God gives light

For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding. (2 Nephi 31:3)

This verse has helped me a lot in life. So often it helped me in my studies as I worked to understand things. It helped me whenever I’d run into things I couldn’t understand, helping me trust that either there would be a way to understand it if I learned more, or it was something worthless trying to cover that up with a pretense of obscurity. It has helped me value teachers for their ability to make difficult subjects clear, beautiful, and harmonious.

It also shows me just how involved revelation is in learning. Every insight, every realization, every epiphany is a gift from God and brings us closer to Him.

I think the scripture also teaches what a brilliant linguist God is. If He speaks to all of us according to our understanding, He must know all our languages. Not only does God condescend to speak, but to adapt His message to our level of understanding, meaning He knows the level we’re at. (I suspect He sometimes pitches His messages at a slightly higher level to motivate us to stretch a little bit so we can also grow spiritually.) He understands us perfectly, and how He must yearn for us to understand Him. And yet, here we are, with our limited mortal perspective hopefully widened a little with our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. How much we must trust Him!

Seeing Astronomical Bodies is like Seeing God

http://www.billfrymire.com/gallery/earth-moon-sun-space.jpg.html

45 The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God.

46 Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand?

47 Behold, all these are kingdoms, and any man who hath seen any or the least of these hath seen God moving in his majesty and power.

48 I say unto you, he hath seen him; nevertheless, he who came unto his own was not comprehended. (D&C 88:45-48, emphasis added)

In what way is seeing astronomical bodies like seeing God moving in His majesty and power?

It’s a strange irony that the further away a planet is, the less awesome it seems. The moon is the closest other astronomical body to us, and yet we take it for granted. The further we are, the less we see of all the fascinating individual features and the more likely we are over-simplify our understanding of it.  But the closer we get, the greater it becomes in our view until we get so close that our finite minds can no longer grasp its vastness and all its characteristics.

It’s the same with God. The further we are from Him spiritually, the less we understand of Him, the less awesome He seems (to the point He seems not awesome at all), the less we see of His character. Thus, we greatly oversimplify His idea, and that distorts our knowledge even more.  But the closer we draw to God, the greater and more majestic His perfections become until our finite minds simply explode, unable to comprehend Him fully.

Another case in point: we’re so close to this earth we stand on, and can we fully comprehend its size and complexity and elegant systems? No. In the same way, mortal man was completely unable to grasp the full majesty and power of Christ during His mortal ministry among them.

 (Scroll down to see some related animated GIFs)

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

Re-examining Jesus’s appearance on the road to Emmaus

When Jesus visited two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus, they were talking of the events of Jesus’s crucifixion and the news of the resurrection and were sad.  The main cause of their sadness seems to have been a sense of betrayal—they had trusted Jesus to be the one who would redeem Israel militarily, but contrary to their expectations He had been crucified.  They seemed to not know now where to look for redemption, and the stories of Christ’s resurrection only confused them.

When Jesus meets them, He asks them about their concerns and he listens to them, and when they’ve gotten it all out in the open, His answer is instructive: “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26)   I suspect that the term “fools” was not just an epithet meaning “unwise,” but also one expressing they were in a spiritual state bordering on apostasy.  For them to forsake Christ because He had not militarily redeemed Israel would be apostasy. 

Quick sidenote: What do you suppose was Christ’s tone and manner as he said this to them?  Was he loud and harsh?  Or was he gentle?  What would have better conveyed his concern for them?

Anyway, thinking about these things, it seems to me that Jesus’s visit was meant to pull back into the faith two disciples who were wandering because the prophesied events had not gone according to their expectations.  Through the rest of His visit with them, He shored up their knowledge through the scriptures, and when they finally recognized Him through spiritual manifestations, they had gained the foundational knowledge upon which to base their testimony.  Then, His actual presence, when they recognized Him, had much more power.

I think this has a good lesson for us.  We or others around us may struggle with testimony when prophesied events happen differently than expected.  Christ (and by extension Heavenly Father) still cares for these and desires they obtain personal witness as well.  The witness needs to be built upon a better understanding of the scriptures, spiritual witness, and also personal experience.

Limhi’s Drive to Understand

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Something that is neat about King Limhi in the Book of Mosiah is that he a drive to understand why people do what they do.

We can see this when Limhi has first contact with Ammon as Ammon comes into the land.  Ammon broke some kind of security protocol Limhi had and yet Limhi doesn’t automatically kill him, he keeps him alive and asks him why he did what he did.

10 And now, I desire to know the cause whereby ye were so bold as to come near the walls of the city, when I, myself, was with my guards without the gate?

11 And now, for this cause have I suffered that ye should be preserved, that I might inquire of you, or else I should have caused that my guards should have put you to death. Ye are permitted to speak.

12 And now, when Ammon saw that he was permitted to speak, he went forth and bowed himself before the king; and rising again he said: O king, I am very thankful before God this day that I am yet alive, and am permitted to speak; and I will endeavor to speak with boldness; (Mosiah 7: 10-12)

We see another example of this when Limhi’s people bring the wounded Lamanite king to him.  Although his people want to kill the Lamanite king immediately, Limhi stops them because he wants to know why the Lamanite king broke his oath that he would not attack the Nephites.

13 And they took him and bound up his wounds, and brought him before Limhi, and said: Behold, here is the king of the Lamanites; he having received a wound has fallen among their dead, and they have left him; and behold, we have brought him before you; and now let us slay him.

14 But Limhi said unto them: Ye shall not slay him, but bring him hither that I may see him. And they brought him. And Limhi said unto him: What cause have ye to come up to war against my people? Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; therefore, why should ye break the oath which ye made unto my people? (Mosiah 20:13-14)

Limhi seems to have the view that people generally have good reasons for what they do and sometimes they are very good ones.  He seems to have realized that one doesn’t take the trouble to find out what those reasons are, one misses important opportunities or important information.

Because Limhi took the trouble to listen to Ammon’s reasons for breaking security protocol—protocol that Ammon certainly didn’t know about—he learned that Ammon was from Zarahemla.   Because Limhi took the trouble to listen to the Lamanite king’s grievance against the Nephites, he was able to make peace.

Today let’s take the time to understand those who seem to intent on driving us crazy or offending us or misbehaving.  Maybe we’ll learn something helpful.

New lessons from Isaiah’s words about a book that is sealed

I was reading along in Isaiah and I hit those verses in Isaiah 29 that in our church are commonly spoken of as referring to the behavior of Charles Anthon concerning the gold plates—“I cannot [read them]; for it is sealed” and I wondered if there might be more meaning to be gotten from this section if we think of it also as though Isaiah were speaking of the people in his day.

10 For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:

12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

13 ¶Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. (Isaiah 29:10-14)

If we shift our perspective to see what Isaiah was saying to his own people, we can see that Isaiah came down hard on those who had become so blind and deaf to the truth that when they read the scriptures—that which Isaiah calls “the vision of all” the prophets—they had no idea what any of it meant.  It was a sealed book to them.

Furthermore, this sad state was everywhere in his society.  If Isaiah took the scriptures to someone who was learned and asked them to read it and tell him what it meant, the learned said, “I don’t know” because it was beyond his comprehension… or perhaps the learned didn’t want to believe the things in it that condemned his favorite sins, so he would tie himself in interpretive knots and eventually have to give up and confess he didn’t know.

On the other hand, if Isaiah took the scriptures to the unlearned, and asked him to interpret them, the unlearned made excuses that he didn’t have the training and thereby justified himself in not reading it at all.

So from top to bottom, no one in Isaiah’s day knew the scriptures.  And yet, they claimed to draw close to God.  What can you say about a society that claims they are close to God but who don’t understand or read the scriptures?  They are actually far from God and are learning and believing the precepts of men instead.

And God can’t have this.  He can’t let it go on forever, so He cleans things up with chastisements and punishments and so forth.  If the people could understand how God really works, they would know what He was doing and be comforted, but because their views are so twisted, it is going to look to them like something horrible is happening.  It will look like God has forsaken His people completely.  That’s quite a marvelous work and wonder, for God to work and yet for His people to think He’s completely missing from the world’s arena.  It’s a mystery what God is doing; no one sees it or understands.  The wise man’s wisdom can’t account for it, and the prudent men are found to be anything but.

While the prophecy about Charles Anthon happened once, this other view continues to be useful to us today because it warns us how important it is to understand the scriptures and live by their righteous principles.  We must not let the words of the prophets become like a sealed book to us.

Elsewhere in the same chapter, there are words of hope for those who study the scriptures and try to live by them:

18 ¶And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness….

24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.  (Isaiah 29:18-24)

29 Ways of Writing to Learn About the Scriptures

I stumbled upon an article  by Dennis A. Wright from the Religious Educator (a magazine for seminary and institute instructors) called “Using Writing to EnhanceLearning in Religious Education: Practical Ideas for Classroom Use.”  (Religious Educator 3, no. 3 (2002): 115–121.)

In this article, Brother Wright describes a variety of different writing activities that can be used in seminary and institute classrooms to help students think about the scriptures.  He lists 29 in all. (excited noises in all the land)  Check it out!

I was delighted to find that many of these activities are ones that I have done as part of my scripture study and writing for this blog.  I was pleased to find more activities to try.

I love the perspective Brother Wright gives about the importance of writing about the gospel, since it informs my efforts to blog about the scriptures:

The Lord esteems the writings of His servants so highly that He has declared He will judge the whole world from their books (see 3 Nephi 27:25–26).

But all the books have not been written. As students and teachers of the gospel, we have our own opportunity to write the words that God speaks to us. This invitation is extended to all the Saints, not just the prophets. Paul taught, “He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation and comfort” (1 Corinthians 14:3). As a church, we seek to edify others through our sacrament talks, via the lessons we teach, and in our missionary efforts. The process of thinking and writing enhances the service we offer. When we help our students learn how to ponder the gospel of Jesus Christ through classroom and personal writings, we teach students to act upon an important principle of edification. When we encourage students to communicate their faith through writing as well as through speaking, we provide an important opportunity for the Spirit to witness the truth.

Learning to ponder the gospel of Christ through writing is an important principle of edification (often neglected).  Often I’ve only understood a scripture passage more fully while in the middle of writing about it.  If I had only thought and not written, I would not have learned as much.

Communicating faith through writing gives additional opportunities for the Spirit to witness of the truth beyond the bounds of our personal presence or even our lifetime.  (This is a hope a cling to as I continue to blog.)   I think it was Hugh Nibley who speculated that writing was given by the Lord for that purpose.

Not understanding the word of God and other obstacles to bearing fruit

When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. (Matt 13:19)

This shows us how important it is to understand God’s words.  The things we hear and don’t understand are easily taken away and discarded.  This also suggests how important it is to teach the gospel plainly and simply.

When I was reading this from the parable of the sower, I also started to see that the four types of ground not only illustrates four different ways that different people respond to the word of God, but also illustrates the obstacles we are all up against to receive it.

The first obstacle, of course, is understanding it.  The Lord tries to make this obstacle as small as possible by making the gospel simple and easy to understand because if we don’t understand, we lose it really fast.

The second obstacle is tribulation and persecution.  If we can’t stay steadfast, we lose our place in the kingdom and the gospel seems like a fair-weather philosophy.  (Thank goodness it is not though.; it can get us through hurricanes.)

The third obstacle is competing concerns of the cares of the world and the temptation for gain and riches, which can certainly steal our energy and commitment—“choking the word.”

The fourth obstacle is simply us and our limitations and weaknesses. 

But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (Matt. 13:23) 

Bearing fruit thirty or sixty-fold doesn’t seem like a problem or an obstacle, but if the goal is bearing a hundredfold, we see there is still some obstacle in the way.  Maybe it isn’t really a limitation in us; maybe the obstacle has to do with how much seed we sow and grow.  Maybe there is something about the law of the harvest here.  The fourth obstacle we have to overcome is lack of commitment, which determines how much we put into obedience and discipleship.  

Quality company in celestial glory

These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn. (D&C 76:67)

There are some neat things in this verse that I learned as I was pondering it.

who have come to an innumerable company of angels – How neat is it that qualifying for celestial glory will bring us among angels!  Sometimes, when I have eyes to see, I can look around our congregation and see that my fellow ward members are already becoming angels to each other, bringing messages of hope, comfort, and inspiration.  They also help each other in times of need, in small but nonetheless extraordinary ways.   There have been times when I have been helped by my ward, and when I look back at those times, I think that if an angel from heaven had come down, they would have done exactly the same thing as those ward members did.  

And just think of someday joining an innumerable company of angels!  I grew up in Illinois, where members of the church were few and far between.  I remember what excitement I always felt when I got to go to Especially For Youth and meet so many Mormon youth who held similar standards to me.  Those were watershed days for me, and I was always sad when it had to end after a week.  When I went to college at Brigham Young University and I got to be with a whole university of students and teachers that shared my beliefs, it is hard to describe how wonderful that was to me.  I figure that when I come to the innumerable company of angels in the celestial kingdom, I will have that same sense of excitement.

who have come…to the general assembly and church of Enoch – Did you ever think that we will mingle with Enoch and his people?  When I first read this, I kind of took it for granted—duh, we’re Zion, right?—but as I thought about it, I realized how neat it will be to fraternize with them, even though several thousand years separated our respective generations during mortality.  It brought home to me that there are no generation gaps in the celestial kingdom.  Living the same principles of the gospel and partaking of the Spirit of God brings all the generations of Saints together.

and of the Firstborn – If we remember the Biblical practice, the firstborn inherited a double portion from their father.  In the Abrahamic covenant, the firstborn inherited the birthright blessing with authority in the patriarchal order.  In the Mosiac covenant, the firstborn were to be given to the Lord’s service, or else redeemed with a sacrifice.   The Bible dictionary enumerates the ways Christ was the Firstborn:

• Firstborn of the spirit children of Heavenly Father
• The Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh (first and last)
• The first to rise from the dead in the resurrection

Faithful Saints will inherit all things the Father hath, through Jesus Christ, just as if they were also “firstborn,” so they become the church of the Firstborn.  In Genesis, Joseph received the inheritance from Jacob, even though Joseph wasn’t the firstborn.  So did Ephraim, even though he wasn't the firstborn.  In these stories I see a type and shadow of the promise given to us that we will inherit all the Father has, if we are faithful.  We can become firstborn.

Here’s something else I was pondering: 

They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace; (D&C 76:94)

That bit about how they “see as they are seen, and know as they are known” takes some probing to understand and appreciate, at least for me.  One way to rephrase it might be, “they see and are seen, and they know and are known,” which to me implies full participation and honor in the celestial society, that every individual knows, recognizes, and appreciates every other individual and receives the same themselves.    How many of us feel like we are not fully known by others?  How many of us feel like we are not fully appreciated and recognized for all the talents we have built, for all the things we can do, for who we are, and for the good we have done?  Someday all of that will be made known, everything will be rewarded, and we will truly KNOW each other and see each other for who we really are.

I really look forward to that day.  I really want to know my fellow Saints better.  There is so little time to talk it seems, and I’ve gotten to the point in life where I realize there is so much more to every person than what meets the eye, so much that each person has learned by experience and study, so much wonderful variety in talent. 

So now I ask you, dear reader, what is something about you that you wish people could know and appreciate?

The Lord reveals when we think He might conceal

11 Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;
12 And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof. (Abraham 3:11-12)

I was thinking about that simple gesture of the Lord’s when He puts His hands upon Abraham’s eyes. It is fascinating that when a mortal puts their hand on your eyes, you can’t see, but when the Lord puts His hand over your eyes, you can see. But not only can you see, but you can see so much more, and not just “more,” but everything those hands made. God Himself becomes the lens by which to see the universe.

Sometimes I feel like I have that lens, but at the same time I still wish I could see what Abraham saw.

These days I’ve been praying that the Lord will open my eyes to better understand the scriptures. I sense that there is so much more there that I am just not getting because my mind can only hold so much and can only make so many associations. All I'm doing is analyzing phrases and words and trying to fit them into this big picture of gospel principles.

But maybe it is this line upon line learning that is gradually preparing me for the greater things that I’ll only be able to notice after having seen the smaller units. So maybe this is another sense in which it seems like the Lord is concealing, but He is actually revealing.

Captain Moroni's perfect understanding

And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding (Alma 48:11, emphasis added)

These are strong words about Captain Moroni, considering all the knowledge we have today that hadn’t even been thought of in his day. Yet Mormon, a disciple of Christ, considers Captain Moroni’s understanding “perfect”.

Can we aspire to this perfect understanding? Do we need to know everything in order to have this “perfect understanding”?

Mormon elaborates on what makes up Captain Moroni’s understanding.

…yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; (Alma 48:11)

Captain Moroni understood the sanctity of life. This suggests he understood the plan of salvation.

…a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; (Alma 48:11)

Captain Moroni understood the importance of agency. And he loved liberty not just for himself, but for his whole country.

Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; (Alma 48:12)

He had perfect understanding of all the blessings that had been bestowed not just on him, but on his people as well, and he understood exactly who he should be thankful to for those blessings. He also seems to have understood that it was okay to show his gratitude, because he allowed his heart to swell with thanksgiving, rather than trying to suppress it and choke it off.

…a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people. (Alma 48:12)

Captain Moroni understood the principle of work and he practiced it. He also had a perfect understanding of his own responsibility. He understood there was much to be done for his people’s welfare and safety. No one understood better than he his people’s precarious situation, because he labored exceedingly; there was so much to do and so little time to do it in.

Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ… (Alma 48:13)

He had a perfect understanding of the principles of the gospel and the need for Christ’s Atonement. He put his complete trust in Christ, achieving and retaining a remission of his sins and undoubtedly urging others to do the same.

…and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood. (Alma 48:13)

He had a perfect understanding of how covenants bind a person to act and how God assists his people to keep their righteous covenants, so he was willing to bind himself by covenant to defend his people, his rights, his country, and his religion, trusting that God would enable him to faithfully fulfill it even in the greatest extremity.

Based on this description, it seems that “perfect understanding” is possible and attainable. In fact, many of us are well on our way towards it! May we strive until we achieve that perfect understanding so that it can be said of us as it was said of Captain Moroni: “if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto [insert your name here], behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” (Alma 48:17)

Image: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.lds.org/hf/art/display/1,16842,4218-1-3-99,00.html.