Parsing John 6: King? Food? They don't get it.

 Jesus feeds the five thousand and then goes off to be alone when some of the crowd, all excited about the wonder of getting free food, wants to take him by force to make him the “king” Messiah that they anticipate.  

His disciples take a ship to go to Capernaum and He joins them later by walking on the water.  

Those he fed discover his departure and follow him to Capernaum, looking for Him.  And then there is this conversation:

The Crowd of Followers (TCOF): When did you come here?  (We can’t figure out how you got here.)

Jesus: You have not followed me here because of the miracles you saw me do that helped others.  You are here because you were hungry yesterday and, to your surprise, I gave you enough bread to eat that you were not hungry anymore.  But that should not be the reason why you are here.  Your motive should not be the fact that you received temporary solution to an ongoing, physical need; that I gave you food.  Your motive for being here should be a hunger for that which gives light and life to the soul sufficient to qualify you for life with God.  The Son of Man (I) can give that to you.

TCOF:  So, what do we need to do to have life with God and do his work?

Jesus:  If you wish to live a godly life, one that involves doing His work, you must believe the one He sent.

TCOF: Okay.  You're saying that's you, right?  Show us a sign so that we may believe.  Show us what you do.   (Ironic…they recently saw a him heal the sick numerous times, see John 6:2.  It seems they are mostly interested in another show.  Miracles for personal entertainment?  Miracles for generating enthusiasm?  They seem to have missed the whole purpose of those healing miracles—compassionate healing for others).  How about manna? “Bread from Heaven”. Moses did that for our ancestors.  That would be a good sign. (Back to the notion of “feed us food” again).

Jesus: Moses did not give you “bread from heaven”.  Manna was a miracle, but it was to meet a physical, earthly need. It was a physical, earthly substance for a physical, earthly need.  Heavenly bread fills a spiritual, heavenly need and comes from God.  Heavenly bread is the person who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.

TCOF: Great!  Give us some of this bread!

Jesus:  I am that bread.  A person who comes to me will never be spiritually hungry.  A person who believes me and trusts what I have said will never be spiritually thirsty.    You have seen me, but you do not believe me.  You will need to believe first.  Every good blessing that God promises, He will give to me.  And if you come to me, I will share it abundantly.  You see, I came from heaven, not with my own agenda, but with the full intent to do what God wants.  And do you know what He wants?  He wants everyone who comes to me, and understands and embraces this new way of life of loving God and fellowmen, to be raised up to everlasting life.  With me that is possible.  I will do that.

TCOF:  Good grief.  The gall of calling himself “the bread that came down from heaven”.  Everyone knows he’s Joseph and Mary’s son.  “Bread from heaven”, indeed!

Jesus: Don’t murmur.  The fact is this:  The only way to come to me is for you to do what the Father wants.  What does he want?  He wants you to accept me for who I really am: the Son.  The Father testifies that that is who I am.  And if you understand and accept that testimony from the Father, and you live a life committed to doing what the Father hopes and wants you to do, then the result will be that I will raise you up in the resurrection of the just.  Every man, woman and child will have the opportunity to be taught this.  And those who learn this from the Father (recognize its truth from personal revelation) and live a life attempting to do the will of the Father are those who “come to me”.  And that believing—the kind that transforms your life—is what everlasting life is all about.  The fact is, I am the bread of life.  That’s different from the manna.  It’s also different from the bread you ate yesterday. Those were helpful, but they did not bring everlasting life.

At this point Jesus then launches into an analogy which refers to his atoning sacrifice, his crucifixion and the ordinance of communion/sacrament which is a renewing of our covenant to come to Him and which he will revisit in his teaching at the time of the Last Supper.  And it is way over the heads of his listeners.

TCOF:  This is just too weird.

A Birthday Visit

Look who dropped by to wish L. a happy birthday (and bring him brownies).  We love these fine, young people.  Such courage and goodwill.

The Goodman's Home: the site of the last supper and the first Communion/Sacrament

“And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare [the passover meal]?

"And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. 

(I know he's not carrying a pitcher...but I really like the expression on this water-carrier's face.)

"And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished; there make ready.”  

Luke 22: 9-12

What we know:

In this household, a man or manservant was not above doing service in the form of unconventional work or traditional women's work in order to maintain the well-being of the people living there. There is an indication here of a household that is more interested in working for the benefit of the group as a whole than it is in maintaining appearances or maintaining traditional hierarchical patterns that designated some tasks as "beneath one's dignity".

Jesus did not name the goodman (head of the household) of the house when he gave his disciples the information they needed to locate him.. It was a man that the disciples did not know by name, though likely Jesus did.

The goodman was a man who recognized Christ as “the Master” and was readily willing to welcome other of his disciples, whom he did not know personally, to use a room in his home for worship.

And it was in this house, where a goodman readily welcomed others to worship, and where household members were humbly willing to serve, regardless of the opinions of others or traditional views of who is supposed to do what, that Jesus, washing his disciples' feet,  again taught his most powerful lesson on servanthood and leadership.

He had taught it earlier: “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”  Matthew 23:11

They had not yet understood this fully. Peter's strong, initial objection when Jesus started to wash his feet indicates that he was still too aware of conventional ideas about leadership to fully accept the idea that true leaders engaged in activities that were considered “beneath them”.

And therefore, Jesus' words:

“If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

There is a correlation, perhaps, between the master who washed his disciples feet, and the man who worked in the house where He did so and who carried the woman's water jug to the well and back. Both were undertaking humble service that was considered beneath them by those who embraced what followers of traditional rules of hierarchy expected of them.

And I find it telling that this household, where a man was not too proud to serve others by doing work that others would consider “beneath him”, and where unknown believers were welcomed, was the place where the first recorded ordinance of the Sacrament was performed. Those qualities of humility, service and welcome that seem to have been part of the culture of the household where the first breaking of bread in remembrance of Him occurred are what I think Jesus hopes and expects in the culture of those of us who are part of a any congregation that partakes of communion/sacrament in remembrance of Him.

The goodman and his servant created and maintained that culture in their sphere.   Do we?

Matthew 4: What I learned this time.

I see three erroneous assumptions being teased out in the devil's temptation of Christ.

a.  That meeting one's physical needs, including food, is of primary importance, ahead of doing that which may be the will of God, or our spiritual needs at any particular moment.

b. That one of God's primary purposes is to prevent us or others from having to suffer; that safety, health and well-being are not only things we can pray for, but also are things we should expect. from God if we are good.

c. That the praise of the world, or power in it, is so desirable, for whatever purpose, that we should have no compunction about indulging in ignoble activities, or embracing evil, in order to attain them. For certainly, we rationalize, think of all the good we could accomplish from such positions!

So, what do I learn this time around?

a) To think soberly about how often I let my appetites for food or other enjoyable aspects of life entice me to avoid spending time and effort doing something else the Lord would wish me to be doing at that time. Certainly supplying what my body needs is good stewardship, but focusing on satisfying cravings to the extent that it gets in the way of my being open and responsive to the will of God, or indulging in them to the extent that it causes me to physically be unable to work well with Him is unwise.

b) Certainly it is reasonable to want the charitable desires of our hearts, including safety from harm for ourselves and those we love, and to pray to God for those. But to expect it when I know about the suffering of the Son of God himself during his lifetime, seems foolish. I should be extremely grateful for those safe and healthy times in my life, certainly. But if maintaining my health and safety and that of those I love is my measure of navigating life successfully, I am misguided in my choice of measuring stick. Praying for health and safety is good. It is best when coupled by understanding that I must expect to be called upon to unselfishly navigate sometimes, with God, situations or periods of time when that is definitely not the case.

c.) Jesus lived in a world not unlike ours. He lived in a country governed by a dictatorship, where many local power brokers were not afraid to wheel, deal, trample and kill in order to maintain their positions, and where the result was frequent abuses of power, and injustice delivered to the poor and oppressed. No wonder many Jews hoped he would be the Messiah they hoped for. Just think what a relief it would be if a person of charity, honesty and vision were the one in power instead! 

 And so we likewise are tempted to “play the political game” or fudge a bit in regards to an annoying law, or galvanize the troops, in order to get ourselves or someone else into a position where we or they will have the power to do enact the good we want to happen in society.

What Jesus chose:

Prioritizing godliness over gratification. 

Appreciating health and safety but not making it a defining definition of a blessed life. 

Never compromising principles in order to secure anticipated opportunities to do good.

Empty Centers and the Fire of the Lord

Thoughtful presentation on why being able to say "I know it is true" is not that which truly fulfills our search for profound spiritual enlightenment and connection with God.

This speech. 

Thank you, Sister James. Thank you, Sister Columba.

The Iron Rod may be more than you knew. Looking at Lehi’s experience with his dream and Nephi’s understanding of it.

  The Iron Rod may be more than we traditionally think it to be.

In chapter 15 of 1st Nephi, Nephi’s brothers, Laman and Lemuel, quiz him about the meaning of various elements of the dream that Lehi described to them.  “What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?”

And Nephi answered that “it was the word of God; and whoso should hearken to the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations of the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction.  Wherefore..give heed unto the word of the Lord; yea, …give heed unto the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things.”

The use of the phrase “the word of God” is one that has its genesis outside of our particular religious faith.  It shows up in both the book of Hebrews and in the book of John.  It is traditionally used by many religious traditions to signify holy scripture. (Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Koran are all referred to by that title by their religious adherents.) 

 

It is also used to refer to the divine revelation sent through holy prophets as exemplified in the words of Jeremiah and Elisha in the Old Testament who were wont to proclaim “Hear ye the word of the Lord…” as they delivered messages to the people.

As latter-day saints, I think we tend to read these two definitions of “the word of the Lord” into Nephi’s dream: hold fast the teachings of the scriptures and the words of prophets—that is the iron rod, we think, that will “safely guide us through”.

But those are not the only definitions of “the word of God”.   That phrase is also used to refer to personal revelation, as in God’s personal message to Abraham in Genesis 15:1, “the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and they exceeding great reward.’”

And it is also used in an interesting way in the Book of Psalms; to describe the power of God, or

the means by which God creates all things and also effectuates his will.  (examples: Psalms 33, 107, 119, 147).

Some astute theologians also point out that it is exactly this last definition, “the means by which God effectuates his will”, that is behind the apostle John’s reference to Jesus as “the Word”.  For a very interesting treatment on that subject try this article:

http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-Word-God.html

So now, knowing that “the word of God” can refer to a number of different things, let’s look at Lehi’s journey to the Tree of Life, which represents “the Love of God”.

The story elements are as follows      

1)      Lehi follows a man in a white robe who bades him to follow him (divinely inspired messenger)

2)      As he does so he finds himself in a dark and dreary waste that he traverses for many hours

3)      He begins to pray to God for mercy (prayer which leads to…)

4)      He sees the large and spacious field and the tree.  (….personal revelation) 

5)      He goes forth and partakes of the fruit.

The process is one of following a divine messenger, praying for guidance and mercy, seeing the tree and walking to it.  Here we see elements of following divine messages from others, communicating personally with God which results in him being able to see clearly (revelation), and then making the effort to move forward towards what he sees (agency) and ultimately partake of it—make it a part of himself.

Later his wife and two of his sons also come to the tree, but their journey is different.  They are first aware of the tree when Lehi calls out to them, and they simply walk to where he is.  They use elements 1 and 5.  (Laman and Lemuel, on the other hand, are not interested in making the journey.)

Next there is large group of people who also are making the journey.  They start out with being able to see the tree as they start the journey, but soon discover that they must take advantage of the opportunity to catch “hold of the rod” as the “mists of darkness” swirl around them (not unlike the dark waste Lehi experienced).  There is a parallel here as both they and Lehi encounter darkness on the journey and need help knowing how to proceed.  It would make sense therefore, that the iron rod that they hold onto in order to continue the journey to the tree represents the same kinds of things that helped Lehi through the journey:  personal revelation and increased vision and understanding that comes from personal communication with God.

So one could make a case that the iron rod represents entering into communication with God and receiving personal revelation.  And since personal revelation is also a scriptural definition of “the word of God”, that should not be surprising.

Since, as I have noted above, there are multiple definitions of “the word of God” I am inclined to believe that there are also elements of those definitions of the meaning of iron rod which Lehi saw.  I believe that is a reasonable assumption, given the way God tends to use symbolism.

But this post is already long enough.

Parsing Hebrews 2 Our reconciliation with God through the suffering and death of Jesus

Paul says:

It has long been established (by words of angels) that for every transgression and disobedience you commit you will have to receive the decreed (logical, natural, divine) consequence.

There is no way around that except through the power of salvation offered by God.

He then quotes Psalm 8:4-6 to point out that mankind, who is lower than the angels, may be crowned by God with glory and honor and set over the works of His hands.  He sees this truth manifested in Jesus who, as a man, "lower than the angels"-mortal, was crowned with glory and honor so that he would be able to experience and overcome both physical death and the pain of spiritual death (the above named consequence) on behalf of each of us.

He says that the Father wishes to bring many of his children to a state of holiness (sanctification) and the way to do that was through making the captain of their salvation (Jesus) perfect through that suffering on their behalf, thus receiving, on their behalf, the decreed consequences, leaving us justified (all consequences received and experienced) in God's eyes, and open to holiness.

Both those who turn to Christ, seeking oneness of purpose with him and sanctification (holiness with no unpaid sins) made possible by Christ's gift to us and also Christ himself, who did make possible our sanctification, become one in this process.  He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters.  We become a package deal with him.

Paul quotes Psalm 18:2 and 22:22 to express what he envisions Jesus saying to us (a),
and what he says about the Father (b).
      a.  I will claim you as my family, and speak of that which is good about you, vouch for you, to the Father
      b. I put my trust in God, trusting Him in His salvation for all who have come unto to me and who have changed, are living repentance, have been born again, into my (Christ's ) family

We are mortal.  So was Jesus, who took on mortality that, through his death and the glory God gave him, he might destroy the post-death plans that the devil had for us.  (The devil counts on our eternal spiritual death--separation from God because of our sins.)  And so we do not have to fear death and the hellish bondage of separation from God, harrowed up by our sins.

Christ came to earth as a man so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest (the high priests in the temple had the responsibility for offering sacrifices as payment for sins)-- offering a sacrifice for sin that reconciles us to God instead of being eternally separated (spiritual death) from him.

And, says Paul, Jesus fully understands what it is like to be tempted to sin, and so he is fully able to help us as we struggle with temptation.  He understands.

And then chapter 3 is an exhortation to remain in that family of Christ, continuing in our repentance and in our confidence in him, and not hardening our hearts.

Parsing Corinthians Chapter 5

This is a chapter where Paul talks about how radically different your outlook on life and your priorities become when you convert to Christ. 

He says that such conversion transforms what we hope for and yearn for.  We begin to yearn to be part of heaven here; to become one with God in his work.

And that transformation is effectuated by God as we experience the influence of the Holy Ghost.  (Paul likens our experience with the Holy Ghost to "earnest" money--money given to show one's sincere determination to give all that was promised in a contract.  Our experience with the Holy Ghost can be seen as receiving an "earnest" outlay and taste of the light and power of God, the clear reality of God, God's work, and all that is promised and intended for his children, both now and in the future, by the Father and the Son.)

The "selfsame thing" refers to our yearning to live a holy, heaven directed life.

Just as we are more inclined to move forward with faith in a legal contract with another person when that person has given us earnest money, which money indicates full intent to give the whole sum which we have not yet had presented to us, so we move forward with faith in a covenant with God having experienced the "earnest" he presents to us; the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Thus the verse in this chapter:   "we walk by faith" (having received a taste of what it is like to be fully connected with God and having faith that a complete connection is possible), "not by sight" (not yet having seen or received the fullness of what is promised).

Previously to this our focus was on ourselves and working on our own behalf ("live unto themselves") but that changes and we become more interested in working for and with God the Father and his son Jesus Christ.

Thus we become a new person "in Christ", becoming "a new creature", born again and also reconciled to God because we have begun to understand and embrace Christ's atonement (his taking on our sins and paying the price for them so that we may hope to be one with Him and holy and love-filled too).

And, says, Paul, that gift of the atonement, that "reconciliation" is a thing that is not only given, but also must be actively welcomed and received in order for our transformation to begin as well as to come to full fruition.

"We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.  For he that made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

A Very Big Puddle. One for the grandkids.

About this time of year the rainy season starts.  So we try to remember to take our umbrella with us when we go out, even if it doesn't look like it will rain.  Rain can start an any time.  And it can quickly go from light drizzle to downpour in a very short time.

The rain does clear the air nicely.

This is the street our apartment building is on.  You can see the stream bed across the street.  

                                      

Usually when it rains the streets get wet and somewhat puddly and then they dry up again:

But a few weeks ago we got quite a bit of rain.

                                                  

                

And the stream bed overflowed.

A lot!

The streets around our building turned into a very, very big puddle.

 People tried to drive in the middle of the road where the water was lowest so that their motorcycles and cars would not get their engines full of water and stop.  

If you look carefully in this picture you might see some of the motorcycle riders wading in the water. They are pushing their motorcycles because the water was so deep that the motorcycles stopped.  The water is up to their knees.

Some motorcyclists and drivers stopped in the middle of the intersection and huddled together where street was still bare.

Soon the huddle was a very, very big huddle.

A very big huddle in a very big puddle.

Fortunately, eventually the rain stopped and the water went down, and by the next day there were 

only little puddles left.

We have had a lot of rain since then.  And we still always bring our umbrella when we go out.  But we have not had another day with that much rain since then.  And we have never had a puddle as big as the one that we had that day.

I Have Found That Being Willing to Carefully Review My Own Assumptions....

“If during the course of my investigation, I run across something that I did not expect, what happens if I then pause to reflect and ask, ‘What should I expect?'....

“I learned that I could not trust the institutional arms of the Church to provide me with all the information I might need. If I wanted to know, to be prepared, I had to take personal responsibility. In retrospect, my program involved three elements. Keep my eyes open. Give things time. And re-examine my own assumptions now and then. The alternative is to not pay attention. Insist on final answers now. And never re-examine my own assumptions. Either choice on these three points has consequences in life.”

~Kevin Christensen, "Eye of the Beholder, Law of the Harvest"

"Oh that I were an angel, and could whack them upside the head"

When I first heard the song "Oh That I Were an Angel" it was sung by a lyric soprano in a missionary meeting almost forty years ago.
The soprano sounded something like these three ladies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfE1eGj0w24

The melody makes it sound like a sort of "oh, wouldn't it be lovely if I could just float around and unmistakably spread this sweet, lovely, good, profound message of God to everyone".

Except that the lyrics to this song are from the first verse of chapter 29 of the book of Alma.  And Alma isn't talking about just general spreading of the good news to your average, usual, somewhat sinful people in your average everyday city or town.

Rather, HE HAS JUST WITNESSED THE WORST SLAUGHTER OF HUMAN BEINGS UP TO THAT TIME IN HIS SOCIETY (Alma 28)
"A tremendous slaughter"..."even such an one as never had been known among all the people in the land from the time Lehi left Jerusalem,"
tens of thousands of people slain in a single battle,
tens of thousands of families dealing with deep grief,
and the fighting continuing for FIFTEEN years.
which fifteen years of horrible stuff he attributes to "the power of the devil, which comes by the cunning plans which he hath devised to ensnare the hearts of men."

He has witnessed people fully embracing hate and evil, doing horrible things and causing devastating grief and pain because of it.  And not stopping.

And...  If you think about it...

What kind of angel has Alma encountered before?

The kind that has a voice and a demeanor that rattles you through and through, dumps you on the ground, shakes the earth, and leaves you comatose, harrowed up by your sins and finally able to realize how horrible you've been.  (Mosiah 27)

This is not "oh, wouldn't it be lovely if I could just be a glorious angel and go about clearly and loudly and sweetly declaring glad tidings."

This is "God, what is happening here is HORRIBLE. And I really, really, REALLY want to be able to WHACK these people upside the head the way I was whacked."

I think we need a composer to come up with a different melody.

Also, understanding where he is coming from and what he has witnessed makes the verses that follow (29:2-9) a pretty powerful statement about humility, justice, agency and trust in God when in a situation such as his.

Thinking about Limhi's description of his situation. Mosiah 7:24-33

And thinking about Germany and France 77 years ago.

What do you do when the people in your country are smitten with sore afflictions and in bondage, and finding that their ways are hedged up and that their work is just creating stumbling blocks, and they are "reaping the chaff of filthiness as in a whirlwind, and the 'east wind' which brings destruction" because of the wicked decisions and action of rulers, authority figures and of "the voice of the people"...how do you maintain hope?

"But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."

In other words, you do whatever you can to support those who understand what is righteousness and what is wickedness and who will not be deceived.

You become determined to be, as much as possible, a source of hope and help for the innocent men, women and especially the children who suffer the consequences of the devastating decisions of others.

You grab hold of God's grace with all you've got for the strength and vision required to heal and bless.

You may not live to see the society that you are part of experience the deliverance the Lord may provide, or live to see the healing from the horrendous damage that comes from socially or politically powerful people embracing decisions that bring horribly destructive consequences but you can be a part of the efforts to prepare for that healing and ever seek to lay foundations for it.

People have done so before.

Le Chambon, France

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/167405.Lest_Innocent_Blood_Be_Shed

Prudence

"...I have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the works which my hands have made...for I rule in the heavens above and the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence..."

A glimpse at the etymology and history of "prudence":

mid 14th century meaning intelligence, discretion, foresight, wisdom to see what is suitable or helpful.

Thomas Aquinas listed it as the first of the four cardinal virtues, defining it as: "wisdom to see what is virtuous"

13th century, from Old French "prudence"

and directly from Latin "prudentia", a forseeing, forsight, sagacity, or practical judgment.

Plato listed it as a cardinal virtue in "Republic". Aristotle defined prudence as recta ratio agibilium, "right reason applied to practice, a phrase Thomas Aquinas used as well..  

Aquinas elaborated further, writing that prudence functions as a principle virtue on which a variety of other excellences hinge. Those excellences include: memory, intelligence, docility, shrewdness, reason, foresight, circumspection, and caution (ST IIaIIae 49.1-8).

It is interesting to contemplate God as the epitome of prudence as well as of wisdom.  And how that should translate into my discipleship is, I think, worth my taking some time to consider.

Rephrasing 1st Peter, chapter 1 and a bit of chapter 2

Dear far away, as yet unmet, friends who have come to recognize and be changed by the Spirit of the Lord such that you have embraced repentance and discipleship. I wish you much grace and peace.

Thanks be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ whose abundant mercy has enabled you to be born again to new hope, which hope in you upon started upon learning of Jesus' resurrection,

You rejoice greatly in this, even during the times when temptations come and your faith is tried. Your faith in the Lord is more precious than gold, but that does not mean it will not be tried to the extreme. There is reason to rejoice, even through those fiery trials of faith, for trials of faith can, if you continue in faith, prepare you for experiences full of praise, honor and glory when you meet Jesus Christ again.

You have not met Him, but you love Him. And even though you have not met Him or seen Him, you believe and experience the joy and rejoicing and sense of glory that comes from that decision to believe Him. And that, you will find, fills you with a sense of what will be the ultimate result of your faith: the salvation of your soul: the ability to stand, blameless and free and full of love, in the presence of God.

For centuries prophets prophesied of the wonderful gift of daily grace from God that you would experience, and asked and diligently searched to find out when the suffering and atonement of Christ would happen and when the particularly glorious hope that would follow that would begin.

It was revealed to them that it would not happen during their lifetimes, but, nonetheless, they did teach and testify of it coming. And you have experienced the arrival of that wonderful gift as you listened to those who have preached the gospel to you and taught with the Spirit of the Lord. Angels in heaven love watching that happen.

So, set your mind to be faithful, brave, and ready to do God's work. Be sober. Continue hopeful and continue living expecting the amazing grace that is to be

You are called to be obedient children of God, not just people following our appetites or passions as you were before you understood. Be holy in your conversations. The scriptures have taught us that, as followers of the Holy One, he has called us to be holy.

You know that you were not redeemed with money. Payment for sin is not made with physical things. You were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. The old way of making a sacrifice with an unblemished lamb was a foretelling of this ultimate sacrifice for your redemption.

Christ was appointed to this work of redemption before the world was created but He carried it out during your current time. You believe in God, the Father. And it was God, the Father, who raised Him from the dead and gave him glory so that you might have this faith and hope in God that you have now.

You have been obeying truth as the Spirit teaches it to you in such a way that you have learned to honestly love those who have taught you. In that same manner you must also learn to love one another purely and fully. You can do that because you have been born again through your embracing of the living and eternal word of God and his grace in your life.

So, humbly and soberly call upon God, the Father, who does not play favorites, but judges and knows you, and everyone else, fairly and completely. ( a sobering thought)

We are mortals with mortal bodies and mortal ideas. Mortal bodies and ideas and their accompanying mortal glory, like grass and flowers, eventually wither. But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this enduring word of the Lord is what has directed the teaching of the gospel to you.

So lay aside all malice, any wishing of harm to others, any desire to deceive others, and all hypocrisy, envying or speaking ill of others.  Instead, humble yourself; hunger and thirst after the word of the Lord.  The word of the Lord is as essential to our spiritual growth and our living in grace as milk is to a baby's physical growth and health.  We thirst must for it. We cannot grow or thrive in grace or understanding without it.

"He went about doing good"

Today: 

"He went about doing good". Acts 10:38

He "went about".

One thing that prevents me from doing this as well as I would like in any new environment is too much self-awareness and/or a cognizance of my irreparable lack of required skills. I continue to proximate such a  "going about doing good" life as best I can in new situations, and I can orient myself to God's love and talk myself up a few minutes ahead of time  to make it so that it looks, to others, like going about doing good with love comes somewhat easily to me, but in the small daily efforts of interaction with others with whom I am not intimately acquainted, it takes far more effort than I think it should at this stage of my life. I'd really like to not have to keep beating down these hurdles EVERY SINGLE TIME .

I'd like to be transformed in one fell swoop and have it be permanent.

But maybe that's the easy way out.

In the meantime I'll try to remember, more often, to have the courage and faith start my day honestly praying for the pure love of Christ when I feel like I'd really rather just stay and work at home.

The first truth

My brothers and sisters, the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life.
Jeffrey Holland, "Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders Among You"

"Unto" doesn't always mean what you think it means.

Because repentance includes the covenant to obey the commandments of the Lord, it is tied closely to baptism in water as the public evidence or witness of that covenant. Thus baptism in water is the appropriate sequel to repentance. This is the sense of the puzzling phrase, introduced to Alma by the Lord in answer to his prayer about dealing with transgressors in the church and repeated on numerous later occasions by both Alma and Mormon, that people should be "baptized unto repentance" (Mosiah 26:22). This phrasing can be confusing when we expect repentance to precede baptism, and the preposition unto seems to indicate that baptism precedes repentance. But the Oxford English Dictionary. which gives the most complete historical analysis of the varieties of English usage, lists 29 distinguishable uses for this preposition. The one which corresponds with the Lord's usage here would indicate that baptisms into the church should only occur in accordance, agreement, or correspondence with the prior repentance of the new member. Because the covenant witnessed in baptism is part of repentance. This relationship is signaled exactly by the phrase baptized unto repentance. And so, Alma asks his new converts, "what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments?" (Mosiah 18:10). On the other side of this same story, King Limhi and his people repented and "entered into a covenant with God ... to serve him and keep his commandments" (Mosiah 21 :32). Furthermore, "they were desirous to be baptized as a witness and a testimony that they were willing to serve God with all their hearts,"  

Noel Reynolds, "The True Points of My Doctrine", Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 5/2, 1996

Interesting to me that the word "unto" in the temple is translated, in the Spanish version, to "para con", which is a formal, little used phrase which means "that corresponds to, in connection with, related specifically to, in relationship to".

I think the Spanish language translation got it right.

I think we English speakers, when we encounter the also-puzzling phrase in the temple with "unto" in it, generally leap to one of the other 28 definitions, which are less accurate, and some of which can cause serious dismay if they are assumed to be correct.

Perhaps someday someone will notice that and make a change to that awkward phrase to make the meaning in English more clear.  I hope so.

Jetsetting, Learning, Choosing

Usually,  when a mission president is called, he and his wife start, in January, a series of 6 discussions with other newly called individuals and a couple of people from the church's missionary department and various resource people.  Each discussion is three weeks apart, with lots of reading material and things to do in between them.

We started those in January, hooked up via a web video feed with 7 other couples in the Philippines, Japan and Arizona.  They were helpful.

Somewhere in there someone realized something that we had been wondering about: that our assignment will start in March instead of in July, and that when we started we would have only been able to participate in two of these sessions.  So a crash course was put together by some very good people and L. and I flew to Salt Lake City to spend 4 packed-full days doing the next 4 sessions of discussion and reading and meeting with resource people and working with young missionaries.  It was extremely helpful and the two who took on the task of coordinating the whole thing and with whom we spent the most time were delightful, insightful people.

(And we were able to spend some time with Sam and Susan and their families on our last evening there too, which was great.)

The general plan was that we would return to Hanoi on Friday morning, arriving on Saturday evening, in time to be there to prepare for previously scheduled visits by Gary Stevenson, Gerritt Gong and others mid-week, the government and member meetings involved with that, and that L. would be set apart during that time as well. (I figured that since mission presidents' wives are set apart as full time missionaries, which I am already set apart to be, I was already set in that department.)

But things change.  Enter Felix,

whose entrance into the world we were alerted to as being imminent on Thursday and who was born in Seoul on Saturday morning.

I had been praying for his safe arrival at the best time and really, the timing was perfect both for him (full term) and for us, since we were routed through Seoul on Saturday evening on our way back home to Hanoi, and six months previously I had gotten sure permission to leave the mission to be there to help Elizabeth with her first child.  (Generally moms on missions aren't there for grandchildren births because, generally, there are sisters, aunts, mothers-in-law etc. who live near enough that they can travel to be there to help, but in this case there is not.)

It was also a choices challenge, however.  Turns out that mission presidents' wives need to be set apart too, even if they are already full-time missionaries.  And it needs to happen when their husbands are set apart.  And if I wasn't in Hanoi when Gary Stevenson was (he's the one who needed to do that setting apart, and the general March start date had been chosen because it could be coordinated with his scheduled visit), that created a new challenge.

Good, better, best.  It was clear to me what the best choice was.  But it was hard knowing that making that choice would complicate other people's plans, including some other dearly beloved individuals, not just the aforementioned Stevenson and Gong.  I hate making things more complicated for people.  My initial instinct is to try to disrupt things as little as possible.

Sometimes when you make a correct choice, it is not the one that makes things easier for all the people you want to help.  Sometimes it is, but not always.

L., of course, was completely supportive of whatever I chose to do.  Dear fellow, he had the unenviable position of needing to be the point of communication between us and our anticipated visitors without being the one who was making my decisions.

So now I am in Seoul, and L. is in Hanoi. 

More than half a century ago, in 1946, Jean Wunderlich and his wife Jane Burlingame Wunderlich were called to the West German mission.  While setting him apart, David O. McKay said to Brother Wunderlich, "Be true to the law of your own being."

Jean later said that the words of that commandment were the most important words he ever heard. 

To me that is a call to integrity, to make decisions based upon what you feel called to do by God and which are based upon the principles that are most important to you.

That is a good lesson with which to start the work we will commence next month.

For more information on the Wunderlichs' story:

http://www.legrandlbaker.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/law-of-ones-own-being-Jean-Wunderlich-LeGrand-Baker.pdf

https://familysearch.org/patron/v2/TH-303-47414-267-39/dist.pdf?ctx=ArtCtxPublic&session=USYS94D1790D3033D28DB98D8BAFF6158723_idses-prod04.a.fsglobal.net

"Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon his God."

10. Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on their God.
11. Behold, all you that kindle a fire, that encircle yourselves with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that you have kindled. This shall you have of my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow.
Isaiah 50:10-11  

Matthew Henry was a Presbyterian minister (1662-1714) born in Wales.

His comments on this passage:

Those that truly fear God, obey the voice of Christ. A sincere servant of God may for a long time be without views of eternal happiness. What is likely to be an effectual cure in this sad case? Let him trust in the name of the Lord; and let him stay himself upon the promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them. 
Let him trust in Christ, trust in that name of his, The Lord our Righteousness; stay himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator.
Presuming sinners are warned not to trust in themselves. Their own merit and sufficiency are light and heat to them. Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived, and soon gone; yet the children of this world, while they  last, seek to warm themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of them. Those that make the world their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will certainly meet with bitterness in the end. A godly man's way may be dark, but his end shall be peace and everlasting light. 

It seems that Isaiah understands something that we sometimes forget; that following God does not necessarily mean that we should expect to feel that we are walking in light while we do so.  Sometimes following God feels like walking in darkness.  The whole chapter is written from a perspective of "this discipleship is hard" and "the Lord will not abandon me" and "this will take true grit to get through."  Which is understandable, given what we know about Isaiah and his circumstances.

The warning in verse 11 is a warning against manufacturing a substitute light (be that a belief, or a method of feeling validated, or a way of measuring, or whatever) which we may make on our own, trying to beat back the darkness and gain a sense of progress.  The light we or others create in such situations may feel like it is making our path easier to see or more positive, but Isaiah's pretty sure that living by such light will, eventually, lead to more sorrow than joy.

What is interesting to me is that, in the version in Isaiah, the warning seems to be aimed at those who do not fear the Lord and obey his servant, which might make a believer feel smug and safe. Certainly, Matthew Henry switches pronouns, using the pronouns "they" and "them" when he talks about those "presuming sinners" addressed in verse 11.

However, in the version in 2nd Nephi (chapter 7), those verses are worded so that verse 10 makes it so that verse 11 is clearly aimed at those who do fear the Lord and obey his servant. 

"Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light...that compass yourselves with sparks..which ye have kindled"    

It's not "them", it's "us", the ones who do fear the Lord and are trying to obey his servants, that the warning to not self-manufacture light amidst the darkness we experience is aimed at. And considering that the rest of that chapter talks about how tough and daunting discipleship can be, that makes some pretty good sense to me.

Lehi, Opposites, and Nihilism, 2 Nephi 2: 1-13

It occurred to me, while reading 2 Ne. 2: 1-13, that "opposition" here does not mean conflict between good and evil as much as it means "the existence of opposites" and the existence of meaning in reality at large.

I think this part of Lehi's instruction to Jacob is not a discussion of "how God set up the world" but, rather, a discourse on the very nature of reality, and, in  sum, how that relates to the reality of God.

Lehi's "God ceases to be God" and if "God is not then we are not" statement there reminded me of Nihilism.  It's been ages since I've read nihilistic literature, so I did a quick review and discovered that there are varieties of it.

So, in more modern philosophical jargon, this discourse of Lehi's would well fit into a discussion on the philosophies of  Nihilist Romanticism and Metaphysical Nihilism and how the adoption of those philosophies affect a person's life experience and disbelief in the idea or existence of God.

(Lehi does not address Fundamental Nihilism, but then  Nietzsche  pointed out Fundamental Nihilism's inherent inconsistencies that make it pretty impossible for anyone to put it into actual practice, so I'm not surprised.)

For further elucidation on the subject of Nihilist Romanticism, Metaphysical Nihilism, Nihilism as a form of religion and other variations on the theme, try this post written by a self-defined ethical skeptic.  (To find out what an ethical skeptic is, read through the contents of the right sidebar on the site--pretty interesting.)  And see if 2 Ne. seems to be related to that to you too.

   http://theethicalskeptic.com/2015/01/07/no-you-are-not-an-atheist-you-are-a-nihilist/