By the Weak and Small things...

If you’ve read my essays on the creation of the Earth, you know I’m an old Earth advocate. I also think Heavenly Father uses natural laws to order and run the universe. That being the case, the footprints of the Earth’s creation and terraforming are left in the geological record for us to read. At best, the geological record is incomplete in that it can tell us what happened. It can only imply the "how" and nothing at all about the "why."

That’s where a belief in God and revelation come into play. They tell the "why" but leave you to figure out the "how."

So, in the temple this week, the thought came to mind as I watched the recounting of the creation that it is by small and simple things which God brings to pass great works. I also thought how there’s evidence now, found in Australia of prokaryotes which lived just 400 million years after the Earth formed. They are the hardiest life forms today: they live in the most inhospitable environments on the Earth. The extreme conditions they live in were global back then. So, what did they do? They “ate” methane and carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans and released oxygen. The carbon they took to make themselves, the freed oxygen combined with the minerals and got stored in the ground. When they died, their carbon settled to the ocean bottoms and became the fossilized sludge geologists found.

The net effect of this is they ate the primordial atmosphere and sequestered all that gas in the crust. Did you know, the most common element in the ground you walk on is oxygen? At one time it was in the atmosphere… a much thicker one. The patina of carbon is where life exists. All that was “put in place” by these early prokaryotes.

From an engineering standpoint it’s marvelous. They were a distributed, fault tolerant, self-replicating process… life… which brought the Earth to life. As each step neared completion, God began the next step. In time the dirt was saturated with oxygen and the gas began to collect in the atmosphere. Under the bombardment of UV radiation, some of it formed the ozone molecule… a gas which absorbed this lethal radiation.

The point is, Heavenly Father does work by small means to bring to pass great works. So if He can use single celled organisms to terraform a planet, He can make use of us to do great things too. And that’s the kind of stuff you can learn by going to the temple. I love it!

Worthless and Fallen... Really?

While studying Mosiah 4, this verse of scripture struck me:

“For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—“ (Mosiah 4:5) This is Benjamin talking in one of the most profound “conference talks” ever given.

When I first read this, I thought, “this is rather harsh.” Yet, the passage goes on to talk about all that Heavenly Father has done for us. Why then call us worthless, fallen and nothing? So, I asked Him what it meant. How can we be so important yet worthless at the same time? This is what the Holy Ghost answered:

“Worthless and fallen” This isn’t about us being worthless, but the state we are in. Without God in our lives, without any acknowledgement or awareness of our relationship to and dependency upon Him, we are in a state of mind that from an eternal perspective is worthless and fallen: it’s pointless. Not because we are but because it is of no value to us. There’s nothing to be gained from it. In it we won’t progress, we won’t learn, and we won’t become better people, hence it is worthless to us.

Fallen just means we no longer share the close connection with God we once had. Our relationship used to be much better. So comparatively, we’ve fallen away from Him. It doesn’t mean we are any less important to ourselves or to Him.

Nothingness in this case is a measure of relative capability not of intrinsic value. God created the universe… worlds without number move according to His faith and will. By comparison, I can't even manage my own life. My capabilities are nothing compared to God’s. But I’m still important enough that His Son died for me.

In the end, this passage doesn’t condemn us, it prepares us to learn the truly valuable lesson of this passage: through the Atonement and by the grace of God, we can become like Him and return to be with Him again. There's a better way to live... live with God in your life.

One Among Many

For the first time, in a long time, I went to see the lights on Temple Square last night with some friends. The beauty of the lights was breathtaking... but it was bone-chilling cold too. I have the raspy voice this morning to prove it. A part of the beauty were all the people there. It was almost shoulder to shoulder crowds everywhere on the square and the plaza between it and the Church Office Building.

It caused me to reflect on my position in the church. Most of the time, for me the church is a very personal affair. I pray. I go to the Temple. I feel the Spirit there and when I read the scriptures. It's all so intimate I feel a close, personal connection with Heavenly Father. I often lose site of the fact that the LDS Church is much bigger than just me. Being on Temple Square gave me a glimpse of just how large the Church really is. It was quite invigorating in a way.

Then, when I saw this image this morning of a deep space Hubble photograph with all the thousands of galaxies in the image, I realized, my perspective is still off. In our galaxy alone there are at least three hundred billion stars. Statistically, scientists estimate there are at least two or more planets orbiting each. That's a lot of planets! Now, while our galaxy is larger than most, there are in the observable universe more than 100 billion galaxies... each with it's billions of stars. If the physics hold true for them as us, that number of planets becomes innumerable.

It gives special significance to the scripture in Moses: "world without number have I created... for all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine." I feel small and insignificant when I contemplate the full meaning of that... yet ... When I think that in all those galaxies and all the stars in them and all the planets... and all the life that must exist on them. In all that great vastness of the universe, God still knows me and has personal moments with me. How He does it, I have no idea. That He does is a miracle and a marvel for which I am profoundly grateful. As we celebrate the birth of His Son, I'm mindful of the fact that in all the people for whom He came, He also came for me... and you.

That makes me happy. Merry Christmas to you all.

Helaman 8 - If He did it then, why not now?

Appalled by the people’s wickedness after his return from a mission to the northern lands, Nephi, son of Helaman II prays on his garden tower. More a lament than a prayer, it attracts a lot of attention. Soon a crowd of people is listening which gives him an opening to begin preaching to them. While I won’t go into the story’s details, a device he uses to persuade the people to believe him struck me. I want to talk about it.

In Helaman chapter eight, he recounts the prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem and compares them with his own. He knew unless they repented, a similar fate awaited them. He uses argument, if God warns people and then follows through on that warning in once instance, why do you think He can’t do it in another?

Likening this passage to my own life and time, I come up with this observation: if God promised to help you in the past and He did, why do you think He won’t help you again according to those same promises? There is substance to the expression, “God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”

As I face my dragons, my personal Gethsemane’s and all the other trials that come with living in mortality, I need to remember in whom I have trusted. God hasn’t changed. He is ever ready to help as promised. But just as Nephi, Lehi’s son, had trials and challenges as he sought to do God’s will, I will too. The promises were never that life would be easy only that it wouldn’t overcome us. With this assurance we can face them without fear.

That’s a great blessing.

Alma 29-30 - Other "true" churches and Korihor

There aren’t many greater contrasts in the Book of Mormon than Alma’s earnest prayer desiring to teach the Gospel to the world and the sordid tale of Korihor. On the one hand, Alma desires to be an angel (he knows what they can do!) to convincingly teach the Gospel to everyone. Then you have Korihor, an Anti-Christ, who teaches a message that in this life, it’s everyman for himself. Two men. Two messages: grace and charity on one hand, selfishness and pride on the other.

There’s an insightful gem into God’s efforts to teach His children tucked in Alma 29:8. There, Alma says the Lord grants to all nations in their own languages and cultural milieus all the wisdom He sees fit to give them. In Moroni is found the lesson that anything which points man to Christ is of God and good. Then in Jacob 5, we have God's effort to iteratively groom and prepare the olive vineyard for the last great harvest. They all show His' efforts to redeem and save His children are not confined to just this church.

I’ve been asked in the past how to explain the affirmations of other people in other religions who say their church is THE true church. How do I explain the witnesses they have had, I am asked. The key to the answer is in this verse. God gives to all people what their cultures prepare them to accept. As they master that and are ready for more, He'll find a way to give them more. I just happen to think the apex of His effort will always be found in the LDS church.

For the LDS church, there is more yet to come, even if it is nothing “more” than the sealed part of the Book of Mormon or the Law of Consecration. I look forward to the day those are revealed, but until then, I’ll do my best trying to live what has already been given. Even with that, I have a lot of work and growing to do.

Well, that took more space than I thought. On to Korihor. By reading and studying his messages, you will see all the arguments he hurled at Alma that are similarly hurled at the church today by its critics. See if these don’t sound familiar:

Church leaders’ motives are impure.

They glut themselves on the offerings of the members.

The church’s doctrines enslave people rather than free them.

There is no Christ.

There is a loving, all forgiving and friendly God who loves us as we are, so why work so hard being “good.”

The doctrines of the church are founded on the foolish traditions of long dead men.

What you see, feel or experience with your senses, is more important than what you learn through faith. (Atheists love this one, it’s the foundational axiom supporting the claim science is better than religion for teaching man about the world around him.)

Alma easily dismantles these arguments and exposes Korihor for the fraud he is. At the end of their debate, all Korihor does is demand, “I won’t believe until God shows me a sign.” So, God shows him one -- by striking him dumb and deaf. I like the judge’s observation, “who do you think God was going to manifest this sign on? Someone else?”

No longer useful to him, Satan abandons him. Like a used up candle, Korihor gutters out, trampled to death by the über self-righteous Zoramites.

Temple Observations

A few thoughts I had while listening to the endowment creation presentation:

One of the signs of a well designed system is when it's self-correcting. An example of that is the steering assembly of modern automobiles. The mechanical linkages are designed in a way that the car's weight helps center the steering wheel to help the car track straight down the road. While a simple, yet elegant design, it is one which some unknown mechanical engineer spent many hours of work to get it right. Today, we don't even think about it -- we just expect cars to behave that way.

Consider now something far more complex: the oxygen level in the earth's atmosphere. How is it that the chemical binding energy of oxygen is such that enough of it can exist in the atmosphere to empower animals, including us, to move about while being low enough that it doesn't cause plants and dried carbon-based things to spontaneously combust? If the atmosphere contained a higher percentage of oxygen, fires would be much more prevalent and advanced cultures would be much harder to develop because of the volatility of the building materials.

We take take the world we live on for granted because it just works. Yet, because we see it working day after day, it rarely comes to mind just how amazingly well designed it is. Like Alma the Younger, I think one of the great witnesses of God's existence is this amazing planet we live on. The more astrophysicists learn about exoplanets, the greater is their awareness of how rare the Earth is. To paraphrase one scientist, its existence makes you "think twice" about the odds that were beat if random chance was the only determinant in its creation.

To wit: we live on a planet that's an engineering marvel. According to our understanding of cosmology and physics, mathematically, the Earth is an improbable place. Yet here it is! We have Heavenly Father to thank for it.

Jacob 5 - the Apocalypse of Zenos

Jacob 5 is one of the longest single chapters in the Book of Mormon. It’s also a verbatim quote of a prophet not found in the King James Bible, Zenos. What I find most interesting about it is it contains a concise history of the world. One that covers time from the scattering of Israel through it’s final gathering and salvation at the end of the world.

In this context, it encompasses our day, and hence my interest. What does it say about our day? God is preparing the world for the eventual harvest… the Second Coming. It outlines a Divine iterative cyclic approach to improving the world. God weeds out the worst, letting the righteous fill in the space occupied by the recently removed wicked. Then He goes to the next place and removes the most wicked there as soon as there is enough righteous growth to take its place. There's a lot of pruning to do.

The other take away from that is the answer I got to what all the pruning actually is. It’s war. God prunes the vineyard, the Earth, with war. It’s not that He “chooses” to do that, but He allows it to happen amongst the wicked. It’s a tough way to do it, but one thing I’ve learned lately is sometimes that’s the only way people can be reached.

2 Nephi 17-18 - Trust God

If you ever face a trial or adversity that seems certain to overwhelm and destroy you, then you’ll want to remember the lesson of 2 Nephi 17 and 18. Syria and Ephriam, the Northern Kingdom, combined forces to attack Judah, the Southern Kingdom. Ahaz was the king of Judah at the time. Egypt was the other super-power of the day. Under the conditions, Ahaz felt a lot of pressure to ally with Egypt to protect the country from the pending war with Syria.

Acting on inspiration from God, Isaiah went to Ahaz and said, in effect, don’t worry about them, they won’t hurt you. They have problems of their own and are no real threat to Judah.

Then God inspired Isaiah to offer Ahaz a sign that this would be. I don’t know that much about him, but to his credit he demurred, saying, “I will not ask nor tempt the Lord.” So, instead He offers a sign, the birth of the Messiah.

I thought, how odd, that the sign of proof that these two nations were no threat, is a future event. So why bother? Then it occurred, Isaiah wasn’t writing this for Ahaz, but for us.

He then warns that allying with Egypt would lead to ruin.

The lesson for us… We will in this life face difficult trials and times of such adversity, we’re certain we’ll be overwhelmed by them. But as Isaiah says in 2 Nephi 18:14, let the Lord be your fear… turn to Him for help. As proof that things will work out, consider the Savior’s birth and life, the offered sign of God’s mercy and love for you.

Don’t turn to Egypt, the “thinking man’s” rational thing to do for that will only lead to ruin. Turn to God instead and have faith. That has been, is, and always will be the only safe way through the trials of this life.

2 Nephi 1 - The Promised Land

The literary feel of 1 Nephi is not present in 2 Nephi. 1 Nephi is a chiasmus telling the story of their journey to the Promised Land and focuses on the exposition of new doctrine about the Savior. In contrast, 2 Nephi is a series of doctrine rich essays with a minimal amount of historical narrative to tie them together. Nephi wastes no time and jumps into the first one in Chapter One. He teaches us about the Promised Land.

For him, it was a real place. A place they gave years of their lives, endured repeated and severe trials, and exercised great faith to attain. Each of us has goals, desires, even life missions we feel deeply within us. All these have the potential to be our personal Promised Lands. 1 Nephi gives us lessons on how to get there. This chapter explains an essential component of our Promised Land and how we stay there once we arrive.

The first key concept is in 2 Nephi 1:6. No one gets to the Promised Land without God allowing them to get there. His method for limiting access is controlling the knowledge of its existence. Simply, if you don’t know, you won’t go. Without God, there is no Promised Land. Without Him, you not only can't get there, you'll never know what it is.

The second key concept is repeated throughout the Book of Mormon, but expressed best in 2 Nephi 1:20. Obedience is key to prosperity once you arrive. He also defines prosperity. It’s not wealth, it’s having God’s presence in your lives. It doesn’t mean you see Him, but you see His hand in shaping events in your behalf. You hear His voice in the scriptures and in quiet moments, in your heart. You live each day confident you are known and loved by Him. Living each day, close to God is the great blessing of our personal Promised Lands.

The corollary to that great promise is also explained: it’s all perishable. Whether by laziness or direct action, we can separate ourselves from God. When that happens, no matter where we are, we’ve lost the Promised Land.

Moroni 8 - God's Universal Mercy

Moroni chapter eight is well known for its lesson on child baptism. What struck me is what it says about the universality of God’s mercy and its sober warning to those who have learned about the gospel but reject it.

The universality of the Atonement is far greater than we realize. Because of it, children and those who can not comprehend sin and consequences of their actions, are held blameless before God. Additionally, all those who don’t know about the commandments, such as Joseph Smith’s brother Alvin, plus a world full of other people, are blameless for their actions.

Those of us who do know must live a higher standard. If we reject it, we will suffer the consequences of our actions. The Lamanites destroyed the Nephites and they destroyed themselves because they all turned from the gospel.

It may seem unfair to learn about the gospel, but here’s a great differentiator… knowing and living the gospel does more for us than just being forgiven of our sins. It’s the grace and power to become like God which is the majesty and great blessing of the gospel.

Christ not only forgives us of our sins, He helps us become like Him and the Father. That's the great blessing. Only through living it can we become like God in this life. Without it, we can still be good, decent, and honorable, but with it we can become Christlike.

Moroni 7B - Faith, Hope and Charity

Understanding the principles defined by faith, hope and charity and then using them is the best way to happiness and true success in this life. They are principles by which even Heavenly Father lives by. Consequently, they are principles which we will benefit greatly by mastering in this life. They are simple to express, but they will take lifetimes of effort to learn.

In the simplest form, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ becomes the motivation for what we choose to do. It gives us confidence not in our abilities, but in God's grace to help us do whatever He asks of us... especially repenting and becoming like Him.

Hope is the vision we have of ourselves… what we can become.

Charity is THE motivating emotion of Heaven. It’s putting the needs of others before our own because their happiness means more to us than our own.

Moroni chapter seven is the summary chapter. Alma 32 is the great chapter on faith. 1 Nephi has powerful examples of hope, of vision of what we can become. The Saviors visit to the Nephites is all about charity. We see these lessons repeated throughout the Book of Mormon. They are in the temple endowment ceremony and ordinances. They define the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are why the Prophet Joseph Smith correctly said abiding by the teachings of this book will bring a man closer to God than any other.

Amen!

Ether 3 - The Lord Speaks to the Brother of Jared

Heavenly Father used the need for light as a way to prepare Jared's brother to see the pre-mortal Savior. As I commented in the previous posting, God knew exactly what He was doing when He pushed the question back on him.

One take away from this is God doesn’t always telegraph His intentions. So our best attitude when interacting with Him is one of gratitude, faith, patience, and trust.

Another take away is when you ask for anything from God, you just never know what it is you’re going to get in reply. In this case Jared’s brother, not only saw the Lord’s finger, he saw His entire spirit body and then the whole history of man on the Earth. He’s then told to write it down but to tell no one what he saw. As a result, the Jaredites never knew of this remarkable encounter.

My guess is only trusted prophets, who kept the records knew, if anyone did, of what they contained. I say that because Ether had to know what was in them to include them in the twenty-four plates which Limhi’s party found. Not to mention, Alma warned Helaman about their contents and that it should not go to the people. Then again, there’s nothing to state the 24 plates were all the same nor that they were made at the same time. The only known transposing of the record is when Moroni wrote the account into the Book of Mormon. We do know in 3 Nephi, Mormon says he’s told not to write all that he knows because our faith needs to be tested. Surely some of what he withheld is the rest of this revelation.

Who's to say the history of mankind upon the earth is what’s in the sealed part? I think it is, but we’re not in a position nor frame of mind to deal with it. As I’ve said before, mercy is the motivation behind us not knowing as much as anything. So, we move forward in faith, grateful for what we’ve been shown and looking to the day when we no longer see through the glass darkly.

Ether 2 -3 - More on Prayer

The powerful lesson on prayer begun in Ether 1 sees its profound conclusion in Ether 2 and 3. While I’m saving the crux of the answer in Ether 3 for my next post, there are still some amazing answers to questions we have about prayer to be had in what leads up to it. Answers to questions like: What does God expect of us about prayer? What does He expect of us when dealing with questions and matters we bring to Him for help? These are answered.

There’s also a profound promise about this continent, this Land of Promise. But with any blessing from God, there is also a penalty affixed (see Lehi’s sermon to his sons on opposition in all things ) equal to the blessing. In the case of this land, since it’s a land of promise it’s also a cursed land. If you obey God and turn to Him then the bounties of this land are yours and it will be a land of liberty. Turn away from God and in the fulness of your wickedness, you’ll be swept off.  We’ve just seen that with the Nephites, the American Indians likewise were driven off of their lands into reservations, we’ll read about it at the end of this book. God not only keeps His promises to our detriment or blessing.

Regarding prayer, we have the chastisement of Jared’s brother… three hours worth from the Lord for not praying. In contrast we have the amazing prayer where the Lord reasons with him about the air and light situation on the boats he built. In effect, the Lord leaves the question of the lights to him by saying, “You can’t have windows because they’ll get broken by the waves. You can’t have fire because I won’t allow it.” (Not to mention fire would burn all the oxygen out of these enclosed spaces.) So what was left? He puts the matter in the Brother of Jared’s hands…

Have you ever struggled with challenges? Or faced perplexing dilemmas and turn to God for help only to be told, “go figure it out.” If you have ever felt that way, you’re in good company. The lesson is this: God knows the answer to the problem, just as He did with the air, but He needed to teach a lesson and so that’s what happened. As it was for Jared’s brother, it is likely so for us. Heavenly Father always knows the answer, but this life isn’t a test for Him. It’s our test and as we see here, often times, the only answer is to choose, ask God and go.

Ether 1 - The Power of Prayer: God

With the end of the Nephites' story, Moroni still had room on the plates, so he gave us the story of the Jaredites. I'm grateful for what he wrote, but I wish he'd thought differently about including the creation story. While we have an account in the Bible and two in the Pearl of Great Price, I would love to have read Ether's version. Sigh.

The standout message in this chapter though is the powerful story about prayer. I wonder though, why Jared didn't pray? Why did he feel the need to go to his brother instead? Yet he did and that's what we have. But here is the lesson...

Three times Jared asks his brother to cry to the Lord for help. Each time he does and every time, God answered. The first is to ask the Lord to not confound them and their families so they could still understand one another. Which makes me wonder, did they know it was going to happen by revelation? Or, was the process such, they could see it happening in real-time and wanted to avoid it? I don't know, but either scenario is plausible.

The second time was to extend that blessing not only to their families and kin but to their friends as well. Again the Lord granted their request.

The third time was to ask... "if you're going to drive us out of the land, where do you want us to go? And if so, could we go some place nice?"

In reply, God says, and I'm paraphrasing here, "You are going to be scattered, but since you asked, I will lead you to a choice land and there I will make you into a great people." And we'll see, that's exactly what happened.

My take away is this, it never hurts to ask God. You just have to be willing to do what He says when He answers, if you want His answers to continue coming.

Mormon 7-9 Mormon's parting words

After Mormon gives his parting testimony, Moroni finishes writing the things asked of him. Where to begin… you know the story, so again I’ll comment on just a couple of items.

One is the first date Moroni gives: is it’s been 400 years from the coming of Christ. With the battle occurring 385 years after, that means he and his father had fifteen years to finish compiling the book. Mormon started the work of editing the book after he renounced his command of the Nephite armies. Even in peacetime commanders need staffs to keep from being overwhelmed by all that must be done. Combat is worse, there is NO spare time for anything but directing it. He took a break from editing to wage the final battles, but afterwords, he and Moroni were running for their lives and writing when they could.

In my life, I find that my daily circumstances draw my attention to various events, scriptures and modify my awareness. I’m certain Mormon was similarly affected. That said, it’s a rather interesting exercise to wonder what was happening when he wrote what he did. I suspect his lamentation for the weakness of men in Helaman 12 came after his failed missionary attempt with the Nephites. He had time to ponder when he wrote the Savior's appearance in 3 Nephi and thoughts of war were fresh in his mind when he wrote the war verses of Alma. He wrote the Words of Mormon at the end when he gave the plates to Moroni. There’s more, but you get the idea.

Another thing that stands out to me is Mormon 8 and 9. Chapter 8 is written to believers in Christ. It’s an excoriating chapter where he calls us out for our pride and hypocrisy. The last part of the chapter I think is written to members of the LDS faith… it makes me uncomfortable to read it because of his observation… “I see your day and I know your doing.”

Chapter 9 is written to the atheists and is a powerful exposition on God and how He thinks and what He does. I see His mercy in the realization that we’d be more uncomfortable in God’s presence if we’d lived our lives in wicked pride than living with other people who lived the same kind of lives. I think its why there are different places, because where we go is where we’d be most happy.

Ponder that…

Joseph Smith, Cosmology and Revelation

The cosmology of Joseph Smith stands as one of the great evidences of his prophetic and visionary insights into the nature of God and the universe which He created for us. The universe described in Moses fits surprisingly well with what astrophysicists are observing today. Yet it was ridiculed by Joseph's critics when they were revealed.

Consider the following:

The scope and size of the universe: Moses 1:34, 37-38 “Worlds without number have I created… the heavens they are many and can not be numbered unto man, but they are numbered to me for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away… another shall come and there is no end to my works…”

Based upon data from the Kepler Observatory, scientists now conclude every star has at least one planet and most have more. Based upon the Hubble Deep Field, the Hubble Deep Field South and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, the number of galaxies in the universe is estimated to be two hundred billion. And in each of them on average, a hundred billion stars. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand in all the beaches on the Earth combined. And virtually all have had or do have planets. Think of that the next time you scoop up a handful. The number is ming-bogglingly large.

Not a bad “guess” for an upstate New York farmer of 1830.

The most profound statement of all these writings: “This is my work and my glory…” they were made for us.

3 Nephi 13 - A Personal God

As I’ve been reading in the scriptures this morning, the personal nature of our relationship with God rings through this and the preceding chapter. Christ’s counsel to us is to do the right things, for the right reasons. He doesn’t discount the good we do, even if we do it to be seen of men… to earn the praise of the world. But if that’s why we do it, don’t expect any blessing from Heavenly Father for having done it. “Verily, they have their reward.”

If you want your actions noticed by God, do your acts of service in secret! Doing things for the praise of the world, plays to our pride and insecurities. Doing things to please God, flows from our faith in Him. Which builds the better character? Which makes us a better person, feeding our pride or our faith?

The other point that strikes me is the real, intensely personal, relationship God desires to have with each of us. He wants to participate in a dialog not a monolog when we pray. If you’re hurting… tell him. If you’re happy or embarrassed, whatever your feelings are… tell Him. He knows better than you what you’re feeling… so be honest with Him about yourself. It’s liberating. It’s cathartic. And when you see His answers, affirming and healing.

Charity Never Faileth - Meaning of...

This is slightly off topic, but the idea came with such force, I wanted to share it with you all. While preparing for my lesson in High Priests, I came across the expression "charity never faileth." Normally, I would have blown right past that and not given it any more thought, but the question came to me... "what does it mean?"

For me, I'd always thought it meant that charity is an eternal virtue, as in, it's what motivates all who are citizens of the Celestial Kingdom. Because that's how they live and act, then charity is a concept, a behavior or attitude that is eternal.. it never faileth. And then the question came to mind... but what does the word "fail" mean?

So, to the dictionary I went, wondering if there was some obscure meaning which may provide a new nuance to the expression. Instead I was drawn to the very first definition: to be unsuccessful in achieving a goal. And then the ah-hah moment. Charity will always work! If you want to touch or raise or improve someone else, use charity: it always works!

Helaman - 10: With Great Power

Imagine yourself walking along a street somewhere and God begins speaking to you and tells you, "I'm giving you my power over this people: to do whatever you want to them. Because," here's the catch, "I know you wont do anything I wouldn't approve of."

Now the back story: you've just finished a mission that has taken you throughout the entire nation and to cap the mission, you were arraigned in court for the murder of the Chief Judge of the land, think the President of the US for a comparison, and miraculously exhonerated. What do you do? Go home and catch your breath first then go out?

This happens to Nephi in Chapter 10, and what he did was head right back out on the road to tell the people what the Lord had told him to say. He never made it home. Talk about being a super hero!

When I casually read this, I get caught up in thinking how "cool" it would be to have that kind of power given to me by God. Fortunately for us all, that's never happened and not likely either, but it did for Nephi. It's instructive to see what he did with that and why he was given the power... God trusted him.

That's a high bar! But living so God trusts me enough that if it were ever necessary, He could give me that kind of power is something I aspire to. Said another way, I want to live so God holds me in the same esteem he had for Nephi. All I have to do is be righteous and tireless in doing only those things He approves of. Not. Sigh.

Helaman Chapter 5 - The Voice of God

Helaman Chapter five is so loaded with information you will miss if you aren't paying attention when you read it. The casual reader will typically notice the promise in verse 12 and the impressive feat where the converted Lamanites and Nephite dissenters give back to the Nephites the lands they'd taken from them in v52. Those are impressive in their own right, but how many notice the detailed description of God's voice? Or the geography lesson? How many see the great power of listening to the Spirit, and how that gives one the ability to speak with God's power and authority even to the convincing of those with murderous intent? How many notice they traveled freely through the Lamanite controlled Nephite lands including Zarahemla and surrounding areas? How many noticed they travelled into a far north country to preach to both Nephites and Lamanites? (Heartlanders rejoice?!)

These hints show the culture of the Lamanites and Nephites is far more extensive and complicated than we typically think. It is another evidence to me that it is not the fabrication of a farm boy or even one assisted by a school teacher and a preacher.

Many critics allege the Book of Mormon was the brain child of more than one person, but consider this thought experiement: The television show, I Love Lucy, was the result of many talented and smart people. It was a popular show in its day. The cultural comments it makes however place it in 1950's America. It could exist at no other time because the values it holds up as humorous are insulting today. It reeks of the culture of the day in which it was created. Virtually every work of fiction is similarly "fingerprinted" by the prevailing culture known to the authors.

In this light, the Nephite and Lamanite cultures in the Book of Mormon, should show fingerprints of 1820 America. But where was the aristocracy that held both political and religious power in Joseph's day? Where did people freely travel into even enemy held lands? While I'll grant there are common values such as the love of liberty in the book but those are by design. In my opinion, inspiriation guided Mormon to reveal those aspects of his society which we would understand as he compiled the stories that became our Book of Mormon. But the things he leaves in the footnotes and sidebars reveal a culture that is alien to ours. Had he put those elements in, we would not have recognized it nor identify with it as we do today. It truly was, written for our day.

Well, I'm rambling, but such are the adventures contained in Helaman Chapter five.