br />
11 And he shall
go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind;
and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon
him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.<br />
<br />
12 And
he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which
bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his
bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may
know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their
infirmities.<br />
<br />
13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things;
nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he
might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their
transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now
behold, this is the testimony which is in me.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/7.10-13?lang=eng#9" target="_blank">Alma 7:10-13</a></blockquote>
<br />
A
"power of resurrection", "being born again, not of corruptible seed",
"[enduring] forever", overcoming "death", "afflictions", "temptations",
"sicknesses", "infirmities" all become anti-entropic powers realized
through the Atonement of Christ. And this is done both for
Mind/Intelligence as well as the physical/body:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"the Spirit knoweth all things (Mind); nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh (body)".</blockquote>
<br />
Is it of any wonder then that much of Christ's focus
during his earthly ministry was exercising this anti-entropic power
through preaching righteousness to the Minds/souls of man as well as
healing the sick?<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="35"></a><span class="verse">35 </span>And
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every
sickness and every disease among the people.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/9.35?lang=eng#34" target="_blank">Matthew 9:35</a></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.oceansbridge.com/paintings/artists/recently-added/march-2006/carl-heinrich-bloch/big/Carl-Heinrich-Bloch-xx-Christ-Healing-by-the-Well-of-Bethesda-xx-Public-collection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://www.oceansbridge.com/paintings/artists/recently-added/march-2006/carl-heinrich-bloch/big/Carl-Heinrich-Bloch-xx-Christ-Healing-by-the-Well-of-Bethesda-xx-Public-collection.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="http://www.prlog.org/11178287-the-creation-of-adam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>God
is not just the
God of the physical universe, He is the God of individuals, the God of
Souls and Minds. God has an eternal desire to connect with, cultivate,
and comprehend each and every one. And to realize that desire, He
provides a way for the soul, Mind and body, to escape these entropic
deaths. He provides a Savior through which an Atonement is made bringing
with it the blessings of restitution, rejuvenation, and reunion. As is
often noted, the very meaning of the word <i>'atonement'</i> is to repair, restore, or put back into its original, undamaged state. Mind and body then are <i>not</i> doomed to disorganization, but instead are given life eternal.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="11"></a><span class="verse">11 </span>Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="12"></a><span class="verse">12 </span>Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="13"></a><span class="verse">13 </span>Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated <span class="clarityWord">us</span> into the kingdom of his dear Son:</div>
<div class="highlight">
<br /></div>
<div class="highlight">
<a class="bookmark-anchor dontHighlight" href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="14"></a><span class="verse">14 </span>In whom we have redemption through his blood, <span class="clarityWord">even</span> the forgiveness of sins</div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/col/1.11-14?lang=eng#10" target="_blank">1 Colossians 1:11-14</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/rom/6.23?lang=eng#22" target="_blank">Romans 6:23</a> </blockquote>
<br />
This
brings up an often overlooked aspect of the nature of the Atonement.
Not only is the Atonement a way to reconcile man with God, but it
provides a way for God to know man, a way for God to realize His
greatest desire:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
5 Which glory is that of the church of the Firstborn, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son—<br />
<br />
6
He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in
that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all
things, the light of truth;<br />
<br />
7 Which truth shineth.
This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of
the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.<br />
<br />
8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;<br />
<br />
9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;<br />
<br />
10 And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88.5-10?lang=eng#4" target="_blank">D&C 88:5-10</a></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
40
For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom;
truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light;
mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth
its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him
who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.<br />
<br />
41
He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all
things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all
things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and
all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88.40-41?lang=eng#39" target="_blank">D&C 88:40-41</a></blockquote>
<br />
<a href="http://www.prlog.org/11178287-the-creation-of-adam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="http://www.prlog.org/11178287-the-creation-of-adam.jpg" width="320" /></a>The
Atonement becomes a bridge between man and God. Through it, the soul of
man (body and Mind/Intelligence) can overcome the tides of entropy and
become like God: eternal and incorruptible. And through the Atonement,
God is able to "comprehend" and "succor" the souls and Mind of man to
"dwell" with them. It is the bridge through which both parties are able
to know one another. The Atonement is the great cosmic relationship.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/05nA0cNEEqk" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
Next: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-relationship.html">A Cosmic Relationship </a>Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-72031960873563927112013-08-24T01:48:00.000-07:002013-08-24T22:24:31.416-07:00A Cosmic Gospel: A Cosmic MindPrevious: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-god.html">A Cosmic God</a><br />
<br />
<h2>
A Cosmic Mind</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mindopenerz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/universe-grows.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://www.mindopenerz.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/universe-grows.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(source: www.mindopenerz.com)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In Arthur C. Clarke's "3001 The Final
Odyssey", the prolog opens with a description of the explorations of the
"First Born"--the first
species to explore space-time:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... [since] in all the Galaxy, they had found nothing more precious than Mind, they encouraged its dawning everywhere. They
became farmers in the fields of stars</blockquote>
While this line
is from science fiction, this idea (that Mind is the most precious
thing in the universe) resonates with the declaration in Moses 1:39. In
the Mormon faith, this notion of Mind described here aligns well with
the doctrine of Intelligences which are seen as co-eternal with God.<br />
<br />
To better understand what God sees in Mind or Intelligences, it is necessary to dive into what the essence of Mind is. From the <i>Seventy's Course in Theology vol. 4 'Intelligence, Intelligences' </i>the following descriptions of attributes are used to define Intelligence (or Mind):<br />
<br />
<h4>
Consciousness</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">[Intelligence
is] conscious of self and of not-self; of the me and the not me.
"Intelligence is that which sees itself, or is at once both subject and
object." It knows itself as thinking, that is, as a subject; thinking of
its self, it knows itself as an object of thought—of its own thought.
And it knows itself as distinct from a vast universe of things which are
not self; itself the while remaining constant as a distinct
individuality amid the great universe of things not self. It is an
awareness of the mind. By reason of it an Intelligence... knows itself
as seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching; also as searching, and
finding; as inquiring and answering; as active or at rest; as loving or
hating; as contented or restless; as advancing or receding; as gaining
or loosing, and so following in all the activities in which
Intelligences, as men, engage.</span></span></blockquote>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
Generalization</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Intelligence
(mind) can perceive... something that cannot be taken in by sense
perception; that is to say, Intelligence can generalize. Sense can get
at the individual, concrete thing only: "this triangle," "this orange,"
"that triangle," "those oranges," etc. By the consideration of the
individual, concrete object, however, the mind can form an idea, a
concept, a general notion—"triangle," "orange"—which does not specify
this or that individual object, but "fits to any individual triangle or
orange past, present, or future, and even the possible oranges that
never shall be grown. In other words Intelligence can rise from
consideration of the particular to the general.</span></span></span>
</blockquote>
<br />
<h4>
Perception of a priori Principles</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">There
are a priori principles, which the mind can perceive to be
incontrovertible and of universal application, by mere reflection upon
the signification of the principles and without going into the
applications (e.g. 1+1=2, a triangle has 3 sides, etc.) The objects here
are mental objects. Their relations are perceptually obvious at a
glance, and no sense-verification is necessary. Moreover, once true,
always true, of those same mental objects. Truth here has an 'eternal'
character. If you can find a concrete thing... then your principles will
everlastingly apply to it. It is but a case of ascertaining the kind,
and then applying the law of its kind to the particular object.</span></span></span>
</blockquote>
<br />
<h4>
Imagination</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">By
a mind-power known as imagination, or imaginative memory,
Intelligences… can hold before consciousness, in picture, what has been
perceived by an outward sense, and this even when the outward sense has
been shut off from the outward world of matter. This power of
imagination, is also constructive. Intelligences can put before
themselves in mental picture, combinations which are fashioned from the
varied stores of memory. But by the mere act of [its] will, [it has] the
power to project [itself] in thought to any part of the world.
Instantly [it] can be in the crowded streets of the world's metropolis,
walk through its well remembered thoroughfares, hear the rush and roar
of its busy multitudes, fragments of conversation, broken strains of
music, etc.—all this the mind may do</span></span></span>
</blockquote>
<br />
<h4>
Ratiocination</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">The
mind (Intelligence) can combine various general principles or
individual facts and principles; and in the combination and comparison
of them, it can perceive other facts and principles. In other words,
Intelligence is capable of reasoning; of building up conclusions from
the data of its knowledge. It has the power of deliberation and of
judgment; by which it may determine that this state or condition is
better than another state or condition. That this, tending to good,
should be encouraged; and that, tending to evil, should be discouraged,
or, if possible, destroyed.</span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<h4>
Power of Volition</h4>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">Intelligence,
as embodied in man, is also conscious of the power, within certain
limitations, to will, and to perform what he wills to do: To rise up, to
sit down; to raise his arm, to let it fall; to walk, to run, to
stand... to control largely his actions, physical and moral; he can be
sober or drunken; chaste, or a libertine; benevolent or selfish; honest
or a rogue. Having deliberated upon this and that and having formed a
judgment that one thing is better than another, or that one condition is
better than another, he has power to choose between them and can
determine to give his aid to this and withhold it from that. So that
volition, within certain limitations at least, seems also to be a
quality of Intelligence</span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.craniumfitteds.com/wp-content/uploads/HLIC/f5ea0f2f200e0bb0bd32e2ab787684e4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://blog.craniumfitteds.com/wp-content/uploads/HLIC/f5ea0f2f200e0bb0bd32e2ab787684e4.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(source: blog.craniumfitteds.com)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
These
attributes--consciousness, generalization, comprehension of
principles/truths, imagination, reason, and the ability to act or choose
its own behavior--are all necessary in order for something to be
capable of comprehending what God is and for it to be able progress to
become like Him.<br />
<br />
Abraham had a similar revelatory
experience to that of Moses' (described previously). In Abraham's account, further
insight was given on God's relationship to intelligences:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
21
I dwell in the midst of them all; I now, therefore, have come down unto
thee to declare unto thee the works which my hands have made, wherein
my wisdom excelleth them all, for I rule in the heavens above, and in
the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the
intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning; I came down in
the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen.<br />
<br />
22
Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were
organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of
the noble and great ones;<br />
<br />
23 And God saw these souls
that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said:
These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits,
and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art
one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/abr/3.21-23?lang=eng#20" target="_blank">Abraham 3:21-23</a></blockquote>
<br />
And Joseph Smith further declared the eternal nature of Intelligences:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
29
Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of
truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/93.29?lang=eng#28" target="_blank">D&C 93:29</a></blockquote>
And:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because
he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest
could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have
with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power
to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may
be exalted with himself, so that they might have one glory upon another,
and all that knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence, which is
requisite in order to save them.<br />
<br />
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith - p. 354</blockquote>
<br />
So
here we have Minds/Intelligences which are co-eternal with God. And it
is these Minds that God sees as "good" with His desire being to "dwell
in the midst of them all". This begins to unlock the paradox. Man
is <i>physically</i> insignificant compared to God's creations, but the <i>Mind</i>
combined with the body of man is that which is most precious to God and
to which He devotes his "work" and "glory".<br />
<br />
A wonderfully poetic expression of this truth is<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline ! important; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 17px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">from the song "My Soul" by <a href="http://petermayer.net/">Peter Mayer</a></span></span></span>:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/k_01HVkfQjg" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
That is a profound truth.
You and I, our emotions, our thoughts, our hopes, our dreams, our fears,
our loves, our imaginations, our reasoning; this life, with our Minds
and bodies, is the most valuable thing in the universe to which God
devotes His energy. But why would God, who created the universe, has
seen countless stars, black holes,
precious metals, wisps of nebulae, etc. an infinity of physical matter
and energy, also see great importance in the salvation of man?<br />
<br />
A clue is
found in a word: <i>entropy</i>.<br />
<br />
Next: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-savior.html">A Cosmic Savior</a> Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-77855456321851321132013-08-24T01:45:00.000-07:002013-10-07T13:37:00.760-07:00A Cosmic Gospel: A Cosmic GodPrevious: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel.html">Introduction </a><br />
<br />
<h2>
A Cosmic God</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://richworks.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Universe1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://richworks.in/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Universe1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(source: richworks.in)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As mentioned in the introductory post, a paradox emerges when we incorporate the belief in a universal Creator with knowledge of the immensity of space. That when <i>compared</i> with God man is nothing; but <i>to</i> God man is everything. The scriptures and feelings of awe and wonder about the universe give some insight into how this paradox has been explored.<br />
<br />
In the Pearl of Great Price we have a wonderful
account of a vision given to Moses which indicates that Moses was able
to explore these infinities <i>with</i> God Himself.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
10
And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before
Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said
unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which
thing I never had supposed. <br />
<br />
31 And behold, the glory
of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God,
and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For
mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it
remaineth in me.<br />
<br />
32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.<br />
<br />
33
And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for
mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only
Begotten.<br />
<br />
35 But only an account of this earth, and the
inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds
that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that
now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are
numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.<br />
<br />
37
And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many,
and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for
they are mine <br />
<br />
38 And as one earth shall pass away,
and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end
to my works, neither to my words.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/1.10,31-33,35,37-38?lang=eng#9" target="_blank">Moses 1:10, 31-33, 35-38</a> </blockquote>
<br />
Here Moses feels completely swallowed up in the infinity of God's creations. Which is why the verse that follows is so profound:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="verse">39 </span>For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/1.39?lang=eng#38" target="_blank">Moses 1:39</a> </blockquote>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBkWirRJ__4rrIWvCx3mBDTDCS4_kjXfz-64AosF4wbQzNIX3xE-BrOcoXBx3ySoxs49DpKyXBgorpW4_TiZd3H9S2mSvetIiSf6S_OIahf3rpNcv7BHqyy4x5Bq1Fb2GtRUoHod-CVo/s1600/Hubble_ultra_deep_field_high_rez_edit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBkWirRJ__4rrIWvCx3mBDTDCS4_kjXfz-64AosF4wbQzNIX3xE-BrOcoXBx3ySoxs49DpKyXBgorpW4_TiZd3H9S2mSvetIiSf6S_OIahf3rpNcv7BHqyy4x5Bq1Fb2GtRUoHod-CVo/s320/Hubble_ultra_deep_field_high_rez_edit1.jpg" width="320" /></a>Think of that. God, as the creator of the universe,
has seen billions, perhaps trillions, of civilizations come and go and
guided them towards progressing to become like Him. How many bronze ages
has he seen play out on other worlds? How many worlds experienced an
apostasy like ours? How many industrial revolutions? How many wars and
genocides? How many enlightenments? How many cultures, languages,
religions? How many dispensations? How many discovered
electron/silicon-based computing? How many mastered quantum computing?
How many biotech? Nanotech? Space travel? Etc. Etc. Etc. As the Creator
of the universe, it's fair to say that God has seen it all in any sense
of the phrase. So when He says that "man" is his "work"
and "glory", that's not just a banal platitude; it's an authoritative
statement from God, Himself. A Universal Truth.<br />
<br />
This feeling of awe, wonder, astonishment, the <i>numinous</i>, is not unique to just religion; it is felt by anyone seeking to honestly understand the physical universe and our place in it. Neil deGrasse Tyson poetically explains what he calls "The most astounding fact" about the universe:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
Now, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzSMC5rWvos" target="_blank">Neil deGrasse Tyson is not religious</a>. But his observation is shared here merely to indicate that the feelings one has when exploring this paradox from most any angle creates a shared experience of wonderment, a common ground of awe and reverence. This strength, to draw upon the shared insights and awe from science, breathes new life into what can sometimes become an obtuse belief in a Creator as noted by Carl Sagan:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="quoteText">
How is it that hardly any major religion has
looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The
Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle,
more elegant?” Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god,
and I want him to stay that way.” A religion, old or new, that stressed
the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be
able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the
conventional faiths.
</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
The insights of science and the LDS account of God revealing the grandeur of His creations to Moses should cause LDS adherents to stand with Carl Sagan in wonderment and awe as we understand more and more about those creations.<br />
<br />
This connection with the universe, that we are drowned in its immensity but that part of the universe is drowned in us, eloquently restates the original observation by Blaise Pascal:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For in fact what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison
with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a
mean between nothing and everything. </blockquote>
<br />
Despite this insight of man being intimately connected with the universe, God's declaration that we are His "work" and "glory" forces us to face
the paradox of man's relationship with a Creator and the universe head on and
ask, "How can the physical nothingness of man be reconciled with his
prime spiritual importance?"<br />
<br />
A possible answer can be found in an oft debated topic: Mind.<br />
<br />
Next: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-mind.html">A Cosmic Mind</a>Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-88850910969578613512013-08-21T22:53:00.000-07:002013-08-25T06:18:41.005-07:00A Cosmic Gospel<h2>
Introduction </h2>
In a faith which claims God as the creator or architect of the universe, one grand idea to lose yourself in is to reconcile that faith with the amazing truths mankind has discovered about those creations. This exercise was eloquently described by Blaise Pascal in the 17th century and resonates even more powerfully today:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Blaise_pascal.jpg/220px-Blaise_pascal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/Blaise_pascal.jpg/220px-Blaise_pascal.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18269/18269-h/18269-h.htm" target="_blank">Pensees</a> by Blaise Pascal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Let him
lose himself in wonders as amazing in their littleness as the
others in their vastness. For who will not be astounded at the
fact that our body, which [is] imperceptible in
the universe, itself imperceptible in the bosom of the whole, is
now a colossus, a world, or rather a whole, in respect of the
nothingness which we cannot reach...<br />
<br />
For in fact what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison
with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a
mean between nothing and everything.</blockquote>
<br />
This paradox is also echoed in religion: That when <i>compared</i> with God man is nothing; but <i>to</i> God man is everything. In an attempt to explore this paradox, interesting perspectives are gained on our relationship with God, the role of the atonement, and the eternal nature of family.<br />
<br />
This blog series considers this paradox from several different perspectives:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-god.html">A Cosmic God</a> - What insights are gained via a belief in a universal Creator?</li>
<li><a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-mind.html">A Cosmic Mind</a> - What do our mental/spiritual capabilities mean in our relationship with God?</li>
<li><a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-savior.html">A Cosmic Savior</a> - Why is a universal and infinite Savior necessary?</li>
<li><a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-relationship.html">A Cosmic Relationship</a> - What does the above mean for our relationships with God, our fellow man, and family?</li>
</ol>
<br />
Next: <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-cosmic-gospel-cosmic-god.html">A Cosmic God</a> <br />
<ol>
</ol>
Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-78139680270239265192013-08-10T11:57:00.001-07:002013-08-10T18:46:28.345-07:00Faith is the act of an educated person and full of moral significance. Without it you have absurdity.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR07urf_beBj0pxazN5j0Z7HLlEDJkdRzW8v7NJJHArBltgRAfh-aLFEmRYGsBl0qaXGpV8hd-rwGj4dptxSr0C-RF8PC1YUdiGQzmfnz49G0bFfNdujulDbxo2B7N2sWmu-_v8U2Mwop/s1600/scientism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxR07urf_beBj0pxazN5j0Z7HLlEDJkdRzW8v7NJJHArBltgRAfh-aLFEmRYGsBl0qaXGpV8hd-rwGj4dptxSr0C-RF8PC1YUdiGQzmfnz49G0bFfNdujulDbxo2B7N2sWmu-_v8U2Mwop/s400/scientism.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Francis Bacon, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bacon">a noted philosopher</a> of and famous advocate for the scientific method, <a href="http://www.authorama.com/essays-of-francis-bacon-17.html">wisely said</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.</blockquote>
Despite his advocacy for science Bacon realized, as did <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/07/there-are-more-things-that-are-true.html">Nietzsche of my last post</a>, that only with a return to faith can one to make sense of the world. (Nietzsche of course never made that return and so died worrying that "being deceived [is] one of the conditions of life.")<br />
<br />
In this post I hope to do a few things. First, suggest that the rise and fall of scientism or logical positivism in the twentieth century is a microcosm demonstrating Bacon's quote is just as true as ever. Second, use the sentiments of David Foster Wallace to emphasize that faith above anything else is the hallmark of a free and truly educated person. Lastly, I want to end with Terryl Givens's feelings surrounding the idea that only by faith can our decisions have moral significance.<br />
<br />
<b>Faith-<i>less</i> worldviews are self-defeating:</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The collapse of positivism and its attendant verification principle of meaning was undoubtedly the most important philosophical event of the twentieth century. Their demise heralded a resurgence of metaphysics, along with other traditional problems of philosophy that verificationism had suppressed. - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Blackwell-Companion-Natural-Theology/dp/1444350854">The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology</a></blockquote>
Critics of Bacon's above quote will often quip that, given he lived so long ago, surly his beliefs are no longer applicable. However, the rise and fall of scientism or logical positivism in the twentieth century is a microcosm showing his quote is just as true today as it ever was.<br />
<br />
Scientism or more generally positivism is the idea that all things that are true can be known by some type of objective verification. In other words, it is a philosophical worldview where faith is not required because we can verify all things that are true. In fact, one of its foremost advocates, Bertrand Russell, along with his colleague Whitehead set out to prove this was at least <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Mathematica">true in mathematics</a>. However, as we discussed in our last post, <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/07/there-are-more-things-that-are-true.html">Gödel's theorems</a> unleashed a bombshell making their endeavor forever hopeless.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, scientism and positivism fail for an even deeper reason lampooned in the comic above: <i>All worldviews that require the verification of all things are self-defeating</i>. Such wolrdviews state that only claims that can be tested and verified in some objective sense should be believed. However,<i> this claim itself cannot be verified objectively</i> (and it is not empirically testable) so by such advocates' own criteria <i>the worldview should not be believed!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Or as stated <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism#Criticisms">on the Wikipedia</a> a little more formally:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Critics of logical positivism [showed] that its fundamental tenets could not themselves be formulated consistently. The verifiability criterion of meaning did not seem verifiable; but neither was it simply a logical tautology, since it had implications for the practice of science and the empirical truth of other statements. This presented severe problems for the logical consistency of the theory... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Wittgenstein's principle of verifiability posed fairly obvious problems in any scientific context. No universal generalization can ever be verified... . It is also unclear what the status of the principle itself is, that is, whether it is meaningful by its own criterion of meaningfulness... Thus began the program of the "liberalization of empiricism."</blockquote>
In other words, it was quickly shown that worldviews that demanded objective verification of all truth suffered from three giant problems:
<br />
<ol>
<li>As discussed in our linked post above, Gödel's theorems showed such a worldview is mathematically impossible.</li>
<li>Even if you ignored #1, philosophers quickly realized such worldviews are self-defeating. One should reject them by their own criteria!</li>
<li>Science, and specifically empiricism, would become abandoned if such a worldview is taken seriously as it is impossible to objectively verify science. Hence, the move to the "liberalization of empiricism" discussed in the quote.</li>
</ol>
Unfortunately, #2-3 above did lead a lot of people to quickly take the exact opposite worldview that states we can't know <i>anything</i> is objectively true. This outlook gave rise to post-modernism where all "truth" is merely opinion and can be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism">quickly deconstructed</a>. Of course, if the post-modernist takes his claims seriously he will have to admit his own belief in post-modernism must also not be objectively correct rendering his own worldview just as self-defeating as scientism or positivism.<br />
<br />
However, there is a way out that is as old and still true as Francis Bacon's above quote: Faith! Having a self-defeating worldview is only necessary for those who take a <i>black and white</i> approach to life that either all or no truth can be objectively verified. Consistency and sanity is only restored when one admits the only rational approach through life is one where faith is embraced along side methods of objective verification. IE: to live by study and <i>also</i> by faith.<br />
<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Exercising faith is the act of a free and well educated person:</b><br />
<br />
Some more modern thinkers have had some great insight into the importance of faith. David Foster Wallace in his famous <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080213082423/http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html">This is Water </a>commencement speech made a couple of key observations. First, all the facts you know are perfectly consistent with several interpretations even if you can't see it. Hence it takes faith to interpret any situation. He tells this story:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There are these two guys sitting together in a bar in the remote Alaskan wilderness. One of the guys is religious, the other is an atheist, and the two are arguing about the existence of God... And the atheist says: "Look, it's not like I don't have actual reasons for not believing in God. It's not like I haven't ever experimented with the whole God and prayer thing. Just last month I got caught away from the camp in that terrible blizzard, and I was totally lost and I couldn't see a thing, and it was fifty below, and so I tried it: I fell to my knees in the snow and cried out 'Oh, God, if there is a God, I'm lost in this blizzard, and I'm gonna die if you don't help me.'" </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
And now, in the bar, the religious guy looks at the atheist all puzzled. "Well then you must believe now," he says, "After all, here you are, alive." The atheist just rolls his eyes. "No, man, all that was was a couple Eskimos happened to come wandering by and showed me the way back to camp.</blockquote>
Though Wallace gave a simple example, in reality nearly every string of facts has multiple interpretations. It is an act of faith by <i>both</i> sides in determining what interpretation best fits. <br />
<br />
Second, the hallmark of an educated person is that they both realize the above and understand they are free to choose what has meaning and what doesn't:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship... You get to decide what has meaning and what doesn't. That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think.</blockquote>
There are no atheists in the "I don't need faith" sense. Everybody takes strings of facts and decides for themselves what interpretations have the most meaning. However, the difference between one who is free versus who is not is the ability to see this. And it is the mark of a well-educated person how to wisely place faith and meaning when such a concept is understood.<br />
<br />
The only real sheep/ignoramuses are those who, upon coming across a string of facts, insist there can only be one meaningful interpretation who in the words of Wallace:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
[have] a close-mindedness that amounts to an imprisonment so total that the prisoner doesn't even know he's locked up.</blockquote>
<i>Only a fool as mentally enslaved as this prisoner would conclude facts could remove faith from life</i>. Facts do no such thing. Faith is what is required to make sense of life no matter what set of facts one uncovers. Fortunately, some are free enough to see this and wise enough to know that they "get to decide what has meaning and what doesn't... That is being educated, and understanding how to think."<br />
<br />
<b>More than anything, what you have faith in is full of moral significance. </b><br />
<br />
One last observation <a href="http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1508">from Terryl Givens</a>. Here Given's suggests that faith is required for our decisions to have moral significance:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The call to faith is a summons to engage the heart, to attune it to resonate in sympathy with principles and values and ideals that we devoutly hope are true, and to have reasonable but not certain grounds for believing them to be true. I am convinced that there must be grounds for doubt as well as belief in order to render the choice more truly a choice—and, therefore, the more deliberate and laden with personal vulnerability and investment... </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We are acted upon, in other words, by appeals to our personal values, our yearnings, our fears, our appetites, and our egos. What we choose to embrace, to be responsive to, is the purest reflection of who we are and what we love. That is why faith, the choice to believe, is, in the final analysis, an action that is positively laden with moral significance.</blockquote>
In other words, if God made everything that is true so obvious it is impossible to believe different, there would be no moral significance for believing or acting. You can't see what is really in a person's heart when they are compelled to believe or act a certain way.<br />
<br />
However, as we have <a href="http://ldsreddit.blogspot.com/2013/07/there-are-more-things-that-are-true.html">discussed before</a>, we find ourselves in a position where all things related to moral significance require faith. Thus those rational values and beliefs you are willing to put faith in in the midst of uncertainty is an ultimate measure of what is truly in your heart and thus is full of moral significance.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion:</b> Bacon's wise observation that "A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion" is as true today as it was when it was penned hundreds of years ago. In fact the 20th century once again showed, with the rise and fall of scientism and positivism, that any attempt to remove faith from one's wordview consistently leads to logical absurdities like self-defeation. Faith therefore is in fact necessary to have a coherent worldview of reality.<br />
<br />
Also, as David Foster Wallace discusses, everyone must exercise faith to make sense of the world and "the only choice we get is what to [have faith in]... You get to decide what has meaning and what doesn't. That is real freedom. That is being educated, and understanding how to think." Those who both understand the necessity of faith and are wise enough to choose for themselves how to apply it are those who are truly free and know how to think. Furthermore, Terryl Givens astutely observed that it is only through faith that our actions and beliefs have any moral significance. It is how you employ faith that is the true measure of who you really are and what is in your heart.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Joseph Smidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02583891162785742138noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-80625401827904488132013-08-09T12:05:00.000-07:002013-08-09T14:48:40.976-07:00The Agency EquationAgency is one of the foundational principles of the gospel similar to love, or obedience. Without agency, the <a href="https://www.lds.org/topics/plan-of-salvation" target="_blank">plan of salvation </a>would have no effect. Indeed, it was agency that was the dividing factor between those who chose to follow Satan and those who chose to follow God the Father. And since Satan continually “[seeks] to destroy the agency of man” (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moses/4/3#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Moses 4:3">Moses 4:3</a>), a firm understanding of what agency is and what conditions are required for it is critical in understanding the plan of salvation and the purpose of this life.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Satan's War on <strike>Free</strike> Agency</h2>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn1.deseretbook.com/images/product-images/12/8121/satans_war_detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://cdn1.deseretbook.com/images/product-images/12/8121/satans_war_detail.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
One of the best books I've ever read on the topic of agency is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Satans-Free-Agency-Greg-Wright/dp/193098006X" target="_blank"><i>Satan’s War on Free Agency</i></a> by Greg Wright. In this book (also <a href="http://deseretbook.com/Satans-War-Free-Agency-Greg-Wright/i/4709451" target="_blank">available from Deseret Book</a>), Greg Wright dissects agency into its fundamental ingredients and clearly distinguishes it from other concepts which are often confused with it.<br />
<br />
To anyone who wishes to better understand the principle of agency, I highly recommend this book. The following is a summary of some of the high-level concepts and the scriptural behind the principle of agency discussed in this book.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b> </b><br />
<h2>
<b> </b></h2>
<h2>
<b>The Coin</b></h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGvN-ppNjKVzGbJZrPjhBnpWHBOKvnZ9CGlUNzGno-z2ikkCClj9CGaFspTdG50t4ggllKyYjWAxYPhCDelo9RJdWIaX7XTnXKOYVDNXJW379UE9bO5YKX5hshf-SOmCHveYgrmL5L6ua/s1600/coin-in-your-right-hand-Step-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGvN-ppNjKVzGbJZrPjhBnpWHBOKvnZ9CGlUNzGno-z2ikkCClj9CGaFspTdG50t4ggllKyYjWAxYPhCDelo9RJdWIaX7XTnXKOYVDNXJW379UE9bO5YKX5hshf-SOmCHveYgrmL5L6ua/s320/coin-in-your-right-hand-Step-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Choice, freedom, and knowledge are required for agency</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Throughout the book, the author uses a metaphor of choosing a coin from the palm, or palms, from someone's hands to describe the different aspects that make up agency.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Choice = Two or more options</b></h3>
If you place a coin in your hand, close your fist, present it to someone, and ask them to pick a hand, did they really have a choice? This seems a bit retorical, but it forms the basis for agency. <i>If only one option exists, there is no choice.</i><br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<h3>
<b>Freedom = Choice + different consequences</b></h3>
If you place a coin in each hand, present them
to someone, and ask them to choose, do they have have freedom?<i> </i>No, because no matter what they choose, the consequence of the choice is always the same (they always get a coin). Furthermore, they are making the choice blindly with no idea of the consequences. <i>You need different consequences for different choices in order to have freedom.</i><br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Agency = Freedom + foreknowledge of the results</b><br /><b></b></h3>
If you now place a coin in only one hand, close your fist around it, hold both fists in front of you, explain which hand the coin is in, then have them choose. Do they have agency? Now it seems the ingredients necessary for agency are there. Here we have multiple options, different consequences, and an understanding of the consequences of the different choices are. <i>Agency requires knowledge of the results of different choices.</i><br />
<br />
<i></i>So, we have the following distilled equation:<br />
<br />
<b>Agency = two ore more options + different consequences from different choices + foreknowledge of the consequences of those choices</b><br />
<i></i><b><br /></b>Discernment between choice, consequence, and action is fundamental to exercising agency in our lives. It's also important to note how the person choosing must trust you and exercise faith in your telling them which hand the coin is in.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b>Choice Explained</b></h2>
This above notion of choice is well supported in the scriptures:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/2/11-12#11" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne 2:11–12">2 Ne 2:11–12</a><br />
<blockquote>
11. For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in
all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness
could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor
misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a
compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs
remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor
incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.<br />
12. Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught;
wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation.
Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his
eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of
God.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/30/8#8" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 30:8">Alma 30:8</a><br />
<blockquote>
For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/hel/2/27#27" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Helaman 2:27">Helaman 2:27</a><br />
<blockquote>
Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all
things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to
choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men,
or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power
of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto
himself.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/37/4#4" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 37:4">D&C 37:4</a><br />
<blockquote>
Behold, here is wisdom, and let every man choose for himself until I come. Even so. Amen.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
<b><i>“I don’t have a choice.”</i></b></h3>
<br />
This phrase is often misleading. When we use this phrase we almost
always have a choice. What we most often mean is we can’t control the outcome(s)
(e.g. we don’t have freedom).<br />
<br />
One example is someone trapped in a burning building on the 13th
floor with no help in sight. This person may think they don’t have a
choice, but they actually do. They can run into the fire, continue
calling for help, or jump out the window. The problem is that all of
these choices are likely to lead to the same result: death. So when we think this
person has no choice what we actually mean is they have no freedom. It is important to separate our notions of choice and freedom. Claiming we have no choice is debilitating and undermines faith. But always being able to see the different choices available to us is enabling and faith promoting. <br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b>Freedom Explained</b></h2>
Freedom, itself, has different dynamics.<b> </b><br />
<h3>
<b> </b></h3>
<h3>
<b>No Freedom without Law</b></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/88/36-38#36" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 88:36–38">D&C 88:36–38</a><br />
<blockquote>
36. All kingdoms have a law given;<br />
37. And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which
there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space,
either a greater or a lesser kingdom.<br />
38. And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions.</blockquote>
<br />
</li>
</ul>
<h3>
No Freedom without Consequences</h3>
<br />
Though this stands to reason simply by virtue of the fact that a law is
not a law unless it is enforced and thus has a consequence, Satan has
repeatedly tried, an succeeded, in telling the lie that either there are
no laws or that their penalties do not exist or matter. The scriptures teach otherwise:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/42/16-17%2C27#16" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 42:16–17,27">Alma 42:16–17,27</a><br />
<blockquote>
16. Now, repentance could not come unto men except there
were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should
be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal
also as the life of the soul.<br />
17. Now, how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin
if there was no law? How could there be a law save there was a
punishment?<br />
27. Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the
waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not
compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him
according to his deeds.</blockquote>
</li>
<li> <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/28/8%2C22#8" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 28:8, 22">2 Ne. 28:8, 22</a><br />
<blockquote>
8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat,
drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in
committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one
because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in
this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that
we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we
shall be saved in the kingdom of God.<br />
22. And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no
hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and
thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful
chains, from whence there is no deliverance.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/1/3-4#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 1:3–4">Alma 1:3–4</a><br />
<blockquote>
3. And he had gone about among the people, preaching to
them that which he termed to be the word of God, bearing down against
the church; declaring unto the people that every priest and teacher
ought to become popular; and they ought not to labor with their hands,
but that they ought to be supported by the people.<br />
4. And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be
saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that
they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created
all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should
have eternal life.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
No Freedom without the Atonement</h3>
<br />
Since freedom requires different results it is important to realize that
without the Atonement, the outcome of all of our lives would be the
same. Thus it is Christ who makes us free:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/2/26-27#26" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 2:26–27">2 Ne. 2:26–27</a><br />
<blockquote>
26. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that
he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they
are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good
from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by
the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the
commandments which God hath given.<br />
27. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are
given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose
liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to
choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the
devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/9/7%2C10#7" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 9:7,10">2 Ne. 9:7,10</a><br />
<blockquote>
7. Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite
atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption
could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came
upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so,
this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother
earth, to rise no more.<br />
10. O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our
escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death
and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the
spirit.
</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/mosiah/5/3#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Mosiah 5:3">Mosiah 5:3</a><br />
<blockquote>
And under this head ye are made free, and there is no
other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given
whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon
you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with
God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h2>
<b>Agency Explained</b></h2>
Agency has different dynamics within it as well: <br />
<br />
<h3>
No agency without knowledge</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moses/7/32#32" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Moses 7:32">Moses 7:32</a><br />
<blockquote>
The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they
are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their
knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I
unto man his agency;</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/2/5#5" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 2:5">2 Ne. 2:5</a><br />
<blockquote>
And men are instructed sufficiently that they know good
from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law no flesh is
justified; or, by the law men are cut off. Yea, by the temporal law they
were cut off; and also, by the spiritual law they perish from that
which is good, and become miserable forever.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3>
Agency requires stewardship</h3>
<br />
Any definition of the word stewardship as it is used generally
emphasizes things like duty, obligation, responsibility, etc. Christ
used the concept of stewardship throughout His parables (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/20/8#8" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Matt. 20:8">Matt. 20:8</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/luke/12/34#34" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Luke 12:34">Luke 12:34</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/luke/16/1-2#1" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Luke 16:1–2">Luke 16:1–2</a>). In modern days, Christ has reiterated the principle of stewardship as it pertains to our agency:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/70/3-4%2C9-11#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 70:3–4, 9–11">D&C 70:3–4, 9–11</a><br />
<blockquote>
3. I, the Lord, have appointed them, and ordained them to
be stewards over the revelations and commandments which I have given
unto them, and which I shall hereafter give unto them;<br />
4. And an account of this stewardship will I require of them in the day of judgment.<br />
9. Behold, this is what the Lord requires of every man in his
stewardship, even as I, the Lord, have appointed or shall hereafter
appoint unto any man.<br />
10. And behold, none are exempt from this law who belong to the church of the living God;</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/51/19#19" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 51:19">D&C 51:19</a><br />
<blockquote>
And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/72/3-4#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 72:3–4">D&C 72:3–4</a><br />
<blockquote>
3. And verily in this thing ye have done wisely, for it
is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward, to render an
account of his stewardship, both in time and in eternity.<br />
4. For he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Agency leads to Accountability</h3>
<br />
As responsibility is a crucial part of stewardship, agency naturally leads to accountability
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/104/11-13%2C17#11" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 104:11–13, 17">D&C 104:11–13, 17</a><br />
<blockquote>
11. It is wisdom in me; therefore, a commandment I give
unto you, that ye shall organize yourselves and appoint every man his
stewardship;<br />
12. That every man may give an account unto me of the stewardship which is appointed unto him.<br />
13. For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man
accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and
prepared for my creatures.<br />
17. For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I
prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be
agents unto themselves.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/hel/14/30#30" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Helaman 14:30">Helaman 14:30</a><br />
<blockquote>
30. And now remember, remember, my brethren, that
whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth
iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are
permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a
knowledge and he hath made you free.</blockquote>
</li>
<li><a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/101/78#78" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 101:78">D&C 101:78</a><br />
<blockquote>
That every man may act in doctrine and principle
pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given
unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day
of judgment.</blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<b> </b></h2>
<h2>
<b>Modern Day Prophets and Leaders on Agency</b></h2>
The principle that agency requires choice, freedom, and accountability
has been repeated by modern day prophets and leaders as well.<br />
<ul>
<li>Elder Bruce R. McConkie:<br />
<blockquote>
All of the terms and conditions of the Lord’s eternal
plan operate because man has his agency, and none of it would have
efficacy, virtue, or force if there were no agency. Agency requires
opposites; agency demands freedom of choice; agency decrees personal
accountability for sin.<br />
<i>A new Witness for the Articles of Faith, 1985</i></blockquote>
</li>
<li>Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Quorum of the Seventy:<br />
<blockquote>
What is the agency of man but the right to make choices
within a framework of opposition and the assumption of responsibility
for those choices?<br />
<i>The Path of Growth, Ensign Dec. 1999</i></blockquote>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>
<b> </b></h2>
<h2>
<b>Satan Seeks to Destroy Agency</b></h2>
Often when it is discussed how Satan “[seeks] to destroy the agency of man” (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moses/4/3#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Moses 4:3">Moses 4:3</a>)
the first, and sometimes only, response is that he wanted to force us
to be good. Having a more intricate understanding of agency helps us
see that forcing us is only one way Satan can destroy agency. To
destroy agency, Satan would have to do any combination of the following:<br />
<ol>
<li>Force us to choose good by taking away choice (no options)</li>
<li>Remove consequence from action (options but not different results)</li>
<li>Remove accountability or responsibility for our actions (options and different results but no accountability)</li>
</ol>
It is interesting to see at what degrees Satan uses these different
tactics. Personally, it seems to me that his most popular and enticing
tactic would be the second or third one. How often do we see people,
including ourselves, seeking to avoid responsibility for or the
consequences of their actions?<br />
<br />
Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Quorum of the Seventy explained:<br />
<blockquote>
What is the agency of man but the right to make choices
within a framework of opposition and the assumption of responsibility
for those choices?<br />
<i>The Path of Growth, Ensign Dec. 1999</i></blockquote>
<br />
Also, in the 1999 Old Testiment Seminary Manual it states:<br />
<blockquote>
Most people thing that he [Satan] would have forced us to
do right, but that is only one possibility. Certain conditions are
necessary if we are to have agency…Satan might have destroyed our agency
by eliminating any one of those [conitions] and he is still trying to
destroy our agency using the same techniques of deception and lies.<br />
<i>1999 CES Teacher Resource Manual</i></blockquote>
By understanding the agency we have been bestowed by God, we can
better understand how to be good stewards of that gift as we overcome
the lies and deceptions Satan would have use believe concerning it.Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-6749402656079197742013-07-30T16:54:00.000-07:002013-07-30T21:32:37.210-07:00There are more things that are true than are provable.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Kurt_g%C3%B6del.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Kurt_g%C3%B6del.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kurt Gödel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We live in a world where faith is often belittled as a lesser virtue. I hope to write a series of posts detailing how faith is in fact a necessary virtue from which not only religion but also logic, morality and science itself depend on. Furthermore, I hope this series helps the reader see why even the great atheist philosopher <a href="http://www.scienceandreligiontoday.com/2012/01/13/what-is-the-deep-conflict-between-naturalism-and-science/">Friedrich Nietzsche admitted</a>:
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Only if we assume a God who is morally our like can “truth” and the search for truth be at all something meaningful and promising of success. This God left aside, the question is permitted whether being deceived is not one of the conditions of life.</blockquote>
Or why the renowned philosopher <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_argument_for_the_existence_of_God">Immanuel Kant</a> argued that "logic, morals, and science ultimately presuppose a Christian theistic worldview". Just to be clear, the point of these posts are <i>not</i> be to "prove" God exits but only to suggest that faith in something like God is actually <i>necessary</i> to make sense of reality religiously, logically, morally and even scientifically.<br />
<br />
The point of this first post is to show that everyone must accept at least this minimal version of faith: that there are more things that are true about reality than are provable. This is not some nice philosophical hope but a mathematical fact shown by Gödel's two incompleteness theorems discussed below.<br />
<br />
Thus if someone ever tells you that that they don't believe faith is necessary because eventually science, logic and reason can prove all things, you can know this claim has been shown to be false by Gödel. In fact, it is very interesting to me we find ourselves in a world where only worldviews that admit faith in truth beyond provability are possibly valid.<br />
<br />
<b>Gödel's first incompleteness theorem: there are more things that are true than provable. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
First, let's formally state Gödel's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del's_incompleteness_theorems#First_incompleteness_theorem">first incompleteness theorem</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Any effectively generated theory capable of expressing elementary arithmetic cannot be both consistent and complete. In particular, for any consistent, effectively generated formal theory that proves certain basic arithmetic truths, there is an arithmetical statement that is true, but not provable in the theory (Kleene 1967, p. 250)</blockquote>
Which means: if you have <i>any</i> consistent theory that is strong enough to account for elementary arithmetic, it cannot actually prove the truth of all things. (Be complete) In other words, no matter how smart, well-thought out and sophisticated your theory will ever be, if it is strong enough to account for elementary arithmetic and consistent, it <i>will</i> fail at demonstrating the truth of all things. In fact, there will literally be an uncountably infinite number of things about reality that are true, but that your theory will fail to demonstrate no matter how long or hard anyone tries.<br />
<br />
One good lay resource on this subject is the Pulitzer Prize winning book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/G%C3%B6del-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden/dp/0465026567">Gödel, Escher, Bach</a> in which Hofstadter writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In short, Gödel showed that provability is a weaker notion than truth, no matter what axiomatic system is involved.</blockquote>
<b>Gödel's second incompleteness theorem: one must have faith that logic itself isn't inconsistent. </b><br />
<br />
Now we turn to Gödel's second incompleteness theorem that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del's_incompleteness_theorems#Second_incompleteness_theorem">states formally</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For any formal effectively generated theory T including basic arithmetical truths and also certain truths about formal provability, if T includes a statement of its own consistency then T is inconsistent.</blockquote>
This second theorem takes the necessity of faith one step further. Not only will a theory, sufficient to account for arithmetic, fail to be complete (not be able to prove all truths) but one can never even know that the theory itself is consistent! Because, as the statement concludes, any sufficiently complex theory that claims to be consistent must actually be inconsistent.<br />
<br />
This means, as much as we love our mathematically based theories about reality, we can never <i>know</i> they are actually consistent. To accept them we must accept them based on faith. (Something we believe to be true but can never prove for certain.)<br />
<br />
<b>Some possible examples of things that may be true but not provable:</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Saying there are things that are true but not provable is nice in the abstract sense, but it is helpful if some concrete examples can be given. <br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Free will -</b> There have been many philosophers, including the renowned Princeton mathematician John Conway in <a href="http://paw.princeton.edu/issues/2009/07/15/pages/6596/index.xml">his video lectures here</a>, that have shown that if free will is true, it cannot be known by proof. If you believe you have control over your thoughts and actions independent of determinism you must have faith in that. You can never prove it is actually true.</li>
<li><b>Morality -</b> If morality is true, you cannot know the truth of the matter from any scientific theory or proof. The respected philosopher David Hume pointed to this in his famous <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem">"is-ought" problem</a> where he showed you can never derive "ought" (morality) from "is" (any scientific theory). <a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/nave-html/Faithpathh/einstein.html">Einstein further agrees</a> and has observed one "cannot... speak of the scientific foundations of morality... every attempt to reduce ethics to scientific formulae must fail."</li>
<li><b>Hawking's admission with science -</b> Every once and a while someone tries to claim that Gödel's theorem only applies to the integers but this is not true. In fact even the great Stephen Hawking, a noted physicist and atheist, admitted in his talk <a href="http://www.hawking.org.uk/godel-and-the-end-of-physics.html">Gödel and the End of the Universe</a> that even science will forever be incomplete due to Gödel's theorems. </li>
</ul>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li>Up to now, most people have implicitly assumed that there is an ultimate theory that we will eventually discover. Indeed, I myself have suggested we might find it quite soon... [However] a physical theory is self referencing, like in Gödel's theorem. One might therefore expect it to be either inconsistent or incomplete... Some people will be very disappointed if there is not an ultimate theory that can be formulated as a finite number of principles. I used to belong to that camp, but I have changed my mind.</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li><b>The halting problem in computer science -</b> In addition to physics, Gödel's theorem creates an un-solvable problem in computer science known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem">halting problem</a>. There are some computer programs you can show will complete in a finite number of steps. Others you can show will run forever. (Like an infinite loop) The halting problem says there will always be an infinite number of programs that no matter how hard we try we can never prove if they run forever or halt in a finite time. (Hence a truth beyond proof.)</li>
<li><b>Mathematical theorems like possible Goldbach's conjecture -</b> In his talk linked above, Hawking uses the Goldbach's conjecture as a concrete example of a mathematical statement that may be beyond proof.<br /><br />Goldbach's conjecture is simply this: "Every even integer greater than 2 can be expressed as the sum of two primes." That statement is actually either true of false and it or mathematical statements like it may be concrete examples of truths beyond provability.</li>
<li><b>The consistency of mathematics and logic itself -</b> I already discussed this above following from Gödel's second theorem but it is worth mentioning again, especially because by the second theorem it must itself be one of the unprovable truths. If we want to adopt principles of logic and mathematics sufficiently strong enough to account for arithmetic, we are forced to confess the consistency of our logic and math will forever remain beyond our ability to prove!</li>
</ul>
<b>In conclusion:</b> Any worldview that claims that all truth can be known by science, logic or reason is a woldview that has been mathematically disproven. The only worldviews that have a chance of being valid are those that are those that adopt faith: a willingness to believe in truth that is beyond provability. I find this fact about reality fascinating! A fact that is profound enough that I think it would do people good to contemplate it's deep implications. Implications that tell hint at, among other things, that faith is in fact a necessary virtue.Joseph Smidthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02583891162785742138noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-64650645458399609742013-07-26T22:39:00.001-07:002013-08-31T14:57:41.335-07:00The Power to Overcome<h2>
A Crippling Negativity</h2>
With much of the turmoil recently in the world, it's not uncommon to engage in
conversations with individuals who seem to
be full of despair. Crimes, rebellions, corruption, poverty, starvation, accidents, disasters, economic collapse, etc. are constantly paraded in front of the public's eye. But allowing ourselves to become entranced by this cacospectomania builds up a false reality that feeds off of itself. It ignores the many wonderful miracles which surround us every day but to which we have grown accustomed to and assumed their place in our lives. By recognizing the good that surrounds us, both physically and spiritually, we can see past the endless negativity and take control of our own future.<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Global Good News</h2>
Dr. Marc Siegel, in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/False-Alarm-Truth-about-Epidemic/dp/0470053844" target="_blank"><i>False Alarm: The truth About the Epidemic of Fear</i></a>, points out how the modern fear mongering culture simply doesn't represent reality:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Statistically, the industrialized world has never been safer. Many of us are living longer and more uneventfully. Nevertheless, we live in worst-case fear scenarios. Over the past century we Americans have dramatically reduced our risk in virtually every area of life, resulting in life spans 60 percent longer in 2000 than in 1900. Antibiotics have reduced the likelihood of dying from infections... Public health measures dictate standards for drinkable water and breathable air. Our garbage is removed quickly. We live in temperature-controlled, disease controlled lives. An yet, we worry more than ever before. The natural dangers are no longer there. but the response mechanisms are still in place, and now they are turned on much of the time. We implode, turning our adaptive fear mechanism in to a maladaptive panicked response. </blockquote>
<br />
Bono, in a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdDkF0Lw-ag" target="_blank">recent TED talk</a>, highlights several statistics the are mind-blowingly positive (to use a technical term):<br />
<ul>
<li>More than 8 million people are on life-saving antiretroviral drugs,
compared with only 200,000 a decade ago.</li>
<li>In several African
countries, malaria deaths have been cut by 75%.</li>
<li>Child
mortality rate for those under 5 is down by 2.65 million deaths a year since
2000.</li>
<li>The percentage of people living in extreme poverty (< $1.25 a day adjusted for inflation) has declined from 43% in 1990 to 33% in 2000--then to 21% in 2010. <b><i>The human race has halved poverty in one generation. </i></b></li>
<li>10 countries in Africa have, in the last decade, had 100% debt cancellation, a 3 times increase in aid, a ten-fold increase in foreign domestic investment, a 4-times increase in domestic resources, cut child mortality by a third, doubled education completion rates, and also halved extreme poverty.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Matt Ridley, author of the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Rational-Optimist-Prosperity-Evolves/dp/0061452068" target="_blank"><i>The Rational Optimist</i></a>, helps put things in perspective:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
... the vast majority of people are much better fed, much better sheltered, much better entertained, much better protected against disease and much more likely to live to old age than their ancestors have ever been. The availability of almost everything a person could want has been going rapidly upward for two hundred years and erratically upward for ten thousand years before that: years of life span, mouthfuls of clean water, lungfuls of clean air, hours of privacy, means of traveling faster than you can run, ways of communicating farther than you can shout. Even allowing for the hundreds of millions who still live in abject poverty, disease and want, this generation of human beings has access to more calories, watts, lumen-hours, square-feet, gigabytes, megahertz, light-years, nanometers, bushels per acre, miles per gallon, food miles, and, of course, dollars than any that went before.</blockquote>
<br />
What all of this data points towards is a story of unprecedented human progress <b><i>despite</i></b> the very real challenges we have faced and still face today. There certainly have been and will continue to be setbacks and bumps in the road. But the human story is a story of hope. And it is through the compassionate use of the gifts and talents God has blessed mankind that we will be able to overcome the physical challenges we face in this world.<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Spiritual Good News</h2>
This story of a miraculous triumph over trials, is echoed in the scriptures in the place that, ironically
enough, comes from the very book that people often quote when citing despair or fear. A quick read through the Book of Revelation and we read of poverty, blasphemy, suffering, imprisonment, death,
martyrdom, fornication, idols, false prophets, murders, lightnings,
earthquakes, hail storms, fire, deforestation, environmental disasters,
volcanoes, oceanic and water pollution, darkness, locusts, people
seeking death, sorcery, thefts, droughts, plagues, wars, fire from
heaven, pride, excessiveness, collapses of civilizations, economic
collapse, disease, islands washed away, mountains overturned, crops
destroyed, fear, and anger.<br />
<br />
Certainly, we can read these prophesies, observe the tragedies and
destruction currently occurring, and fall immediately into despair and
fear. However, much like the debilitating negativity described above, this perspective misses the main message of the book. Told through
several wonderful gems of hope placed throughout by the phrase "he that overcometh", the narrative of the Book of Revelation culminates in a detailed description of a celestial city. The phrase “he that overcometh” is repeatedly used prior to
wonderful promised blessings describing those who manage to retain hope, despite
also experiencing and witnessing the same calamities as those who lose
hope.<br />
<br />
An interesting prelude to these gems in the book of Revelation is a
statement made by Christ in the gospel of John. As his betrayal and
sacrifice drew near, the Savior, aware of the events that would
transpire, ministered to His disciples by teaching them of the Holy
Spirit that would attend them in His absence and assuring them that He
(Christ) has overcome the world:<br />
<blockquote>
<ol start="13">
<li>Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you
into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he
shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="32">
<li>Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be
scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am
not alone, because the Father is with me.</li>
<li>These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. <b>In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.</b></li>
</ol>
<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/16/13%2C32-33#13" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: John 16:13,32–33">John 16:13,32–33</a> (emphasis added)
</blockquote>
As The One who has overcome all the pains and evils in this world,
Christ’s statements to John in the book of Revelation on the blessings
that will come to those who overcome carry eternal authority. Christ’s
promises to “those that overcome” in the Book of Revelation, therefore, aren’t mere platitudes but
authoritative promises from Someone who has experienced and understands
them first-hand.<br />
<br />
<h2>
"To Him Who Overcometh" </h2>
In the Book of Revelation, the following promises are given to those “who overcometh”:<br />
<blockquote>
<ol start="7">
<li>He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; <b>To him that overcometh</b> will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. </li>
</ol>
<ol start="11">
<li>He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; <b>He that overcometh</b> shall not be hurt of the second death.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="17">
<li>He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; <b>To him that overcometh</b>
will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white
stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving
he that receiveth it.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="26">
<li>And <b>he that overcometh</b>, <b>and keepeth my works unto the end</b>, to him will I give power over the nations:</li>
<li>And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a
potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
</li>
<li>And I will give him the morning star.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rev/2/7%2C11%2C17%2C26-28#7" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Rev. 2: 7, 11, 17, 26–28">Rev. 2: 7, 11, 17, 26–28</a> (emphasis added)<br />
<ol start="5">
<li><b>He that overcometh</b>, the same shall be clothed in
white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life,
but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="12">
<li><b>Him that overcometh</b> will I make a pillar in the
temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him
the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new
Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write
upon him my new name.</li>
</ol>
<ol start="21">
<li><b>To him that overcometh</b> will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rev/3/5%2C12%2C21#5" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Rev. 3: 5, 12, 21">Rev. 3: 5, 12, 21</a> (emphasis added)<br />
<ol start="7">
<li><b>He that overcometh</b> shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rev/21/7#7" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Rev. 21: 7">Rev. 21: 7</a> (emphasis added)
</blockquote>
There is a richness to the blessings made to those that overcome.
These blessings are deeply interconnected to blessings made throughout
the scriptures regarding eternal life:<br />
<ul>
<li>eat of the tree of life (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/8" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 1 Ne. 8">1 Ne. 8</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/32/41-43#41" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 32:41–43">Alma 32:41–43</a>; )</li>
<li>not be hurt of the second death (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_tim/5/6#6" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 1 Tim. 5:6">1 Tim. 5:6</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/12/16%2C32#16" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 12:16, 32">Alma 12:16, 32</a>)</li>
<li>eat of the hidden manna (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/13/10-16#10" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Matt. 13:10–16">Matt. 13:10–16</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/6/47-58#47" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: John 6:47–58">John 6:47–58</a>)</li>
<li>[He] will give [them] a white stone, and in the stone a new name written (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/130/10-11#10" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 130:10–11">D&C 130:10–11</a>)</li>
<li>power over the nations</li>
<li>[He] will give [them] the morning star</li>
<li>clothed in white raiment (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rev/7/9-10#9" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Rev. 7:9–10">Rev. 7:9–10</a>)</li>
<li>[He] will not blot out [their] name out of the book of life (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/128/6-7#6" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 128:6–7">D&C 128:6–7</a>)</li>
<li>[He] will confess [their] name before my Father, and before his angels (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/25/31-46#31" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Matt. 25:31–46">Matt. 25:31–46</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/45/3-5#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 45:3–5">D&C 45:3–5</a>)</li>
<li>[He] will make [them] a pillar in the temple of my God</li>
<li>[He] will write upon him the name of [His] God (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/heb/10/16#16" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Heb. 10:16">Heb. 10:16</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_cor/3/3#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Cor. 3:3">2 Cor. 3:3</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/8/7#7" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 8:7">2 Ne. 8:7</a>)</li>
<li>sit with me in my throne (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/132/48-50#48" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 132:48–50">D&C 132:48–50</a>)</li>
<li>inherit all things (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/84/35-39#35" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 84:35–39">D&C 84:35–39</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/78/17-22#17" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 78:17–22">D&C 78:17–22</a>)</li>
<li>shall be [His] [sons] (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/mosiah/5/1-9#1" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Mosiah 5:1–9">Mosiah 5:1–9</a>)</li>
</ul>
However, the question remains, “How can we overcome?”<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Power to Overcome </h2>
The Doctrine and Covenants speaks about those who overcome:<br />
<blockquote>
<ol start="34">
<li>He that receiveth of God, let him account it of God; and let him rejoice that he is accounted of God worthy to receive.</li>
<li>And by giving heed and doing these things which ye have received,
and which ye shall hereafter receive—and the kingdom is given you of the
Father, and <b>power to overcome</b> all things which are not ordained of him</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/50/34-35#34" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 50:34–35">D&C 50:34–35</a> (emphasis added)<br />
<ol start="50">
<li>And again we bear record—for we saw and heard, and this is the
testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth
in the resurrection of the just—</li>
<li>They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on
his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried
in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he
has given—</li>
<li>That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed
from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the
hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;</li>
<li>And who <b>overcome by faith</b>, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.</li>
<li>They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.</li>
<li>They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things—</li>
<li>They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;</li>
<li>And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek,
which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the
Only Begotten Son.</li>
<li>Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God—</li>
<li>Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things
present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and
Christ is God’s.</li>
<li>And <b>they shall overcome all things.</b></li>
</ol>
<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/76/50-60#50" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 76:50–60">D&C 76:50–60</a> (emphasis added; notice also the same kinds of promises being made here)
</blockquote>
From these scriptures we learn that the power to overcome comes from:<br />
<ul>
<li>Receiving the Word of God</li>
<li>Receiving a testimony of Jesus</li>
<li>Obeying His commandments and ordinances</li>
<li>Receiving and living by the Holy Ghost</li>
</ul>
<br />
The Book of Revelation itself also gives some indication of how people can overcome these evils. In <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rev/12/7-9#7" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Revelation 12:7–9">Revelation 12:7–9</a>,
it talks about the great war in heaven prior to God’s children here on
earth. As Satan is cast out of heaven, John is told how this was done:<br />
<blockquote>
<ol start="10">
<li>And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation,
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before
our God day and night.</li>
<li>And <b>they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony</b>; and they loved not their lives unto the death.</li>
</ol>
<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rev/12/10-11#10" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Rev. 12:10–11">Rev. 12:10–11</a> (emphasis added)
</blockquote>
We know how to overcome Satan and the misery and evil he seeks to
inflict on this earth because <i>we have done it once before</i>. Through the
power of the atonement and our faith and testimony in it, we are able to
overcome all things.<br />
<br />
This personal ability to overcome trials and evils in our lives
through the atonement is powerfully described by Jeffery R. Holland in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc" target="_new">his conference address titled “None Were With Him”</a>:<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EpFhS0dAduc?list=PLQQ3t70Mz7GAxom_6BB6-VmYr4RLgRrwa" width="560"></iframe>
</center>
<br />
<br />
<br />
By looking at the Book of Revelation through the lens of how to
overcome trials and the wonderful promises for those who do overcome, it is transformed from an obligatory “doom and
gloom” reference guide to a book full of rich promises and a guide on how to
overcome trials in life. This ability, to see through the bad to find the good, is an ability that will anchor our souls to Christ and allow us to see the many spiritual and physical miracles, and people, we are surrounded with every day. And by doing this, we will have the power to overcome.Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-7567340178516679412013-07-21T19:46:00.003-07:002013-09-16T12:39:11.267-07:00Digging Deep to the Foundation of Christ<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<ol start="47">
<li>Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:</li>
<li>He is like a man which built an house, and <b>digged deep</b>,
and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream
beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was
founded upon a rock.</li>
<li>But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a
foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did
beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was
great.</li>
</ol>
(<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/luke/6/47-49#47" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Luke 6:47–49">Luke 6:47–49</a> – emphasis added)</blockquote>
<br />
I like this version of Christ’s parable of the wise man and the
foolish man for a few reasons. First, I like that it specifically describes the
image of a stream beating “vehemently” against the two houses. Often
when I hear this parable I tend to focus merely on rains and wind. To
me, a stream physically beating against the walls of a home seems more tumultuous,
pressing, persistent, and violent than a wind or rain storm and more
closely describes the efforts of Satan and his hosts. Second, I love Luke’s version of the parable in that it uniquely describes the
wise man as “digg[ing] deep” to get to the foundation of rock. I’ve
noticed that, when this parable is retold, often it is described or
implied that the wise man simply found an outcropping of rock and built
on that while the foolish man merely chose to build something of a beach
house. And third, from this perspective, the wise man and foolish man could very well be neighbors building on the same tract of land. The difference is how the homes were constructed. The metaphor of the wise man working to remove dirt, rocks,
and other material that separated him from the sure foundation of rock provides a rich message in this part of the parable.<br />
<br />
The process of digging down to bedrock is a metaphor for choosing to
remove things in our lives that separate us from the Rock of Salvation (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_sam/22/47#47" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Sam. 22: 47">2 Sam. 22: 47</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ps/95/1#1" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Ps. 95: 1">Ps. 95: 1</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/4/30#30" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 4: 30">2 Ne. 4: 30</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/9/45#45" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 9: 45">2 Ne. 9: 45</a>).
This takes hard work and a determination to root out debris, loose
foundations, and see past superficial deposits that can be confused with
the True Bedrock.<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
In the diagram above, I list some vices that can come between us and
our true Foundation, Christ. These include (but are not limited to):<br />
<ul>
<li>Hopelessness</li>
<li>Pride</li>
<li>Disobedience</li>
<li>Contention</li>
</ul>
Each removes us from our Saviour and prevents us from receiving the
strength and reinforcing power of the Atonement. These vices can also be
seen as a false foundations. Some people see pessimism, pride, staunch
independence, or derision as worthy to build a world view on or to guide
their relationships with others. These all eventually collapse and
provide no real strength in the end.<br />
<br />
Also in the diagram, under the wise man, is shown a new foundation built on virtues and principles and supported by covenants which act as piles driven into the bedrock of Christ, the "sure foundation" (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/5.12?lang=eng#11" target="_blank">Helamen 5:12</a>). These virtues include:<br />
<ul>
<li>Faith</li>
<li>Repentance</li>
<li>Baptism</li>
<li>Holy Ghost</li>
</ul>
Each of these are meant to counteract the corresponding vices shown
under the foolish man’s house. Hopelessness gives way to faith (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moro/7/40-42#40" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Moroni 7:40–42">Moroni 7:40–42</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ether/12/4#4" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Ether 12:4">Ether 12:4</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/col/1/23#23" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Col. 1:23">Col. 1:23</a>). Pride suffocates under humble repentance (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/prov/29/23#23" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Prov. 29: 23">Prov. 29: 23</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/5/28#28" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 5:28">Alma 5:28</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/6/3#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 6:3">Alma 6:3</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/15/17#17" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Alma 15:17">Alma 15:17</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moro/8/27#27" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Moroni 8: 27">Moroni 8: 27</a>). Disobedience turns into obedience to God’s commandments (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/9/23#23" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 9:23">2 Ne. 9:23</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/31/4-7#4" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 31:4–7">2 Ne. 31:4–7</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/27/20#20" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 3 Ne. 27: 20">3 Ne. 27: 20</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moro/11/25#25" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Moroni 11:25">Moroni 11:25</a>). And contention is replaced by the inner peace through the Holy Ghost (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rom/14/17#17" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Rom. 14:17">Rom. 14:17</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/rom/15/13#13" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Rom. 15:13">Rom. 15:13</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gal/5/19-22#19" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Gal. 5:19–22">Gal. 5:19–22</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/mosiah/4/3#3" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Mosiah 4:3">Mosiah 4:3</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/19/23#23" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 19: 23">D&C 19: 23</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/14/26#26" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: John 14: 26">John 14: 26</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/moro/8/26#26" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Moroni 8: 26">Moroni 8: 26</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/39/6#6" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 39: 6">D&C 39: 6</a>).<br />
<br />
Note that each of these healing virtues and principles are all
centered on Christ. Who do we have faith in? Christ (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/gal/3.26?lang=eng#25" target="_blank">Galatians 3:26</a>). Under what power is
our repentance of any effect? The atonement of Christ (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/25.26?lang=eng#25" target="_blank">2 Ne. 25:26</a>). Whose name do we take upon ourselves when we are baptized and partake of the sacrament? Christ (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/28.19?lang=eng#18" target="_blank">Matthew 28:19</a>). And of whom does the
Holy Ghost testify? Christ (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/11/32#32" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 3 Ne. 11:32">3 Ne. 11:32</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/20/21-26#21" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: D&C 20:21–26">D&C 20:21–26</a>). Each of these principles and ordinances (see <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/a_of_f/1/4#4" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: A of F 1: 4">A of F 1: 4</a>) anchor us to Christ.<br />
<br />
Helaman taught this to his sons:<br />
<blockquote>
<ol start="9">
<li>O remember, remember, my sons, the words which king Benjamin spake
unto his people; yea, remember that there is no other way nor means
whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus
Christ, who shall come; yea, remember that he cometh to redeem the
world.</li>
<li>And remember also the words which Amulek spake unto Zeezrom, ain the
city of Ammonihah; for he said unto him that the Lord surely should
come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in
their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.</li>
<li>And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from
their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to
declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto
the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.</li>
<li>And now, my sons, remember, remember that <b>it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation</b>;
that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts
in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat
upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf
of misery and endless wo, <b>because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation</b>, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.</li>
</ol>
(<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/hel/5/9-12#9" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Helaman 5:9–12">Helaman 5:9–12</a> – emphasis added)
</blockquote>
And finally, Christ powerfully taught this to the Nephites when he ministered to them:<br />
<blockquote>
<ol start="29">
<li>For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of
contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of
contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger,
one with another.</li>
<li>Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with
anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things
should be done away.</li>
<li>Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.</li>
<li>And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father
hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father
beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father
and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men,
everywhere, to repent and believe in me.</li>
<li>And whoso <b>believeth in me</b>, and is <b>baptized</b>, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.</li>
<li>And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.</li>
<li>Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear
record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in
the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he
will <b>visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost</b>.</li>
<li>And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will
bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and
the Holy Ghost are one.</li>
<li>And again I say unto you, ye must <b>repent</b>, and become as a little child, and be <b>baptized</b> in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.</li>
<li>And again I say unto you, ye must <b>repent</b>, and be <b>baptized</b> in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.</li>
<li>Verily, verily, I say unto you, that <b>this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock</b>, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.</li>
<li>And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for
my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock;
but he buildeth upon a <b>sandy foundation</b>, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.</li>
<li>Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.</li>
</ol>
(<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/3_ne/11/29-41#29" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 3 Ne. 11:29–41">3 Ne. 11:29–41</a> – emphasis added)
</blockquote>
We should regularly ask ourselves whether we are firmly grounded on
the bedrock of Christ’s gospel or whether we need to repair our
foundation to make sure it is secure and reaches all of the way to the
Rock of Salvation (<a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_sam/22/47#47" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Sam. 22: 47">2 Sam. 22: 47</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ps/95/1#1" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: Ps. 95: 1">Ps. 95: 1</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/4/30#30" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 4: 30">2 Ne. 4: 30</a>; <a href="http://scriptures.lds.org/en/2_ne/9/45#45" title="LDS Scriptures Internet Edition: 2 Ne. 9: 45">2 Ne. 9: 45</a>). Are we placing our faith in Christ and His teachings?
Are we humbly seeking forgiveness and trying to overcome our sins through the atonement of Christ? Do
we earnestly seek the renewal of our baptismal covenants each Sunday living worthy to take the sacrament?
Are we living a life that can be influenced and guided by the Holy Ghost
and do we follow its promptings to lead us to Christ?<br />
<br />
These questions will take a lifetime to answer. But by keeping them in front of our minds and striving to live so that we can answer "Yes!", we will be built on The Sure Foundation (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/5.12?lang=eng#11" target="_blank">Helamen 5:12</a>).<br />
<br />Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-38848027886268509012013-07-17T22:18:00.000-07:002013-09-22T08:11:47.583-07:00Some of the most powerful gospel lessons I've learned, I learned while serving in primary<h2>
A Child's Prayer</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.dailypainters.com/paintings/a_child_s_prayer_5bc4fab6daa6cf05394eaa5b77628ef1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://cdn.dailypainters.com/paintings/a_child_s_prayer_5bc4fab6daa6cf05394eaa5b77628ef1.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.dailypainters.com/paintings/72980/A-Child-s-Prayer/jenedy-paige" target="_blank">'A Child's Prayer' - by Jenedy Page</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once, when I was subbing in primary, they were singing <a href="http://www.lds.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/a-childs-prayer?lang=eng" target="_blank">"A Child's Prayer"</a>. I've always imagined this song highlighting the relationship between parents and little children as the parents guide them in the early stages of their faith. And while this certainly is a wonderful interpretation and message of the song, the Spirit planned on teaching me something new in an environment where I least suspected it to.<br />
<br />
While I was in the middle of quietly singing along with the primary children, so as to not to stand out as the one guy in primary 7 octaves below everyone else, I had a tremendously strong witness that this song was for me, now, as an adult, more so than for when I was a child. Suddenly, I saw the lyrics in a completely new light.<br />
<br />
<h2>
<br /></h2>
<h2>
Verse One</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer ev'ry child's prayer?</blockquote>
<br />
Throughout our life, all of us will have tragic moments. A death of a loved one. A wayward child. Job loss. A falling away in a relationship. Heart break. Etc. In these moments we may question, "God? Are you there? Are you listening?"<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Some say that heaven is far away, But I feel it close around me as I pray.</blockquote>
<br />
We can remember the way we've felt, from time to time, when we've had those sacred witnesses from the Spirit. We can remember the peace that was spoken to our minds and hearts in past trials and draw strength from that (<a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/6.22-23?lang=eng#21" target="_blank">D&C 6:22-23</a>).<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Heavenly Father, I remember now Something that Jesus told disciples long ago: "Suffer the children to come to me." Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee.</blockquote>
<br />
The archetype of an innocent and forgiving child is a model we must strive to never "grow out of" as we go through life. And to be surrounded by primary-aged children is a powerful reminder of this.<br />
<br />
This first verse highlights the questions, the doubt, and pain we all have faced and will face in life. This life is full of poignant and sometimes painful questions. But it points us at the Savior and remembering the witnesses we've built our testimony on.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Verse Two</h2>
Then, for the second verse, I had an even stronger witness that this is not merely an earthly parent singing to a child (as is often portrayed in performances), but its true meaning is the quiet, sacred witnesses from the Spirit that are an answer to the sincere questions in the first verse at any time in our life:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pray, he is there; Speak, he is list'ning.</blockquote>
<br />
In a moment of pain, suffering, or doubt we can still feel hope. The gradually rising melodic phrases here point towards the dawning of hope felt in that initial moment when we humbly desire to pray. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
You are his child; His love now surrounds you.</blockquote>
<br />
So plain. So simple. The outpouring of love and joy felt when the Spirit testifies of these basic truths is endless.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He hears your prayer;</blockquote>
<br />
Much of the confirming answer to a prayer can come not just when we feel a yes/no answer, but when the Spirit confirms that God <i>has</i> heard our prayer. That He <i>is</i> mindful of our trials. And that He <i>does</i> care about and love us.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He loves the children. Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav'n.</blockquote>
At this point, I look around at all of the primary children reverently singing these final words with smiles on their faces and I didn't want the song to end. I relish in the moment and am reminded of how my eyes are allergic to the spirit.<br />
<br />
That day I learned that some of the deepest and most powerful witnesses of the Spirit may be happening the far corner of your church building on Sunday. And ever since then, I've never turned someone down who asked me to substitute in primary.<br />
<br />
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<br />Calebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16594901630822768761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1049965797469512404.post-64231199338277495492013-07-16T07:45:00.002-07:002013-07-16T07:48:35.397-07:00Welcome!Welcome to the LDSReddit blog. This is the official blog for the <a href="http://reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints" target="_blank">/r/latterdaysaints subreddit</a>. Here, we will post longer faith-promoting commentary/essay style posts which work better in a blogging environment rather than as a reddit text post. We will also post announcements here which call for broadcasting out beyond the reddit space. Naturally, we'll link these posts back to the /r/latterdaysaints for the sweet, sweet karma.<br />
<br />
If you haven't joined the <a href="http://reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints" target="_blank">/r/latterdaysaints subreddit</a> yet, please do. We would love to see your testimony and insights on the gospel.<br />
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We encourage any member of the /r/latterdaysaints community who wishes to contribute here to do so. Just contact us to request authorship or send us your content if you wish us to post.<br />
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Finally, it should be noted that the views expressed here do NOT represent the position, opinion, or policy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This blog is operated independently, but with the aim of promoting faith in Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His church.LDSReddithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11656542421811173000noreply@blogger.com0