I had my first experience last Sunday with teaching from the
youth Sunday school curriculum “Come Follow Me” manual.
I really like how it is structured around questions because
I’ve found good questions to be one of the best ways to get me interested in
learning.
At first glance, these questions seem both easy and
difficult. Easy because you feel
sure that there is a good fast answer that you could give and then be
done. Difficult because you wonder
how you could spend a full lesson learning about that particular topic.
I’ve found that in preparing these lessons, it is very
important to read all the scriptures and talks suggested in the prep material,
especially since the little blurbs describing the scriptures don’t often give a
sense of the full deliciousness thereof.
I learned a lot from the lesson “How can I keep my covenant
to always remember the Savior?” and I want to share some of the things I got
from it that have helped me.
For a long time I have pondered how the sacrament prayer
says we promise to “always remember Him” and I have wondered, “Does that mean all the time? How does a person even do that going throughout a typical
day?” I’ve pondered this for years. I’ve seen how my mind works, and I know that I can only
focus on one thing at a time.
As I’m writing this, I’m thinking about what I am going to say, and that
only, though I may take little mental breaks to deal with low-level concerns
about other stuff in my life that pop up at me.
Also, I’ve had this idea in my head that “always remembering
the Savior” means to think specifically about the events of the Atonement and
Crucifixion only. I’m not sure
where this idea came from.
So I want to share with you some of the scriptures and
pieces of conference talks that expanded my views.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)
I think it is neat that while we promise to always remember
Christ, this seems to promise that the Holy Ghost can help us remember
too. And I suppose remembering
Christ’s words is part of remembering Him, so that will work too.
36 Yea,
and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord,
and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts
be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon
the Lord forever.
37 Counsel
with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when
thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in
your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks
unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
(Alma 37:36-37)
These two verses seem
to me to describe a bunch of different ways of praying and looking at things
while remembering the Lord.
I particularly like
how Alma says, “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings.” It gives me a picture
of someone taking a problem to a counsel, much like ward counsels. But of course, when you counsel with
the Lord, it’s just you and Him.
When I counsel with
the Lord, I usually go to an empty room and shut the door so that no one can
hear me, and then I talk out loud to Heavenly Father just as though He were
right there in person listening.
“Heavenly Father, I have this problem and it is this: ________. It is really
worrying/frustrating/angering me.
I’ve tried ____, and I’ve tried _____ and I’ve tried ______. I’ve thought about trying ____, but if
I do that, then _____ will happen.
And if I try this other thing, then ____ will happen and I don’t want that
either. I don’t know what to do,
and I need help."
When I get it all
out, I sit there and think and feel.
And the first thing I feel and know is that Heavenly Father has heard me. That impression comes by itself and it is wonderful and
comforting. And then the next feeling that comes is a great sense of hope and
optimism, that things are going to work out. It is so buoyant and joyful. And sometimes I get impressions of what
to do, and sometimes I am led over a period of days to a solution, and sometimes
things just… iron out by themselves.
Feeling heard by Heavenly Father helps me be patient when I don’t get
immediate impressions of what to do.
One part of the
lesson suggested showing the youth pictures of Christ’s life from the Gospel
Art Book and inviting them to think about how remembering these stories could help them during
their daily lives.
I thought this was a curious activity, so I decided to try
it on myself. I had the Gospel Art
Book at home and I looked carefully at the pictures representing stories from
Christ’s mortal ministry and I found myself thinking of times in my life when I
identified with someone in the picture, or with an experience Jesus had.
When I looked at a picture of His baptism, I remembered my
own and the sweet feelings of that.
When I looked at a picture of Christ ordaining his apostles, I
remembered when I had been set apart for my callings by priesthood authority.
When I looked at the picture of Christ talking to groups of children, I
remembered experiences I’d had talking to and playing with children and what a
joy that was. So many pictures I
could identify something in my own experience to link it with.
That’s when it sunk in that remembering Christ could be more
than just remembering His atonement and death.
From Elder Holland’s talk “This Do in Remembrance of Me” Oct
1995:
We
could remember the Savior’s premortal life and all that we know him to have
done as the great Jehovah, creator of heaven and earth and all things that in
them are. We could remember that even in the Grand Council of Heaven he loved
us and was wonderfully strong, that we triumphed even there by the power of
Christ and our faith in the blood of the Lamb (see Rev. 12:10–11).
We
could remember the simple grandeur of his mortal birth to just a young woman. .
. .
We
could remember Christ’s miracles and his teachings, his healings and his help.
We could remember that he gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and
motion to the lame and the maimed and the withered. Then, on those days when we
feel our progress has halted or our joys and views have grown dim, we can press
forward steadfastly in Christ, with unshaken faith in him and a perfect
brightness of hope (see 2 Ne. 31:19–20).
We
could remember that even with such a solemn mission given to him, the Savior
found delight in living; he enjoyed people and told his disciples to be of good
cheer. He said we should be as thrilled with the gospel as one who had found a
great treasure, a veritable pearl of great price, right on our own doorstep. We
could remember that Jesus found special joy and happiness in children and said
all of us should be more like them—guileless and pure, quick to laugh and to
love and to forgive, slow to remember any offense.
We
could remember that Christ called his disciples friends, and that friends are
those who stand by us in times of loneliness or potential despair. We could
remember a friend we need to contact or, better yet, a friend we need to make.
In doing so we could remember that God often provides his blessings through the
compassionate and timely response of another. For someone nearby we may be the
means of heaven’s answer to a very urgent prayer.
We
could—and should—remember the wonderful things that have come to us in our
lives and that “all things which are good cometh of Christ” (Moro. 7:24). Those of us who are so blessed could
remember the courage of those around us who face more difficulty than we, but
who remain cheerful, who do the best they can, and trust that the Bright and
Morning Star will rise again for them—as surely he will do (see Rev. 22:16).
On
some days we will have cause to remember the unkind treatment he received, the
rejection he experienced, and the injustice—oh, the injustice—he endured. When
we, too, then face some of that in life, we can remember that Christ was also
troubled on every side, but not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed (see 2 Cor. 4:8–9).
When
those difficult times come to us, we can remember that Jesus had to descend
below all things before he could ascend above them, and that he suffered pains
and afflictions and temptations of every kind that he might be filled with
mercy and know how to succor his people in their infirmities (see D&C 88:6; Alma 7:11–12).
To
those who stagger or stumble, he is there to steady and strengthen us. In the
end he is there to save us, and for all this he gave his life. However dim our
days may seem they have been darker for the Savior of the world.
In
fact, in a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, our Lord of this sacrament
table has chosen to retain for the benefit of his disciples the wounds in his
hands and his feet and his side—signs, if you will, that painful things happen
even to the pure and perfect. Signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you.
It is the wounded Christ who is the
captain of our soul—he who yet bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of
love and humility and forgiveness.
Those
wounds are what he invites young and old, then and now, to step forward and see
and feel (see 3 Ne. 11:15; 3 Ne. 18:25). Then we remember with Isaiah that
it was for each of us that our Master was “despised and rejected … ; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). All this we could remember when we
are invited by a kneeling young priest to remember Christ always.
We
no longer include a supper with this ordinance, but it is a feast nevertheless.
We can be fortified by it for whatever life requires of us, and in so doing we
will be more compassionate to others along the way.
One
request Christ made of his disciples on that night of deep anguish and grief
was that they stand by him, stay with him in his hour of sorrow and pain.
“Could ye not watch with me one hour?” he asked longingly (Matt. 26:40). I think he asks that again of us,
every Sabbath day when the emblems of his life are broken and blessed and
passed.
This helped me realize that always remembering the Savior
doesn’t mean I am restricted to only thinking about his suffering in Gethsemane
or his crucifixion. I can think of
all the other parts of His life too.
In fact, since many things I do are similar to things He did, I can
think of Him at those times and ponder how He did those things.
From Elder Eyring’s Oct 2007 general conference talk “O
Remember, Remember”:
When our children were very small,
I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell
you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was
after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward
the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder,
walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been
building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.
He smiled, spoke softly, and then
rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps
toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to
the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving
you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”
I went inside. I didn’t go to bed.
Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I
understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my
children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God
blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He
could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was
serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always
do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could
have the memory someday when they would need it.
I wrote down a few lines every day
for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would
have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question:
“Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our
family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my
mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that
I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it
happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me
what He had done.
More than gratitude began to grow
in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly
Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and
refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I
grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our
remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they
happened.
The years have gone by. My boys are
grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was
reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about
how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done
in his day.
My point is to urge you to find
ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness.
I really liked this bit from Elder Eyring’s talk because it
shows how looking back over the day to see what God has done for us is yet
another way to remember Him. And
what’s even cooler is that it shows me that journaling about what we notice is
actually a way to make a tangible
memorial of how we’ve been keeping that covenant. And that memorial becomes a memory aid for our future selves
so that we can remember even more.
It builds on itself.
From Elder Christofferson’s talk “To Always Remember Him”:
I wish to elaborate on three
aspects of what it means to “always remember him”: first, seeking to know and
follow His will; second, recognizing and accepting our obligation to answer to
Christ for every thought, word, and action; and third, living with faith and
without fear so that we can always look to the Savior for the help we need. . .
.
You and I can put Christ at the
center of our lives and become one with Him as He is one with the Father. We
can begin by stripping everything out of our lives and then putting it back
together in priority order with the Savior at the center. Whatever we “get away with” in life or
manage to hide from other people, we must still face when the inevitable day
comes that we are lifted up before Jesus Christ, the God of pure and perfect
justice. We know that challenges,
disappointments, and sorrows will come to each of us in different ways, but we
also know that in the end, because of our divine Advocate, all things can be
made to work together for our good.
So I see a bunch of different ways that we can remember
Christ from what Elder Chrisofferson said.
1)
Seeking revelation about what we should do.
2)
Looking at everything we do with an eye towards
how Christ would approve or disapprove of it on the day of judgment (and of course
choosing to not do what He would disapprove).
3)
Setting our life priorities with Christ first.
4)
Facing challenges by trying to discover how the
Lord will make them be for our good.
5)
Looking to the Savior for help in our
challenges.
It’s a good bet that a lot of this is pretty engrained in us
already. (Or at least it should
be.) It is neat to know that these
things constitute part of fulfilling that covenant to “always remember
Him.” I guess I had never thought
of it that way before. I never thought
they were related to that promise to “always remember Him.”
After all this, when I was studying, I remembered something
I’d learned long ago as a writing tutor about Cognitive Load Theory. This theory says that a person can only
keep in their working memory a limited number of things at a time, and when
more things are put on it, stuff drops off. We can only remember so much. As a writing tutor, this theory was the reason we encouraged
students to write down on their papers what they were going to do to fix their
paper so that they could still remember it all once the tutoring session
ended.
But I could see a new application of Cognitive Load Theory
when I related it to the covenant that I would always remember Christ. It meant that I would have my list of
mental things that I’d need to remember, and Christ required that I place Him
on that list and keep Him there all the time. When I take little mental breaks, and check my mental lists,
Christ needs to be there.
As I’ve been trying to practice this, I’ve noticed that it
really does feel like Christ is with me, at least in my mind. I have to wonder if this is the same
thing that Christ experienced with respect to Heavenly Father when He said:
And he that sent me is with me: the
Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
(John 8:29)
I told the class I was teaching that they were lucky to be
getting this lesson this early in their lives because it really has the
potential to change everything.
Little changes in things we do often mean the harvest is
multiplied. I think if I had had
this lesson and applied it at their age, my life would have been much
better. I would have been able to
avoid a lot of the mistakes I made.
I really want to be changed because of what I’ve learned from
this lesson. I think it could make
a big difference my life. I
recognize it will be something I need to work on continually, and I really hope
it doesn’t turn into something I do just for a week and then forget about. Because I know that I have a tendency
to do that, as Mormon wrote:
1 And
thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the
children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness
doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.
2 Yea,
and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the
increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in
silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing
their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening
the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them;
yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people;
yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord
their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because
of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.
3 And
thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions,
yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and
with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him.
4 O how
foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do
iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to
hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain
things of the world!
5 Yea,
how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner
of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their
God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s
paths!
6 Behold,
they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule
and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards
them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be
their guide. (Helaman 12:1-6)
It is likely that I will forget, but I want to
remember. I suppose Satan will try
to tempt me to forget, to think that it is too much effort to try to remember
Christ always.
But it’s not.
It just requires a thought. You can’t get much easier than that. I just have to mentally reach for
Christ and keep reaching.
Look unto me in every
thought; doubt not, fear not. (D&C 5:36)
What do you do to always remember Christ? What mental habits have you built for
yourself?
