When we begin to understand that, beyond sight, as Brigham Young said, is the spirit world right here round about us. If our spiritual eyes could be open we could see others visiting with us, directing us. And if we will learn not to be so sophisticated that w rule out that possibility of impressions from those who are beyond sight, then we too may have a dream that may direct us as a revelation."
-Harold B. Lee, "Divine Revelation," Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [Provo, 15 Oct. 1952, pp. 10-11].
A couple of points for pondering:
1. As long as I have known this doctrine, I don't remember it very often. My mission president counselled me that when I was most in tune with the Spirit that I would probably feel my dad's influence helping and guiding me, among others of the promised angels that would be on my right hand and on my left. I did find that to be true, and there really isn't any reason that this shouldn't be true in my ongoing life, but I tend to forget that I have that wonderful support system beyond the seen world.
2. I thought it was interesting that in Guatemala it seemed a lot more common for people to have extraordinary experiences with dreams and spirits and such, and I did have the impression that part of the reason this was so was simply that they believed in such things. It is so true that our "modern" society has become too "sophisticated" for things of the Spirit, and the more direct the experience, the more it is deemed unbelievable.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Follow-Up on D&C 4
A story of how Joseph Smith, Sr. applied the instructions he was given:
Joseph Smith, Sr., was filled with the testimony of the truth, and was always anxious to share it with others. He was almost sixty when he made the tedious journey back to [Stockholm--Potsdam] New York to carry the gospel to his father and mother, his sisters and brothers. Soon after his return he was imprisoned for a small debt of fourteen dollars, rather than deny the divinity of the Book of Mormon and be forgiven the debt! He was cast into a cell with a condemned murderer and left for four days without food. Later he was transferred to a prison workyard where he preached the gospel and converted two persons whom he later baptized. He was in prison a full month before his family was able to obtain his release!
E. Cecil McGavin, The Family of Joseph Smith [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1963], p. 68.
All of us who desire to serve the Lord have the same calling to the work of the gathering. How true will we be to it?
p.s. My posts may have a different flavor for a while; I found two huge binders of handouts from a beloved Institute director. I can't hang on to them forever, so I am studying with them as an aid and recording the things I want to save here, in my journals, and in my scriptures. I think they may be an enjoyable departure from my normal ramblings, and also help me to be more consistent in recording my studies. Time will tell!
Joseph Smith, Sr., was filled with the testimony of the truth, and was always anxious to share it with others. He was almost sixty when he made the tedious journey back to [Stockholm--Potsdam] New York to carry the gospel to his father and mother, his sisters and brothers. Soon after his return he was imprisoned for a small debt of fourteen dollars, rather than deny the divinity of the Book of Mormon and be forgiven the debt! He was cast into a cell with a condemned murderer and left for four days without food. Later he was transferred to a prison workyard where he preached the gospel and converted two persons whom he later baptized. He was in prison a full month before his family was able to obtain his release!
E. Cecil McGavin, The Family of Joseph Smith [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1963], p. 68.
All of us who desire to serve the Lord have the same calling to the work of the gathering. How true will we be to it?
p.s. My posts may have a different flavor for a while; I found two huge binders of handouts from a beloved Institute director. I can't hang on to them forever, so I am studying with them as an aid and recording the things I want to save here, in my journals, and in my scriptures. I think they may be an enjoyable departure from my normal ramblings, and also help me to be more consistent in recording my studies. Time will tell!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Interesting Take on Translating
A quote from Joseph Fielding Smith about Joseph Smith:
After the Prophet received the record, the Urim and Thummim and breastplate, he did not commence to translate immediately. In fact, this he could not have done. In the first place he discovered that the translation of the record had to be studied out. It was similar to any other kind of skill, it took study and practice. It was not a matter of sitting down and having the translation of the characters appear to him like looking at a picture screen. It required deep and sincere faith and a contrite spirit. Just as well might one expect to play a musical instrument without practice, or to accomplish another difficult task. Therefore in seclusion, such as he could obtain, he worked over his problem and gradually the light dawned and the skill came so that he could say after the task was finished: "I translated the Book of Mormon by the Gift and Power of God."
"Church History and Modern Revelation," Melchizedek Priesthood Manual (1947), p. 19.
This is particularly striking after I just read Moroni 10, where we are told that all have gifts of the Spirit given to them, but also that we should strive to lay hold upon every good gift. Such gifts don't come or stay with out an effort to receive them.
After the Prophet received the record, the Urim and Thummim and breastplate, he did not commence to translate immediately. In fact, this he could not have done. In the first place he discovered that the translation of the record had to be studied out. It was similar to any other kind of skill, it took study and practice. It was not a matter of sitting down and having the translation of the characters appear to him like looking at a picture screen. It required deep and sincere faith and a contrite spirit. Just as well might one expect to play a musical instrument without practice, or to accomplish another difficult task. Therefore in seclusion, such as he could obtain, he worked over his problem and gradually the light dawned and the skill came so that he could say after the task was finished: "I translated the Book of Mormon by the Gift and Power of God."
"Church History and Modern Revelation," Melchizedek Priesthood Manual (1947), p. 19.
This is particularly striking after I just read Moroni 10, where we are told that all have gifts of the Spirit given to them, but also that we should strive to lay hold upon every good gift. Such gifts don't come or stay with out an effort to receive them.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Thoreau's advice for the perfectionist
Do you ever get so discouraged about not being able to do everything that you just do nothing? Maybe that's just me. All the time. Glad I ran across this quote that I took down a long time ago:
"A man has not everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything, it is not necessary that he should do something wrong."
-Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
"A man has not everything to do, but something; and because he cannot do everything, it is not necessary that he should do something wrong."
-Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Nephi and the Priesthood
I was thinking today about honoring the priesthood, and the song Nephi's Courage popped in my head. I thought it was interesting how the Lord's assignments for Nephi progressed. First, Nephi got the commandment to get the brass plates through his father. He proved submissive and faithful.
Next, Nephi received his own revelation about how to obtain food, but he showed that he honored his fathers priesthood authority by seeking his counsel and asking him to appeal to the Lord for their family.
Only then did he receive direct, prophetic revelation of his own when it came time to build the boat. Clearly the ability to honor the line of priesthood authority was an important qualification for the Lord.
Next, Nephi received his own revelation about how to obtain food, but he showed that he honored his fathers priesthood authority by seeking his counsel and asking him to appeal to the Lord for their family.
Only then did he receive direct, prophetic revelation of his own when it came time to build the boat. Clearly the ability to honor the line of priesthood authority was an important qualification for the Lord.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Look, Endure, Live.
"Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live."
3 Nephi 15:9
The simplicity of this scripture struck me today in contrast with all of the sophistries being preached in society and the general sentiment that we can't know and so shouldn't take into account the things of God.
But this is the compass: we look to the Savior, follow his example, and seek His Spirit, enduring faithfully, and then we live--not just in the sense that we remain alive, but we live to the fulness of our potential, with purpose and meaning and joy and peace. We live "the abundant life," as President Monson and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, among others, have called it.
3 Nephi 15:9
The simplicity of this scripture struck me today in contrast with all of the sophistries being preached in society and the general sentiment that we can't know and so shouldn't take into account the things of God.
But this is the compass: we look to the Savior, follow his example, and seek His Spirit, enduring faithfully, and then we live--not just in the sense that we remain alive, but we live to the fulness of our potential, with purpose and meaning and joy and peace. We live "the abundant life," as President Monson and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, among others, have called it.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Unspeakable and full of Glory
Helaman 5 retells the remarkable conversion of a few hundred Lamanites and Nephite dissenters. They had imprisoned Nephi and Lehi, and gone back to the prison to finish them off. As they set about to do so, the prophet-missionaries were encircled about by fire and given power over their captors, who were enveloped in darkness which would not disperse until they prayed in the name of the Savior. It is an amazing story, but my new favorite part is how they described what they felt when the darkness dispersed and they were encircled in the fire that had surrounded Nephi and Lehi:
...yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire... and they were filled with the joy which is unspeakable and filled with glory." Helaman 5:44
I love that description of the Spirit! It so encapsulates for me many moments when I have been filled with and taught by the Spirit. It is indescribable, but this is probably one of the better descriptions I have read. So quiet, and yet so glorious!
I remember a lot of moments like this in my Institute classes when a confusion was resolved or a doubt addressed as I studied. Lately they come in the simple moments with my kids when I am filled with love and gratitude and testimony that this is my purpose and the fulness of my creation. They have come snuggling my little guy and singing "I Am A Child of God" together, or watching my 3-year-old jump happily on his bed. They have come watching my husband help me with projects around the house or prepare for his Church callings or play with the kids. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they don't come when I am worrying or running around like a crazed woman; they come when I stop to contemplate the light around me and cry to the Savior in humility and thanks, when I cease to marvel and doubt (v. 49) and instead contemplate the light and allow myself to be filled with charity.
...yea, they were encircled about; yea, they were as if in the midst of a flaming fire... and they were filled with the joy which is unspeakable and filled with glory." Helaman 5:44
I love that description of the Spirit! It so encapsulates for me many moments when I have been filled with and taught by the Spirit. It is indescribable, but this is probably one of the better descriptions I have read. So quiet, and yet so glorious!
I remember a lot of moments like this in my Institute classes when a confusion was resolved or a doubt addressed as I studied. Lately they come in the simple moments with my kids when I am filled with love and gratitude and testimony that this is my purpose and the fulness of my creation. They have come snuggling my little guy and singing "I Am A Child of God" together, or watching my 3-year-old jump happily on his bed. They have come watching my husband help me with projects around the house or prepare for his Church callings or play with the kids. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they don't come when I am worrying or running around like a crazed woman; they come when I stop to contemplate the light around me and cry to the Savior in humility and thanks, when I cease to marvel and doubt (v. 49) and instead contemplate the light and allow myself to be filled with charity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)