And He Healed Them All Every One by Gary Kapp

I'm currently reading in 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon.  It's hard to choose favorite books and chapters from the Book of Mormon as there are so many, but if pressed I would be tempted to choose 3rd Nephi.

This morning as I was reading chapter 18 I was again reminded of a pattern that I have noticed before.  The Savior in administering the sacrament first broke bread and gave it to His chosen disciples.  When they had eaten and were filled He then commanded that they give the bread to the multitude.  This sequence was repeated with the wine.

I believe the Savior was instituting His pattern for dispersing salvation to mankind.  The Savior calls those to whom He gives the authority to act for Him.  He then ministers to them and they minister to the rest of us.  How grateful I am to live in a time where there are apostles and prophets who have authority from the Savior to act in His name.  

Verse 13 has always caught my attention also.  The Savior says after giving the charge to teach the keeping of the commandments through the administering of the sacrament, "But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation...."  We often focus on what it means to do less - the not keeping of the commandments or the breaking of them.    But what does it mean for us to do more than this?  I wonder if when we add unto what the Savior has given if we become like the pharisees, following many procedures that are hollow of true spirituality.  Much to-do gives us the illusion of spiritual business leaving us little time for the core of the gospel which is faith, repentance, the keeping of baptismal covenants and receiving and following the gift of the Holy Ghost. Indeed the Savior has shown us the path and we need not add to it.  It is sufficient and abundant.

Is our beloved nation in bondage?

The Departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt - The Provincial Museum of Alberta

Throughout the scriptures the Lord's people have dwelt in bondage both physically and spiritually.  One of the great archetypal stories of the Old Testament is the Lord's deliverance of Israel from under the hand of Pharaoh. Throughout the ages this story has represented the deliverance the Lord has for each and all of us from the bondage of sin and iniquity.  Often the Book of Mormon prophets called upon their people to remember this deliverance.  They also taught of the bondage that comes as a result of sin.  In addition, the Book of Mormon repeatedly contains warnings to the Nephite nation (and to our nation) that they will loose their God protected freedom if they choose to turn from the God of this land who is Jesus Christ. 

These warnings continue to apply to those who live upon this land of promise.   As I have contemplated the state of our nation of late it occurs to me that we are already in many states of bondage because of our  choices.  We don't necessarily have to be overrun by another entity (though that may happen at some point) to begin to loose our individual freedoms.  And I am not talking about the freedoms of speech, right to privacy, etc.  As I look across our land I see many types of bondage.  We have the bondage of many, many addictions, the bondage of debt, the bondage of corruption in high places, the bondage of poverty in low places, the bondage that comes from broken homes and from unhealthy physical practices.  We are in bondage to crime and violence.  We suffer from the bondage of greed.  All of this is a burden to bear and we feel it upon our backs in high taxes, the need for more and more social programs, hidden detriments to society through high medical  and legal costs.  Rationality tells us that it is only a matter of time before the scales tip and we no longer are able to function under these heavy burdens.

Jesus tells us that the truth will make us free.  Truth will deliver us from bondage. The prophet Lehi calls upon us to shake off the awful chains by which we are bound.   Do we value position, power, political correctness, $$, our own man made philosophies over truth?  I'm afraid that we do and we don't seem to be willing to change much at all if any.  I don't have a lot of hope that any elected official will be able to solve our many burdensome problems until we as a people are ready and willing to change our own carnal ways.

Our deliverance from these woes is simple. A return to the basic tenants of faith, religious practice and the golden rule (treat others as you would have them treat you), repentance and a study and application of the commandments of God would go a long ways towards releasing us from these afflictions. Sadly it's just so politically incorrect.

There are many sincere and good people in our country.  May we see the light as a whole and act upon it before we are in too deep to get out.

Calming the Storm -Tigran Ghulyan

 

 As mortals we are all in the same boat, subject to the same confluence of circumstances, on equal standing before our Maker, unless...we have partaken of the lifting power of the atonement of Christ. 


23 For behold, thus saith the Lord: I will not show unto the wicked of my strength, to one more than the other, save it be unto those who repent of their sins, and hearken unto my words.
(Book of Mormon | Helaman 7:23)

In the Garden of Gethsemane....

4 ¶ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.   Isaiah 53:4 - 6

 

The Garden of Gethseman

This morning I was cleaning out some file folders and found some notes from our 1998 workshop in Israel .  We spent several hours at the Biblical Resources Institute and I was profoundly impacted by what we learned about olive presses and the Garden of Gethsemane, an ancient grove of olive trees on the Mount of Olives. The name Gethsemane comes from the Hebrew Gat Shemen, meaning "olive press."  The olive fruit supplied many of life's necessities for ancient Israelites but only after being subjected to the olive press.  There were four pressings.  The first pressing extracted the purest oil which was used for healing and anointing ceremonies in the temple.  The oil from the second pressing was used for nourishment and cooking. The third pressing brought forth oil for light and illumination and was used in lamps. The fourth produced oil for cleansing.  It was combined with lye to make soap.  (From the Biblical Resources Institute in Jerusalem.)

Olive press or gethsemane.

The atonement of the the Savior which was wrought in the Garden of Gethsemane provides us with consecration and healing, with spiritual nourishment and strength, with the light of truth and knowledge and with the cleansing power to rid us of the effects of sin in mortal life.

The juice extracted from the pressing of olives.

Elder Russell M. Nelson has said:

 

"Jesus came to the base of the Mount of Olives to effect the first component of the Atonement.  This He did at the Garden of Gethsemane.  The word Gethsemane comes from two Hebrew roots: gath, meaning 'press,' and shemen, meaning 'oil,' especially that of the olive.

 

"There olives had been pressed under the weight of great stone wheels to squeeze precious oil from the olives.  So the Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane was literally pressed under the weight of the sins of the world.   He sweated great drops of blood—his life’s 'oil'—which issued from every pore. (See Luke 22:44; D&C 19:18.)


"Jesus was accorded titles of unique significance.  One was the Messiah, which in Hebrew means 'anointed.' The other was the Christ, which in the Greek language means 'anointed' as well. In our day, as it was in His day, the ordinance of administration to the sick includes anointing with the consecrated oil of the olive.  So the next time you witness consecrated oil being anointed on the head of one to be blessed, and these sacred words are said, 'I anoint you with this consecrated oil,' remember what that original consecration cost. Remember what it meant to all who had ever lived and who ever would yet live.  Remember the redemptive power of healing, soothing, and ministering to those in need.  Remember, just as the body of the olive, which was pressed for the oil that gave light, so the Savior was pressed.  From every pore oozed the lifeblood of our Redeemer.  Throughout the joyous days of your mission, when your cup of gladness runs over, remember His cup of bitterness which made it possible.  And when sore trials come upon you, remember Gethsemane. " (“Why This Holy Land?” Ensign, Dec. 1989, p. 18)

As we are approaching the Easter season, the celebration of resurrection and eternal life, I am profoundly grateful for the "pressing" our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ endured for each one of us in the Garden of Gethsemane and for the resultant blessings in our lives. 

A Mother is a Door - Part 2

I was thinking about this post this afternoon and thought I would clarify - A mother is a door - not a door mat.  There is a difference

A Mother is a Door....

Tonight (this was back in February) I teach John 10 in Institute class.  I have loved studying and pondering the Book of John and I have been quite arrested by the boldness and unconventionality of the Savior as depicted by John.  He spoke forthrightly and without apology about truth, including who He was.

John 10 is the famous chapter about the sheepfold, the shepherd, the hireling and the door to the sheepfold.  The Savior is not only the shepherd, he is also the door.  He is not just a hireling as he lays down his life for the sheep.  (I remember being told when we were in Israel that the shepherd would lie down and sleep in the doorway at night to guard the sheep.) 

I believe a true mother, like the Savior, is a door.  The mother lays down her life for the child to enter into the world.  She is the doorway into mortality.  She continues to lay down her life all of her years for the well-being and protection and teaching of her children.  Her children hear her voice and know her.  (Not that hearing her voice necessarily translates into obeying her voice. as we all know! :) The act of motherhood is so closely related to the role of a Savior.  (And the Savior’s role is the catalyst for our second birth, our spiritual birth.)  For some time now "modern thought" seems to be subtlety changing a mother’s role to that of a hireling.  Her children are just another job in her life, and once the younger years of physical care are passed she can dive back into her career.  Rather than being the core of her life her children are one of the many balls that she juggles.  When robbers and thieves appear threatening her child’s spiritual life she inadvertently and without realization does not have the time and resources and spiritual strength to fend off the attack.  She and her children become victimized, thrown to and fro by the world and its ways. I don't intend this to be a statement that women should do nothing else beyond child rearing.  An active and vibrant life is an enriching example to children.  I am speaking more about a focus, an eternal commitment, a prioritization of life's purposes, being aware, being available and having a spiritual reserve from whence to draw as extraordinary wisdom is needed during exacting circumstances.  I am talking about being "the door" and "the shepherd" as our children come and go.

Our Father as a Merciful Teacher

I obviously intended to write something here and was distracted.  That’s too bad because I like the title – a lot!  But for the life of me I can’t remember what train of thought I was following.  It will have to be saved for the resurrection when all of my lost and wandering thoughts will be restored.

And Immediately.....

 

16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,

17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.

18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.

19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.

20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.

21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.

(New Testament | John 6:17 - 21)

I taught these verses in institute last week and I wondered at the small miracle that was lost amid the larger recounting of Jesus walking on the water. 

“…and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.”

I found my answer while reading Light in the Wilderness by M. Catherine Thomas a few days later.  When we accept the Savior fully into our lives as a living miracle (when we let Him, I mean really let Him, get into our boat) then we don’t just witness the miracle from afar, the walking on the water, but we ourselves are suddenly at our destination or have suddenly progressed along our path in an instant.  We have received the mighty change that Alma and Paul received, that the Lamanites received.  We are new creatures of a sudden in Christ. 

Elder Richard G. Scott talks about this idea and the necessary companion or catalyst of obedience in the process:

“The Lord is asking for a total commitment to serve.  Learning from the Lord is not a linear equation where you keep a commandment and you learn more.  He expects us to live as fully as we can, and the closer we get to perfection in that, then there is a sudden, powerful increase in his ability to communicate to us, inspire us to know what to do, and to give us the power or capacity to do it.”  (Devotional at Provo Utah MTC, Jun.13, 1995)

In other words, we need to get the Savior in the boat with us by obeying with exactness as did the Sons of Helaman.  Sometimes we excuse ourselves from exactness because of our humanity.  We realize that most of our progress is gradual and that we learn “line upon line, precept upon precept.”  The journey is full of ups and down and byways.  But there is moment of commitment, a desire to give our heart, a decision to change where we put our full attention. We give up our own will and allow it to be swallowed up in the will of the Savior.  We trust Him.  The journey seems hard and rough until that point.  “Trying” to trust the Lord is full of trepidation and hesitation.  Actually doing it is the easy part.  Of course, the adversary is confusing us continually with mist of darkness.  He is blocking our vision so we cannot see.  It requires faith to penetrate the fog and see the Savior there walking upon the water.  

The real abundance, the fullness of the fruits of the gospel, the feast occurs when we can obey with exactness.  Before that we have a taste here and there from the spirit but not fullness.  We receive spiritual nourishment off and on but it’s more rationed, because we are rationing out our obedience as well.  All of this is a continuing labor.  We must forsake the large and spacious building, (oh, what a challenge that is!), we must grasp tightly the rod with both hands, we trod the strait and narrow path.  When we are weary of the dark and dreary waste,  the waste of our time, the waste of our labors, the waste of the days of our probation; weary of the mists of darkness, weary of not being able to see where we are and where we are going, like Lehi, we call upon the Lord and He will come.  He will be in our boat and the tree of life with its most joyous fruit will be there. 

This scenario seems to be played out over and over again in both large and small ways.  Our Father is a merciful teacher. 

More About the Strait and Narrow

 

Susan Easton Black writes that in ancient times the narrow path, or the less traveled path was the safer way for one who was journeying alone.  Often the broad ways which were taken by caravans and large companies of travelers were seedbeds of peril as bandits and robbers concealed themselves along the way to plunder. 

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.


Matthew 7:13/14

For me, I see another analogy to the strait and narrow.  The archaic meaning of "strait" is "a route or channel, so narrow as to make passage difficult."  The Savior told Nicodemus that he must be born again into a spiritual life in order to obtain eternal life.   Our physical birth becomes a type of our spiritual birth.  (Think also of Lehi's dream)  We are in a darkened environment.  For a time we can grow there but eventually to progress further we must travel through the birth canal or a strait and narrow way.  This exit takes courage.  It is uncomfortable.  The constriction is even painful at times.  To choose not to go will eventually lead to death.  We then burst forth into a greater light and a new life with increased potential.  The strait and narrow path becomes the journey we must make.  It provides us with the boundaries we need to guide us into a new birth, a new life.  The Savior describes himself as the Father of this new birth.  The church becomes the mother of our spiritual birth (after all the church is described as the Savior's bride)  and provides the nourishment and the structure we need through teaching, through ordinances and covenants, through fellowshipping and service.  The atonement of Christ gives brings life to the structure of the church.  The structure alone can’t do it.   Just believing in grace or the atonement alone can’t do it.  We need both to effect a birth.

More About Rivers....

Rivers have boundaries.  Banks guide the direction of the flowing water.  Because of borders the water can be taken to multiple places and in doing so the river provides sustenance to living entities along the way.  When banks are removed or breached, the waters flood the surrounding areas and instead of giving life they cause destruction or stagnation.  The surrounding lands are swamped and useless.  Heavenly Father has given us a strait and narrow, a rod of iron, commandments – boundaries so that we can become life giving waters.  (Above photo is entitled "Resurrection River."  Nice.)

We Are Rivers....

I have been reading M. Catherine Thomas’ Light in the Wilderness.  I won’t go into how much I love her writings and how they inspire me (They do!:)   She writes of many things, one being how negative experiences, thoughts, energy and our acceptance of them and unwillingness to let them go and function on a higher plane impedes our progress.  I was thinking about individuals in my life who seem to have negative energy in certain areas and seem to be blind or choose to be blind about certain things, but in other areas they do much good and contribute and have a loving spirit with them.  This really applies to all of us to some degree.  I began to see this concept in imagery.  Our lives are rivers of light, growth, progress.  Negative experiences and thoughts whether originating in ourselves or others, if we hold on to them, become like rocks and boulders thrown into the river.  They cause turbulence and make our journey rougher and more difficult.  If too many obstacles accumulate they dam our progress in that area and the turmoil can spill over into other parts of life.  We can allow our rivers to become more and more dammed (the adversary of our souls is always willing and ready to block the way) or we can use the grace and atonement of the Savior to remove the rocks, the boulders, the splintered branches that snag debris and retain it in our souls.  The teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, (forgiveness, long-suffering, repentance, humility) if we adhere to them and practice them with real intent, clear the way.  If we desire it fully enough, the river truly can run peaceful and clear.   

When we are honest with ourselves we see that at times we don’t want to remove the boulders and debris.  We have become comfortable with them and we leave them there because they serve a purpose of self-deception.  They allow us to blame others for our unwillingness to change and repent ourselves.  There lays within us a reluctance to let go of grievances, offenses, hurts, disappointments for to do so would require that we ourselves have to step up to a higher plane.  Our uncomfortable but familiar little dams in the river (though they cause pain and distress) give us excuses for our own unwillingness to progress.  They conveniently disguise our own weaknesses and faults by pointing a finger at circumstance brought on by the choices of others.  

Having said that, I recognize that all of this is the purpose of life.  We are here to learn by experience to know the good from the evil, the productive from the non-productive, joy from misery.  It's all a journey and we are all in it together.  

"Keep" the Commandments!

 

What does it mean to “keep” the commandments?  If we keep something we retain it in our possession.  We consider it of value and useful enough not to throw it away.  If we truly value something it becomes a “keepsake.”  If we can view the commandments as one of our most prized possessions and place them in a position of honor in our lives how blessed we would be!

                 

What does it mean to “break” the commandments?  We can break things in our lives either by ignorance, carelessly neglect or through direct action usually with negative energy such as anger or frustration.  When we break something it loses its usefulness to us unless it is sufficiently repaired.   We sever our relationship to the item or situation.  Breaking a possession often times leads to throwing it away.  Breaking the commandments (as opposed to keeping them) makes it difficult to value the gospel from whence they come and Giver who has offered them to us.  

The same line of thought applies to keeping or breaking the Sabbath, keeping or breaking our covenants.

How gentle God’s commands,
How kind His precepts are!
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust His constant care.

Mountains

     Sometimes the Lord removes figurative mountains that impede our way and sometimes the mountain is a gift.  Our struggle against the mountain becomes our source of growth.  Without the mountain we would remain in our weakened natural- man state with insufficient and flabby spiritual muscles.  Oh, how we despair at the thought of the mountain!  Oh, how we resist taking the steps upward!  But the mountain draws us to the Lord, eventually, as we find our own abilities to summit its peak are paltry and weak.  Finally, we call upon the Lord sufficiently to receive his grace and power unto ourselves.  At times we struggle for what seems a never ending length of time and then the Lord says “It is enough,” and He removes the insurmountable mountain in an instant.  The struggle is over much to our amazement.  The pathway has been cleared and we move forward.
     I've tangled with a few rather large mountains the past few years.  Actually, it seems that life for everyone is really is a series of mountains, at times one right after another and other times interspersed with gentler slopes. I always stand with amazement when a mountain has been removed.  I am overcome with relief.  I am so thankful that it is finished - yet I am unspeakably grateful for what I have learned and gained.  I wouldn't ask for it back but neither would I choose to do without the package deal.