Be Strong

"Be strong and of a good courage. Be not afraid. Neither be thou dismayed. For the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest."

I found this a while ago and really liked it, so I thought I would share it. It is something that has been on my mind as I have contemplated as passage in the book Trusting Jesus by Elder Jeffery R. Holland:

"One request Christ made of his disciples on that night of deep anguish and grief was that they stand by Him, stay with Him in His hour of sorrow and pain. "Could ye not watch with me one hour?" He asked longingly (Matt 26:40).  I think He asks that again of us, every Sabbath day when the emblems of His life are broken and blessed and passed."

In reality there is so little asked of us and it isn't as difficult as we make it out to be to return with honor to our Father's presence. Jesus Christ overcame the most difficult of obstacles for us and set forth the example of what we need to do. We live in the winding up scenes and we must be strong and of good courage.

Just as Christ asked his disciples if they could not watch just one hour with, like Elder Holland I believe he asks the same of us. Couldn't you just be faithful for a little while? Couldn't you just be obedient?

Maybe it sounds like a guilt trip, but I am not sure that is how it is meant to be taken. I think He asks sincerely. What are the motives we have behind sin. In reality what do we get in exchange for sinning?

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to 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" (2 Ne. 2:27).

Really? That's all we get? Yep ...

On the other side, God promises blessings in return for our obedience. Hmm ... Happiness ... Misery ... Happiness ... Misery ... I think I will take the blessings and happiness. Besides, I have never known Satan to be there for me when I am down in the dumps to lift me up. My Heavenly Father on the other hand has always been there for me, even when I feel the most unworthy.

While the fight seems hard, no fight was ever won without some kind of training. We must do the little things and strengthen our spiritual muscles so we can endure the fight when the battles get hard. "For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have" (2 Ne 28:30).

Be strong and of good courage!

Listen

Being a communicative person I enjoy listening and I like when people listen to what I say. My communication is not always the most straight-forward, but if you "listen" you will learn much about me. Most often listening involves reading as well in my life.

I express myself best through writing. Perhaps it is because I have time to ruminate over what I am going to say. Or maybe it is because that is how I have learned to express myself growing up while spilling my guts to a journal and no one else.

For fun I Googled "The Act of Listening" and thought I found a book with that title. I was about to be amazed. But there isn't. However, there is a book entitled "Listening is an Act of Love."

David Isay writes, "[If] we take the time to listen, we'll find wisdom, wonder, and poetry in the lived of people all around us. That we all want to know our lives have mattered and that we won't be forgotten. That listening is an act of love."

He set up a booth, first in Grand Central Station, to record the "untold" stories of people. At the ribbon cutting Studs Terkel said that we know who the architect of the station was, but what about the iron workers, the masons? What are their stories?

Since that day nearly eight years ago, several more booths have been set up around the nation. The book that was published represents the scanning and compilation of nearly 10,000 stories. Isay says that the booths represent 40 minutes set aside to ask important questions and listen closely to answers.

"StoryCorps is a project about permanence in an evermore disposable society. It reminds us of what's really important in the midst of all life's distractions. It encourages us to connect despite endless temptations to detach and disengage."

When I went to YouTube, I thought I might be able to find some of the interviews. I didn't, but I did find this fun little clip about the human voice. Watching it I realized I had seen it before and there are also several others that are fun to watch. It also causes you to think.



The irony behind sharing this video is that I am a writer. But there is something to be said for the human voice. We miss out on so much.

com·mit·ment

noun \kə-ˈmit-mənt\

–noun

1

a : an act of committing to a charge or trust: as (1) : a consignment to a penal or mental institution (2) : an act of referring a matter to a legislative committee b : mittimus

2

a : an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially : an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date b : something pledged c : the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled 

...

I have been pondering on this word for some months now and I wonder if we truly understand the word. Oftentimes, it is spoken in relation to courtship. Right now, I think about it in terms of my athletes. There are also other places where it applies: life, religion, school, learning something new, etc.


What causes us to want to commit to something? What causes us to shy away from it? What causes us to refuse it?

I wonder to myself, at what level do we begin to understand the choices that we have made?  We get in to situations and we say we are prepared, we are ready to make the choice. But we don't act like it. We still make backwards choices.

While the above song parenthetically describes a relationship, I believe it can be a relationship with anything / -one. The artist even states that the imagery is a metaphor. I identify with the song because I am fearlessly loyal to whatever I am doing. Often I struggle alone because I struggle to share my vision and help others see how amazing something could be.

My new project is to find characteristics of great coaches, to be the person God would have me be, and to get my life back on track. We are going through many great changes at work and there are great things that are on the verge of happening in my life. I look forward to the possibilities. Unfortunately, there will be some people who are not part of these changes and I will miss them. But I can't force anyone's hand.

So, until I get it figured out I will keep walking down the street with my piano in tow <3