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Repentance
Justice and Mercy Aren’t Enemies—They’re Married
I was standing in the Conference Center at Temple Square, a place I’d previously only seen on a TV screen. This past summer, I finally got to walk its halls in person—an experience that felt like stepping into a storybook. I’m not usually an art guy, but one painting in the Conference Center art gallery grabbed my attention immediately and hasn’t let go since.
Popsicle sticks and the Atonement of Jesus Christ
Thirty minutes had passed and most of the missionaries were back in the chapel. But not my companion. Forty minutes and a few more stragglers came in. But not my companion. Fifty minutes and the APs started us singing hymns and bearing testimonies to pass the time, but my mission president and my companion were still absent. I started getting nervous. Finally, after a full hour had passed, my companion came back into the chapel alone, and our mission president hurried to the stand to continue the meeting. I didn't ask my companion what happened; when we wrapped up the day, he told me himself. And what he said changed my understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ forever.
Nephi's "burning love"
It's amazing how much we can learn from a story the second time it's told. Details and viewpoints you missed entirely the first go-round tend to come out in subsequent tellings (like Joseph Smith's First Vision). You may not have caught it, but this month in Come, Follow Me, we're reading one such re-telling that teaches us some important truths about love-- what it is and what it isn't. Perfect for Valentine's Day.
What if I don't want to be resurrected?
I've recently been impressed to study the teachings and biographies of the First Presidency. My respect, love, and admiration for these men grow deeper with every chapter. It has been a powerful, revelatory experience, and I've also learned more about doctrine and Church history. For example, President Nelson's biography relates how his grandfather received a visitation from his late father from beyond the veil and recorded the interview.
Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin
Today's post has been weighing on my mind for a while. Several scriptures, thoughts, and connections have come to me recently. But I don't have a neat way to tie them all together. So, ready or not, I'm just going to share them with you, stream of consciousness, and hope you get the gist.
The secrets of Godliness
I've heard some members who were born in the Gospel wish that they had been born outside the Church and then converted later in life. These members look back and say, "I wish I could have actually had fun in my youth-- sow my wild oats, carefree, without worrying. Get married, hear the Gospel, join the Church, and then live all the rules after I've really enjoyed life." In the minds of these members, converts get the best of both worlds-- they experience the pleasures of temptation in their youth and then the light of the Gospel once they've had all their fun. The Lord has a strong message for anyone who wishes they could go back in time and "live a little" and repent later.
A prison built with our own hands
The battle was fierce, but also short and decisive—despite a huge loss of men and a painful personal wound, Captain Moroni had thrown "one of the greatest of the armies of the Lamanites" into complete disarray. But Moroni "did not delight in bloodshed;" when he saw that his enemies were beaten, he offered them terms of surrender. The Lamanite army accepted his terms, and the prisoners were marched to the land of Bountiful. There they were put to work: they dug ditches, they piled up dirt, and they built a giant wall around the border of the city. Once the Lamanites had fortified the city, they became its new residents: "in this city [the Nephites] did guard the prisoners of the Lamanites; yea, even within a wall which they had caused them to build with their own hands" (Alma 53:5).
Hello, my name is Corianton
This past week in Come, Follow Me, we read Alma's words to his son Corianton. Also, this past week, my wife and I started watching a new superhero show: DC's Stargirl. We're only a few episodes in, so the jury's still out, but one episode felt especially applicable to this week's studies. In this particular episode, we meet Yolanda: a successful, vibrant, outgoing young woman. She's part of a supportive, happy family and running for class president of her high school. One evening, she makes the mistake of sending an inappropriate picture of herself at her boyfriend's request. The next day, during her class presidential campaign speech, her picture is sent out to everybody in the school. Her class presidential campaign is finished. Her family grounds her to her room for the rest of her life. They forbid her to attend church. Her friends desert her. She is bullied at school. With the press of a button, her entire life is gone—she is forever defined by that one bad decision. Wait, what does that have to do with this week's Come, Follow Me lesson? Well, everything. Today's post continues the "profile series" I started a few months ago. This time, we delve into the life of Corianton, son of Alma.
Hello, my name is Gideon
This past week in Come Follow Me, covering Mosiah 29 through Alma 4, we read about the death of one of my favorite Book of Mormon heroes. No, not Alma the Elder. No, not King Mosiah. No, definitely not Nehor. I'm talking about the penitent patriot, Gideon. He doesn't get quite the same name recognition as other heroes, but I still think he's really cool.
Don't try to follow all the Lord's counsel at once
There are many things in our day to day, secular lives that we "ought" to do. Like putting the junk mail in the recycling bin instead of the trash can. Or opting for the salad over the meat lover's pizza. But we often don't do what we know we should. Why? Because we're lazy? Maybe. But I think it's mostly because we see these "suggestions" as optional—like "extra credit" in life. They are something to strive for when time permits, but not something so important we should bend over backward trying to make it work. Trying out all the little "suggestions" in life all at once is impossible, and we know it. So we accept the fact that we simply can't lose 50 pounds and reduce our carbon footprint and double-pay our mortgage and get that promotion and spend more time with family and learn a new language and write that novel all at the same time. Not everything is worth the effort right now. We have to focus on what's most important (provide for our families, etc.) and then decide which "suggestions" we want to focus on with our remaining attention. In other words, when it comes to secular matters, we are realistic and we prioritize. But wait. We are faced with the same deluge of suggestions about the spiritual matters of our lives, too.
Rejoice in the trials of the wayward
Sometimes the scriptures are funny. Here's one example: Alma the Younger. He and his gang of "bishop's kids" were always causing all sorts of shenanigans and making their parents' jobs much harder. They were getting into some pretty serious transgressions: preaching false doctrines, encouraging pride, leading many away from the Church, and pretending they're not home when their ministering brothers came by.
Personal Conversion, Personal Savior
Every man for himself! In this Church, we take seriously God's command to watch out for each other "both temporally and spiritually." We contribute fast offerings. We clean yards. We home and visit teach, ahem, minister to each other. We know that it is our duty to be our brother's keeper and that we must work together as wards, stakes, quorums, classes, and families to assist in the work of salvation. "Thee lift me and I’ll lift thee, and we’ll ascend together." Given that doctrine and strong tradition of community support and brotherly concern, I was surprised the other day when I opened the Book of Mormon and found the phrase "every man for himself." And it was used to describe, of all people, the righteous Nephites at the time of Christ's first visit.
The Immediate Atonement
The Atonement of Christ is the center of our faith. But it's also the principle of our faith that is probably hardest to understand. Not just because it's infinite beyond the scope of our mortal minds, but because the whole notion that Christ could pay for sins He didn't commit just kind of blows our minds. I don't know anyone who has claimed to look at the calculus of the Plan of Salvation and figured out how it all works out.
Even among the Lamanites
It was 18 BC. Nephi, the prophet, had recently returned from his mission to the land of the North, only to find that the Gadianton robbers had taken control of the government. The Nephites were in a very spiritually low place, to say the least. Nephi miraculously announced the murder of the chief judge, but it had little to no effect on the hearts of the people (signs never do, after all). The Nephites were once again ripe for destruction. War broke out, and Nephites were slaughtered in droves. Nephi asked the Lord to replace the war with a famine, and God kindly obliged. That's where we read this verse:And this work of destruction did also continue in the seventy and fifth year. For the earth was smitten that it was dry, and did not yield forth grain in the season of grain; and the whole earth was smitten, even among the Lamanites as well as among the Nephites, so that they were smitten that they did perish by thousands in the more wicked parts of the land. -- Helaman 11:6What caught my attention in this verse was the phrase "even among the Lamanites." As if the author found it notable or surprising that the Lamanites would suffer the same punishments that were heaped upon the Nephites. I pondered on that and came away with a few insights
I'm a son of Levi (and you are, too)
This past week I read the following verse in 3 Nephi 24, where Christ quotes Malachi 3. There is a lot of good material in Malachi. No wonder Christ was instructed to quote it to the Nephites. But one verse in particular caught my eye the other day. Speaking of the coming of Christ's messenger to the Lord's Temple (presumably Elijah to the Kirtland Temple), Malachi says:And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.This "sons of Levi" verse has always seemed a little confusing to me. I've heard several people mention this and try to interpret it. But I had always figured it was just some Old Testament prophecy that we wouldn't understand until the Church was a lot larger and included more people from the Middle East or something—not something that was super applicable to most modern Church members from Ephraim or Manasseh lines as we are today.
When repentance doesn't fix everything
Almost all my recent posts have dealt with the war chapters in Alma. The Nephites, led under Moroni, fought the Lamanites and learned lots of lessons along the way. So many years of terrible war, including 2 civil wars within the Nephites themselves. Eventually, Moroni and his armies won the day and the Nephites finally had peace. But sadly, the break was short; it was only a few years after Moroni passed away that the Nephites fell back into serious transgression and were ripe for destruction. Right on cue, like the itsy bitsy spider, down came the Lamanites to wipe the Nephites out.
Easier to maintain than to fix
When I was a teenager, my household chore was the burdensome task of cleaning the "tile area" of the house. This included the entire kitchen, the dishes, the bar area, the dining room, the table, and setting/clearing meals. The rule was that my chores were to be completed to perfection every morning before I left for seminary and school. My mother would inspect them in the morning when she woke up, and if it was lacking, I would be pulled out of school unexcused to complete the job. The repercussions of a job not done terrified me. So I stayed awake cleaning my assigned areas each weeknight for an hour or two (depending on how much mess had accumulated). Every night, I would be surprised and annoyed to see how quickly our family of six (including four boys) turned my spotless assignment into a nightmare of a mess. But by the time I went to bed each night that year, the entirety of my assignment was ready for a showroom. I learned several lessons from this assignment:
Finding the Atonement in a war chapter
I know most readers usually breeze through the war chapters, but there is a lot we can learn from them. For example, just the other day I found some really powerful lessons on the Atonement in Alma 44-- the second chapter of Moroni's battle with Zerahemnah and the Lamanites. First, let's recap what's going on: