What I heard

If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, does any of the following sound familiar?

-Fasting reminds my physical self of who is really in charge (the spirit), and that the spirit man needs to be fed.

-The process of salvation involves three steps: conviction, trust, and obedience.

-Worship welcomes God, faith moves him.

-People may put on a religious appearance, but if they are still drinking, smoking, and cussing, they have not allowed Christ to be the Lord of their lives, to transform them to be more like him.

-The Old Testament talks about tithing, but the New Testament talks about the need to give everything, time and talents in addition to money, to Christ. He wants us to give everything to him.

-The pastor that preached these things said that he does not drink because he says that he follows wisdom.

     I know that there are significant differences between Protestant faiths and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I say Protestant faiths, but I should say creeds. The pastor who preaches the above does not profess to be a member of any one church, only that he aligns with Christianity. Joseph Smith was not a fan of the creeds of men because they can place a limit on our progression to truth. I love my faith because it embraces all truth, no matter where it is found. Christ is the only way, and he works in the lives of all his Father's children.
     Members of any group, especially religion, can tend to be clannish, to stick to their own and not reach out to people of different faiths. Let this not be us. Our church leaders have counseled us to reach out to others regardless of faith. This is the example that Christ set for us. Though he was not called to minister directly to the gentiles, he healed the daughter of a Canaanite woman. He took time to visit with the woman at the well who was a Samaritan, a group despised of the Jews. Let us have a mind to reach out rather than exclude. This is the divine path God would have us travel.

You never know... & Watercolor class

More than a week ago, I was at the gym (most FOBs have them). While working out, I asked a person if I could work out on the mat next to him. There wasn't much space available, and he said something that I took offense to. My reply was guarded, and did not represent the disdain I felt inside for what he said. I knew that I was making a big deal out of what he said, that he probably did not mean to offend me. Yet, I let it stew inside of me. In the days that followed I observed him; he just seemed like he had a sour disposition. I didn't say anything rude to him at the gym, but inside I was still offended. Then came church on Friday, the LDS Sacrament Meeting. Who do you think showed up to observe the meeting? This could not have been more unexpected. I felt very convicted for what I had wrongfully felt inside. Why did I allow myself to take things so seriously and get offended? Yet, still I was glad that I had not said anything I would regret. You never know who will show up at your worship service, so we should treat everyone as if they are coming. King Benjamin said, "are we not all beggars?" This also implies, "are we not all brothers?" As brothers, (and sisters), how are we to treat each other? I have much to learn in this area and am grateful for God's patience in allowing me another day to learn to love. As I stated in my last post, it is what binds society together, and ultimately to God. Think about the city of Enoch: "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness, and there was no poor among them." They likely were not taking offense at little things either. Of all people, I'm a chaplain! But I am hopelessly human, and like everyone else, completely dependent on the strength and mercy of God to transform my heart from impenetrable stone to a submissive one in which can be written the will of God. On a different note: It finally hit me last night midway through the weekly watercolor painting class I hold for soldiers. I realized: I thought I was doing some valuable service for military personnel by providing them with an opportunity to learn to paint and have some time to relax. The real reason, (prior to last night held only in my subconscious mind), is that the painting class was for me. Having people come is just a justification for me to slip into the creative sphere of visual art for a couple hours once a week. Leaving the familiar realm of teaching art to begin my schooling as a chaplain was very traumatic at first. As I sat in a classroom lit by cold fluorescent lights, full of non-art desks and chairs, beginning the long education process that spanned 2006-2010, I felt like a fish out of water. I felt exactly the opposite of how I felt when I taught my first drawing class when I declared: I feel like a fish in the ocean. My whole being was revolting--how could this be happening? I am still in the process of making the transition from artist to chaplain. In reality, it is not an either/or situation. I need to own up to my responsibility to continue to express my creative ideas no matter where my income is generated. I am still an artist, and if I get lazy and do not use the talents God has given me, I will miss the blessings connected with the exercise of them. I need to find the right balance: my employer comes first (to provide for my family by the grace of God), but part of my responsibility to my employer is utilizing the gifts I have been given. I played my violin with the worship/praise team tonight during the Protestant service. I enjoyed being able to contribute and use the gift of music passed down from my grandfather through my mother. The bottom line is this: I don't need to wait for a "reason" (like students to teach or a praise team inviting me to play) to magnify the gifts I have been given. I need to be "anxiously engaged" in using them to reach out to others, and ultimately glorify God. Truly, he is the source of all creativity.

The Foundation of Society

De-evolution in Ether 14-15 and Moroni 9 Where is our society, fast becoming a global society, headed? What have we achieved with our technology, increases in efficiency, availability of information, and world-shrinking transportation? Have we also increased in our humanity to each other, in our care of the poor and the down-trodden, and eased the burdens of those that suffer? Does love abound in our society? “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days” (Ecclesiastes 11:1). We reap what we sow. “And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the east wind, which bringeth immediate destruction” (Mosiah 7:31). King Limhi counseled his people that they had been smitten by the Lamanites and were in bondage to them because they had “fallen into transgression” and killed a prophet of God, Abinadi. Three times Limhi and his people had gone against the Lamanites in battle and were defeated each time. Many of their kindred and friends lay dead as a consequence. Those who seek death receive death. War is and always has been a terrible thing. It is designed to inflict death upon an enemy. Throughout the Book of Mormon, and particularly in the Book of Ether, wicked men used secret combinations authored by Satan to depose kings and usurp power. They undertook wars to accomplish their unrighteous purposes. Power was the ultimate goal, and the wicked would spare no one to obtain it. In Ether 14-15, the desire for power is supplanted by the desire for death. Coriantumr offered to give up the kingdom to Shiz, to prevent the annihilation of the Jaredite race, but this was not enough anymore. Above all, Shiz was determined to slay Coriantumr, to avenge the death of his brother, even though this goal conflicted with the prophecy of Ether (Ether 13:21). All people, men, women, and children were enlisted in this work of death. The result was the genocide of the entire Jaredite nation, with Coriantumr surviving just long enough to relate the sad tale of destruction to the immigrant people of Zarahemla, the Mulekites (Omni 1:21). Anger is a common denominator between the accounts of the ending of the Jaredite and Nephite civilizations. Satan, the author of anger, had full power over both peoples because they yielded their hearts to anger. The Jaredites “were given up to the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed” (Ether 15:19). They were “drunken with anger” (Ether 15:22). Concerning the latest stage of the Nephite civilization, Mormon writes to his son Moroni: “Satan stirreth them up continually to anger one with another” (Moroni 9:3). When Mormon delivered the word of God to them, they “tremble[d] and anger[ed] against [him]” (Moroni 9:4). Mormon continues: “For so exceedingly do they anger that it seemeth me that they have no fear of death; and they have lost their love one towards another; and they thirst after blood and revenge continually” (Moroni 9:5). The carnal instincts of the people had such free reign that they sought death continually. Mormon lamented their loss of civilization (Moroni 9:11). “O the depravity of my people! They are without order and without mercy” (Moroni 9:18). Mormon, the keeper of the Nephite and Jaredite records, had a sense of history that few others had. He was witness to the repetition of history. He stated: “And if they [the Nephites] perish it will be like unto the Jaredites, because of the willfulness of their hearts, seeking for blood and revenge” (Moroni 9:23). Human society cannot withstand the widespread loss of love, in favor of the desire for death. A murderous disposition is the opposite of civilization, and ultimately spells the end of civilization. The author of this disposition is Satan. He detests order, beauty, and love. Ultimately, Satan desires that all should be denied the blessings and freedom of the atonement of Christ. Satan would have all humanity “choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2Nephi 2:27). Those who seek the death of others are working out of harmony with God’s plan. They are seeking to cut short the preparatory period of mankind. Alma testified that “there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead (Alma 12:24). Satan desires the bondage of all; he wants to stunt the eternal progression of all God’s children. He seeks to bring spiritual death among us, to separate us from God eternally. Jesus warned that in the latter days, “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matthew 24:12). Paul gave a similar warning: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves…” (2 Timothy 3:1-2). When we do not love we separate ourselves not only from others, but ultimately from God. Yet, if we will obey Christ’s injunction to love others, we will not fall pray to the anger and hatred that lead to eternal bondage and separation from God. John, called the Beloved, enjoined the members of the church in his day: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1John 4:7-8). Love ultimately unites, while anger divides. If we are to be a part of God’s society, we must love his children. Our destiny is to become the sons and daughters of God through love. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1John 3:1). “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God” (1John 4:7). To love God is to love our neighbor. “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:10-11). “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments” (1John 5:2). Ultimately, civilization progresses only with love. If civilization is the uniting of people in a harmonious and orderly manner, it can only exist if love abounds. No other force but love, which ultimately comes from God, can unite people. In God we see the ultimate unity, the love between the Father and the Son that results in a perfect union of deity. They desire us to share in this unity. If civilization has a goal, it should be to seek the unity that exists between the Father and the Son. This is perfect love, love which reaches out to all of humanity. We find the ultimate expression of this love in the atonement of Christ. “For God so love the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christ loved his Father so much that he was willing to be obedient even unto death. This act of love reaches out to all humanity, uniting us with God if we will submit to the will of the Father, as Christ did. We submit by offering a broken heart and a contrite spirit, as a sacrifice to God. We give up our own will, in the spirit of how Christ gave up his, to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, and be reconciled to God through his eternal gift of life. To choose submission is to choose life, freedom, joy, and eternal happiness with God and those we love. To choose rebellion is to choose captivity, death, and eternal separation from God and those we love. Love is by nature unselfish, and therefore the only force that can hold civilization together. In contrast, selfishness divides, dissolves, and disintegrates civilization. True civilization is in oneness with God; all other civilizations are temporary. Joseph Smith declared in the Doctrine and Covenants 130:2, “And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy.” A truly evolved society is one in which love abounds. Because “God is love,” our civilization must be founded on love, meaning Him; otherwise, it will ultimately decay and crumble, and go the way of all others (1 John 4:8).