Having a child born on Christmas day and now another one born at Easter time (he'll have an Easter birthday some years), my children's births serve as a reminder to be of the Savior Jesus Christ. As I was involved in the birth process of my son I thought of Jesus' birth but more importantly, His rebirth through the resurrection. On that first Easter morn, Jesus escaped the cold clutches of the grave. Jesus is not only the Conquering King of His death but also of all our deaths. What a miraculous and supernal gift! All who ever lived on the earth will be given the gift of immortality. All will live again.
There is another rebirth to which all are entitled should they follow the Lord's commands. This is a spiritual rebirth, a shuffling off of the old man of sin into a new creature in Christ. When we are born we are born through water (amniotic fluid), blood, and the spirit. When we are spiritually reborn, we are buried in the waters of baptism, sanctified by the blood of Christ, and justified by the Holy Ghost. A spiritual rebirth really is just that - a rebirth; we become completely new spiritual beings. Just as birth is merely one stage in our development - and quite early at that - so is our spiritual rebirth merely one stage in our development. It is just a start to our new lives in Christ. Our spiritual rebirth is not the end, it is the beginning to a glorious new life!
In honor of this Easter season, I hope we all take more time to think about our Lord's sacrifice - His blameless life, His agonizing Atonement, His painful death, and His glorious resurrection! Many of you might have seen this video before but it is worth watching again in order to ponder its message.
05 April 2010
03 April 2010
The Importance of Family
Because family is so important, I'll probably be a bit lax in posting on this blog for a couple weeks.
30 March 2010
The Savior Lives!
At this Easter season, I hope we all take time to think of the Savior Jesus Christ and of His great sacrifice and love for us. Most importantly, think of His resurrection. He lives today; He loves us; He is watching over us. As preparation for Easter, here are the testimonies of some of His living Apostles.
28 March 2010
On Scripture Study
This post is partially in response to an interesting comment I received on my previous post. My post is in no way meant to be critical of the comment or commenter.
My previous post was not fleshed out to really get into the topic of understanding Isaiah. That wasn't the purpose. It's purpose was simply to present one perspective of the issue that I had not really thought much about before (an insight provided by Hugh Nibley). Between that post and one comment I received, I spent some time thinking about what it means to understand the scriptures. So here is my reply to the comment as well as my expansion on the theme.
Here is part of the comment to which I am referring: "So while your point is well taken, there is much more to the story than meets the eye. This point of view does not usually come by praying and studying Isaiah. It requires considerable historical background and immersion in tradition, ancient history, comparative mythology. That is, it requires a real investment in time and effort to understand. But I highly recommend it to you."
That's the other side of understanding Isaiah that I did not fully address. Historical context always helps elucidate the scriptures. Once you understand Isaiah's symbolism, his prophecies become clearer. I've read a book about Isaiah that provided insight into the symbolism and historical and cultural context of Isaiah - it was very helpful - but I've found (this might just be true only for me) that my keenest insights that have direct and personal application to me (in other words, the most important lessons that I can learn from Isaiah) have come simply from reading and praying.
Gospel and scripture commentary books (or blogs or websites) are beneficial - I do keep posting quotes by Hugh Nibley and other gospel scholars (I certainly hope that I am considered one) - but the real power is in the scriptures themselves, especially when coupled with the power of the Holy Ghost. This is not to say, again, that we should not do in-depth studies of the context of the scriptures - it can be very helpful and informative; however, I do not believe that it will ever be as important and personally meaningful and converting as simply reading the scriptures and turning to the Lord for understanding. This is a balance I try to maintain. It is too easy to get caught up in the 'intellectual' side of the scriptures (e.g., history, culture, symbolism, linguistics) while negating the spiritual side (i.e., the side that leads to repentance and sanctification through the Spirit and the Atonement of the Savior). Studying about the gospel or the scriptures is not the same as studying the scriptures. So Isaiah can be difficult to understand but then again, it really is not as difficult as we often think.
Nephi provides the key to understanding Isaiah: "Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy. But I give unto you a prophecy, according to the spirit which is in me; wherefore I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn" (2 Nephi 25:4; emphasis added). The spirit of prophecy comes to those who are filled with the Spirit of God and who ask to the spirit of prophecy. The spirit of prophecy is founded upon the testimony of Jesus Christ; in essence, a prophet is someone who testifies of Christ (note however, that a testimony does not give authority; one does not become an Elijah or a Joseph Smith or a Thomas S. Monson just because one has a testimony of Jesus Christ - that particular calling as a prophet comes only to those called by God by those who have the proper priesthood keys). To those filled with the spirit of prophecy (which comes by asking God for it and through righteousness and the Holy Ghost), the words of Isaiah will be plain.
We have been commanded to search the words of Isaiah (see 3 Nephi 23:1) and while it is important to try and "understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, [by being] taught after the manner of the things of the Jews" (2 Nephi 25:5), I would hope that we as students of the scriptures will focus more on conversion than context. If context strengthens your conversion, then it is wonderful but we need to have balance in our studies of the scriptures. Pharisees and scribes became overly focused on the symbolism and the "nitty-grittiness" of the scriptures and laws that they lost sight of the spirit of them.
I am not disagreeing with toekneenose's comment, I am merely offering my opinion in that I believe that we need to be moderate in our approach to the scriptures; moderate meaning that we should not let our study of context outweigh our study of the scriptures themselves (I'm not implying that toekneenose does that at all). We miss a lot of meaning in the scriptures if we do not understand the context and the language and whatever else - I think that increasing our knowledge that way is important; however, we miss the most important aspect of the scriptures if that is our main focus. Again, what is most important is what the scriptures mean to you at a particular moment in your life as you listen to the Spirit. Are the scriptures effecting change in your life, are you being converted, or are you simply becoming a knowledgeable Pharisee? Is your faith in Jesus Christ increasing, or is only the perceived circumference of your head increasing? Those are questions I ask myself and ponder upon with regularity. My personal belief is that, on average, I should be spending most of my 'scripture study' time reading and thinking about the scriptures and the basic doctrines of the gospel with only a smaller portion of my time spent on commentary or context.
My previous post was not fleshed out to really get into the topic of understanding Isaiah. That wasn't the purpose. It's purpose was simply to present one perspective of the issue that I had not really thought much about before (an insight provided by Hugh Nibley). Between that post and one comment I received, I spent some time thinking about what it means to understand the scriptures. So here is my reply to the comment as well as my expansion on the theme.
Here is part of the comment to which I am referring: "So while your point is well taken, there is much more to the story than meets the eye. This point of view does not usually come by praying and studying Isaiah. It requires considerable historical background and immersion in tradition, ancient history, comparative mythology. That is, it requires a real investment in time and effort to understand. But I highly recommend it to you."
That's the other side of understanding Isaiah that I did not fully address. Historical context always helps elucidate the scriptures. Once you understand Isaiah's symbolism, his prophecies become clearer. I've read a book about Isaiah that provided insight into the symbolism and historical and cultural context of Isaiah - it was very helpful - but I've found (this might just be true only for me) that my keenest insights that have direct and personal application to me (in other words, the most important lessons that I can learn from Isaiah) have come simply from reading and praying.
Gospel and scripture commentary books (or blogs or websites) are beneficial - I do keep posting quotes by Hugh Nibley and other gospel scholars (I certainly hope that I am considered one) - but the real power is in the scriptures themselves, especially when coupled with the power of the Holy Ghost. This is not to say, again, that we should not do in-depth studies of the context of the scriptures - it can be very helpful and informative; however, I do not believe that it will ever be as important and personally meaningful and converting as simply reading the scriptures and turning to the Lord for understanding. This is a balance I try to maintain. It is too easy to get caught up in the 'intellectual' side of the scriptures (e.g., history, culture, symbolism, linguistics) while negating the spiritual side (i.e., the side that leads to repentance and sanctification through the Spirit and the Atonement of the Savior). Studying about the gospel or the scriptures is not the same as studying the scriptures. So Isaiah can be difficult to understand but then again, it really is not as difficult as we often think.
Nephi provides the key to understanding Isaiah: "Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy. But I give unto you a prophecy, according to the spirit which is in me; wherefore I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn" (2 Nephi 25:4; emphasis added). The spirit of prophecy comes to those who are filled with the Spirit of God and who ask to the spirit of prophecy. The spirit of prophecy is founded upon the testimony of Jesus Christ; in essence, a prophet is someone who testifies of Christ (note however, that a testimony does not give authority; one does not become an Elijah or a Joseph Smith or a Thomas S. Monson just because one has a testimony of Jesus Christ - that particular calling as a prophet comes only to those called by God by those who have the proper priesthood keys). To those filled with the spirit of prophecy (which comes by asking God for it and through righteousness and the Holy Ghost), the words of Isaiah will be plain.
We have been commanded to search the words of Isaiah (see 3 Nephi 23:1) and while it is important to try and "understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, [by being] taught after the manner of the things of the Jews" (2 Nephi 25:5), I would hope that we as students of the scriptures will focus more on conversion than context. If context strengthens your conversion, then it is wonderful but we need to have balance in our studies of the scriptures. Pharisees and scribes became overly focused on the symbolism and the "nitty-grittiness" of the scriptures and laws that they lost sight of the spirit of them.
I am not disagreeing with toekneenose's comment, I am merely offering my opinion in that I believe that we need to be moderate in our approach to the scriptures; moderate meaning that we should not let our study of context outweigh our study of the scriptures themselves (I'm not implying that toekneenose does that at all). We miss a lot of meaning in the scriptures if we do not understand the context and the language and whatever else - I think that increasing our knowledge that way is important; however, we miss the most important aspect of the scriptures if that is our main focus. Again, what is most important is what the scriptures mean to you at a particular moment in your life as you listen to the Spirit. Are the scriptures effecting change in your life, are you being converted, or are you simply becoming a knowledgeable Pharisee? Is your faith in Jesus Christ increasing, or is only the perceived circumference of your head increasing? Those are questions I ask myself and ponder upon with regularity. My personal belief is that, on average, I should be spending most of my 'scripture study' time reading and thinking about the scriptures and the basic doctrines of the gospel with only a smaller portion of my time spent on commentary or context.
27 March 2010
Isaiah Spake Many Hard Things
"Now I, Nephi, do speak somewhat concerning the words which I have written, which have been spoken by the mouth of Isaiah. For behold, Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews." (2 Nephi 25:1).
What did Nephi mean when he said that Isaiah spake things that were hard for his people to understand? The obvious answer to that question is elucidated by the last part of the verse: "for they [knew] not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews." His people did not generally have the education or experience or knowledge to fully understand Isaiah's prophecies. Maybe they didn't have the desire to understand Isaiah. I think this holds true for many people today. The common 'complaint' I hear about Isaiah is that the book is difficult to understand. It can be if you do not understand that Isaiah's language is highly symbolic but at the same time it is very direct and literal, meaning it refers to specific events. It's also repetitive; meaning that Isaiah states the same thing multiple times in multiple ways.
I will not get into ways of understanding Isaiah - the best way is to spend time reading the book and praying for understanding - because that is not the purpose of this post. I wanted to share another quote and insight from Hugh Nibley about what he thinks is the reason that Isaiah is "hard...to understand". I have been quoting him a lot recently because I have been reading his Teachings of the Book of Mormon Part 1, which is a transcript of lectures he gave in his Book of Mormon class at Brigham Young University in the 1980s.
"'Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand.' Isaiah himself often mentions the fact that the people ask him to speak smooth things [i.e., the people want Isaiah to tell them only things that make them feel good and that they want to hear]. They want to hear smooth things. I am not going to teach you smooth things, he says. If I just gave you the smooth things you want, you wouldn't need them.... If the scriptures told us only what we wanted to hear, of course we wouldn't need them.
"You notice it all changed under the rabbis; the interpretations became different. Isaiah is much too literal [for them], etc. Then, of course, they accepted the University abstractions and became more philosophical and intellectual in the interpretation of everything." (Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon Part 1, 2004, p.249).
In short, Hugh Nibley's explanation of why Isaiah is hard to understand is because Isaiah does not speak "smooth" things to the people, he told them things that were hard to hear because he condemned their wickedness. He was a prophet who simply "told it like it was." I think Hugh Nibley's insight adds to our understanding of Isaiah. Yes, his writings can be difficult to understand because of his language and his symbolism, but then again, the book of Isaiah is not as difficult to understand as many people believe. Isaiah simply wrote many difficult things for the wicked to understand, for he prophesied about the Messiah and the temple and the way to salvation. He wrote of many things that would transpire in the last days - in our day - the restoration of the gospel, the building of temples, and so forth. Great are the words of Isaiah.
What did Nephi mean when he said that Isaiah spake things that were hard for his people to understand? The obvious answer to that question is elucidated by the last part of the verse: "for they [knew] not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews." His people did not generally have the education or experience or knowledge to fully understand Isaiah's prophecies. Maybe they didn't have the desire to understand Isaiah. I think this holds true for many people today. The common 'complaint' I hear about Isaiah is that the book is difficult to understand. It can be if you do not understand that Isaiah's language is highly symbolic but at the same time it is very direct and literal, meaning it refers to specific events. It's also repetitive; meaning that Isaiah states the same thing multiple times in multiple ways.
I will not get into ways of understanding Isaiah - the best way is to spend time reading the book and praying for understanding - because that is not the purpose of this post. I wanted to share another quote and insight from Hugh Nibley about what he thinks is the reason that Isaiah is "hard...to understand". I have been quoting him a lot recently because I have been reading his Teachings of the Book of Mormon Part 1, which is a transcript of lectures he gave in his Book of Mormon class at Brigham Young University in the 1980s.
"'Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand.' Isaiah himself often mentions the fact that the people ask him to speak smooth things [i.e., the people want Isaiah to tell them only things that make them feel good and that they want to hear]. They want to hear smooth things. I am not going to teach you smooth things, he says. If I just gave you the smooth things you want, you wouldn't need them.... If the scriptures told us only what we wanted to hear, of course we wouldn't need them.
"You notice it all changed under the rabbis; the interpretations became different. Isaiah is much too literal [for them], etc. Then, of course, they accepted the University abstractions and became more philosophical and intellectual in the interpretation of everything." (Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon Part 1, 2004, p.249).
In short, Hugh Nibley's explanation of why Isaiah is hard to understand is because Isaiah does not speak "smooth" things to the people, he told them things that were hard to hear because he condemned their wickedness. He was a prophet who simply "told it like it was." I think Hugh Nibley's insight adds to our understanding of Isaiah. Yes, his writings can be difficult to understand because of his language and his symbolism, but then again, the book of Isaiah is not as difficult to understand as many people believe. Isaiah simply wrote many difficult things for the wicked to understand, for he prophesied about the Messiah and the temple and the way to salvation. He wrote of many things that would transpire in the last days - in our day - the restoration of the gospel, the building of temples, and so forth. Great are the words of Isaiah.
24 March 2010
Geography of the Book of Mormon?
Hugh Nibley sums up my view of discussions about Book of Mormon geography: "[The Nephites] journeyed in the wilderness for many days [to get away from Laman and Lemuel]. We don't know how many many is. Book of Mormon geography is a waste of time. I wouldn't touch it with a forty-foot pole. Never have; it's not necessary. Some day we'll get more information, I suppose. Everybody has tried their hand at it. I don't know why; it doesn't make any difference." (Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon Part 1, 2004, Covenant Communications).
I know some, maybe even many LDS Church members, disagree with that sentiment but we do not know where in the Americas the Book of Mormon events took place. We can speculate all we want and say, "Well Joseph Smith [purportedly] said this" or "This narrow neck of land is the Panama isthmus or this particular area in modern Mexico or Guatemala or the Great Lakes region." Whatever; we do not know where the Book of Mormon events took place and speculating about them is a waste of time. Again, I know some disagree but I wanted to offer my opinion on the matter. Maybe we'll learn more in our lifetimes but for now there are much better things upon which to focus, like the basic doctrines of the gospel: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the Holy Ghost.
Do I have no intellectual curiosity about matters such as Book of Mormon geography? To the contrary, I find it a fascinating topic; fascinating but a waste of time. We simply do not know and even if we did, it is not important. Knowing just where King Benjamin was exactly when he gave his marvelous farewell address does nothing for our salvation but knowing, believing, and living what he taught does. I would love to know Book of Mormon geography - we have fairly compelling evidence of how and where Lehi and his family went after they left Jerusalem but after that? It's anyone's guess.
I know some, maybe even many LDS Church members, disagree with that sentiment but we do not know where in the Americas the Book of Mormon events took place. We can speculate all we want and say, "Well Joseph Smith [purportedly] said this" or "This narrow neck of land is the Panama isthmus or this particular area in modern Mexico or Guatemala or the Great Lakes region." Whatever; we do not know where the Book of Mormon events took place and speculating about them is a waste of time. Again, I know some disagree but I wanted to offer my opinion on the matter. Maybe we'll learn more in our lifetimes but for now there are much better things upon which to focus, like the basic doctrines of the gospel: faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the Holy Ghost.
Do I have no intellectual curiosity about matters such as Book of Mormon geography? To the contrary, I find it a fascinating topic; fascinating but a waste of time. We simply do not know and even if we did, it is not important. Knowing just where King Benjamin was exactly when he gave his marvelous farewell address does nothing for our salvation but knowing, believing, and living what he taught does. I would love to know Book of Mormon geography - we have fairly compelling evidence of how and where Lehi and his family went after they left Jerusalem but after that? It's anyone's guess.
21 March 2010
A Random Missionary Experience
I wanted to share an experience from my LDS mission so I opened my journal to a random entry. Here are a couple entries (with mild editing to clean up any errors and to edit out names):
From Tuesday, January 4, 2000: "Today was a good day. We did not have too many referrals to do, so that was a good break [I worked in the office at this point and making all the phone calls in the morning when we had to send out information about people who had contacted the LDS Church stating they wanted to receive a movie or book {and who said that they wanted to be contacted by representatives of the Church} to the various missionaries in the mission. The process took up to three hours some days.]. We did get a lot done, mostly busy work but it was fun. I was talking to Sis. Larson [our mission president's wife] about the piano and school and all [that]. She is really neat. Today she asked me if I did finger exercises so I would keep up on my skills. [She and President Larson [make] sure I keep up on my piano skills. Pres. Larson always asks me if I get enough piano practicing in.... An older couple took us and the Hermanas to a buffet restaurant for dinner. It was good. We went and met with Bill [recently baptized] after dinner and just talked with him. We set his son's baptism date for January 26! We have a lot do in between now and then, especially since he won't be here for half the time because he stays part of the time at his mother's place. Bill is such a great man. He is intelligent and wants to learn so much. I know that he will be a great strength to this ward [he was called to be the ward executive secretary about 7 months after his baptism]. Life is great. I do want to help a lot of people in this world. I only hope that I may be a Christ-like person and really be kind and generous. =)"
Why did I share this entry? It was simply one that I opened up to. I also thought it represented a typical day as a missionary - at least as an office missionary. We worked in the mission office until at least lunch (we had the occasional day where we were there until almost dinner time) and then went home and did 'normal' missionary work for the rest of the day. As missionaries we spent out time talking with people - everything is about the people. We have good news of Christ's restored gospel that we want to share with all people. It is the world's most important news and so all our time was spent trying to share this news with people. We spent all our time with others - teaching, talking, serving, and loving. Even the hard days of rejection and sadness were uplifting in their own way.
One thing that strikes me as I go back and read my missionary journals is how often the words, "Life is great" or "Life is beautiful" or some variation on that theme. I've always tried to be upbeat and optimistic about life but my mission journals generally just ooze with positivity. It is not mere melodrama - serving as an LDS missionary is one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Within the Church you frequently hear people refer to the years they spent as missionaries as "the best two years" of their lives. For me, life continues to get better with each passing year but my years as a full-time missionary were two of the best years of my life; I know that seems a bit contradictory but there really is not a better way to explain it. There is something about full-time missionary service that is incredibly rewarding. It's not a service done for personal benefit - taking two years out of schooling or other life seems like a waste of time to many people but it was anything but that. I have never been happier for as long as I was than when I was a full-time missionary.
Being a missionary is about the people though. It is about the Bills and Andrews and Karens of the world who hear the gospel preached to them, feel the Spirit, and rejoice at and accept the good news they hear and feel. Those of us who served (and serve or will serve) full time missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are 'normal' people. We were called of God to do a great work - spread His restored gospel.
From Tuesday, January 4, 2000: "Today was a good day. We did not have too many referrals to do, so that was a good break [I worked in the office at this point and making all the phone calls in the morning when we had to send out information about people who had contacted the LDS Church stating they wanted to receive a movie or book {and who said that they wanted to be contacted by representatives of the Church} to the various missionaries in the mission. The process took up to three hours some days.]. We did get a lot done, mostly busy work but it was fun. I was talking to Sis. Larson [our mission president's wife] about the piano and school and all [that]. She is really neat. Today she asked me if I did finger exercises so I would keep up on my skills. [She and President Larson [make] sure I keep up on my piano skills. Pres. Larson always asks me if I get enough piano practicing in.... An older couple took us and the Hermanas to a buffet restaurant for dinner. It was good. We went and met with Bill [recently baptized] after dinner and just talked with him. We set his son's baptism date for January 26! We have a lot do in between now and then, especially since he won't be here for half the time because he stays part of the time at his mother's place. Bill is such a great man. He is intelligent and wants to learn so much. I know that he will be a great strength to this ward [he was called to be the ward executive secretary about 7 months after his baptism]. Life is great. I do want to help a lot of people in this world. I only hope that I may be a Christ-like person and really be kind and generous. =)"
Why did I share this entry? It was simply one that I opened up to. I also thought it represented a typical day as a missionary - at least as an office missionary. We worked in the mission office until at least lunch (we had the occasional day where we were there until almost dinner time) and then went home and did 'normal' missionary work for the rest of the day. As missionaries we spent out time talking with people - everything is about the people. We have good news of Christ's restored gospel that we want to share with all people. It is the world's most important news and so all our time was spent trying to share this news with people. We spent all our time with others - teaching, talking, serving, and loving. Even the hard days of rejection and sadness were uplifting in their own way.
One thing that strikes me as I go back and read my missionary journals is how often the words, "Life is great" or "Life is beautiful" or some variation on that theme. I've always tried to be upbeat and optimistic about life but my mission journals generally just ooze with positivity. It is not mere melodrama - serving as an LDS missionary is one of the most amazing things I have ever done. Within the Church you frequently hear people refer to the years they spent as missionaries as "the best two years" of their lives. For me, life continues to get better with each passing year but my years as a full-time missionary were two of the best years of my life; I know that seems a bit contradictory but there really is not a better way to explain it. There is something about full-time missionary service that is incredibly rewarding. It's not a service done for personal benefit - taking two years out of schooling or other life seems like a waste of time to many people but it was anything but that. I have never been happier for as long as I was than when I was a full-time missionary.
Being a missionary is about the people though. It is about the Bills and Andrews and Karens of the world who hear the gospel preached to them, feel the Spirit, and rejoice at and accept the good news they hear and feel. Those of us who served (and serve or will serve) full time missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are 'normal' people. We were called of God to do a great work - spread His restored gospel.
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