Some Challenging Directions from the Lord to the Brother of Jared

And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel. (Ether 2:5)

It is interesting that the Lord directed the brother of Jared to take the people into an area where man had never gone before. Now, people are pretty adventurous, so when there’s a place no one has gone before, it is usually because the route looks really forbidding and desolate. So it might have looked like there was a really good reason no one had gone that way.

But if the Lord wanted them to take that route, it was because He knew more about it than man did, that He saw it had the resources to supply their needs even if it didn’t appear to.  (And if it didn’t, He could provide by miracle and build their faith.)  It would take faith to follow the Lord’s directions, trust that it would be alright when appearances were against it.

Not everyone has the faith to do this kind of thing. In Numbers 20:1-8, the children of Israel were led to the desert of Zin where there was no water, and they gathered against Moses to complain, wishing they had died before then and wondering why they had been led there. A miracle brought them water, but even if they hadn’t complained, they would have needed the miracle anyway.  But it would have been better for them if they could have refrained from complaining at all and simply recognized their need for a miracle.

So, lesson #1 – The Lord may lead us in ways that don’t look very possible, and it takes faith to follow.

Lesson #2 – The Lord wants us to learn to depend on Him, so He will bring us by ways that require us to do that.

Lesson #3 – The Lord brings us to places where miracles are required so that we can experience what He is capable of doing. But these places also require a lot of faith from us too.

Lesson #4 – It is best not to murmur when we are stuck and simply realize we need miracles and ask for them.

What’s the point of Moroni 9?

Moroni 9 is such an unpleasant chapter, giving a peek from Mormon at the horrible things the Nephites were doing, that it is hard to see why Moroni chose to include it in the Book of Mormon. I have usually pointed to the horrible stuff as an index of how bad things can get, and yet I don’t know if that was Moroni’s intent for including it. Did he really mean it to be a bellwether of society’s depravity or decadence? 

            I think the key to its inclusion lies between the awful stuff.

            In between the reports of cannibalism, rape, torture, starvation, disorder, and disobedience, we see that Mormon is still hard at work.

--He’s preaching to the people, trying different approaches—sharpness or gentleness—and noting whether it works or not.

--He’s determined to keep trying to preach, for his own spiritual benefit, even if his listeners don’t accept it.

--He’s determined to conquer Satan in his own life, even if others are not.

--He maintains his faith in God’s justice and anticipates God will judge his people.

--He seems to have wanted to relieve those starving in Sherrizah, even if circumstance and his people were against him doing that.

--He prays for Moroni (actually this was in Moroni 8)

--He trusts in Christ that Moroni will be saved to either witness Nephite repentance or their complete destruction.

--He trusts he will be spared long enough to pass sacred records to Moroni.

--He is still engaged in the work of record-making and record-keeping.

--He exhorts his son to be faithful in Christ and remember the resurrection and Christ’s mercy and long-suffering forever.

--He anticipates the day when all things will be subject to Christ (even if few seem subject at that time)

--He recognizes that the things he’s written could weigh Moroni down, but he exhorts him to be lifted by Christ.

In all of this, we see a righteous man doing his best to use his good influence on those around him, anxiously engaged in good causes, attempting to show charity, expressing faith in Christ, expressing hope for a glorious future (though stuck in a dismal and decadent present), exhibiting long-suffering among the evil around him, keeping a perspective of justice in noting that his people are worse than the Lamanites, and so forth.

He’s a great example of a good person who maintains his integrity in awfully wicked conditions. This is probably what Moroni wanted us to see. His example shows us it is possible.

Personal News Item: I've been working like crazy on a commentary on the Book of Revelation, so that is my next big project to come down the pipe.  This will take some of the blog posts I've done and add to them. My thinking has evolved a lot, so not all the posts I've put up here will be included.  I'm very excited about the things I'm learning and can't wait to share them with you!

Big problems among the Scribes, as Jesus points out

After Jesus answers some questions meant to entrap him, we get this bit:

45 ¶ Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples,

46 Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;

47 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20:45-47)

What exactly is Jesus saying here?

He’s warning the disciples to beware of the scribes who do certain things. It seems to me He’s not telling the disciples to shun them necessarily, but to beware of becoming like them.

So what exactly is wrong with this behavior, and are there modern equivalents that must be avoided?

They desire to walk in long robes – Long robes are not easy to move in, and they get dirty easy. I get the impression that long robes were a sign of status, and hard work was not done in them. People in long robes don’t gird up their loins to serve others; they are usually the ones being served. The modern equivalent might be people who desire to wear suits all day.

They love greetings in the markets – This seems pretty benign at first. Who doesn’t love to run into friends at the market? The problem, I think, is when it becomes a point of pride, when one preens over one’s connectedness and how all those greetings by all one’s acquaintances lead one to say, “Look how important I am! Everyone knows me and loves me! Even people who don’t know me can see I must be special because of all the people who greet me!” It is hard to focus on others, when others are so focused on you.

They love the highest seats in the synagogues and the chief rooms at feasts – High seats in the synagogue are probably leadership seats. They love the best places and aspire to importance and status. They love the visibility more than the opportunity to serve.

They devour widows’ houses – Here’s a sad thing. These scribes will visit widows (thinking they are charitably bestowing their attention and encouraging presence) and then the widows are obligated by the rules of hospitality to feed them a big fancy dinner, so the widows have to spend beyond their means to do it, and of course, those scribes have to do justice to the spread, so they eat it all, and thus the widow is far worse off financially after the scribe’s visit than she was before. The scribe is devouring her house. And she lives at poverty level, anyway, so it is all very bad for her finances. At bottom, this is a lack of awareness of how hospitality is going to affect one’s host. It is inconsiderate, and a lack of charity. If these scribes had any real charity, they would host the widow and not obligate the widow to host them. Or they’d bring a nice big present of grain or something to make up for the burden of their visit.

For a show, they make long prayers – Their prayers aren’t doing them any good if it just a show to impress other people. If there is no real desire or repentance or gratitude behind the words, the prayers mean nothing.

The thing that is the greatest warning is that Jesus says, “the same shall receive the greater damnation.” To me, this is saying these characteristics get disciples more spiritually stuck and stop progression more than some others.

To summarize:

Long robes >> status clothing that precludes service and work

Loving greetings >> status and such connectedness that prevents one from forgetting oneself and focusing on others

Loving high seats and the best rooms at feasts >> obsessed with public shows of status at religious events and gatherings. Preoccupation with position and visibility more than opportunities for service and ministering.

Devouring widow’s houses >> Lack of consideration and charity for those who really need it. Making a show of attention that doesn’t really help and leaves the widow worse off afterward.

Making long prayers for show >> Desire to look holy has overcome any desire to actually be holy.

So, the pattern I see here is that status and show for these scribes has become the most important thing, such that they completely miss the increased opportunities for service and charity and ministering that come with a leadership position. They are stopped in their spiritual progress from becoming more like Christ.

Can we draw any conclusions from what one should do instead?

1)    Wear clothes you can help people in

2)    Focus on others and appreciate the humility of anonymity

3)    Care more for the opportunities to serve than position, status, or visibility

4)    Find ways to give notice and charity without taxing others’ resources to give hospitality

5)    Pray with sincerity

These things tell us that Jesus was strongly aware that if leaders weren’t careful, some of the earthly advantages of status created awful spiritual disadvantages with eternal negative consequences. He wanted His disciples to be aware of those problems and do all they could to avoid those behaviors and attitudes so that their position could be a real blessing to them and to all those around them.

Seek Spiritual Solutions

9 Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear all ye of far countries; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.

10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand; for God is with us.

11 For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

13 Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. (2 Nephi 18:91-13)

In these verses, Nephi quotes Isaiah. Isaiah’s situation at that time was one in which the Jews were greatly worried about the threat of being invaded by the Assyrians, who were particularly cruel and barbaric to prisoners (think torture and killing in lots of painful ways just because they could).

It would be natural for the Jews to want to seek for military allies (a confederation) and gird their armor on, and counsel together about what to do. But Isaiah said the Lord told him they needed to do something different—don’t worry about allies, or battle prep, or counsel, or whatever.  Instead, “Sanctify the Lord of Hosts himself, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” (v13)  He told them to fear God and sanctify themselves for God.

Why? From a worst case scenario, repenting would prepare them for the next life if they died.  For a best-case scenario, keeping the commandments would give them the moral oomph to endure the difficulties they faced.

It’s still true today that when we face difficulties, even large-scale ones on a national level, the first best thing we can do is get our lives in order spiritually so we can have the strength to deal with it.  Repent and keep the commandments.

If we were to have some sort of crisis like the mobbings of Missouri or the invasion of Johnson’s army into Utah, it would be easy to get really worried and seek temporal solutions.  I would hope we’d be able to turn to the Lord, like Isaiah recommended.

Assembling the halt, the outcast, the afflicted

6 In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;

7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. (Micah 4:6-7)

When I read this, it seems to me it is talking about the gathering of Israel, but in curious terms. The halt are the lame, the “driven out” are those who were marginalized or rejected, and the afflicted are those who had some sort of physical or mental problem that was unexplainable or seemingly incurable.  Why speak of these as part of the gathering of Israel in the last days?  

Also, the blessings given to them are interesting and even a little counterintuitive.

As a first instance, the Lord promises that those who were halt will be made a remnant.  The “remnant” in battle terms would be those who make it through war and destruction that killed or scattered everyone else. You’d think that only the fit would survive, but no, the halt do--the ones too lame to run, those who aren’t seen as a threat.

As another instance, the Lord promises to gather those who were driven out and make them a strong nation.  These are the outcasts, the marginalized, maybe even the people who had to leave because they couldn’t accept what was going on.  Or they might have been driven out because they were criminals.  They are so few, so alone…  And the Lord says He will make them a strong nation?  That’s a major miracle for the marginalized to become such a strong institution that it might be called a nation.  It would have to have a justice system, so any criminals would have reformed.

And the afflicted. This could be those with physical handicaps and/or mental illnesses. They are the people who probably had heads shaken over them and hands thrown in the air, saying, “I just don’t know what to do about them! What can I do for them?”   These were often seen as people God was punishing.     But if they are gathered to Mount Zion, then they are obviously being blessed instead of cursed!

All these the Lord says He will reign over in Mount Zion forever. These are people who accept His guidance and commandments. They believe in Him.  Could it be that their handicaps and marginalization and rejections and trials have humbled them enough to listen?

I get some great principles from these verses.

1)   Handicaps, marginalization, and afflictions can prepare us to follow the Lord if they humble us.

2)   The Lord reaches out to all types of people with all kinds of challenges and has the power to make weaknesses into strength.  Once again, the halt (lame)  become the remnant (the ones who survive). The outcast (rejected) becomes the strong nation, able to create unity and social cohesion so that others won’t suffer similarly. The affliected one who previously seemed punished by God becomes the faithful adherent in Zion.

3)   Behind the Sunday smiles, all of us have some problem we need help with. Even those who look like they have perfect lives have hidden challenges. (“In the quiet heart is hidden sorrow that the eye can’t see.”) We are all broken somehow, all in need of healing, in need of Christ.

In a way, it also prophesies of days when handicaps and affliction would become better understood so that tools and means to cope with them would be created, and people who had these problems would be given the resources to transcend their difficulties and progress further.  Again, all of that shows the Lord doesn’t want to leave any of His children behind, and He reaches out to all.

What we can learn from Nephi’s striving

Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence. (1 Nephi 17:15)

This verse caught my eye recently. It comes a few verses after Nephi gets the command to build a ship. The word that caught my attention was “strive.”

“Strive” means much much more than “try”; it means “fight or contend.”

So Nephi is saying that he fought to keep the commandments. Interestingly, this verse also comes before Nephi’s brothers realize he’s going to start building a ship, so he hasn’t even begun to preach to them about their murmuring yet. They haven’t begun to murmur; they don’t know a ship-building operation is about to begin.

So the question that came to me next was, “Who was Nephi striving against to keep the commandments in this verse?”

I realized he was fighting himself and his own inclinations. At some level Nephi was reluctant to build the ship. Even though he got busy collecting ore and made a bellows, he still had a part of him that hung back and didn’t want to do it. So he had to fight to be obedient first. And because he fought and won that battle, he was prepared to work to convince his brothers.

I find this realization inspiring and comforting. Throughout Nephi’s story you get the idea that he had little to no internal conflict with himself about doing what the Lord asked him to do. (We see it with killing Laban, but elsewhere hardly at all.)

So it helps me to see that Nephi also had to fight internal battles with himself to be obedient, and it helps to see that in this case he even had to fight them after he’d already begun to be obedient.  It shows that along with having to overcome the temptation of disobedience, we also have to overcome the temptation to slack off once we’ve begun a big hard task to keep the Lord’s commandments.   (I can think of a number of times I’ve been stopped in my tracks a ways in from starting something because the temptation to slack off got to me.) 

I think that realizing that tendency can help us overcome it when we’re faced with it. Instead of saying to ourselves, Ugh, I don’t want to do this; this is such a big job, we can say instead, Ah yes, this is the temptation to quit after having gotten a good start.

Have you noticed this problem affecting you? What do you do to overcome it?

Satan wanted to sift Peter as wheat

31 ¶ And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:31-32)

This little bit happened at the last supper as Jesus gave instructions to His disciples.

For a long time I wondered what was meant by “that he may sift you as wheat” and what was bad about it. In my head it evoked an image of a person with wheat on a screen and trying to force it through to strain out the non-wheat. But that confused me because it seemed more like a purification message. But Satan doesn’t want to purify us. So I knew I wasn’t getting something.

Finally, I realized that Jesus didn’t mean “putting through or filtering,” he meant the “shaking” part.  Because sieves have to be shaken hard to get the wheat through. The image of sifting is that of trying to make us feel unstable in our faith and jerked back and forth by what's going on around us. That made a lot more sense. Satan does want to shake us; he wants to keep us from moving forward in faith.

Also, it was an appropriate time for Jesus to warn Peter of this. Jesus had preached that His followers were to have faith in Him, and then Jesus was about to allow Himself to be taken, tried, condemned, beated, mocked, whipped, and crucified to sacrifice His life.  He knew it might shake their faith. He knew Peter, as chief apostle, would have an especially hard time with it.

The JST has another interesting bit. “Satan hath desired you, that he may sift the children of the kingdom as wheat.”  This tells us that Satan didn’t just want to shake Peter; he wanted to take possession of him and thereby shake the rest of the kingdom of God. This tells us how important it is for leaders of the church to keep their faith strong so that they can help strengthen the rest of the church.

I think the verses also have two important principles to help when Satan tries to shake us: prayer (praying for ourselves and others) and preventing our faith from failing. Fervent prayer is a great way of re-orienting my wandering or sin-enticed or fearful thoughts toward Christ. Also, I know by experience that if I continue to act—keeping the commandments, doing my duty—that keeps my faith from weakening. Action builds faith, and faith leads to action. “Tis better far for us to strive, our useless cares from us to drive.”  

I can also testify that our Heavenly Father continues to warn us of difficult experiences that we will have to face. I've seen that in my life. I haven't been warned of everything difficult, but I've been warned of enough things that I can testify of it. It has showed me that Heavenly Father knows the end from the beginning, that He knows me, and that He knows when a warning will help me better than allowing me to walk through it blindly. Getting the warning doesn't make me special, it just means that Heavenly Father knows I need it for my salvation and deliverance.

When Callings Feel Hard

I remember the first time a calling started to feel difficult for me.  It was my first year at BYU. I and another boy in my ward were called to be leaders in a family home evening group of other college students.  We pretty much were to make sure family home evenings happened for our group and to coordinate time and place to meet.

I tended to be the driving force behind our group meeting. I don’t know why that was. Maybe my partner didn’t have regular family home evenings growing up and so didn’t feel strongly about it.  Or maybe he had a heavy load of coursework and it weighed on him such that he didn’t feel as urgently about having family home evening. 

Whatever the reason, I was usually the one calling him to plan what we were going to do.  Once we figured that out, I was the one calling members of our group to let them know meeting details.  (This was before cell phones started to become more ubiquitous, and before texting capability, so there was no sending a group text.)

I remember late one Monday afternoon sitting on my bed, eying the phone with distaste, knowing that I was going to have to push together another family home evening when I wanted nothing more than to relax and be the one pulled for a change.

I knew I needed some motivation, so in desperation I reached for my scriptures and flipped it open to some random page and started reading.  Here is the verse that caught my eye:

And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that I might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received. (Alma 7:22)

That verse gave me a jolt, like an awakening. It seemed to speak to my situation. What was my duty to God?  It was to make sure FHE happened. 

“that ye may walk blameless before him” – I envisioned Judgment day and how I would feel happy if I could look back and say I had done my duty.  And after all, it looking at it from a distant perspective, my duty didn’t seem so hard after all.  A few phone calls. 

That gave me the motivation to go pick up that phone and start.

I look back at that now and I shake my head at how silly I was.  But at the time I was young and it was a big deal. I had a lot of growing to do.

Here are some other scriptures I like that are closely related—good motivators for callings…

Holiness and foreordination

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (1 Timothy 1:9)

This scripture is probably talking about “holy calling” in the sense of being brought into the church, but I think it also applies to church callings too. They come by revelation. If you are like me, you probably have raised your eyebrows at some callings you’ve been given and thought, I have no idea why I have been asked to do this; there are people who could do a better job than me at this.  That’s when you know Heavenly Father has His own purposes, and the calling didn’t come because of anything we’ve done to deserve it. There’s foreordination in it, and it’s part of the Lord’s plan.

Case in point: I have no idea how my being in charge of that FHE group at BYU fit in the Lord’s plan or what its purpose was, but I have faith that it fulfilled its purpose.  It was the first time I had to push through an aspect of my calling that was hard.

Some of my callings I’ve said to myself, This has to be revelation, because I would not have chosen this. This is not the kind of thing I like.  There was one calling that I was mad about receiving, but I accepted anyway, and it turned out to be a big blessing.  I look back at it now and I see it as evidence that Heavenly Father knew me better than I knew myself. He knew I would love it, and He knew it would stretch me where I needed stretching.

Example: Stripling warriors

And they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted. (Alma 53:20)

This is about the stripling warriors, but I want that to be about me in my callings. I want to be valiant for courage, be strong, be active, and be true at all times to whatsoever thing has been entrusted to me.

Learning, action, diligence

99 Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.

100 He that is slothful shall not be counted worthy to stand, and he that learns not his duty and shows himself not approved shall not be counted worthy to stand. Even so. Amen. (D&C 107:99-100)

Two principles there: 1) learning our duty and 2) acting with diligence. If we don’t know what we’re supposed to do, we need to get training and get help until we know what we need to do.  Once we know, we need to do it.  Consistently.

Sometimes diligence is our big test.  Maybe we can pull off the big production once, but it is the tasks that must be done over and over and over again that can become a problem for us because we get so tired of them.  Or maybe we’re more into the calling when it is new and strange, but when it is old we might get a little slack at it.  When my callings feel old, I know I’m being trained to be diligent.

All are Needed to Keep the System Perfect

109 Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?

110 Also the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect. (D&C 84:109-110)

To me this one says there are no unimportant callings and each one is needed.  The image of the head dismissing the need for the feet teaches by negative analogy that leaders should not dismiss as unimportant the members who have the less-visible callings, because if those less-visible callings were eliminated, there would be hurt somewhere.  (“without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?”) 

By the way, I’ve noticed so many church leaders that are so good at thanking people who put together an event. I used to wonder why they took time for all those thank yous, but now I know that they understand this principle that every person’s contribution is important.

In the abstract, callings are a grouping of tasks that have to be done, but from the spiritual perspective, they are opportunities to practice charity and service for others.  They exist because there is work to be done to build the kingdom of God and to keep it running smoothly.  If we don’t think a particular calling is needed, we only need to think about what would be lost if it didn’t exist.

I also like that v110 says that with every member, all may be edified and the system is kept perfect. We all keep the system perfect!  We all edify each other!

Keep it up, Soldier!

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (2 Timothy 2:3)

Sometimes callings are just hard, and we have to endure it. Good soldiers have to endure nasty conditions, and good Saints will too on occasion. 

What scriptures have helped you keep on with your callings?

Creating a Psychological Survival and Coping Kit

I grew up as a pretty happy-go-lucky person.  Somehow I learned to see the importance of making a decision to be happy and look on the bright side of things, and that made a lot of things easier for me.

But I still had trials and tests.

And afflictions.

And weaknesses.

And transgressions that I fell into.

At one point, I fell into a depression, and I got some counseling.  Under the direction of a doctor, I tried a few medications, but had more difficulty from the side-effects than from the depression.

Happily, my counselor at the time recommended a book to me called Feeling Good, by David Burns.  I got the book and read it.  In it, I found that much of my depression at that time was being caused by the way I was thinking.*  The thoughts were causing depressive feelings and contributing to a hopeless view of the world.

Eventually I learned that I had gotten cultivated some non-productive thought patterns that caused me pain.   (I’m sure Satan found that most amusing.)

I learned things about:

--How to have more realistic expectations of myself (and others)

--How to tell where my responsibility ended and another person’s began

--How to think more productively about what I did so that I could feel greater joy and happiness.

I don’t mind telling you that there were also things I read in Feeling Good that seemed to clash with gospel principles.  I was tempted to reject them because of that. But there was so much there that was helpful that I considered it a very valuable book, one worth keeping and referring back to from time to time.  I knew enough about myself to realize that I would not remember everything I’d read and I would need to review periodically.  I recognized that if I had fallen into bad habits of thought, it was possible and probable I would get into the same trouble again.

After a few more readings of that book over several years, I realized that some of the things that I’d previously thought clashed with gospel principles actually harmonized, but in a different way than I expected.  (Part of that could be because of how vocabulary is different between psychology and religion.)

The point of my telling you this is not necessarily to recommend that book, though it helped me.  The thing I learned was I could collect and keep resources around me that would help me recognize and correct mental-spiritual errors of thinking.

Over more years, I noticed I developed a few other peculiar thought-error patterns. They would manifest in some kind of behavior that I had troubles getting rid of.  When I noticed I was developing a new non-productive pattern, I started looking for principles, articles, scriptures, stories, coping techniques, strategies, and any kind of material that would address the issue.  I would gather it together in a document because I knew I would have to remind myself of that stuff again from time to time.  I have a document file for each problem.

This collection of material I have come to call my Psychological Survival and Coping Kit.  These issues are unique to me because they have to do with my particular weaknesses, challenges, and situation.  They give me valuable perspective. They help me manage my expectations in such a way that I remember where I need to be gentle with myself.  They represent areas where I know Satan particularly attacks me and where I know I need the Lord’s strength. 

I suspect everyone could benefit from building their own Psychological Survival and Coping Kit.  Studying and gathering available wisdom about a personal challenge is empowering. It makes the nebulous problem more defined and therefore limited.  It is amazingly validating; it helps us feel like we’re not alone.  It helps us become humble and open to revelation the Lord wants to give us to help us.  It helps us realize our need for the Savior and encourages us to come to Him.  It alerts us to traps and snares of Satan and prepares us to discern and avoid future stumbling blocks.  It gives us suggestions for what to do.  And when the kit is made, it is personalized to us.

I’m going to quote a well-known scripture that relates:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

 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.  (Ether 12:27-28)

I love learning coping techniques.  Coping is not about just survival.  Coping is the way we deal positively with a challenge that allows us to figuratively learn and practice making lemon out of lemonade.  It’s the mechanics of the process of learning how to make weak things become strong after we’ve humbled ourselves turned it over to the Lord.  

 

* Some depression is caused by non-productive thought patterns and fallacious thinking and can be healed by learning to think in better, non-self-critical ways.  Other types of depression are caused by chemical imbalances and need the care of a physician and medicine to overcome. 

Thinking about Moroni’s years alone

I substitute-taught a primary lesson this last Sunday on Moroni and his writings to the 11-12 year-olds. When I was first asked to do it, I said yes mostly for selfish reasons because I’ve found that somehow the Lord gives me opportunities to substitute-teach when the lesson is something He particularly wants to teach me.  I didn’t know what the lesson was about when I agreed to do it, but when I looked at it, I knew that once again it was for me.

2 And now it came to pass that after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed.

3 And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are gone, and I fulfil the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, I know not.

4 Therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not.

5 Behold, my father hath made this record, and he hath written the intent thereof. And behold, I would write it also if I had room upon the plates, but I have not; and ore I have none, for I am alone. My father hath been slain in battle, and all my kinsfolk, and I have not friends nor whither to go; and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live I know not.  (Mormon 8:2-5)

Show the picture Mormon Bids Farewell to a Once Great Nation and ask the children who the men in the picture are.

·      Explain that Mormon gave part of the sacred records to his son, Moroni, to protect them from the Lamanites and to have Moroni complete the account. Have the children read Moroni’s words in Mormon 8:2–5.

·      Help the children determine approximately how long Moroni was alone by finding the year of the final Nephite battle on the bottom of the page in Mormon 6. Then have the children subtract that date from the year listed on the bottom of the last page of Moroni 10. (421 - 385 = 36 years.)

·      Ask the children how long they have ever been alone. Help them imagine what it would be like to be alone for thirty-six years.

·      Explain that Moroni lived through many difficulties to complete the gold plates so they could come to future generations as the Book of Mormon and help us become like Jesus Christ.

·      You might also use enrichment activity 1 as an attention activity.

Enrichment activity:  For this activity you will need a piece of tin and a nail. (A large lid from a can might work for the piece of tin. Cover all sharp edges with tape.) Have the children take turns using the nail to scratch a letter or two of the following words: Now I, Moroni … on the piece of metal or tin. Express your appreciation for the Book of Mormon record keepers, who engraved the words of God on metal plates.

A few reasons why I felt this lesson was for me was because 1) I’ve been going through one of those periodical struggles wherein I feel my writing is not worthwhile or important 2) I’ve been feeling like I’m very much isolated and alone a lot and don’t have much opportunity to be an influence for good, and 3) I’ve been feeling like writing is getting harder for me.

Reading over Moroni’s experience has given me some much-needed perspective about what I face.  I am nowhere near the same class as the prophet Moroni, either in spirituality, or in difficult life experience, and the comparison is instructive to me.

1) Moroni was alone for 36 years. Any civilization he ran across was likely to be dangerous to him. Me, I’m only alone during the day as I write.  (The longest I was ever alone was about a week when my husband was overseas for work, and even though I was going through a sad time in my life, I had other people I could talk to.) My neighbors are not likely to kill me if they find out I believe in Christ.

2) Moroni was an apostle with no one to minister to, since all the Nephites were destroyed and everyone left was determined to destroy believers in Christ. (Talk about feeling unimportant and unable to be an influence for good!) Me, I’m a run-of-the-mill Latter-day Saint who gets to live in a place and time with a relatively high number of faithful Saints of the restored church, and I have people I can serve in my callings. 

3) Moroni had to painstakingly scratch his message on metal and carry that load around with him everywhere. Me, I get to type my little thoughts and scripture insights out on a nice laptop in the comfort of my central-heated home with running water and a pantry of food. When I’m ready, I can instantly post my writing to the internet where anyone in the world can read it. 

I have so much to be thankful for! (I guess that makes this a belated Thanksgiving post.)

And still the few challenges I face are just enough for me to feel great respect and compassion for Moroni.

What prophets and people in the scriptures have you identified with in difficult times?

Have you ever taught lessons seemed to speak directly to your difficulties?

Tried so as by fire

This is a part of a larger section of the JST about Melchizedek.

34 And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which God had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world;

35 And hath said, and sworn with an oath, that the heavens and the earth should come together; and the sons of God should be tried so as by fire. (JST Genesis 14:34-35)

I was struck in particular by v35. In what ways might the heavens and the earth come together, and how does this try the Sons of God?

The context makes me think of the day when Zion will come down out of heaven to Zion on the earth, but that seems like it would be a glorious day, not one that would try the Sons of God as by fire.

And trying “so as by fire” evokes mental imagery of the second coming of Christ, but that time should be a reward for faithfulness, not necessarily a trial. So somehow my assumptions must be off.

It may be that heaven and the earth coming together describes the test of the latter days to live side by side among people of the world and still live God’s laws. So many times in history the Lord has separated the righteous from the wicked in order to preserve His people. But when the church is mixed among everybody else, living true to our faith is a challenge. It’s a test of our integrity and our charity. The more wicked the world is, the more it tests us. In order to stay faithful, we have to be fully committed to following the Lord. In the experience of living out that decision and letting the consequence follow, the wrong desires have to be consumed, almost as if it were burned out of us.

And too, the heaven and the earth coming together could just as easily describe continuing revelation.  Continuing revelation tests us as more of heaven’s ways are revealed to us. Can we meet the challenge to keep the commandments given? Can we choose the ways of heaven over that of the world? Will we choose to attain to more than the modicum of social niceness that the world calls goodness?

And it also may be that I still don't really know what this is talking about. But the above is what I think until I learn more.

Meantime, each of us has some aspect of our lives that is trying our faith. Let’s choose heaven’s ways over the world’s.