Today I did something epic. I ran 7.5 miles! Never in my life have I run that far, or thought to run that far. I always joked, made excuses, or said I couldn't because of an injury.
Perhaps teaching has taught me more about myself than I think. I see students everyday joking about their education, making excuses, and saying they can't because of something lame. There were, and are, times in my life when I did that. But I am tired of being mediocre, of not doing those things that I really can do.
This morning was a total mind game with myself. When I started running, I told myself I was going to run to a certain place and then back. Upon arrival, I felt good and told myself I was going to the next point of interest. When I got there, I didn't want to go back the same way so I routed myself back to the house via a different trail.
Each time I was only going to go so far, but I continued to push myself. There was a high that came with pushing myself and realizing I was doing something huge. My pace continued to be steady the whole time as I ran up and down hills, and around turns. It was amazing!
The scenery was beautiful. It was so much more running outside than it is running on the track in circles, or on the treadmill. I am beginning to understand why people run. It's rough on my body because I am still not where I would like to be with weight, but I am, and will, be getting there.
There are many things in my life that I am discovering / doing for the first time. Often, I have asked why I waited so long. But looking back with regret doesn't matter as much as moving forward with accomplishment. We can always look back and wonder, but it is literally water under the bridge. It has come and gone, and there is nothing more we can do about it. The most important question is: What will you do with your present and your future?
While I worry about my present and future, I am secure in knowing that I can still make things right. I am learning important lessons and I am looking forward to the day of freedom. It will require more discipline than I have had and / or placed in my plan. Things will be tighter, but they will be better.
Rules form my life. While I push against them, they define who I am. The Gospel and it's principles define who I am spiritually, and hopefully who I am temporally as I learn and grow. Many things are black and white for me, and I believe that is how life will become increasingly in the future.
Things are evolving in life and causing me to reflect on potential things for the future. While I say that I am prepared, I am far from it. Somehow, I believe Heavenly Father is waiting for me to turn my life right-side-up before He will help me on to my next step. I must continue on my path to find out what else Heavenly Father needs me to do before the desires of my heart can be realized.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Pleasure vs. Joy
I have frequently pondered on the word "desire." So much so that it is one of three words I seek out to highlight in my scriptures. My mission president often talked about it and how important it is / was in our daily work. Desire, good or bad, can lead to consequences, good or bad.
On Sunday we had some excellent talks, one highlighted Nephi's encounter with an angel. One of the first questions the angel asks is, "What desirest thou?"
Pleasure is the thought of when we feel like giving up and settling for something less because it will make us happy right now.
Joy is waiting on the timing of the Lord with patience because we know it will not be fleeting, but everlasting.
I have pondered this for a while because I watch my students each day fill daily pleasures. They don't want to go to class, so they sluff (pleasure) and eventually loose their attendance credit. Somewhere they end up spending more time in community service and make up homework to redeem their choice. Most of them get so far in the hole that they cannot graduate or do so by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin. They have no sight of the joy that will come from being in class and not having to backtrack to salvage their grade.
We do the same thing every day. Choices are made because they make us happy right now. We are hindered in our ability to step back and take in the big picture to find out what will bring us the most joy.
Perhaps this is the reason why it is so important to keep God in our lives each day. He will never lead us astray, and he will help us to keep perspective. The Master is ever watchful of us and longs to help us fulfill our righteous desires.
So, the question remains, "What desirest thou?"
On Sunday we had some excellent talks, one highlighted Nephi's encounter with an angel. One of the first questions the angel asks is, "What desirest thou?"
Pleasure is the thought of when we feel like giving up and settling for something less because it will make us happy right now.
Joy is waiting on the timing of the Lord with patience because we know it will not be fleeting, but everlasting.
I have pondered this for a while because I watch my students each day fill daily pleasures. They don't want to go to class, so they sluff (pleasure) and eventually loose their attendance credit. Somewhere they end up spending more time in community service and make up homework to redeem their choice. Most of them get so far in the hole that they cannot graduate or do so by the hair of their chinny-chin-chin. They have no sight of the joy that will come from being in class and not having to backtrack to salvage their grade.
We do the same thing every day. Choices are made because they make us happy right now. We are hindered in our ability to step back and take in the big picture to find out what will bring us the most joy.
Perhaps this is the reason why it is so important to keep God in our lives each day. He will never lead us astray, and he will help us to keep perspective. The Master is ever watchful of us and longs to help us fulfill our righteous desires.
So, the question remains, "What desirest thou?"
Lessons from teaching
Over the past few weeks I have learned some interesting things as I have taught. Often, people say they learn more when they teach. I think my learning comes through my own words as I am teaching, and not necessarily when I am studying.
In teaching the back portion of the D&C, there are many lessons about the Saints' afflictions and blessings because of their endurance. In Section 101 we learn why the Saints passed through trials.
"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I alove I also chasten that their sins may be bforgiven, for with the cchastisement I prepare a way for their ddeliverance in all things out of etemptation, and I have loved you—" (D&C 95:1)
- How does it show the Lord's love? How does it help learn obedience and remember Him?
"And thus we see that except the Lord doth achasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with bdeath and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not cremember him" (Hel. 12:3).
- Why do we forget God in times of peace? How can we be better?
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the asin which doth so easily bbeset us, and let us run with cpatience the race that is set before us" (Heb 12:1).
- How can we keep our lives in perspective?
"And all they who suffer apersecution for my name, and endure in faith, though they are called to lay down their lives for my bsake yet shall they partake of all this glory.
"Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the asoul, and for the life of the soul.
"And aseek the face of the Lord always, that in bpatience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life" (D&C 101:35-38).
With all the chastisement, the Lord has promised comfort. Never will the Lord leave us to flounder. We may feel like it sometimes, but He is closer than we think. Of course, sin causes the spirit to withdraw. So, we feel alone because we are in a sense. But not as much as we may think / feel. Because the Lord loves each of us, there is this promise:
"Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with acompassion towards them. I will not utterly bcast them off; and in the day of cwrath I will remember mercy.
"I have sworn, and the decree hath gone forth by a former commandment which I have given unto you, that I would let fall the asword of mine indignation in behalf of my people; and even as I have said, it shall come to pass.
"Mine indignation is soon to be poured out without measure upon all nations; and this will I do when the cup of their iniquity is afull.
"And in that day all who are found upon the awatch-tower, or in other words, all mine Israel, shall be saved.
"And they that have been scattered shall be agathered.
"And all they who have amourned shall be comforted.
" And all they who have given their alives for my name shall be crowned.
" aZion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered.
"They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their ainheritances, they and their children, with bsongs of everlasting joy, to cbuild up the waste places of Zion—
"And all these things that the prophets might be fulfilled" (D&C 101:9-19).
I think back to the Saints when they were driven out. The sent a petition to Governor Dunklin seeking help in restoring their lands and giving them protection. The Governor told them he would do so if the Saints provided their own men. In February 1834, Joseph Smith organized a group of 207 men to march more than 1,000 miles.
The men of Zion's Camp marched and suffered much. In the end, they returned before they could even reach the suffering saints and offer aid. Many miraculous things happened, and also many hard trials happened. When Brigham Young returned to Kirtland after Zion’s Camp, he was asked, “What have you gained by this journey?” He replied, “Just what we went for; … I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of [this] County” (in Journal of Discourses, 2:10).
While some people thought Zion’s Camp was a failure, the accomplishment of these purposes was of great importance to the Church. Zion’s Camp is an example of how God’s purposes can be accomplished in ways that we may not understand at the time. In February 1835, five months after the camp was disbanded, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Quorum of the Seventy were organized. Nine of the Twelve Apostles and all 70 members of the Quorum of the Seventy had served in Zion’s Camp. Speaking of how the camp helped prepare these leaders, Joseph Smith said:
“Brethren, some of you are angry with me, because you did not fight in Missouri; but let me tell you, God did not want you to fight. He could not organize His kingdom with twelve men to open the Gospel door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men under their direction to follow in their tracks, unless He took them from a body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as great a sacrifice as did Abraham” (History of the Church, 2:182).
The experience of George A. Smith demonstrates how Zion’s Camp prepared men for future leadership in the Church. At age 16, he was the youngest man in the camp, inexperienced and lacking confidence. Despite personal discomfort and the complaints of many men about the poor conditions, George willingly followed all of Joseph Smith’s instructions. George slept in the Prophet’s tent and was able to hear much of his counsel and instructions. By closely associating with the Prophet, George learned leadership skills and developed strength that prepared him for a lifetime of leadership. Less than five years after Zion’s Camp, George A. Smith was ordained an Apostle. He later served with Brigham Young as a member of the First Presidency.
Redemption of the Saints is promised according to obedience. Ancient Israel was denied the Land of Promise because of disobedience (Num. 14) and modern-day Israel would have to "wait for a little season" for the redemption of Zion because of their disobedience and dissension (D&C105: 9, 13). The manner in which Zion will be redeemed is laid out in D&C 105:
"But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not aimpart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them;
"And are not aunited according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom;
"And aZion cannot be built up bunless it is by the cprinciples of the dlaw of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.
"That they themselves may be prepared, and that my people may be ataught more perfectly, and have experience, and know more perfectly concerning their bduty, and the things which I require at their hands.
"And this cannot be brought to pass until mine aelders are bendowed with power from on high.
"For behold, I have prepared a great endowment and blessing to be apoured out upon them, inasmuch as they are faithful and continue in humility before me" (D&C 105: 3-5, 10-12).
Pondering on these scriptures, I think to our mission of saving and when Zion will be redeemed. Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are of the tribe of Ephraim. The tribes' duty is to gather the House of Israel. When I think of the standards for the redemption of Zion, I think to the statement made by Cain before the face of the Lord, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Let us for a moment join Captain Edward Martin and the handcart company he led. While we will not feel the pangs of hunger which they felt or experience the bitter cold that penetrated their weary bodies, we will emerge from our visit with a better appreciation of hardship borne, courage demonstrated, and faith fulfilled. We will witness with tear-filled eyes a dramatic answer to the question ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’
"I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off.
"Nevertheless, after awading through much btribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an ceverlasting burning, and I am born of God.
"My soul hath been aredeemed from the gall of bitterness and bbonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was cracked with eternal torment; but I am dsnatched, and my soul is epained no more" (Mosiah 27: 25-29).
In the veneral words of Brigham Young, "Go bring them in from the plains!" It is not up to us to give up!
In teaching the back portion of the D&C, there are many lessons about the Saints' afflictions and blessings because of their endurance. In Section 101 we learn why the Saints passed through trials.
"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I alove I also chasten that their sins may be bforgiven, for with the cchastisement I prepare a way for their ddeliverance in all things out of etemptation, and I have loved you—" (D&C 95:1)
- How does it show the Lord's love? How does it help learn obedience and remember Him?
"And thus we see that except the Lord doth achasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with bdeath and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not cremember him" (Hel. 12:3).
- Why do we forget God in times of peace? How can we be better?
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the asin which doth so easily bbeset us, and let us run with cpatience the race that is set before us" (Heb 12:1).
- How can we keep our lives in perspective?
"And all they who suffer apersecution for my name, and endure in faith, though they are called to lay down their lives for my bsake yet shall they partake of all this glory.
"Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the asoul, and for the life of the soul.
"And aseek the face of the Lord always, that in bpatience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life" (D&C 101:35-38).
With all the chastisement, the Lord has promised comfort. Never will the Lord leave us to flounder. We may feel like it sometimes, but He is closer than we think. Of course, sin causes the spirit to withdraw. So, we feel alone because we are in a sense. But not as much as we may think / feel. Because the Lord loves each of us, there is this promise:
"Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with acompassion towards them. I will not utterly bcast them off; and in the day of cwrath I will remember mercy.
"I have sworn, and the decree hath gone forth by a former commandment which I have given unto you, that I would let fall the asword of mine indignation in behalf of my people; and even as I have said, it shall come to pass.
"Mine indignation is soon to be poured out without measure upon all nations; and this will I do when the cup of their iniquity is afull.
"And in that day all who are found upon the awatch-tower, or in other words, all mine Israel, shall be saved.
"And they that have been scattered shall be agathered.
"And all they who have amourned shall be comforted.
" And all they who have given their alives for my name shall be crowned.
" aZion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are scattered.
"They that remain, and are pure in heart, shall return, and come to their ainheritances, they and their children, with bsongs of everlasting joy, to cbuild up the waste places of Zion—
"And all these things that the prophets might be fulfilled" (D&C 101:9-19).
I think back to the Saints when they were driven out. The sent a petition to Governor Dunklin seeking help in restoring their lands and giving them protection. The Governor told them he would do so if the Saints provided their own men. In February 1834, Joseph Smith organized a group of 207 men to march more than 1,000 miles.
The men of Zion's Camp marched and suffered much. In the end, they returned before they could even reach the suffering saints and offer aid. Many miraculous things happened, and also many hard trials happened. When Brigham Young returned to Kirtland after Zion’s Camp, he was asked, “What have you gained by this journey?” He replied, “Just what we went for; … I would not exchange the knowledge I have received this season for the whole of [this] County” (in Journal of Discourses, 2:10).
While some people thought Zion’s Camp was a failure, the accomplishment of these purposes was of great importance to the Church. Zion’s Camp is an example of how God’s purposes can be accomplished in ways that we may not understand at the time. In February 1835, five months after the camp was disbanded, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Quorum of the Seventy were organized. Nine of the Twelve Apostles and all 70 members of the Quorum of the Seventy had served in Zion’s Camp. Speaking of how the camp helped prepare these leaders, Joseph Smith said:
“Brethren, some of you are angry with me, because you did not fight in Missouri; but let me tell you, God did not want you to fight. He could not organize His kingdom with twelve men to open the Gospel door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men under their direction to follow in their tracks, unless He took them from a body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as great a sacrifice as did Abraham” (History of the Church, 2:182).
The experience of George A. Smith demonstrates how Zion’s Camp prepared men for future leadership in the Church. At age 16, he was the youngest man in the camp, inexperienced and lacking confidence. Despite personal discomfort and the complaints of many men about the poor conditions, George willingly followed all of Joseph Smith’s instructions. George slept in the Prophet’s tent and was able to hear much of his counsel and instructions. By closely associating with the Prophet, George learned leadership skills and developed strength that prepared him for a lifetime of leadership. Less than five years after Zion’s Camp, George A. Smith was ordained an Apostle. He later served with Brigham Young as a member of the First Presidency.
Redemption of the Saints is promised according to obedience. Ancient Israel was denied the Land of Promise because of disobedience (Num. 14) and modern-day Israel would have to "wait for a little season" for the redemption of Zion because of their disobedience and dissension (D&C105: 9, 13). The manner in which Zion will be redeemed is laid out in D&C 105:
"But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not aimpart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them;
"And are not aunited according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom;
"And aZion cannot be built up bunless it is by the cprinciples of the dlaw of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.
"That they themselves may be prepared, and that my people may be ataught more perfectly, and have experience, and know more perfectly concerning their bduty, and the things which I require at their hands.
"And this cannot be brought to pass until mine aelders are bendowed with power from on high.
"For behold, I have prepared a great endowment and blessing to be apoured out upon them, inasmuch as they are faithful and continue in humility before me" (D&C 105: 3-5, 10-12).
Pondering on these scriptures, I think to our mission of saving and when Zion will be redeemed. Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are of the tribe of Ephraim. The tribes' duty is to gather the House of Israel. When I think of the standards for the redemption of Zion, I think to the statement made by Cain before the face of the Lord, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Let us for a moment join Captain Edward Martin and the handcart company he led. While we will not feel the pangs of hunger which they felt or experience the bitter cold that penetrated their weary bodies, we will emerge from our visit with a better appreciation of hardship borne, courage demonstrated, and faith fulfilled. We will witness with tear-filled eyes a dramatic answer to the question ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’
“ ‘The handcarts moved on November 3 and reached the [Sweetwater] river, filled with floating ice. To cross would require more courage and fortitude, it seemed, than human nature could muster. Women shrank back and men wept. Some pushed through, but others were unequal to the ordeal.
“ ‘Three eighteen-year-old boys belonging to the relief party came to the rescue; and to the astonishment of all who saw, carried nearly every member of that ill-fated handcart company across the snow-bound stream. The strain was so terrible, and the exposure so great, that in later years all the boys died from the effects of it. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic act, he wept like a child, and later declared publicly, “That act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant, and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end” ’ (LeRoy R. Hafen and Ann W. Hafen, Handcarts to Zion [Glendale, California: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1960], pp. 132–33).
“Our service to others may not be so dramatic, but we can bolster human spirits, clothe cold bodies, feed hungry people, comfort grieving hearts, and lift to new heights precious souls” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1990, 61–62; or Ensign, May 1990, 46–47).
Perhaps our service isn't so literal, but more symbolic. There are people who are perishing in the frost of indifference and faithlessness. There are many who are kept from the safety of the valley only because they know not where to find it (D&C 123:14). In order to redeem Zion, we mst seek them out. Again, President Hinckley said:
“There are so many who are hungry and destitute across this world who need help. … Ours is a great and solemn duty to reach out and help them, to lift them, to feed them if they are hungry, to nurture their spirits if they thirst for truth and righteousness.
“There are so many young people who wander aimlessly and walk the tragic trail of drugs, gangs, immorality, and the whole brood of ills that accompany these things. There are widows who long for friendly voices and that spirit of anxious concern which speaks of love. There are those who were once warm in the faith, but whose faith has grown cold. Many of them wish to come back but do not know quite how to do it. They need friendly hands reaching out to them. With a little effort, many of them can be brought back to feast again at the table of the Lord.
“My brethren and sisters, I would hope, I would pray that each of us … would resolve to seek those who need help, who are in desperate and difficult circumstances, and lift them in the spirit of love into the embrace of the Church, where strong hands and loving hearts will warm them, comfort them, sustain them, and put them on the way of happy and productive lives” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1996, 118; or Ensign, Nov. 1996, 86).
We are our brother's keeper, end of story. We will be responsible for those around us, just as we are responsible for sharing the gospel with everyone we meet. The promise is that it will not / does not take much effort to bring the lambs back to the fold. Sheep know when they are being called by their master and they return without hesitation. We are the same. There is something inside of us that longs to be with the Savior, in His presence. It is not up to us to give up! That is not our decision because the Savior gave so much that we might repent and return to the presence of God. Alma said it this way:
"And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be aborn again; yea, bborn of God, cchanged from their carnal and dfallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his esons and daughters;
"And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in anowise inherit the kingdom of God.
"I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off.
"Nevertheless, after awading through much btribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an ceverlasting burning, and I am born of God.
"My soul hath been aredeemed from the gall of bitterness and bbonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was cracked with eternal torment; but I am dsnatched, and my soul is epained no more" (Mosiah 27: 25-29).
In the veneral words of Brigham Young, "Go bring them in from the plains!" It is not up to us to give up!
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
You made me love you
It's all your fault you know.
You made me love you.
The rugged life you live everyday stirs something inside of me that nothing else does. There is a sort of spiritual connection I have felt with you for so long. We can be together for hours, not say a single word, and it's OK. There are no arguments. We respect and enjoy each others company.
On a summer day you cradle me as the sun smiles down upon us. The wind flows like fingers through my hair. I am happy and at peace when I am with you.
It's all your fault you know ...
You made me love you ...
You made me love you.
The rugged life you live everyday stirs something inside of me that nothing else does. There is a sort of spiritual connection I have felt with you for so long. We can be together for hours, not say a single word, and it's OK. There are no arguments. We respect and enjoy each others company.
On a summer day you cradle me as the sun smiles down upon us. The wind flows like fingers through my hair. I am happy and at peace when I am with you.
It's all your fault you know ...
You made me love you ...
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