Called the People of Ammon

This bit from the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis jumped out at me:

…And they went down into the land of Jershon, and took possession of the land of Jershon; and they were called by the Nephites the people of Ammon; therefore they were distinguished by that name ever after. (Alma 27:26)

It first strikes me as an incredible compliment to Ammon that the Nephites called the Anti-Nephi-Lehis “the people of Ammon.” It gives a sense that Ammon was amazing. Wouldn’t it be incredible if you or I were instrumental in converting so many people that they were called “the people of [your name]”?

But then, Ammon wasn’t the one who did all those conversions. First of all, it was the Spirit, and Ammon was only one of the instruments. Also, Aaron and his other brothers had a big part to play as well. They were all involved. So, it wasn’t necessarily fair to the others to have Ammon shoulder all the credit that way. (Ammon was probably personally embarrassed by it as well.)

And another thing—it was the Nephites who used this name for them, not the Anti-Nephi-Lehis. The Anti-Nephi-Lehis already had their own name for themselves to distinguish them from the Lamanites. We don’t really know how they felt about this name the Nephites put on them. They may have had mixed feelings about it—glad to be identified with Ammon, who was so exemplary, but perhaps wishing for more accuracy.

We perhaps could understand how they feel when we consider how we could be called Latter-day Saints because of the full name of our church, but others have called us “Mormons,” and we’ve had to own and accept that name, even though we consider ourselves Christians.

I really like the next verse that characterizes the Anti-Nephi-Lehis:

And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end. (Alma 27:27)

“Distinguished for their zeal.” What do you think that looked like in daily life? Excitement and enthusiasm for doing their duty? Love and interest in prayer and study of the word of God? Interest in serving others? Did this arise out of the joy of their conversion, or is this also something we can choose to become? I think one has to choose it, because while it understandable that conversion from an awful state would lead to great gratitude, there are people who have always been faithful who continue to maintain their zeal.

It might seem superfluous to add that the Anti-Nephi-Lehis were “perfectly…upright,” but think what it would mean if someone was distinguished for their zeal toward God but was not perfectly upright in all things. There would be an element of hypocrisy there. Zeal means nothing without uprightness.

So, if someone is zealous toward God and perfectly upright, does that mean they are perfect? I don’t know? I imagine they would be close to perfection, and it would only be those little errors and occasional mistakes that would create a problem. But it also says the Anti-Nephi-Lehis were “perfectly honest,” so they would be willing to admit their faults, and then because of their faith in Christ, they would be quick to repent. How can you go wrong if you repent every time you notice (or have it brought to your notice) that you have erred or transgressed?

Today let’s work on being zealous for God, not expecting happiness from something indefinite or mysterious out there, but putting all our efforts on doing the Lord’s will. Let’s find our joy in that and strive to be upright in all things.

Never to be Blotted Out, Mosiah 5:11-12

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At the end of King Benjamin’s speech and after his people have taken on them the name of Christ, he says some things using an analogy of writing and blotting that are important to understand:

11 And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts.

 12 I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you. (Mosiah 5:11-12)

This idea of writing and blotting out is an interesting figure of speech.  I had the idea in my head for the longest time that to blog something out was to cross it out with more ink so that it couldn’t be read, but with some research, I found out that wasn’t what it meant at all.

There is blotting paper that is used to absorb extra ink after someone has written so that ink dries faster, but that is, I think, a relatively new invention.

Somewhere—I wish I could remember or find the source again—I read that in ancient times there was no way to erase ink from a writing surface except to re-wet it and press some kind of cloth to it to try to lift the softened ink up and out.  Removing the ink by blotting took a while, but it was possible.

So, King Benjamin uses this image to teach that when we take the name of Christ upon us, it should be written on our hearts, but sin and transgression have the effect of blotting that name slowly out of our hearts, which is why we have to take heed that we do not transgress. 

In the beginning, there was taxonomy…

In the book Glut: Mastering Information Through The Ages there is the story told of anthropologist Brent Berlin walking through the Peruvian rainforest with a guide from the local Aguaruna tribe. Berlin listened as his guide pointed out the names of all the plants and animals they encountered. The tribe had developed an elaborate taxonomy of their own to classify and categorize the living things around them.

Berlin also discovered later that folk taxonomies are startlingly complex in order to organize their understanding of plants and animals. History credits Linnaeus and Aristotle with starting to catagorize living things, but it is suspected that the practice goes further back. It would be highly useful to learn very quickly what plants and animals were poisonous and harmful and which weren't.

When I read about this, I instantly thought of some verses I had recently read in the Pearl of Great Price:

19 And out of the ground I, the Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and they were also living souls; for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life, and commanded that whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that should be the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but as for Adam, there was not found an help meet for him. (Moses 3:19-20)

Here’s a really cute poem I found more than a year ago that seems to bring this event to life:

Adam’s Task, by John Hollander

And Adam gave names to all cattle, and
to the fowl of the air, and to every
beast of the field...GEN 2:20

Thou, paw-paw-paw; thou, glurd; thou, spotted
Glurd; thou, whitestap, lurching through
The high-grown brush; thou pliant-footed,
Implex; thou awagabu.

Every burrower, each flier
Came for the name he had to give:
Gay, first work, ever to be prior,
Not yet sunk to primitive.

Thou, verdle; thou, McFleery’s pomma;
Thou; thou; thou--three types of grawl;
Thou flishket; thou. kabasch; thou, comma-
Eared mashawk; thou, all; thou, all.

Were, in a fire of becoming,
Laboring to be burned away,
Then work, half-measuring, half-humming,
Would be as serious as play.

Thou, pambler; thou, rivarn; thou, greater
Wherret, and thou, lesser one;
Thou, sproal, thou zant; thou, lily-eater.
Naming’s over. Day is done.

(from Selected Poetry (New York: Knopf, 1993)

I think it says something about God's love for us and desire for us to learn that He allows us to make our own names for things. He wants us to discover for ourselves. I think it is also neat that He uses our names for things when He communicates. In a certain sense, it is another example of the condescension of God.

Image: SchoolWorkHelper—St. Rosemary Educational Institution, http://schoolworkhelper.net/2010/07/scientific-taxonomy/

Seeing double names in the Book of Moses?

There's an interesting duality that is being set up throughout the Book of Moses. It has to do with duplicated names. (I really wish I could find the internet source that first pointed this out to me. I tried to find it, but I couldn't.)

* There is Enoch the son of Cain, and there is the holy Enoch who builds the city Zion, preaches, and walks with God.
* Cain's Enoch built his own city too, but it wasn't Zion.
* There is the righteous land of Cainan, where the good Enoch came from (Moses 6:17,41), and there is the bad people of Canaan (Moses 7:6-8) who live in a hot, barren, cursed wilderness and who destroy people.
* There is the good Lamech, the father of Noah, and then there is the bad Lamech, who killed his great grandfather.
* There is Methusael (great-grandson of the bad Enoch) and then there is Methuselah (son of the good Enoch).

We are being shown the two possible ways we can go. One leads up, the other leads down. We are shown the author of each way, and the consequences of each way. They each have their organization and their covenants, but one is counterfeit of the other. One leads to life, the other leads to death. We choose which one we take.

Name-calling

But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of his judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council; and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (3 Nephi 12:22)

Something I notice in this scripture is that Christ says that we should not be angry with people. But it also seems to say that we shouldn’t call people derisive names. Part of me wonders if this is because calling people names is particularly provoking and tends to make them angry. And it could also be that calling people something contemptible indicates our own arrogance, which is a dangerous spiritual state.

In my family we were trained to not call each other names. Of course we messed up just as much as anybody, but we knew we weren’t supposed to.

Have you ever been in a place where people called each other the worst names in the most affectionate way? I saw this for a while. I really wonder about that. I don’t understand it. I don’t like it, because it gives outsiders the completely wrong idea about the nature of the relationship. “Whore” is just not a term of endearment. Neither is "witch" or some of those other things.

Just some random thoughts I have on the scripture...