Thou Shalt Not Hurry

I have often wondered why Alma said he sinned in his wish to be an angel who could cry repentance with a loud voice. It seemed to me like to desire to be an angel was a righteous desire, not a sin. As I have continued to study, I have had the realization that even a righteous desire can become a sin if it robs us of our gratitude and blinds us to the blessings we have received. 

I think that true contentment is for mind, heart and body to all be in the same place at the same time. D&C 93:33-34 says that the body and spirit inseparably connected can receive a fulness of joy. D&C 138:50 says that disembodied spirits looked at their separation from their bodies as bondage. I believe that true happiness is to be fully present. If my body is here but my heart is somewhere else or somewhen else, I am dissatisfied, or in bondage.

Alma recognized that he ought to be content with what The Lord had given him to do at that time. 

I think this can be really frustrating because, while mind and heart can travel to past and future, the body is stuck in the moment. So we spent so much energy trying (in vain) to speed up time so that our bodies can be where our hearts are. We speed when we drive, we walk extra fast, we take shortcuts. All without realizing that rapidly changing location does not in fact change time at all, time passes at the same rate, and if my heart is set on some future event, no amount of hurrying from place to place can get me to where I desire. The most ironic thing of all is how often we finally reach that place in time only to realize that our heart is now behind us and we long to be where we already were.

We can easily get caught with our hearts and minds in the future or the past. This is bondage. We never actually are where (or when) our hearts want to be. 

I think that is what Alma recognized. If my heart is on being somewhere or something else, I am neglecting the gift I actually have before me. 

I have recently tried an experiment to remind myself to stay in the moment. I have tried to always go just under the speed limit. It has been amazing to me how tempted I have been to speed up, either thinking it will "save time" or fearing that those around me will be angry. It has been helpful because each time I am tempted to speed up, I am reminded of why I'm not. I will probably spend about 1,000 times more time traveling to my destination as I will actually spend arriving at my destination. If this is the case, I must learn to make traveling its own destination. Journeying should not be the chore between life's moments, it should be it's own special type of moment. It has been an interesting experiment and I'm thinking of adopting it permanently. It may be my little way of reminding myself the futility of fighting against time.

If I want to be happy, I must learn to be content with my current situation. True happiness comes when I am fully present. My mind, heart and body are in the same place at the same time.

Teaching moment: while watching a movie, reading a book (or a scripture story), eating dinner, riding in the car or sitting in the family room, try to identify 5 or 10 (or 50) things you had not noticed before. Discuss how slowing down allows us to see and experience things that we miss when we are in a hurry. Discuss the dangers of trying to rush through things that are important.

Possible Concepts to teach: gratitude, joy, love, peace, Spirit, contentment, calm, agency, happiness, worship

Possible scriptures:

Alma 29:1-4

D&C 59:14-21

D&C 88:15

D&C 93:33-34

D&C 128:50

2 Nephi 2:25

Matthew 25:14-29

A New Creature of Light

Why would Alma say we need to become new "creatures?" Why would He use that phrase instead of saying that we must all become new "people?" 

(Jan 29, 2015)

February 4, 2016

I wonder if new creatures is a reminder of who is behind this change. Becoming a new person might be attainable through will power and personal discipline. By definition, a creature must be created by some power outside itself. So my attempt to become a new creature, born again, does not depend on my effort alone. It will be the result of my surrendering the old creature to God so that He can create a new creature of me.

I believe that I must not just be born again, but I must be born again and again and again. I must not only become a new creature once, but over and over. Each time the Lord re-creates me, I should be a better creature than the one I was before.

I love the way Alma describes the change in him. He went from the darkest abyss, depression, and despair to light, joy, relief and peace. I know this feeling. I have felt it many times. Each time the dark abyss is replaced by the marvelous light of God, I too am reborn and become a new creature. There is a level of depth and certitude that wasn't there before. 

I think life is a process of walking through the dark and then seeing the light. Physically we go through these cycles. Night, day, night, day. Sometimes nights are longer, sometimes days are hazier. I think the longer we allow ourselves to be converted through this process, the more we are able to take the light of summer with us through the winter. We must become creatures more capable of producing light because our circumstances will bring light or darkness outside of our control. 

God wants us to become independent of our circumstances. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, He did not draw light from the world, but produced it. Because His light source was internal, even a stormy sea could not remove His peace. He slept calmly as His disciples frantically trembled. He walked on the water His disciples fought all night against. He stayed true to His purpose and His Father through the long night of the Atonement. He walked through darkness so that He could be a light to others. 

Light, like peace, must have its source in our hearts. Without the internal light no amount of external sunlight will be able to truly warm us and give us sight. With the internal light, no amount of external darkness can dim us. After writing about this this morning, I went to church and we sang "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today." I was amazed at how the words related. 

There is sunshine in my soul today

More glorious and bright

Than glows in any earthly sky

For Jesus is my light.

Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

Teaching Moment: View a sunrise or sunset together. Discuss the pattern of day and night as a pattern for light. Discuss the difference between external light and internal light. One shines on us, one shines in us. Explain that with Christ, we can walk in the light even when external light disappears and we are surrounded by darkness. Without Christ, even sunlight isn't enough.

Possible concepts to teach: trials, conversion, testimony, faith, hope, Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost, growth, born again, baptism

Possible Scriptures:

Mosiah 27:24-29

3 Nephi 1:13-15

Alma 19:6

D&C 93:2

Living in the Valley by the Map you Made on the Mountain

I think we are supposed to learn how to be transfigured. Transfigured means to "transform into something more beautiful or elevated." When we are elevated, we can see more and more clearly. From the top of a mountain, I can see the whole valley. So to be transfigured means to become a seer. The way we often talk about being transfigured is that a person is changed so that he or she can endure God's presence. If the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead, then to have His presence would require transfiguration. That means that if the Spirit is present in me, I must have been changed to a higher state. Therefore each experience I have with the Holy Ghost is at least partially a transfiguration. I am momentarily changed from a natural man with natural eyesight to a spiritual man with the gift of seership. Like Nephi and so many prophets, I am carried away by the Spirit into a high mountain.

From this mountain I see the world differently and many of the blind spots, questions, and challenges that I struggled with down in the valley become clear to me from my mount of transfiguration. I can see the solutions to the problems I have been facing.

The Lord says that while I am on this mount, I must make a map of the valley below and make commitments to follow my markings. When I return to the valley, my eyesight will again become dim, I will not see things so clearly and life will become more confusing once again. I have to trust the map I made while I was a seer. I believe this is how covenants work. We see the valley from the mountain, then we bind ourselves to act in certain ways based on what we see. For example, each week we go to sacrament meeting to be transfigured by the spirit. While there we bind ourselves to take His name upon us, always remember Him, keep His commandments and have His Spirit to be with us. That is a covenant we make in an edified setting, having sung, prayed and pondered together. 

I think that in addition to the saving ordinances and covenants, we can also make personal specific covenants. Studying the scriptures, praying, family home evening, service. All these are opportunities to climb the mountain on a regular basis so that we can see the day or week or hour more clearly. From this position, having my bearings straight, I can live an inspired life because I have seen it from above. 

So the challenge of life is to live life in the valley based on the vision you had while on the mountain. I think President Packer said that we go to the temple to make covenants and we go home to live them. I heard someone the other day mention Elder Bednar's teaching that our morning prayer should be a Spiritual creation of our day and that our evening prayer should be a review and report of how well we created what we had envisioned from the mountain top.

I may not have the same feeling of clarity that I did when I made the commitment, but that's exactly why I made the commitment. I knew I would be returning to the valley with its confusion and blinding fog. I knew when I returned that I would doubt my own memory of the mountaintop view. This is why I made a clear and direct commitment to follow the map I made when I could see more clearly. 

We must learn to live by what we have seen even when the clarity of seeing it has passed. We must live based on the power we have felt even when the feeling of power is no longer with us. As we do, we will strengthen our faith and our independent will and become better able to act on our surroundings based on true principles rather than have our surroundings act on us.

Teaching Ideas: take children, youth, students to a mountain peak, high building or other high place.  Help them recognize how much more they can see. Have a discussion about the Spiritual principles.

Possible concepts to emphasize: the Holy Ghost, edification, spiritual vs. natural eyes, prophets/seers, the purposes of covenants, church meetings, scripture study, prayer, temples, FHE.

Possible Scripture References

2 Kings 6:16-17

1 Corinthians 2:14

D&C 43:8-9

D&C 93:24-31

Moses 1 (or any story of prophets in mountains)

Please respond with additional insights, experiences, connections and references.

Introduction

I am a guy with a tie. I am also a teacher, a student in grad school, and a husband. 

We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is not an official site of the church, but you can check out LDS.org and mormon.org if you're interested in learning more about what we believe. We share what we believe because we find peace and hope in the gospel of Christ and His teachings. His words and love have helped us get to where we are today. We know that God loves all of His children. We want to share the gospel with others because it brings peace to our lives in a troubled world.

My purposes for this blog are really just to supplement my gospel study, have a way to precipitate my thoughts into something concrete, and maybe spark some thoughts and discussions in others. My hope is that those who read will be generous with their own thoughts, ideas, correction, insight and experience so that I can learn as much as possible.