Scriptures to help with PMS

 Last night was the first time I’ve ever been awakened in the middle of the night by Pre-menstrual Syndrome (PMS).  Really weird and not fun.  Today in my scripture study I decided to look for scriptures that could help me endure PMS well.  (Does this seem like a topic that is not blogged about by polite LDS bloggers? Well, hang with me; I’m going to try to make this as edifying as I possibly can.)  Anyway... so the following is what I found.

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: (Romans 5:3-4)

PMS is a certain kind of tribulation.  (What? Are we women supposed to glory in PMS?  Evidently we are…)  PMS for me is like the beginning of an insurrection. The usually compliant natives suddenly start murmuring for no reason and begin fomenting rebellion.  I just have to have patience to get through it and I have to pray for self-control.  The patience brings experience of knowing it is possible to bridle my irritability so that I don’t hurt the people around me or beat myself up.  Experience brings hope that with God’s help I can become a better person even when my hormones seem to be working against me.

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. (James 5:11)

Job didn’t have PMS, but he had a lot of terrible things happen to him, so he is known for patience.  Even if we aren’t enjoying peace with PMS, enduring well through it will bring happiness and satisfaction… afterward.  Also, the Lord knows all things and will not withhold His tender mercies from us if we ask for help.

One of the ways that I think Heavenly Father has helped me endure though PMS in the past is by giving me a heightened awareness so I notice when I’m about to say something hurtful and ornery.  And I keep my mouth shut and then think about whether the irritant is something that usually bothers me or not.  And it usually isn’t, so I know I should definitely keep my mouth shut.

Is any among you afflicted? let [her] pray. (James 5:13)

How could it possibly be made clearer what we should do when we have PMS?  We can pray that we will overcome our hormonal afflictions and that we will not be overcome by the irritable or aggressive or saddening impulses that come upon us.

And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon [Michaela and her sister Saints] were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.  (Mosiah 24:15)

Okay, so I put us women in there to apply it better to us. 

One of the difficulties I have when troubled by PMS is that the irritation is an underlying current in my subconscious and when I want to have peace, I have a hard time feeling it; I’m just rumpled inside.  I want to feel the peace of the Holy Ghost inside when I’m doing my callings or reading my scriptures, but with PMS sometimes I can’t feel it.  This scripture teaches me that I can still submit cheerfully and with patience to the will of the Lord even if I don’t feel the peace yet.  It also assures me the Lord can strengthen me to bear my burdens with ease, to bear the little irritations that pop up and which suddenly seem maddening.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to [woman]: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Cor 10:13)

This assures us we are not alone when suffering PMS, and we will not feel it forever.  God makes a way for our bodies to bear it.  I’ve found a number of ways by which I find some relief.  When I’m feeling irritable and aggressive, it really helps me to go running, or do hard housework or to work in the yard, or to play hard fast songs on the piano where I can just pound away.  The energy needs some place to go, and there are good things I can use it for.

The odd thing is that after doing one of those things, I feel satisfaction for only about five minutes and then I get irritable again and have to do something else.  It is a queer feeling to tire myself out all day like this and still have an irritable feeling fighting with the physical fatigue of having worked so hard.  At least the next day the PMS is gone and I can finally feel satisfaction for all I got done.  How do you deal with it?

O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of [my hormones]. (Alma 31:31)

Alma anticipated afflictions coming upon him because of the people’s wickedness, but I thought his prayer was appropriate for PMS just by changing those end words a little.   With enough experience with PMS, we may start to anticipate the afflictions from hormonal imbalances and we can ask for our souls to be comforted in Christ.  Might it be possible to have a “soul” comfort that goes deeper than biological pique or sorrow? 

When my PMS is of the weepy variety, I often look at myself with chagrin saying, “Self you really don’t have reason to cry.  You’re life is a very good one right now.  You have all these blessings.”  In the past I have gotten frustrated myself for the mismatch and irrationality of the sorrow, but maybe I can just accept that sometimes I will feel that way and let it happen, knowing deeper down that God is in His heaven and all is right in my world.

But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions. (Alma 34:41)

I wonder.  Will we have to worry about hormones in heaven?  Or is that just part of mortality?

Here are some other scriptures and even a hymn that are applicable:

All these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” (D&C 122:7)

My people shall be tried in all things… (D&C 136:31)

…thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee. (Alma 38:4-5)

Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;

With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend

Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

(Be Still My Soul, hymn 124)

Do you have any scriptures that particularly help you when you are going through PMS?  How do you deal with it in a constructive way?

My blogging year in review: Top posts of 2012

After another good year of blogging, it comes to that happy time when I get to share with you readers’ top 10 favorite posts from 2012!  In no particular order, here they are…

Spiritual Crocodiles

Thoughts on “The Race of Life” (President Monson, April 2012)

Baptismal Talk on Holy Ghost

What crystal chandeliers in the temple remind me of

3 Tiny Habits

Thoughts on Elder Packer’s talk “And a Little Child Shall Lead Them”

Molting insects and putting off the natural man

Jesus's three temptations: KJV versus JST

Abinadi as a type of Christ

Why tell us that Eve was made out of Adam's rib?

Also, if I were to compile “The Small Plates of Michaela for 2012” to be engraven painstakingly, I would include as my favorites, the following posts:

The unflattering truth about flattery

Baptismal Talk on Holy Ghost

Alma’s lessons for overcoming overbearing tendencies

Prayer can be a sacred grove experience

His soul shall never hunger nor thirst

Projects like ravening wolves

Gospel principles help with de-cluttering

Sacrament talk on being committed & being converted to Christ

The new priestcraft

The parable of the rich fool

Lessons from the parable of Lazarus and the rich man

Lessons from parable of the unjust steward

It spake as a dragon: the two beasts in Revelation 13

The great example of Cornelius in Acts 10

Why we can be of good cheer (part 1) (plus parts 2-5)

Lest there was a plan laid to lead them on to destruction

Why tell us that Eve was made out of Adam's rib?

The parable of the humiliated guest

Dealing with doubts

How to rally your troops

Jesus's three temptations: KJV versus JST

The eternal wages of sowing the gospel

That compass yourselves about with sparks

Strive to enter the gate

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord

Industry and diligence

Blessed are the poor in spirit: Matthew 5 versus 3 Nephi 12

To prosper in the land

Lessons from Coriantumr’s protection

Whosoever that looketh to lust: KJV with JST versus Book of Mormon

And of course, if you are an absolute glutton for punishment, you can read top posts for 2011!  ;-D

Happy New Year to all you wonderful readers!  Thanks for reading and commenting!

So, what feeds the sheep?

-->

The story in which Jesus instructs Peter to “Feed my lambs” and “Feed my sheep” is well known.  In the past I have skimmed over this instruction, assuming I knew what it meant, but reading it recently I found myself with questions:

Do I know what “feeds” and what doesn’t?

When I am being “fed,” do I recognize it?

I think I am best fed when I hear or read something that immediately fills a specific soul-need of mine.  When that happens, I know it is a miracle and a tender mercy from God because hardly ever does the speaker or writer know of my need as they deliver the words that feed me.

I remember one specific instance--although there have been many before and since, this one sticks out—when a Thanksgiving dinner’s worth of doctrine was lobbed specifically in my direction by a youth speaker in church.  It was custom-cooked for me to chew on and to be inspired by.  There is no way that young girl could have known the obstacles I was facing, but she fed me.  I am forever grateful for that.

What about when I’m supposed to be lobbing the doctrinal turkey dinners?  Do I know what feeds and what doesn’t?  Heh, I’d like to think I do.  Doctrine, testimony, personal experiences illustrating specific principles, scripture..   Yet none of it is well-delivered without the Holy Ghost.  Trying to make a sensation doesn’t work; it feels flat and dead, even if it intrigues.  Usually I know when I’ve fed the sheep when I feel satisfaction about the message I’ve shared.  It’s kind of a light feeling, one that is unconnected with bodily sensations; I couldn’t point to any particular place in my body that this sense of satisfaction comes from. 

 And there is so much spiritual striving involved that it can get overwhelming at times.  For example:

• I want to share what I’ve learned, but I fear becoming pedantic.
• I wonder if I’m only tickling the intellect rather than feeding the soul.
• I second-guess myself to try to see if I’m really edifying enough.
• I find myself holding back when I haven’t found how it can make a difference to people, but too much holding back starts to feel inhibiting.
• I ask myself if I’ve thought everything through as I should or whether there are unexplored avenues that I have missed.
• I ask myself if I’m being overly judgmental of myself or others..
• I ask myself if I’m willing to do and be what I’m writing about or am I just saying something just to get a post done?

[insert agonizing writer noises here]

But I can also step back and realize that I’m not the only one who feels this.  I suppose that every teacher in the church who feels a deep obligation to feed their class a doctrinal feast goes through this same struggle as they prepare.  I suppose that every one who wants to write something inspiring experiences the same agony of creation and satisfaction at completion.  And when I realize that, I just wish I could thank every single one of you for the good you do, day after day, week after week, month after month..  I just want to cry with gratitude that there are so many voices for good, so many lights shining, so many pouring out the living waters. 

Will you tell me about your struggle to feed the sheep?

Climbing up some other way

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)

I recently posted about the Nephite laws concerning unpaid debts and how the label “thief and robber” applied there.

Here we have another instance of the label “thief and a robber” used, this time applied by Jesus to those who do not enter by the door of the sheepfold and who try to get in some other way besides through Him (since He has said He is the door).  This caused me to ask how trying to get into the kingdom of God some other way relates to stealing and how those separate definitions of “thief” and “robber” apply.

After some thought, I realized that just as the robber blatantly steals from you as you watch, those trying to get into the kingdom of heaven some other way besides through Christ are pretty open about how they think they can obtain salvation without doing it as set out by the prophets and the scriptures.  They don’t see a need for Christ or they have a problem with any or all of the sacred ordinances—baptism, confirmation for the Holy Ghost, temple ordinances, etc., or they don’t see a need to repent.  They insist to the messengers of salvation that they will get to heaven their own way, which seems like robbery of what is not rightfully theirs. 

Also, just as thieves steal while one’s back is turned and the theft isn’t discovered until later, those who try to obtain salvation in heaven without Christ actually steal away their own chance for salvation, and they don’t find out it is gone until much later after they die.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s church on the earth today.  The way to salvation has been revealed.

3 We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

 4 We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 5 We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. (Articles of Faith 3-5)

The Nephite law for unpaid debts

 Now if a man owed another, and he would not pay that which he did owe, he was complained of to the judge; and the judge executed authority, and sent forth officers that the man should be brought before him; and he judged the man according to the law and the evidences which were brought against him, and thus the man was compelled to pay that which he owed, or be stripped, or be cast out from among the people as a thief and a robber. (Alma 11:2)

Here we have a list of possible judgments for those who don’t pay their debts. 

1.     Those who have the means to pay can be compelled to pay what was owed.

2.     Those who don’t have liquid funds but do have tangible property that can go for the debt can be stripped of their possessions, probably to be sold to pay the debt.

3.     Those who have neither funds nor tangible property sufficient to cover the debt can be cast out from the people as a thief and a robber.

We might ask ourselves, why were those who had nothing to pay cast out?  It seems like a pretty tough judgment.  Well, you have to have someway of maintaining trust between people.  In a small community, people know who is trustworthy or not.  If the community is too large or people are moving in and out too quickly to get to know how trustworthy they are, it becomes very difficult to know who you can trust to repay debts and who you can’t.  (With our modern technology, we have credit ratings agencies now who do a lot of the work of tracking who pays and who doesn’t.)  If the number of people you can’t trust in a community becomes too great, then the burden of securing your goods becomes too great and real business and production suffers.  So, to minimize that burden, the untrustworthy people are expelled.

The next question we might ask is why the labels of “thief and robber”?   Would not one suffice?  It so happens that “thief” is different from “robber,” and a recalcitrant debtor shares characteristics of both.  A thief is one who steals without you knowing it and you find out later.  A robber is one who brazenly takes things from you to your face.   The dishonest debtor takes your money to your face (promising to pay but not intending to do so) and you find out later that their repayment of your money is missing.

I could make some comments about what our society might look like if Nephite laws were followed in our country, but it seems to me there is another lesson to take from it that is more personal.  That lesson comes as we realize that each of us is in debt to God.  We have incurred large debts because of our sins and those debts must be paid.  No tangible property can pay this debt because all we have belongs to God anyway.   Without Christ, each of the above penalties will be ours—we will be forced to pay our own debt, we will be stripped, and we will be cast out from the presence of God.   

Or we can reach out to our Savior and Mediator Jesus Christ to pay the debt for us and repent.  

Alma 57: When the Lord brings greater success out of failure

28 And now it came to pass that after we had thus taken care of our wounded men, and had buried our dead and also the dead of the Lamanites, who were many, behold, we did inquire of Gid concerning the prisoners whom they had started to go down to the land of Zarahemla with.

 29 Now Gid was the chief captain over the band who was appointed to guard them down to the land.

 30 And now, these are the words which Gid said unto me: Behold, we did start to go down to the land of Zarahemla with our prisoners. And it came to pass that we did meet the spies of our armies, who had been sent out to watch the camp of the Lamanites.

 31 And they cried unto us, saying—Behold, the armies of the Lamanites are marching towards the city of Cumeni; and behold, they will fall upon them, yea, and will destroy our people.

 32 And it came to pass that our prisoners did hear their cries, which caused them to take courage; and they did rise up in rebellion against us.

 33 And it came to pass because of their rebellion we did cause that our swords should come upon them. And it came to pass that they did in a body run upon our swords, in the which, the greater number of them were slain; and the remainder of them broke through and fled from us.

 34 And behold, when they had fled and we could not overtake them, we took our march with speed towards the city Cumeni; and behold, we did arrive in time that we might assist our brethren in preserving the city.

 35 And behold, we are again delivered out of the hands of our enemies. And blessed is the name of our God; for behold, it is he that has delivered us; yea, that has done this great thing for us.  (Alma 57:28-35)

In this block of verses, Gid explains what happened to the Lamanite prisoners that allowed him and his army to come to the aid of Helaman at Cumeni—Nephite spies with bad news of the approaching Lamanite army shot their mouths off where the Lamanite prisoners could hear, which led to the prisoners revolting, which led to the army killing those rebelling, which led to the Lamanites trying to escape in a mass, which led to a general slaughter with a minority of prisoners escaping, which led to Gid and his army returning just in time to save Cumeni.

Both Gid and Helaman attribute their victory to the miraculous power of God.  Helaman and his men were able to hang on just long enough, which was a miracle, considering the stripling warriors were so wounded and the rest of the army seemed about to give way at any moment.  Gid’s timely arrival at Cumeni was a miracle considering he had already been assigned to guard the Lamanite prisoners to Zerahemla and was in the process of doing that duty.  It was almost as if God took all the prisoners away from him so he could go back to Cumeni.

Of course, the miracle of Gid’s arrival is easy to understand from a broad view, but I wondered if it might be possible to see the hand of the Lord working in the smaller events that contributed to his arrival. 

First, it started to seem odd to me that the Nephite spies had said anything to Gid’s army at all.  Gid’s army was occupied with transporting prisoners to Zerahemla; surely the spies could see that.  What did the spies expect Gid to do?  Leave all the prisoners and go back to Cumeni?  (“Here, Mr. Lamanite, you stay right here until I get back.  Don’t go ‘way now, y’hear?”) 

Another thing that seems unusual is that the spies felt so urgently about their news that they spouted it off without caring who was in earshot, Lamanite or Nephite.  Any armchair strategist can tell you that you shouldn’t let your POWs get any hint of news that the war is going badly for you.  Naturally, when the Lamanites heard, they took courage and revolted.

At this point, I have to say that there is something strangely humorous to me about Gid’s story of how the Lamanites in a body ran upon Nephite swords.  Not that I find death amusing, but it just reminds me of a form that sibling fights sometimes take.  You know, something like, "I'm going to stick my fist out, and if you run into it, it's your fault!"  Only in Gid's case it might have been, “I’m going to stick my sword out, and if you run into it, it is your faaault!”

But this brings me to another odd thing--the Lamanites didn’t revolt to take over; they revolted to escape.  Previous in the chapter it says the Lamanite prisoners would “would break out in great numbers, and would fight with stones, and with clubs, or whatsoever thing they could get into their hands” (v14), but you don’t see any of that here.  Instead, they just want to get away.  And there’s something odd about that too; you’d think that when the Lamanite prisoners heard a Lamanite army was about to attack and destroy Cumeni they would want to join their people in that attack.  But no, they run off in a different direction.  They seem to have had courage enough to escape, but not courage enough to rejoin the Lamanite fight for Cumeni. 

Now let’s look at it from Gid’s perspective.  Here he is, trying to do his duty, taking an admittedly huge number of Lamanite POWs to headquarters and suddenly, for reasons completely outside his control, the situation starts to dissolve into chaos.  Bad news, spreading rumors, prisoner revolt, massacre, escape of the remainder of the prisoners!  Epic FAIL!  No matter what he did to try to clamp down on it, it just got worse.  How is this going to look when he gives his report?  Oy vey! 

But what does he do when all the prisoners are gone?  Does he indulge in a pity party or sulk?  Does he resign his command?  Does he hide?  No, he books it with his army back to Cumeni to help Helaman and succeeds in checking the attacking Lamanite army that would have overpowered the Nephite forces.  You have to give him credit for his firmness of mind and resolve to act.  And in the end, he was able to look back on the ugly prisoner incident and see how it fit into the grand design of deliverance and victory.

           

So what does this mean for us today?

There’s a very comforting message about failure in this story.  Elsewhere in the Book of Mormon you see that failure and loss arises out of wickedness.  The Nephites lose their lands to invading Lamanites and we are told that it was their wickedness that brought that about.  However, in this story, it seems like Gid did the best he could, and he still failed.  This shows that we may fail in the course of our duty when we’re trying to do the right thing.  (It’s a very painful experience to have and I don’t know anyone who likes failure.)  But because Gid went right to back to work, anxiously engaging himself in trying to help his people, ultimately he was blessed with success, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.  In the same way, if we refuse to let ourselves be discouraged by failure and anxiously engage ourselves in good causes, someday we’ll be able to look back and see how the Lord used our failures to make our greater victories possible.

In what ways have failures led to greater victories for you?

The Lord's word is sent and prospers

 

10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Here Isaiah compares the word of God to rain in order to show how the word of God works in our lives.  We see the rain come down and hit the ground, but we are not usually watching to see it soak in.  We don’t see how it nourishes sees and roots and how it helps plants to grow.  And the positive effect of rain on plants is not immediately visible; it takes a little time to see wilty plants perk up or seeks sprouting, but it is effective.

In the same way, when we teach gospel principles or when we see gospel principles taught, we don’t always get to see it penetrate a heart and inspire a person to change their life and repent.  We don’t see who is impacted or to what extent.  Rarely do we get to see signs this is happening, nor does it happen all at once.  However, it does work.  It works in our lives, if we let it, and it will work in others’ lives.  And I suppose that even if the harvest is not entirely what we would expect, the harvest will be what God intended.

I think Isaiah was inspired to give this principle to people who were so impatient to see results of their preaching that they got discouraged if listeners didn’t immediately change in the way they wanted.  With that kind of attitude, if immediate change is not seen, one tends to start believing that the word of God is not effective at all, that it “returns void” of results.  Isaiah assured his people (and us) that the word of God is effective, but takes time and patience, that it works where we can’t see, and it does what God pleases, not necessarily what we please.

Of course the other principle that complements this one is agency.  Everyone gets to choose to follow the Lord or reject His influence.  Everyone gets to discover the consequences of their choices.  One of the major purposes of the Lord’s word is to make us aware of our choices, to bring to our attention the best possible choices along with the eternal blessings in the hopes that we will choose His way.  Another purpose of the Lord’s word is to remind us that it isn’t too late to be redeemed by Christ’s power, nor is it too late to repent and make better choices.  Those purposes are always fulfilled, even if a person makes the wrong choice.

No matter how far down we fall, there is always a part of us that yearns to be obedient to the Lord’s word.  The Holy Ghost speaks directly to this part of us.  Following is the challenge of a lifetime.

What good choice are you going to make or what change are you going to make in your life today because of the word of the Lord that was sent to you?

On women wearing pants in church

While this flap about LDS feminists protesting by wearing pants at church continues, I thought I would share what you might call “philosophies of men mingled with scripture.”  Or maybe it’s “philosophies of women,” since I happen to be female…

Man looketh on the outward pants but the Lord looketh on the heart.  (Michaela Stephens translation of 1 Samuel 16:7)

Pants are deceitful, and skirts are vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.  (Michaela Stephens translation of Proverbs 31:30)

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines commandments about pants and skirts.  (Michaela Stephens translation of Matthew 15:8-9)

Ye judge after the pants; I judge no man.  (Michaela Stephens translation of John 8:15)

For if there come unto your assembly a women with a gold ring in goodly skirts, and there come in also a woman in pants;

And ye have respect to her that weareth the skirt, and say unto her, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the other, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

Are ye not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts? (Michaela Stephens translation of James 2:2-4)

Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of pants, or of putting on of skirts;

But let it be the hidden women of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. (Michaela Stephens translation of 1 Peter 3:3-4)

That is all.  

Move along folks, move along, nothing to see here..

Experiments with secret prayer

 5 And when thou prayest thou shalt not do as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. (3 Nephi 13:5-6)

Jesus’s command to pray secretly is one I’ve historically had troubles with.  I’m not sure why.  Usually I interpret praying in secret to mean praying inside my head rather than out loud.  (I think I’ve had a some kind of notion that if I pray internally then the devil won’t know and won’t be able to use my prayers against me, but this gives too much respect to the devil, so I’m trying to get rid of it..)  Unfortunately, inside-my-head prayers often die away into unfocused daydreaming.

Every once in a while, I become so frustrated with a problem that I find myself bursting out with a spontaneous prayer out loud.  I’m alone a lot, so when it comes out, it is essentially secret prayer.

I’ve noticed that when I pray out loud, the answers seem to come in very obvious ways, in a manner so open as to feel miraculous..   I’m not sure why this is, but I’ve seen it happen often enough that I have to testify of it.

Just an example:  Last week I was getting very frustrated with my blogging process and how composition was degenerating into an unproductive cycle of time-wasting.  Out of desperation I prayed out loud, though if you’d heard me, you would probably have said I was venting.  A few hours later, a woman in our ward called me just to find out how I was doing because she had been thinking about me all day(!!!), so I spilled it all to her, and in the subsequent conversation, she gave me some suggestions that answered my prayers!  (insert angel chorus here)  Coincidence?  Not on your life.

After having a few experiences like this, I’ve come to the conclusion that when we pray in secret, we are not really alone.  Heavenly Father is there with us and listening as Jesus said.  Even if we can’t see Him, He’s there and He listens.  It’s kind of odd to think of Heavenly Father hiding Himself in invisibility; it sounds like the stuff of fiction, invisibility cloaks and all that. 

For me, secret prayer takes faith.  It takes faith to speak to God in a room that looks empty and trust that He hears even when I can’t see Him or hear a response with my ears.  Thankfully, I can hear Him with my heart.  I feel my soul stir with a little twinge of joy and I know He got the message.

What are your experiences with secret prayer?   Is it hard for you?  Why or why not? 

8 Ego hazards of religious blogging

If you think blogging about faith and religion is a walk in the Garden of Eden, let me tell you about eight hazards to watch out for.  (They’re like sssssssssnakessss..)

#1  When I figure something out something in the scriptures that I never knew before, I think, “That was awesome!  Lord, give me a teaching calling!”

(Then I realize that it would take about 4 minutes to explain what I just learned and I’d have 30 minutes of lesson time left to fill.)

#2 When someone disagrees with me, I think, “You are going APOSTATE!”

(Well, not really.)

(Well actually, yeah, kinda.)

(And then I realize I forgot to take into account some other scriptures that disagree with me too.)

(And then I remember that I have a right to be wrong.)

(And then I remember that means others have a right to be wrong too.)

#3 When someone else blogs about the same thing I was thinking of blogging about, I think, “Gee, I must be in tune with the concerns of the times!”

(And then I realize that two people thinking about the same thing does not necessarily mean the rest of the world is thinking about it too.) 

(And then I realize that two people saying the same thing about world problems become two witnesses, which, you know, is practically prophetic.. )

(And then I remember that mass media repeats certain messages that we wouldn’t necessarily want to pattern our lives after, so there’s always the danger of being falsely-prophetic.)

#4 When I look at the number of followers on my blog, I think, “A bunch of people think I’m awesome!”

(And then I see some other blogs (cough) Middle-aged Mormon Man (cough) and see they have about six times more followers and gained them in half the time and I realize that my appeal is not nearly as wide as I think it is.) 

#5 When another blogger (or even the Mormon Times bloggernaclebackbench) links to a post I’ve written and riffs off it, I’m think, “I have arrived at the status of internet authority and expertise!  Everyone should listen to me!”

(And then I remember that in a day or two, I will be right back in “non-authority” status again as people move on to link to other cool sites.)

#6 When I do research on a block of verses or a chapter and find someone has blogged about it and given about fifty times more insight than I have gained so far, I’m inclined to bow in profoundest humility and link, while trying to smother envy that they posted on it first.

(The humility isn't the hazard.)

(The envy is.)

(And then I realize that the Lord allows other people to have insight too, and the gospel didn't come out of me.)

#7  When a General Authority says something extremely close to what I’ve blogged about, I think, “They read my blog, they liked it, and decided to quote me!”

(And then I read a prophet biography, realize how freakin’ busy they are, and realize it is much more likely that the same spirit that enlightened me also enlightened them on the same topic without them actually having to even know my blog existed.  It’s ninja spiritual skilz, I’m tellin’ya.)

#8 And, on a semi-annual basis, after listening to at least 32 fabulous talks in general conference and anticipating composing a post of conference highlights, my reaction is:  OVERWHELM  FAIL

(And then I realize that I don’t have to obligate myself to say something about everything.)

Yeah.

Sometimes I have to tell my blogging to Leggo my Eggo….er.. Ego.