Our Everyday Work is Sacred
A few Sundays ago our Elders' Quorum President commented that we sometimes forget our spiritual thoughts because all during the week we are involved with non-spiritual things like punching cows (he is a rancher) and doing our daily work. I thought at the time (and I should have said) when did punching cows stop being a spiritual activity?
The thought came up again when a couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of teaching one of our Pathway gatherings. The woman who was supposed to lead the discussion was not going to be in the class and much of the week we were in Reno for a doctor's appointment, so I didn't take the time to ask another student to take the class. The students had read and studied Alma 33 - 42. I have written about my thoughts on Alma 34:17-27 in the past, but because it was a good reminder, I will touch on it again.
Prior to verse 17, Amulek is teaching the atonement. He continues his discourse by saying "...call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you; (18) Yea, cry unto him for mercy, for he is mighty to save." Then he writes a litany of items this prayer of mercy ought to contain:
19. ...continue in mighty prayer.
20. Cry unto him ...in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.
21. ...in your houses, yea, over all your household...
22. ...against your enemies.
23. ...against the Devil...
24. ...over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. (Emphasis added)
25. ...over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase. (Emphasis added)
26. ...pour out your souls in your closets and your secret places...
27. ...let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you. (Emphasis added)
To me this is saying that if we live every day to be worthy of the blessings of the atonement and draw out our souls in prayer, our daily attempts at making a success of our jobs and businesses can be realized.
In the holy temple, we committed ourselves to consecrate everything we are and have to the building up of the Kingdom of God on earth. Not 10%, but all we have and all our education, experience, health, and spirituality, as well. If we are serious about this, we live our lives in a consecrated manner. We do not have to segregate our Sunday selves from our rest-of-the-week selves.
Listening to the Holy Ghost Leads to Thanksgiving
It has been brought to my attention that I need to heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost better and more often. I think my life would be more blessed, if I did. Twice that I can think of in the last month, I have missed wonderful opportunities and realized it only after it was too late.
In one case, we were in Idaho picking out features for the house such as flooring and cabinets. During the conversation, the young woman we were working with mentioned her genealogy. She and her mother had sent in their kits for DNA testing and were a little surprised by the results. The thought came to me that I should pursue this further and turn it into a Gospel conversation. It was a fleeting thought that was lost in the conversation with all the other people in the room. Only after I left the store did it occur to me that I could have at least left a pass-along card.
Just this past Thursday I had to get some medication. When I arrived at the pharmacy, the lady at the counter took my name and birth date, but found nothing. I had to talk with the pharmacist and get some problems worked out. It was going to take some time, so we left the store and did some shopping for the week and returned an hour later. When I returned, this lady remembered my name and birth date, even though she had helped a least a score of patients in between. I realized that she had associated my missionary name badge with my information, but I didn't say anything about it. Only after leaving the store did it dawn on me that I could have turned the conversation to a brief discussion about the Church.
Alma 34:38 says in part, "...contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but...receive it, and ...humble yourselves...worship God in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."
It had not occurred to me until I re-read this verse that accepting the promptings of the Holy Ghost not only brings blessings to us and those whom we serve, but it also allows us to live in thanksgiving. If there were no other blessing, I would want to pay heed to the promptings, just to live in thanksgiving daily. In my experience, this principle is very true.
Spiritual Murder
Do you want to experience inexpressible horror? You won't find it in the movies. Horror, yes - it is the stuff of nightmares, but it is not inexpressible horror. I have seen the effects of deeply experienced horror when associating with combat soldiers and others who have lived through situations where they somehow survived a violent, life-threatening episode, or several. With counseling and over time, those horrific experiences can be put away and, if not forgotten, placed in a compartment of the brain where they need not bother them any more.
Alma tells his son Heleman of his conversion experience and states, "...I had murdered many of his [God's] children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror." (Alma 36:14 Emphasis added)
Matthew 10: 28 states, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather rear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
That is horror I hope never to imagine, let alone experience.
The Purpose of Scripture
When Alma handed the plates over to Heleman to keep and to update, he stated that there was a sacred reason for doing so. In Alma 37:8 he gives four reasons for preserving a sacred record that is likely to become scripture. "And now, it has hitherto been wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have (1) enlarged the memory of this people, yea, and (2) convinced many of the error of their ways, and (3) brought them to the knowledge of their God unto (4) the salvation of their souls."
Our memories are limited to our experiences, and many of those we no longer retain. The advantage of the scriptures is that we now can relate the human experience we share with those who have gone before and learn from their successes, errors, and observations, without having to re-experience grief unnecessarily. We can stand on the shoulders of these giants and rise to greater heights, if we will.
The scriptures can convince those of us who are humbly willing to learn, of the error of our ways and take advantage of the healing power of the Atonement.
Bringing us to the knowledge of God, the scriptures, both ancient and modern, allow us to live a higher existence. It is truly the only way to experience progress. Progress is vain that only allows us to experience what millions of others before us experienced. While that is important and even necessary, real progress is made when our efforts lead us to greater achievements than those who have gone before us. Today, it was announced that a group of scientists in Israel have discovered a cure for cancer. Immeasurable hours, money, education and research has gone into finding a cure. I hope it is true, but even if it is not, significant progress has been made.
I will not discover a cure for the common cold, or anything like it. My progression may look very similar to the progress of millions of others, but God knows there are things I have discovered that are unique to me. Some may not be easily shared, others I have shared in teaching, preaching and by example, others I need to share in these pages, even if they are read only by myself.
Why? Because if taken at their deepest level, the scriptures, both ancient and modern, will bring us unto the salvation of our souls.
No Excuses
An observation from C.S. Lewis that has pricked my conscience and is often brought to my mind is that when we ask for God's forgiveness, we are really asking Him to excuse us. Here is the quote from the section on forgiveness in his book The Weight of Glory:
I find that when I think I am asking God to forgive me I am often in reality (unless I watch
myself very carefully) asking Him to do something quite different. I am asking Him not to
forgive me but to excuse me. But there is all the difference in the world between forgiving
and excusing. Forgiveness says “Yes, you have done this thing, but I accept your apology; I
will never hold it against you and everything between us two will be exactly as it was
before.” But excusing says “I see that you couldn’t help it or didn’t mean it; you weren’t
really to blame.” If one was not really to blame then there is nothing to forgive. In that sense
forgiveness and excusing are almost opposites.
Alma points this out to his rebellious son, Corianton when he says, "...she [the harlot, Isabel] did steal away the hearts of many; but this was no excuse for thee, my son." (Alma 39:4) There are one or two more places when Corianton is told that his excuses are not valid.
I have to be careful in my conversations with others and, especially in my prayers. I have to think, "Do I want to be excused or do I want to be forgiven?" I know the answer. God will allow the true excuses, without my asking. I want forgiveness.
It's About Time
I was asked on two different occasions while serving in Sweden whether I believed the earth was only a few thousand years old. I responded by telling of a young boy who, in praying to God, told Him that he wanted to talk to Him face to face, because he had some questions. To his surprise, God appeared to him. The boy began by asking a question.
"Is it true that a minute to you is like a hundred years to us on earth?"
"That is true."
"Is it true that a crown to you (we would say a penny) is like ten million crowns to us?"
"That is also true."
"Could I have a crown?"
"Sure, in a minute."
We are stuck with marking time by the revolutions of this earth. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all in accordance with the rotation of the globe. The tilt and relationship of the earth to the sun determine the seasons. Not that long ago I was 40; today I am well over 70. I don't feel older because of my age - that is arbitrary because of the way we tell time here on this planet. I feel older because my body has gone beyond prime and will continue to do so until my time on this planet is ended.
Alma tells Corianton, "...all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men." (Alma 40:8).
That God literally sees the end from the beginning raises all kinds of terrestrial questions. How does that effect the agency or free will of men? That sounds like predestination. To quote poor Scrooge at the end of the visit with the Ghost of Christmases to come, "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you show me."
"Spirit!" he cried, tight clutching at its robe, "hear me! I am not the man I was. I will not be the man I must have been but for this intercourse. Why show me this, if I am past all hope?"
For the first time the hand appeared to shake.
"Good Spirit," he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: "Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!"
That some understand, at least to a degree, the space/time continuum, which is well beyond my abilities at this point, none have the capacity to comprehend time, or the absence of it from God's perspective. For that, we will have to await a celestial sphere. Until then, we act in faith knowing that God holds our agency in the highest regard, for it is in our choices that we grow in every aspect of our lives, now and in eternity.
