One lower light shining

Yesterday at institute, our teacher was gone, so we had one of the recent RMs from the ward sub in.  Although the lesson was fairly decent, he seemed to fall back on a lot of gospel cliches–words and phrases that we’ve all heard hundreds of times before.  One of those that stood out to me was “feel the Spirit.”

“Feel the Spirit” is a phrase that’s really common among us Mormons.  We say it all the time, usually in reference to coming closer to God or increasing our personal spirituality.  Yet the phrase itself denotes a passive state of mind, one where we’re just waiting around for God to make us feel good.

That doesn’t sit well with me, because I know that that’s not the way God works.  Yes, He gives us comfort–after all, “Comforter” is one of the names of the Holy Ghost–but that’s not all that He does, and certainly not the most important thing either.

The Holy Ghost’s mission is to testify of Christ and bring us unto Him, and He does that primarily by communicating eternal truths and giving us personal guidance and inspiration.  He doesn’t just exist to make us feel good–quite the opposite, in fact.  Through His still, small voice, He pushes us to repent, be baptized, keep our covenants, and endure faithfully to the end.  If we’re just sitting around doing nothing, He won’t come to us–or if He does, it’s usually to kick us in the pants.

I submit that instead of the term “feel the Spirit,” we should use the term “receive the Spirit.” This is in connection with the baptismal ordinance, which ends “and say unto you, receive the Holy Ghost.”

To receive the Spirit, we need to be striving to follow the gospel–to exercise faith, continually repent, keep our baptismal covenants, and follow the promptings and inspiration of the Holy Ghost.  We need to make place in our lives to listen to that still small voice–to tune out the distractions and actively listen.  We need to humble ourselves so that our hearts are contrite enough to follow His guidance, regardless of how it seems to contradict our own plans and desires.

In short, I hope that in speaking of the Holy Ghost, we can recognize that inspiration is not just a “feel good” thing.  It’s a vital part of our eternal salvation, and as such it requires an element of work.  Let’s not forget that.

Tags: baptism, Doctrine of Christ, faith, Holy Ghost, inspiration, language, promptings, repentance, work

Man, this blog has been dead for a LONG time!  That’s really no good.  It’s time to change that.

I graduated about two months ago from college, and since then, I’ve found myself reading scriptures a lot more frequently than I used to when I was in school.  I guess it’s one of the benefits of having more mental space and/or free time–instead of constantly rushing from project to project, I can structure my days however I want.  That’s WAY nice.

I’ve been making good progress in the Arabic Book of Mormon.  Right now, I’m in Mosiah chapter 13, where Abinadi is preaching to King Noah and his people.  Maybe in a later post, I’ll have to break down Abinadi’s message, because it is absolutely AWESOME.  The way he responds to King Noah’s priests’ attacks by teaching them about the Savior, and how Christ saves, not the law–it’s awesome.  I love it.  More on that later.

One interesting thing that struck me was the fact that Abinadi disappeared for two years between the start of his ministry and the epic finish, when he was martyred.  Where did he go for those two years?  Why did he stop preaching?  What else was he doing?

Perhaps he needed those two years to gather his courage and commit himself to the Lord’s work.  Perhaps he was scared of being killed and needed that time to overcome that fear.  I don’t know–it’s just my own speculation–but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.

Too often, I think we treat the prophets as if they’re somehow these superhuman beings–beings who are immune to temptations, devoid of weaknesses and flaws, and always choose the right, without any kind of hesitation or fear.  I don’t think that’s a healthy way to read the scriptures.

When we think of the prophets as these superhuman beings, it’s easy to think that they’re out of our league–that we’ll never be as obedient as Nephi, as bold as Abinadi, or as repentant as Alma.  They slowly cease to become role models and start to become idols, lovely pictures of righteousness that we love to look at but generally keep on a shelf somewhere.

Instead, when I read the scriptures, I find it much more  edifying to look at the ways in which the prophets are human–not to point out flaws, but to say “yes, that was something he struggled with and this is how he overcame it.” By humanizing them, I realize that I can be like them–that we’re all disciples of Christ together, and that through His grace, we can gain the strength to accomplish miracles in spite of our shortcomings.

I wonder what happened to Abinadi in those two years.  If I ever write an LDS novel, that’s one story that I’d love to write.  Maybe he met a girl…

Anyways, those are some of my thoughts on Mosiah right now.  I’ll be sure to update this blog more often–my goal is to read from the scriptures every day, and I’m sure that will give me lots of stuff to write about.  Expect this blog to become a lot more active in the near future.

Tags: Abinadi, flaws and weaknesses, Mosiah, prophets, scripture study, sin, temptation

I just got off the phone with an old family friend from back home.  Her name is Sheryl, and today was the 10 year anniversary of her baptism in our ward.  When she talked with my mom, she was so excited about that fact that my mom sent me an email suggesting that I giver her a surprise and call her.  After talking with her, I’m glad I did.

Sheryl has had a very rough life.  I don’t know all the details (and I don’t really want to), but I know that she has a very controlling and manipulative mother and, if I remember correctly, an abusive father.  It didn’t help that she’s mentally  retarded in some ways–not completely, but she doesn’t have the capacity to be fully independent without some support.  Fortunately, her sisters have taken very good care of her.

She was baptized the year of the Boston Temple open house, and I remember talking with her on the way up and back.  She was very negative and pessimistic, about life in general as well as her specific trials and hardships.  No matter what we talked about, the conversation eventually became about one of her many physical illnesses, or about the bad situation with her mother, or about how her family didn’t want her to join the church and she was worried about that, etc.

As a new convert, she required a lot of care and attention, and my father and I were called to home teach her.  She didn’t have a way to get herself to church, so most of the time we gave her a ride.  Every Sunday, she would be complaining about one thing or another.  However, she was a good person, once you got past all the negativity.  Pop and I did our best to smile, nod, and be her friend.

Over time, she started changing.  The church reached out to her, and she was touched by the support.  In addition, she had the missionaries over as often as she could, and kept in close touch with the missionary who baptized her (they developed a very special relationship–to this day, she always talks about him).

I remember the year before I left on my mission, she gave a testimony that was amazingly powerful.  It wasn’t particularly eloquent, but it was 100% genuine and sincere.  In it, she told the story of her conversion and how it’s changed her since.  None of the tears were faked–Sheryl never was one to let you know anything other than what was on her mind (those of you who know her are smiling right now, I can tell )

When I came back, she was almost a completely different person.  She still had her health problems and bouts with depression, but she didn’t complain hardly at all.  Instead of talking about her family problems, she would talk about her church friends and how much she loved the ward.  She was still having the missionaries over regularly, and there was a very different spirit in her apartment.

Then I went out to college, and I hardly saw her–only briefly for Christmas or summer break, for the few weeks I was home during the summer.  Even then, I could tell that she was still changing.  It was not difficult to tell that the church had changed everything in her life, not only bringing a new spirit, but in general quality of life ways as well.  Even though my father was no longer her home teacher, she still kept in close contact with my family, and became one of my mother’s close friends.

When I talked with her now, I was utterly surprised to see how much she’d changed.  The first thing she did was ask how I was doing.  When I told her I’m graduating soon and talked about how I’m uncertain about what’s going to come next, she told me she’s confident that Heavenly Father will be with me, “because that’s what he’s there for.” She asked about my sisters, about Kate and Danny, how they’re doing, about how good of a person Danny is, etc.

When I asked her how she was doing, she said she was doing well–that she hasn’t been sick all year.  She also talked about the ward, how much it’s grown, how much she loves it–I think the only negative thing she said was that she doesn’t like to sit in the overflow because the chairs are hard, so she has to come early instead!

Looking at her, I have to say it’s amazing how much the gospel changes people.  I remember a time when part of me dreaded talking with her (don’t tell her I said that!), just because she would always be so negative.  It took work to be her friend.  But now, after that conversation we just had, I honestly feel refreshed and energized.  She is a good person, and the gospel has brought out the absolute best in her and helped her to flourish.

The scriptures say that we can have faith because every good thing comes from God.  I know that that is true.  Through His sacrifice and atonement, Jesus Christ can change our lives and turn us around.  We only need to trust in Him and become His disciples.  If we do what we can, giving Him our all, He does what we cannot–He changes us in ways that we cannot change ourselves.  This is my testimony, and I offer it to you in the name of my Savior, who is Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Tags: baptism, conversion, discipleship, faith, friends, optimism, the atonement

For the Washington Seminar, I’m required to read a handful of chapters every week from Senator Bob Graham’s book, America: The Owner’s Manual, and respond with some of my own thoughts.  The book is basically a political how-to book: how to get our democratic system to work for you.

This week, one of the chapters was on political timing.  Basically, if you want to get something done in government, you have to propose it at the right time.  The last week of the fiscal year isn’t the best time to propose a new program, for example, just as tax hikes or cutting programs aren’t probably going to happen in an election year.  All very practical advice.

I surprised myself in the reading response, however.  This is what I wrote:

Joseph Smith ran into the problem of timing when he petitioned the federal government for redress.  What was he to do, however?  The need for help was urgent, as the saints were homeless on the banks of the Mississippi river, and needed aid immediately.  Also, the matter at hand was a moral one, and should have transcended petty politics–human rights should be universal, and their protection should apply during election seasons as much as during non-election years.  However, because of the political cycles in Washington, the saints did not receive redress for their grievances, Martin Van Buren purportedly stating “your cause is just,” but I can’t take it up because I’d “lose the vote in Missouri.”

However, in the Lord’s eyes, this was no excuse for failure to act.  In D&C 123:6, the Lord commanded the saints to petition for redress so that “[they] can fully and completely claim that promise which shall call him forth from his hiding place; and also that the whole nation may be left without excuse before he can send forth the power of his mighty arm.” The Lord’s arm was manifest in the horrific Civil War, which tore the nation apart less than 21 years later.

If the Lord does not honor the ups and downs of political cycles as a legitimate reason for government inaction, why should we?  Or is this a case where we need to be “wise as serpents, yet harmless as doves,” and take yet another Machiavellian approach to politics?

So what do you think of that?  Do you agree or disagree?  Are political cycles natural and expected, or are they reprehensible because they make politicians abandon their moral imperative?

Tags: accountability, college, democracy, Joseph Smith, schoolwork, Washington DC

I had an interesting online conversation the other day with a friend on Facebook.  We got to talking about listening and showing genuine interest in other people (which devolved into the all too common “I haven’t been reading my scriptures enough”), and she started sharing some interesting “spiritual quirks,” like how doing homework on Sunday or missing scripture study in the morning makes the day fall apart in strange ways, or how things come together when the little things (like regular scripture study) are done.

This got me to thinking about my own life, and the quirks I’ve noticed.  It was hard, at first, because I don’t usually notice this kind of stuff–not on a day to day basis, anyway.  Part of that probably comes from falling into a routine–for example, February is usually a month that flies by without me having any idea what I did in that time.

When I thought about it some more, though, I noticed a few things.  This past month, for example, I noticed that whenever I read from my pocket Book of Mormon while riding the metro/bus, I became more aware of the people around me.  It didn’t really matter what I read, but it’s happened just about every time.

Yesterday started out as a particularly bad day at the office.  I’m not sure exactly what it was, but all the little things (like the phone ringing, other people getting in each others’ way, etc) were just going wrong.  I could tell it wasn’t going to be pretty.

My supervisor asked me to get a library book from Georgetown.  I made the long trip over there, still in a sour mood, only to find out they didn’t have it.  Plus, I was late for a conference, so my other coworker had to run off to cover it, which really ticked her off.

So I was sitting in the crowded DC Circulator bus listening to some music, when I realized “hey, I’ve got my Book of Mormon in my pocket.  It’s been days since I read my scriptures–why don’t I do that?” So I opened up to 1 Nephi 8 (I started from the beginning a couple of weeks ago), and read the whole chapter in the ten minutes it took to get back to K street.

Nothing I read was particularly earthshaking, but the thought came into my head that I could decide not to have a bad day.  So I decided to change my mood around, and the rest of the day was quite awesome!  I ended up running to the DC public library, getting lost in Chinatown (WAY more awesome than being stuck in the office), meeting a lot of nice, helpful people, and just in general having a good day.

It wasn’t a particularly life-changing experience, but it is one of the “small and simple things” that shows me it’s absolutely essential to keep a balance between the spiritual and temporal sides of life.  It’s difficult to do, but even when we make a very small effort to be spiritually minded in our daily lives, good things come of it.

Tags: daily living, friends, frustrations, in the world..., scripture study, Washington DC