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Patience
I'm running out of time
There's a line from the Pixar film "A Bug's Life" that sticks with me. It's the scene where you're first introduced to the circus performers who eventually become some of the story's heroes. The problem is, they stink, and their audience starts to leave mid-performance. One fly in particular indignantly stands up to leave, declaring, "I only got 24 hours to live, and I ain't gonna waste it here!" The 24-hour lifespan of a fly is a common myth—house flies actually live about a few weeks. But the mayfly does come close to that lifespan; once it grows out of its underwater nymph stage, it lives only a day or so—24 hours to fly, experience the world, mate, and quickly pass away. What would you do if you only had 24 hours to live?.
The paradox in the pause
Imagine you are young Nephi. Your father has just uprooted your family and led you all into the wilderness. Unlike your brothers, you turned to the Lord and received confirmation of your father's calling. Then the Lord revealed to you personally and directly that you and your brothers are headed for the land of promise. Immediately receiving this revelation, your father tells you "the Lord hath commanded me that thou and thy brethren shall return to Jerusalem" (1 Nephi 3:2). The verse ends there; I don't know if Lehi paused at this point in his discussion with Nephi, but I was prompted recently to pause there in my reading. If you were Nephi, what might you have thought and felt during that pause? "We're going back? But God just told me we're going to a new land! How can God contradict Himself?" Any paradox Nephi might have faced in that moment would have been fleeting as his father clarified the return would be temporary. But as I pondered on Nephi's "paradox in the pause," I remembered many other cases in scripture where Saints have had to face much tougher, much longer divine paradoxes-- some of which we still face today. And it's what we do with those paradoxes that demonstrates our faith.
What's up with Jesus's hands?
We have three kids ages 6 and under. Time out as a couple is rare and fleeting. Movie theaters are virtually out of the question. But when the first two episodes of The Chosen hit the box office last month, my wife and I made sure to go. I loved it. Watching those episodes was a wonderful experience. Until I ruined it. Spoilers ahead, you've been warned.
When God redirects us
The converts of Ammon never cease to amaze me. These remarkable individuals, who "never did fall away," exemplified quiet yet determined discipleship. When the Lamanite armies came to exterminate them, they did the unexpected.
Sorry Lord, could you repeat that?
This past week in Come, Follow Me, we read "the crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon," the "personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection." After 600 years, the Nephites were finally privileged to stand in the presence of their Lord and Savior. You would think that Christ would be met with joyful, anticipated celebration. But that's not what happened at all. In fact, when the time came, it just really didn't click at first.