A Blonde Moment

I took three of the kids to stake conference on Sunday (#4 wasn't feeling well). I have been listening to the Book of Mormon as I drive, so it started playing again when I started the car. After one of the many "I, Nephi..." verses, Allie (6yrs) asked a very serious question:

"Dad, how did Nephi know how to talk to the radio?"

After explaining it wasn't actually Nephi speaking, but someone reading the scriptures, she was fine again.

I worry about that girl sometimes. Cute, but the blonde goes all the way to the roots some days...

Lesson 14: Pesky Neighbors

This week's lesson deals with probably my second-favorite parable. The more I learn about the "good" Samaritan (Note, Christ never used the term 'good' in relation to this parable), the more appreciation I have for my Savior.

A lawyer, trying to trap Jesus, asked what he had to do in order to inherit eternal life. Christ turned the question back on him saying, "You're a lawyer, what does the law say?"

This must've been a bit embarrassing for a lawyer to appear not to know a basic question like that, so he answered, 'Love God and your neighbor'. In an effort to save face, he added, "And who is my neighbor?"

Essentially he's asking, "Where is the dividing line between neighbor and non-neighbor? If someone asks me for help, where's the cut-off point where I'm no longer obligated to do anything?" I'm sure we've all had neighbors we'd rather not have to help if we could get away with it. Maybe they play their music really loud at all hours of the night, maybe they let their dog wander around on your lawn. To the Jews of the day, any Israelite was considered a neighbor. However, if you saw a Gentile drowning, you weren't technically obligated to help under the law.

"The rabbis said, 'An Israelite killing a stranger-inhabitant doth not die for it by the Sanhedrin, because it is said, If any one lifts up himself against his neighbor.' 'We are not to contrive the death of the Gentiles, but if they are in any danger of death we are not bound to deliver them... for such a one is not thy neighbor.' (J. R. Dummelow, The One Volume Bible Commentary, p. 751)

Christ referred to this point earlier in his ministry, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy" (Matt 5:43).

Jesus responded to the lawyer with a parable:

...A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,

And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.

Jericho was a Levite city about 12-15 miles away from Jerusalem and the road was called the "red path" or "bloody way" as it was known for frequent attacks on travelers. The wounded man in the story is left unaided by a passing priest and Levite, who move to the other side of the road to avoid him.

While this may seem a little harsh to us, the listeners would've understood, as the priest and Levite would've held responsibilities in the temple and any contact with one who was dead would result in being made unclean (Numbers 19:16) and unworthy to serve in the temple without a lengthy cleansing period.

The stinger for them would've been the actions of the Samaritan who saved the life of the wounded man. In fact, when asked who he thought was neighbor, the lawyer couldn't even say Samaritan but referred to him only as "he that shewed mercy".

On the surface, the moral of the story seems to be "do good to everyone", which is definitely one important application. But remember the lawyer's original question, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" I feel we as readers often take the wrong role in the story. We think we are to be the Samaritan, when in fact we are the wounded traveler. It's almost as if Jesus was asking, "what can you do, as the wounded, dying man on the side of the road, to save yourself?" The answer is clear, we are vulture bait unless someone steps in to help. The only source of salvation comes from one they despised most. Earlier in Christ's ministry, the Jews applied what was probably the worst label they had, "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan...?" (John 8:48)

The Samaritan in the story gave the inn-keeper two-days wages as payment in advance, which would've been more than enough, and a promise he would pay more if needed. Eternal life comes through Christ no matter how unpopular He may be, whether in His day or in ours.

"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23)

"Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah..." (2 Nephi 2:8)

Lesson 13: Fish Again?

If you live in Raymond, you don't get a lesson this week, one of the casualties of the boundary adjustments and the creation of a new ward. The rest of you are probably on Lesson 13.

This is my first "civilian" posting, which was an interesting experience. I had a few ideas and insights as I read, but mostly questions.

Jesus and the disciples had gone up to Tyre and Sidon from Capernaum (about 60km away). Matthew and Mark don't mention the reason for the detour, only that while they are there a Greek woman "besought [Jesus] that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter" (Mark 7:26). Matthew records she "cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on my, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil" (Matt 15:22). She was making enough of a scene the disciples "besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us." (Matt 15:23). "Can't you just help her so she'll go away?"

Christ told the woman, "Let the children of the kingdom (JST Mark 7:26) first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs." Ouch, that seems a little harsh. But the Greek word used here means "little dog" or family pet.

The woman, who seems to have understood what Jesus was saying, replied, "Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs." (Mark 7:28).

Jesus, impressed with her faith (see Matt 15:28) tells her she can have what she wants and her daughter was made whole.

So, was this the primary reason Christ came to the region? Nothing else is recorded of the trip. It seems a long way to go to test the faith of a gentile woman. Was this a primer for the apostles, letting them know the time will come when they will take the gospel to the gentiles?

From the coast of Tyre and Sidon, they traveled to Decapolis, ten cities to the south east of the sea of Galiliee, again largely populated by gentiles. The people had followed the Savior for three days as he healed their sick (see Matthew 15:32-39/ Mark 8:1-10). Four thousand men (not counting women and children) were starting to get a little hungry and Jesus had compassion on them. The disciples pointed out they were in the wilderness and couldn't buy bread, and didn't have enough to feed everyone. Christ took the seven loaves and the few small fish, gave thanks, and broke them. The disciples then distributed them among the multitude, and after everyone was full, they collected seven baskets of left-overs.

Some of my questions:
-Why did he wait three days before having compassion on the multitude? The 5,000 were fed after only a single day.
-Why didn't the disciples just ask for a repeat performance? They had seen him feed 5,000 with only five loaves. Were they afraid to ask for something which seemed so far out of reach?
-Why were there only seven baskets left over? For that matter, why were there twelve baskets left over the first time?

A couple of points I'm taking from these two experiences:
-I need to be more like the gentile woman in my prayers. Her faith and persistence resulted in the desired blessing. My prayers could use a bit more faith and persistence.
-Don't be offended or hurt when the Lord tests my faith. In the scriptures, every time faith is tested a great blessing awaits on the other side, "for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6)
-The multitude followed Christ for three days without eating. What am I willing to give up to be closer to him? A bad habit or two? Maybe a favorite sin?

Not How I Had Pictured It...

Any calling to serve in the Church comes with an eventual release date (with a very few exceptions). I knew my day would come eventually, although I had imagined it quite differently. I figured in about 4-5 years, despite my best efforts to stay under the radar, someone would realize I was still teaching and move me to some other calling. Sure, I'd accept the new position, but on the inside I would still be missing my favorite calling of all time. That's not how it happened...

Last night there was a meeting for the Raymond stake in which all the ward boundaries were revised and the new Raymond 9th ward was created. Speculation has been running rampant for over a year now, but last night it became official. I thought it was rather amusing they chose "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" as the opening hymn. The stake went through and released a couple of bishops as well as some other stake callings, so we were all trying to guess where the boundaries would be, based on who was being released. I honestly thought we were safe because they only seemed to be affecting three of the wards. But sadly, we got traded to First ward.

To say we have mixed emotions is somewhat an understatement. Trevor is excited because now his friend and his cousins will all be in the same ward. Rhys is excited because his friend Owen is also in 1st ward (we live two houses away, pretty good odds we were going to be in the same ward). I'm sure 1st ward will be fine, but it's still hard leaving 5th ward.

I'm very grateful to have been given the privilege of teaching Gospel Doctrine for nearly five years. I've had so many great learning experiences and will miss everyone. I take with me all the things they taught me (even though I was supposed to be the teacher). If you've never taught Sunday School, you're missing out on what it's like to see people in the class have "ah-ha!" moments, or to feel guided to take the lesson in a different direction and see it touch someone.

This calling has given me the wonderful opportunity to serve alongside some great men. Two of the most influential:

Brother Terry Tieland, I still remember your Book of Mormon lessons and feeling your testimony as you taught. One of my biggest worries when I was first called was how high you had set the bar.

Bishop Bernie Orr, from being priesthood helpers on Beehive camp, to teaching, to your time as bishop, I've always looked up to you. The hardest part of this whole transition was probably the realization I'm not in your ward any more. I am a better person because of the things I've learned from you.

So, to the 5th ward Gospel Doctrine class, I thank you. I learned far more from you than you did from me.

Now I just wait to see where I get called next. In the meantime, I'll still keep working on the weekly lessons because it's fun for me.

Lesson 12: Never Seems to Work With Ice Cream

The other point I wanted to cover from this week's lesson is the feeding of the 5,000.

A large multitude had been following Jesus because they had seen the great healings he had performed. As the evening drew close, Christ had compassion on the people and asked Philip where they could buy enough bread to feed the people (John 6:5). Philip replied two hundred pennyworth (the equivalent of 200 days wages) wouldn't be enough to feed the crowd, even if they all only had a small portion.

Andrew said there was a boy who had five loaves of bread and two small fish, "...but what are they among so many?" (John 6:9). I wonder if Andrew caught a glimpse of what Jesus had already set out to do. In my limited understanding, he seems to be either using this to show they had no way to feed such a large group, or he was cautiously hoping the Master could miraculously provide for them.

Christ instructed the disciples to arrange the crowd into groups of fifty (Luke 9:14), took the loaves and fish and blessed them. The disciples were then instructed to distribute the food to the multitude. After everyone had eaten and was full, twelve baskets of left-overs were collected.

Here are a few thoughts I had this week...

-Give Your All
I would love to one day find out how the young boy responded to the request for his food. What did Andrew say to him? "Excuse me, would you mind donating your food to help feed this crowd? Thanks."

How would you even respond to that? "With all due respect sir, you should wear a hat and not spend so much time in the sun. Drink more water too, stay hydrated. Just sayin'..."

By all indications, this boy willingly gave everything he had even though it was clear it wouldn't be enough. When we are asked to do something big (maybe speaking in Church, a calling to the primary, etc) and everything seems to suggest our capacity may not be enough, we need to remember the Lord's math is different than what we normally use. Christ can do more with our mere loaves and fishes than we could, he just asks that we give him everything we have so he can make more of us than we could on our own. Seems like not a bad deal.

-Christ Never Runs Out
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "...Don't worry about Christ running out of ability to help you. His grace is sufficient. That is the spiritual, eternal lesson of the feeding of the five thousand" (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Come Unto Me", BYU Fireside, 2 March 1997).

No matter what our problem or difficulty, we can be completely confident in Christ's ability not only to understand our situation, but also to provide the needed assistance. We may not understand how he can have more of us left over than what we started with, but fortunately he's not restricted to our understanding.

Along those same lines, have you ever had an experience where one verse or passage of scripture opened up and you learned far more than you ever thought you could? It usually happens to me while I'm preparing for a lesson. A seemingly insignificant passage I may be inclined to gloss over suddenly becomes a rich spiritual feast and I find myself having difficulties trying to catch it all.

-Gather Up the Extra
I wonder if the apostles gathering the remnants of the bread and fish could be symbolic of the gathering of the twelve tribes of Israel. Just sorta thinking aloud there...

I'd be very interested to learn what they did with those twelve baskets. Did they use it to sustain themselves, or did they share it with those in need as they traveled? Either way, nothing was wasted. I wonder how often in my life I have wasted the generous blessings I've been given. Probably more often than I care to admit.

Anyhow, I hope my ramblings make sense. I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have on this...

Lesson 12: Your Focus Needs More Focus

I'm trying not to succumb to the rumors flying all over town of impending ward boundary adjustments (everyone knows someone who knows someone who is related to someone who saw the newly revised map) and the fear that this lesson may be my last as the 5th Ward Gospel Doctrine instructor. This time, the stake actually put an announcement in all the ward bulletins and is having a meeting for the adults on Sunday evening.

Anyhow, the lesson covers a few events I'd like to discuss in a little more detail than what we are normally able to do in class. The first of which is when Christ walked on the water to reach the disciples in the boat.

After Christ had miraculously fed the five thousand, he sent the disciples into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee and meet him on the other side while he went up to a mountain be alone (Matt 14:22-23).

A storm had come up which slowed their progress. By the fourth watch (3:00am - 6:00am), they had only gone about 25-30 furlongs (John 6:19), or about 5-6km. As they were struggling against the wind and waves, they saw what they thought to be a spirit coming across the sea towards them. Jesus called out to them "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matt 14:27). Peter said, "If it really is you, tell me to come out to meet you." Jesus invites Peter, who almost made it the whole distance before he started sinking.

For those of us who don't spend a lot of time boating or don't forsee the need to walk on water in the future, what can we apply from this event to our lives today?

-The Lord takes the most direct route
Knowing the severity of the storm and knowing his disciples were struggling, Christ naturally took the most direct route to help them. He didn't wait for them to reach the shore (which they probably would have done in the morning when the winds calmed) and congratulate them for toughing it out. He also didn't calm the storm, as he had done before. This time, he let his presence calm the disciples. We were never promised we wouldn't have storms in our lives, or even to have all our storms calmed. But we do have the promise we can make it through the storms with Christ. He will always take the most effective, the most direct path to succor us.

-Be of good cheer
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "This scriptural account reminds us that the first step in coming to Christ--or his coming to us--may fill us with something very much like sheer terror. It shouldn't, but it sometimes does. One of the grand ironies of the gospel is that the very source of help and safety being offered us is the thing from which we may, in our mortal shortsightedness, flee." (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Come Unto Me", BYU Fireside, 2 Mar 1997)

-Come
Make the effort to come to Christ. His invitation goes out to all of us, not just a few, and not just when we feel we're ready or worthy. Just as the father ran to meet his prodigal son, Christ will make sure we do not have to walk home alone. We shouldn't be surprised if sometimes it seems we are called to walk on water (or through it, in Moses' case). Just remember God never sets us up to fail, so if he asks us to do something we can be confident he has "prepare[d] a way for [us] that [we] may accomplish the thing which he commandeth [us]" (1 Nephi 3:7).

-Keep your eyes on Christ
Peter jumped out of the boat and walked towards his Master. When he noticed the winds, he got a little nervous and started to sink. He was close enough that all Jesus had to do was "immediately ... [stretch] forth his hand, and [catch] him" (Matt 14:31). I once heard a quote which has stuck with me:

"An obstacle is something you see when you take your eyes off your goal."

While he was walking, Peter's focus remained on Christ. But when he looked at the waves, he started to sink. When things are going rough in our lives, if we see waves there's a good chance we're looking in the wrong direction.

Lesson 7: "Be not afraid, only believe"

For some reason of all the miracles Christ performed, this one (well, technically two) sticks out to me the most this week.

All we know about Jairus (Greek, "whom God enlightens") is that he was "one of the rulers of the synagogue" (Mark 5:22). His faith in Christ's ability to heal his daughter seems genuine, and he implored Jesus to come with him to save her. He knew if Christ would come, his daughter would be spared from death.

As they went a large crowd followed, as it usually did. As they walked, a woman who had suffered for twelve years from a blood hemorrhage touched the Savior's clothes and was healed. He stopped to inquire who touched him, which the disciples thought was a bit odd, considering the large crowd which was no doubt constantly bumping up against him. He looked at the woman, who then confessed what she had done, and told her, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague" (Mark 5:34). Not only did he know that she had been healed, he also knew what he had healed.

As he is talking with this woman, someone brought Jairus the news, "Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?" (Mark 5:35). Essentially, "There's nothing he can do now, there's no point in taking any more of his time."

Christ told Jairus, "Be not afraid, only believe" (vs. 36). Luke adds, "and she shall be made whole" (Luke 8:50). Jairus did believe and his daughter was restored to life.

I wish more details of this account had been preserved because I'd like to get to know Jairus a bit better. I'm left to assume because his reactions weren't recorded, he was quietly trusting in the Lord. I'm sure someone would've written something had Jairus snapped... "We need to walk faster." "Why are we stopping to see who touched you? We're on a tight schedule!" "If we hadn't stopped, maybe we would've made it in time and my daughter would still be alive!"

There was only quiet faith on the part of Jairus. How hard would it be to calm the natural sense of urgency a parent would feel on behalf of a dying child? Instead of letting the incident with the healing of the woman irritate him, he seems to have let it build his faith in Christ's ability to grant the desired blessing. Even when he received word of his daughter's death, he quietly followed the Master. When those around him were laughing to scorn, he still showed faith.

This whole experience seems to have been tailored to build Jairus' faith in Christ's power to heal. Jesus could easily have simply told him to go home and his daughter would be healed, as he had done with the centurion (see Matt 8:5-13) and the nobleman (see John 4:46-54). But Jairus would've been deprived of his walk with the Master. They could have walked a different route where they would not have been "interrupted" by the woman seeking healing for herself, Jesus could've simply found her on the way back and healed her later.

So, what can we learn from Jairus and his experience?

First, miracles are predicated on faith. The woman was told it was her faith which made her whole, not the touching of Christ's clothes. Often, we will experience ridicule or scorn for exercising our faith. There is no evidence from the scriptural account to show Jairus ever lost his faith in Christ.

Second, the Lord is keenly aware of us. He knew who, out of a large pressing crowd, had touched his garment. We can be assured he is also aware of our needs, many times even when we are not.

Third, we shouldn't get too caught up in our own needs that we can't stop to help someone else along the way. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught:

"When, for the moment, we ourselves are not being stretched on a particular cross, we ought to be at the foot of someone else’s—full of empathy and proffering spiritual refreshment." (Neal A. Maxwell, "Endure It Well", April General Conference, 1990)

Fourth, no one is beyond the healing reach of the Savior. How often do we consider ourselves as having gone too far astray? We have wandered off beyond Christ's ability to help us back. We give up on ourselves just as those in the house had given up on the daughter (turns out she was only mostly dead...).

Finally, we need to exercise patience when asking for blessings from the Lord. God has a way of using what we feel are delays and turning them to our benefit. We can grumble about having to wait (and probably miss out), or we can let it strengthen our faith like Jairus did.

Lesson 7: Needs of the One

This week's lesson deals with Christ's miracles. There have been chapters and books written about the various miracles performed, so what does that leave for a 45-minute lesson? There are so many ways to apply the lessons to our lives today, how does one pick a few selected examples when they are all so rich?

When I worked on this lesson last time (four years ago), one of the strongest impressions I had was how much the Lord loves the individual. I went through and counted 21 miracles performed for just one person; healings, casting out devils, even raising the dead. He often went out of his way to reach someone. If I have time this week, I'll see about picking a few miracles to discuss, but now I want to focus on "the one".

The Lord used the image of the shepherd leaving the "ninety and nine" to search for the one sheep which had gone astray (Matt 18:12-13) to show us (among other things) how much he cares for us. And notice the sheep didn't get a lecture all the way home, but the shepherd rejoiced in finding the one which had been lost.

When the resurrected Savior came to visit the Nephites, he told the multitude to come forward to feel the nail marks in his hands and feet, they came "one by one until they had all gone forth" (3 Nephi 11:14-15). So, how many people are we talking about? Thirty? Fifty? How about 2,500 (see 3 Nephi 17:25). Even with a group of 2,500 people, he still made sure they had individual one-on-one time with him.

That's how I imagine the atonement taking place. We talk about the infinite atonement (see 2 Nephi 9:7, Alma 34:12) which makes it easy sometimes to forget the very personal nature of the sacrifice. I haven't found any supporting evidence of this, but I believe the atonement was made one person at a time. The closest I've been able to find is a quote from Elder John H. Groberg:

"I feel that as [the Savior] hung upon the cross and looked out…, he saw through the stream of time. His huge, magnanimous, loving soul encompassed all eternity and took in all people and all times and all sins… Yes, he saw down to you and to me" (John H. Groberg, "Beauty and Importance of the Sacrament", Conference Report Apr 89).

In my heart, I see the Savior in Gethsemane taking on himself the burden of our sins. When my name "came up" I imagine him pulling my picture out of his wallet (I'll never understand how it was done, so I put it into terms I can grasp a bit better) until he was sure I had been sufficiently covered before he pulled out the next person's photo. "I ... [suffer] these things for [you], that [you] might not suffer if [you] would repent" (see Doct and Cov. 19:16-18). And then, just to make sure, he went through it all again on the cross:

"...while he was hanging on the cross for another three hours, ... all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred." (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane", April General Conference 1985)

So, while there are so many great spiritual lessons to be found in the miracles performed by Christ, one of the biggest for me is the reminder of the importance and value in God's eyes of the one.

Lesson 6: Once More, With Feeling

Sometimes, lessons jump out at you from unexpected places in the scriptures. I've been wondering all week how to approach this week's lesson on the selection of the 12 Apostles. I went through all the scriptures listed in the manual and wondered, "what am I going to do with the other 40 minutes of class time?"

Then I read something about the experience with Peter before his call to the apostleship. In Luke 5, Christ was teaching the people near the Sea of Galilee and a large crowd was gathering. He saw two ships docked as the fishermen were working on their nets after an uneventful night of fishing. Christ entered one of the boats and taught the crowd from there. When he finished, he instructed Simon (not Peter yet) to "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught" or large catch (vs. 4). Simon responded that they had been fishing all night without any success, "nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net" (vs. 5).

This may be obvious to some of you, but it was one of those, "how long has that been in there??" moments for me. I knew he went back and always thought, "Good job Peter, you're such a trooper" but never tied it in with anything, so I missed the bigger picture...

-Hey, Nephi. Would you mind going back to Jerusalem? Turns out we need the Brass Plates (see 1 Nephi 3). Nephi says, "Sure Dad, anything the Lord asks!"

-Hey, Nephi, this is going to be a long trip. Would you mind going back to Jerusalem to pick up Ishmael and his family? Thanks. (see 1 Nephi 7). By this time I would've been murmuring, "anything else you need while I'm in town? If we forget anything else, we'll just have to do without because I'm not going back in again" but Nephi is faithful and goes without complaining.

-Alma, I know you just got kicked out of Ammonihah, but would you mind going back? Yeah, the Lord needs you to tell them to repent or be destroyed. "Have fun storming the castle..." (see Alma 8). Even though the people of the city had just "reviled him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city" (verse 13), he "returned speedily to the land of Ammonihah" (verse 18). No complaining, no "you could've told me while I was still there", just willing obedience.

-Samuel (the Lamanite, not the Old Testament prophet. See Helaman 13), how about going back to Zarahemla and "prophesy unto the people whatsoever things should come into [your] heart" (verse 3).

So, when the Lord asks us to do something, again, what is our attitude? Do we complain a little? Maybe subtly remind the Lord (as Peter did) that we just tried that and it didn't work? Imagine if Naaman only dipped himself in the river Jordan six times instead of seven. "Three... nope, Four... nothing, Five... still not getting any better here... Six, that's it. I'm going home!" Or do we, like Alma and Samuel the Lamanite, immediately turn around and go back? Simon Peter's previous try simply didn't work, it's not like the fish threw him off the lake. Alma was thrown out of the city, but went back faithfully and "speedily".

Why does the Lord so often ask us to do things repeatedly? Just once, wouldn't it be nice to have someone come up and say, "Here is the golden horseshoe and silver platter you ordered, will there be anything else sir?" The first time I prayed for a testimony of the Book of Mormon, I didn't get an answer. Didn't get one the second time either, or the third... I think I had read it at least four times before my answer came, and I can't imagine it would've had the same lasting impact had it come when I asked the first time when I "took no thought save it was to ask" (Doct. and Cov 9:7).

So, what I learned from Peter, and by extension the other examples used here, is that I will be asked to do things over. Things which didn't work out well, or at all, the first time. Things I would rather just leave behind and move on. Things which the Lord knows I could do better. Will I grumble a bit, or welcome the opportunity?

Lesson 5: How's Your Cup?

I didn't have anywhere near enough time to go through everything I found for the lesson this week, so I'll hit some of it here.

I won't go over the visit of Nicodemus, but I do want to share something that caught my attention with the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. I've heard and read this story so many times and could only see the "Christ is the Living Water" message, which is still pretty powerful, don't get me wrong. But this time something else grabbed me and showed me another level to the story.

The woman came to the well prepared to take water home with her. Seems a bit obvious in hindsight. What's the point of coming to the well if you aren't going to get any water? Spiritually, how many times do we come to church, conference, personal/family scripture study, etc. without bringing anything to hold the "living water" (see John 4:10) which is waiting? So, to help me identify the issues easier, I came up with three problems we might face with our containers.

First, Jeremiah 2:13 ties in with this (to me, anyway):

"For my people have committed two evils;" It's nice when the Lord breaks it out into points we can easily identify...

"they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters," Some of us aren't even trying to get any water, but that's not what I'm worried about right now. I just want to focus on those who actually show up...

"[and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." there's a hole in yer bucket, dear Lizza, dear Lizza...

There's our first issue. We need to examine our container to see if we have any leaks or cracks. We're trying to get "living water" from the scriptures or from meetings, but we can't hold on to it because things in our lives are interfering. We feel good at first, but it quickly fades as other concerns or interests take the place which the Spirit would otherwise occupy.

The next two come from a devotional given by Elder Bruce R. McConkie:

"...sometimes a speaker brings a jug of living water that has in it many gallons. And when he pours it out on the congregation, all the members have brought is a single cup and so that's all they take away. Or maybe they have their hands over the cups, and they don't get anything to speak of." (Bruce R. McConkie, "The Seven Deadly Heresies", Fireside Address, 1 June 1980)

The second issue, as mentioned above, is that we don't bring a large enough cup. Maybe we haven't prepared ourselves sufficiently to be receptive to the message being presented, or maybe we choose, through commission or omission, to bring a small cup. How many times have you heard, "Oh, I forgot it was high council Sunday" and see people (or yourself) mentally tune out. I've done it before. We show up to church and essentially hold out a tiny cup when the speaker has come prepared to share gallons of "living water" with us.

The third one, and possibly the most damaging, is when we put our hands over our cup to keep us from getting any water at all. Why would someone come for water, but then put their hand over their cup? Well, what if the speaker was talking about a "pet sin" I wasn't ready to give up just yet? I'd either have to acknowledge the issue and deal with it, or I could just tune out and effectively put my hand over my cup.

So now I have an easy checklist to make sure I'm getting enough "living water":
- Do I have any cracks in my cup?
- Is the cup large enough?
- Did I actually take the lid off the cup before trying to fill it?

Some Favorite Scriptures

I picked up a CD by John Bytheway titled "7 Scriptures That Will Rock Your World" and listened to it on my way up to Calgary this morning. It was very good and got me thinking about a few things. While I recommend the talk to anyone, I don't want to give a feeble summary here. Let's face it, I'm no John Bytheway. Instead, I thought I'd talk about a few scriptures which have really impacted me in my life. I know from experience when people talk about their favorite scriptures, it doesn't always hit the listener the same way it does to the person sharing. That's fine, often the same verse(s) of scripture will often have a different impact on us at different times in our lives depending on our current circumstances and that is part of the beauty of the scriptures; they reach us when we need it most. Kind of like "spiritual Motrin"... The scriptures target your needs the same way geeks target a Star Trek convention.

I'm not going to rank these to say one is more a favorite than the others or had more an impact, and there's a good chance I will have to stretch this out over several posts to get them in. Here goes...

The first one is in 1 Nephi 21:14-16 (also in Isaiah 49).

"But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

"For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

I had missed this one for quite a while because it was tucked away in the "Isaiah chapters" of 1 and 2 Nephi. I don't recall exactly what was happening when this scripture "rocked my world", but I was in high school and was feeling down about something. Everything in high school seems to get blown out of proportion and feels like the end of the world. I remember reading this (must've been senior year because that's the year we were covering the Book of Mormon in seminary) and it made me slow down to think.

Back before the days of the Palm Pilot or smartphones, when I needed to remember something I usually wrote a note on my hand; school assignments, girls' phone numbers (well, that's where I would've written them if I ever got any), scheduling items, etc. That's when the light went on for me. This is what Christ was saying here, "I'm never going to forget you because you've been 'graven ... upon the palms of my hands', I always have a reminder of you." He didn't use a pen, but instead the nails which pierced his hands, wrists, and feet. The marks in his hands which he invites all to come and feel for themselves (3 Nephi 11:14-15) as a witness of his divinity serve as a reminder of us.

It came as a comfort, as well as a gentle "suck it up" moment, to realize that no matter how bad things were (or how bad I thought they were), I was not alone and the Lord was very much aware of me. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught, "Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion, Christ is not going to turn his back on us now" ("Come Unto Me", BYU Devotional, 2 March 1997).