Steady: Endure it Well

 

I've been on a roller-coaster of a journey unlike any other spiritually at church over the past several years, and more than I've ever experienced. 

The short of it is we got a lot of tares and wolves in sheep's clothing, and as Elder Uchdorf urged us to ask in one of his conference talks, we have to ask at all times "Lord, is it I?" 

This lesson has been going on for two-and-a-half years of opposition, backbiting, sabotage, you name it - I certainly haven't done anything to deserve it, and I most certainly didn't cause it or make anyone do it - but that's not the point.  None of those things were me, and we can always do something different, but through all of this I know there wasn't much I could have done that would have stopped this.  Yet I still have a calling I'm expected to uphold and not quit, but I ultimately have felt powerless to stop any of what's going on.  So what's the point?

The point is: how do you handle it? 

How Did you Die - Edmund Vance Cooke

Did you tackle that trouble that came your way
With a resolute heart and cheerful?
Or hide your face from the light of day
With a craven soul and fearful?
Oh, a trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it,
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only how did you take it?

You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that?
Come up with a smiling face.
It's nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there -- that's disgrace.
The harder you're thrown, why the higher you bounce;
Be proud of your blackened eye!
It isn't the fact that you're licked that counts,
It's how did you fight --  and why?

And though you be done to the death, what then?
If you battled the best you could,
If you played your part in the world of men,
Why, the Critic will call it good.
Death comes with a crawl, or comes with a pounce,
And whether he's slow or spry,
It isn't the fact that you're dead that counts,
But only how did you die?

(Perhaps it could be, how did you try?)

 Sometimes we aren't there to fix it, very often the Lord allows things to happen and we are there to be strengthened and refined by learning to endure it well - to gain insights into ourselves and the Lord's operations and the kingdom itself, if we are wise enough to be able to do it.

The Lord has allowed wolves in sheep's clothing in the church for time immemorial, and it's precisely an inability to endure-it-well with such things that has cost many, many a saint their eternal glory.  They decide the church isn't true, or decide to leave because they decide it has apostatized. 

It has taken me all this time to learn these lessons, I've been given the time to learn these lessons. 

The question is, what are we to learn?  Joseph Smith was told in Liberty Jail "These things shall give thee experience."  

Endure it well. 

Pray that you do not shrink from the lessons and opportunities at hand, don't let emotion get the best of you, and certainly don't let anything cost you your testimony.

Be not moved.

Pray to the Lord in all things. 

Many things in the gospel will not be fair, and many more will not be "right" and other things will not be "righteous" but the Lord knows what He's doing with your life and the lives of those you have struggles with.  If we can't deal with unfair and not right, are we truly equipped for the higher things in the gospel? The savior had to subject himself to massive amounts of unrighteousness, and a sham trial by those who were supposed to be the keepers of the kingdom.  Why should we be any different?  What royal road of exception and privilege have we to traverse to our exaltation? 

Lessons learned, endure it well, make the time count.  Keep climbing higher regardless of the troubles, and be faithful as you do so.  And be grateful for an opportunity to serve, even when you struggle. Let it bless you. 

Seal, Sealed, Sealing

 "Sealing" or the "sealing power," or "being sealed" is a central part of the Lord's doctrine. 

 

A  seal, most recently in history, was made by placing melted wax over the outside of an envelope where the envelope was shut, and then the king's or other royal dignitary's "seal" - a crest, an emblem, a letter, was placed on the wax until the wax cooled, thereby "sealing" it shut. 

Nobody but an appointed representative of the king or other such authority could break the seal or open it.  If the wax were broken before it reached its intended, designated recipient, the one responsible would be facing a visit with their maker arranged by the king's forces. 

However, part of the gold plates of the Book of Mormon were sealed shut with a metal band around it, which at least one account described as having been oxidized copper (green).  Copper is a very hard metal compared to gold, and it would have require some ingenuity to make a band that precisely matched the dimensions, was squared up, could hold the pages without damaging them, and as also secure and all done with whatever tools were available while on the run from an enemy that was hunting you to kill you because of the color of your skin. 

Of this sealing Moroni wrote: 4 "Therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of Adam until that time; but they are had upon the plates; and whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account." (Ether 1) And whoever didn't, wouldn't and couldn't.

The plates lay since ~421AD, now it was 1827AD, and in all that time with 1,426 years of civilization all around, a simple rock lay undiscovered with golden plates in a cement box?  

They were sealed against man's discovery so that no one but one designated would never find the gold that was laying under their very feet. The work was sealed up by a prophet and the Lord with the earth itself. 

Now, this is either a completely fantastic story that happened, or it did not.  If it didn't, then where is the truth?  And if it did, well then this is yet another witness that this truly is the Lord's work, it's sacred and its protected. 

 

This is a seal to King Tutankhamun's tomb.  It was tied with rope binding it shut, but the seal on the right made of clay with a king's seal upon the clay, so you would know if the tomb had been broken open by whether or not the rope had been cut or the seal had been broken.  Again, this came with a penalty, it was more a fear of consequences from authority than it was a physical deterrent - a testament to the power of the king, and in the case of King Tut's tomb, after the kingdom head fallen, man was able to break through.  But with the Lord's holy scriptures, even the prophet himself was thrown back when he tried to access the records improperly. 

But what made the seal of force?  The angels, hosts of heaven, and the elements themselves all know who their Master was and they were bound in love and service to obey. 

However, seals come in many different types, not just the legal or the physical seals. 

Another type of "sealing" - meaning it cannot be opened without the key is language.  At the Tower of Babel, the people all spoke one language.  They had the ancient mysteries, the holy oracles, the eternal secrets and they all spoke the same language - some studies tell us that they did not speak the same language as Adam, but they did speak the same language, and could trace back through the centuries to the times of Adam according to the records preserved via Noah (I wonder what that record library on the ark looked like!).  Lehi took records, obviously Noah would have as well - it would have made no sense to preserve a family by the hands of God but leave their origins behind them.  Though we don't have record of this now.  But, once we have knowledge we are accountable for it.  And the people of the Tower of Babel, having spoken all the same language, having the mysteries, and having one mind were protected by the confounding of the languages so that they could not fulfill their purposes, but also the counfounding of the languages was its own type of scattering.  If they could not understand one another, they could not be unified, and would be unable to work together - the notion of translation being a completely foreign concept to them, yet one we work around readily today.  

And so with a confounded language, the mysteries of the Ancients were cut off from them, or they from it. It was sealed shut. 

So it is with the Book of Ether.  The Book of Ether was sealed not just with the bands that Moroni bound it with, but it was also sealed with the word of the Lord (see the First Prophet's words above), but it was also written in a language that nobody could understand except they had the gift of the interpreters which were provided for the translation of the book - only through a prophet of the Lord.  

Notice that even though he had the Urim and Thummim, that the Prophet himself even noted, it wasn't until after they had been baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost that they began to truly understand what they were reading/translating.  The Urim and Thummim or "Seers" did help them translate what had never been there before and make sure that the wording was correct in the translation.  However it was the Holy Ghost that unsealed the knowledge* - not just the language. 

We read of another type of sealing in the Book of Revelations, of a book that was sealed with seven seals, and that no one could open, none were worthy except the Lamb of God.  

A similar sealing takes place during a priesthood blessing, which is finished with the words of "I seal this blessing upon you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."  That blessing can only be broken by one of two ways, by the person's free agency, and by the Lord Himself.  But  "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" (D&C 82:10). 

 

Similarly, so it is with the sealing of husband and wife, for time and all eternity.  They are bound together - sealed - and nobody can undo it except those involved, and the Lord Himself.  

But the Sealing Power is closely guarded, only certain men - priesthood holders - can seal a husband and wife together, and that is not at his will, but the will of those involved.  A priesthood holder can seal a blessing, a Patriarch can seal a patriarchal blessing. A Sealer can Seal a marriage, but only a prophet, seer and revelatory can break the seal who is not the Lord or the persons involved. 

And perhaps the last sealing that comes to mind is that of knowledge.  Without knowledge of the Lord, you cannot comprehend the things of God, they are sealed away from you, and sealed up, hidden up, never to be understood - the darkness comprehendeth it not.

And so, there are many different ways to break a sealing or seal of any type, but with some there is only a right way to break the seal and a right person to do it. Other sealings aren't to be broken at all without serious, and in many cases, eternal consequences. 

And so it is with the world of the Lord, whose powers and workings are small to the understanding of man. And yet, it is by his word - whether it be by my voice or the voice of my servants, it is the same - that great things are brought up, bad things put down, and all time put in order - or sealed - in their place for however long the Lord decrees.  

A Terrestrial Home for a Celestial Destination

Paris, France Temple Sealing Room.

 

Critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints often point to the temples as a wasteful extravagance, of neglecting the poor, or some other such assertion of frivolity.

In the New Testament we read a similar assertion played out a long time ago from one who was similarly minded, same thinking, same thing:

3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,

5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.

8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always. (John 12)

It is not as if we are on the very verge of solving the issues with the poor but the money spent on temples is the one thing that is keeping there from being the elimination of issues. As Jesus said, the poor you always have with you, but me you have not with you always.  This was a special occasion, and so special dedication, effort and cost were devoted to his anointing.  So it is with temples.

The Church receives nothing and makes zero money off the temples.  Financially, the people gaining are the contractors and laborers who work to build it, the residents whose property values that most often go up with the temple construction, the taxes that are gained on a number of fronts (and someone out there will think themselves so smart as to go find some example somewhere where this is not the case as if the exception is the rule all the while missing the point).  The apostles and prophets don't reside there, and all members are invited to go there - indeed the whole world is invited to prepare themselves to go in.  Like the oil that was used to anoint the Lord, the temple construction is an act of holy devotion. 

If the temples are what they say they are - the House of the Lord - and our pathways back to him, then by very practice, they have to be built to the best quality they can be.  They are a terrestrial building, they have to conform to terrestrial law in a step towards the celestial.  They cannot be built of common materials to lower craftsmanship in a common mentality of a telestial abode and yet fulfill their celestial-purpose.  

Payson, Utah Temple Celestial Room

Now, we needn't make the mistake of thinking that extravagance sanctifies, or that ostentatiousness equals holiness - this is another fallacy, part of which we see in the example from the Book of Mormon:

5 And it came to pass that Riplakish did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, for he did have many wives and concubines, and did lay that upon men’s shoulders which was grievous to be borne; yea, he did tax them with heavy taxes; and with the taxes he did build many spacious buildings.

6 And he did erect him an exceedingly beautiful throne; and he did build many prisons, and whoso would not be subject unto taxes he did cast into prison; and whoso was not able to pay taxes he did cast into prison; and he did cause that they should labor continually for their support; and whoso refused to labor he did cause to be put to death.

7 Wherefore he did obtain all his fine work, yea, even his fine gold he did cause to be refined in prison; and all manner of fine workmanship he did cause to be wrought in prison. (Ether 10)

Riplakish built himself a very fine palace but he afflicted everyone with his building and adorning it, he wasn't interested in glorifying anyone but himself at everyone's else's expense.

The temples of the Lord, on the other hand are built with consecrated voluntarily sacrificed funds, and they have but one purpose: to allow people to draw nearer to the Lord's spirit, and to prepare to return home to their Heavenly Father. 

In ancient times the temples were the center of civilization, they were the center of life!  And indeed, they are!  Literally, spiritually, as well as figuratively.  Ancient civilizations built wonderful temples and can trace their origins back at some point to the Lord's temples - including the ancient Egyptians beginning with Ham for righteous purposes: 

 

26 Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood. (Abraham 1). 

(The priesthood lineage was determined through the mother, not the father, and Ham's mother, Egyptus was not of the lineage pertaining to the priesthood.  So though Ham held the priesthood, under the patriarchal law, Pharaoh could not, because his father married outside the lineage covenant).  

 

However, the Egyptian temples were built to elevate man's mind above the common, above the coarse, to lift them up above the mundane - with the finest craftsmanship that could be obtained (before they deviated from the original teachings).  

 

Their foundations were laid at night by Pharoah himself with his astronomers so that the temple could line up with the stars, often pointing towards the North Star, orienting the temple towards the center of the earth's revolutions, symbolizing that all the kingdom and religious life would similarly rotate around the temple which was lined up with God's center of the world.  And so were most civilizations temples designed to signify the connection between civilization with the divine.

 

Modern temples are also built to the best quality available in conjunction with the consecration of the place with the Holy Spirit by suffering no unclean thing to enter therein so that the whole experience is one that raises man up to a higher world. Indeed, the Lord's temples are a first step up towards that world.  Not only do we build with our best, we also prepare and enter with our best selves, and there receive His best.

 

And so it should be that for the temples to do this, and the values and virtues that are taught therein by covenant, that they should all be of the finest quality and be the pinnacle of man's capability that God has blessed him with as an act of devotion to Him, and in an effort to draw closer to Him, so that all things therein remind man of his creator, and point man back to Him. 

Where the saints have been poor, they still built to the best of their ability, including in their wanderings in the desert where they made the Ark of the Covenant and then the portable Tabernacle and even the Breastplate with the twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel - twelve sons, twelve covenants, all were precious stones of the day in one fashion or another (and some were not to be found anywhere near where the ancient Israelites were when this was made, so the stones either had been traded there by commerce or an expedition had to be sent to find them), and all were unique: sardius (ruby), topaz, carbuncle (garnet), emerald, sapphire, diamond, jacinth, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx and jasper.    

 And so the criticism  that too much is spent on the temples when the money could be spent on the poor is an empty argument. Indeed, money should be devoted to the poor, and much is - by last account nearly one billion dollars in one year from the church, not even counting all the free hours and devotion and service to the communities that are unpaid through volunteer efforts.   

 

But, there are things that the poor can't receive from donations but which are necessary for their eternal progression and that make them rich in eternity, and that can only be conferred through a consecrated, and holy, properly built and dedicated temple: the covenants of eternity.  And the temples are a forerunner of an enlightened world where the Lord provides us His best, and so as we strive towards them, we need to build and dedicate our best in a reminder of Him.  

 

All the rest of the world can also donate money to the poor, but only the Lord's church and priesthood can build a temple, and the Lord has specified how the temples are to be built and has taught why. And the entire world, rich and poor, are invited to come therein to partake of His spirit which isn't found anywhere else like it is in His dedicated house.  

 

Indeed, I was a tour guide for the Meridian, Idaho Temple before its dedication.  It was very strange to lead tours of people while yelling so the back of the group could hear me while we walked through the temple - but without the Holy Spirit that accompanied its dedication, it was (intended purpose aside) just another building. It was very odd just how used to the spirit I was in the temples, but now it was not (yet) there. 

We need to give the Lord our best, not just in money, but in energy, effort, focus, devotion, sacrifice, and he in return has promised us His.  The temple is just another of the very special symbols of Heavenly Father where this can take place - between Heaven and Earth. If we point to the cost or size of the building alone as an indicator of its value or lack thereof, we will truly miss the Lord's temples.

A New Perspective on the Word of Wisdom

 Amazing how things look different a few decades later, and so much time has passed, yet it seems but an instant. 

I used to hate* the word of wisdom because of how people reacted and responded to it and the (to me) mindless debates that ensued in any class that covered it.  Instantly the endless discussions and breaking down of food into measurements, anything can be an addiction, comparing Tylenol to hard drugs, and even over-drinking water, yadda yadda yadda, always seemed to miss the point to me. It wasn't the word of wisdom that bothered me.  It was how we regarded it.

I hated the topic.  

Similarly, having gone to college and graduate school in the then-health-conscious Portland Area (now I think they do a lot more meth and fentanyl than they used to), it seemed that going into a health-food store was another extreme where people would compete to see who could out-healthy-each other.

But some time has given me a new perspective as I...mature.

First, our mortal bodies aren't forever.  These temples?  We have to take care of them.  And that means that we need to spend time in connection with our bodies - our temples. 

Not just not drinking alcohol, and not doing drugs.  

Nor is it just eating healthy - you can't eat your way to heaven, nor can you abstain your way to heaven.

It's also about rest.  

Relaxation.  

Stretching.  

Sleep.  

Meditation.  

Developing talents.  

Brushing your teeth.  

Getting fresh air.

Taking care of your hearing.

It's about living life.

Getting an education and developing your mind.

Developing a skill and improving your talents. 

Living life!

We live in a country with more processed food-products than anywhere in the world or than ever in history.  But we need to be making the choices that bring true happiness, spiritually, temporally, eternally - rather than living a life solely focused on "comfort and consumption."  

Taking care of our temples is truly the "word of wisdom."

No Substitutions, Please

Th time may be coming when if I do not have to close my blog, I will have to acknowledge what it is, and what it isn't.

For those who have followed me for the years Latter Day Musings has been up, this has been a spiritual journey - a journey of insights, of musings, of thoughts, experiences, some travels, some humor, some history, some family stories.

As the world changes, so must we in response if we are to keep ahead of things and in the things the Lord has for us. 

In some ways, like many I've enjoyed and seen their blogs and such "mature" over time, I am not certain if I am as well, or my blog has reached the end of it's intended life and purpose.

There are many things in here which cannot be construed, nor should they, to be the ultimate declarations of faith, testimony, and certainly not doctrine.  Some are stepping stones to further knowledge, and later on I often seem to be disagreeing with myself much earlier. 

At this point I have an impressive 900+ entries in here, whether they go away or not, I don't know yet.

But for now, I am wary in a world where personal blogs become substitutions for or distractions from church doctrine - and I'm always wary of starting a spiritual hobby on sacred things, or being considered one or being confused for one or the other.  The number of reads on there are pretty low, and I keep it that way.   But again, times are changing, I'm entering a public light more and more and in time I know my thoughts and all other character shortcomings or any other excuse that will be made to detract from me are coming. 

Fr now I'm not certain what will become of this blog, but I may have to make a decision as to what to do in days and times to come soon, but if this is no longer here, know that I have been told to remove it - meanwhile I thank you for your blessings of having been a reader to this. 

I thank you again and I give praise and thanks to our Lord for what I have been granted here.

For now I close, in Jesus' name, amen.

Restoration with Cups Song

I used to teach the restoration with cups on my mission to the DEEP south.   I remember one lesson in particular in a restaurant (I'd teach anywhere!) and people were really fascinated by it - but boy did it cause a stir to even someone "laying hands" on my companion over the lesson.  But I never did this song - thought it was worth sharing.

Tying My Wife's Shoes

She sat in her wheelchair, impatiently yet patiently waiting for me. 

She knew I could only move so fast with her three children, a little one tugging at me and an older one having a fit about how she didn't want to look stupid at church with the wrong kinds of socks and crying about not being able to find any.  The oldest groaned about getting up early, heaving those heavy sighs around the house indicating he wasn't happy to have to do this or anything.

I let the complaints wash over me and enjoyed the little one tugging at me as I tended to my work. 

As I unlaced the shoes, her legs, that once had gone hiking with me, had taught me to dance, had gone for walks on the beach, now hung emaciated, blood pooling in her legs from lack of use, and immobile and essentially...useless.  All they could be used for now really was to wear shoes, and that was just so they wouldn't get colder than they already were from not getting any use.

Shoes.

She used to wear nice shoes. 

She used to love nice shoes.

Now, shoes were just a matter of convenience really.  A burden, really.  She couldn't put them on herself much anymore except for her crocks and even then required help.  They were just one more item in a long list of items that needed to be taken care of that she couldn't do herself anymore as she increasingly became helpless.  As she watched me work with her shoes, she not only saw me prep to put them on her for her, she also saw the years rendering her entirely immobile, confining her to a bed, to watch her children come and go but not be able to share those experiences with them because she couldn't follow them or keep up with them anymore.

If her back or even her legs itched?  She couldn't scratch it anymore.  Those days were gone as the disability ravaged her body from its own effects in combination with three child births.  Now, even putting on shoes was its own exasperation.  Those little things you take for granted, that you don't even think about, but will notice if they aren't done right such as the sock seam running under a toenail, or the tongue of the shoe not being properly positioned, the laces snugged just right...can't be done herself anymore. And nice shoes? She's down to two pairs of crocks and a pair of black Nike Jordan's with pink hearts on them, cute, but totally not the style she ever wore and just a matter of convenience.  On the upside, shoes never need be replaced because she doesn't wear them out.  The same pair, year after year after year.

And out of her love she didn't dare complain, she was just happy not to have been abandoned as happened to so many with her disease.  Husbands who decided this was more of a burden than they could carry, served divorce papers, took the children, and placed them in nursing homes to atrophy and die.

It isn't perfect but we figure it out, forgive, repent, apologize, press forward and try to make it the best we can. 

What lies ahead in the years to come, I don't know.

Helpless doesn't even begin to describe how I feel as I have to do more and more just to make life functional.  Becoming aware of how she likes her socks put on so that they don't drive her crazy, paying attention to tags that she can no longer fix that itch and drive her crazy, learning how to part her hair so she doesn't feel like a freak in public with that annoying part-gone-awry that drives so many of us nuts before we leave the house....

How does it end? 

I don't know.

Overwhelmed?  Yeah.  And starting a new career and raising three children while I have to leave her at home now and even leave her behind as I head across the state to start working a job to earn pay for us to move into a new place by my new work.  The world rushes around me and yet I have no idea how I am going to make it work.

Peoples' criticisms of me or even of her fall on deaf ears anymore for how hard we do or don't work at this or make it work.  It is our own path that others haven't walked.  Even if the path looks similar, we are different people carrying our own hidden burdens.  We each have to walk our own path the best we can. 

Walk a mile in someone elses' shoes?  It isn't possible.  It never will be. 

I don't have energy to try someone elses' shoes, or even to criticize their footwear.  I got my own path to walk, with my wife rolling beside me with three children in tow, an uncertain path ahead of us that doesn't look too favorable.  Whether you are grateful or not, or think your path is harder or easier....it doesn't matter, except I wish you well. I have to focus on the path ahead of us, and I don't have energy to do much else and hope that I don't slow others down from their important journeys in this world.

For now, I focus on making the laces "just right" because she can't do it herself.  I pull the tongue out and turn her socks so the seam doesn't bother her as her feet prepare to hang uselessly and untended for the rest of the day as the world and we march on our way while she sits in maddening discomfort that even medication can't fix most days for those little things she can't do herself anymore.

Curse the disability?  It doesn't do much good.  I've tried.  It is still there.  I'm still here.  We're still here.  But not as much as we used to be.  And yet more than we used to be as we become grateful for those small details we used to take for granted, thankful for them when we get to enjoy them.

So I focus for now, just for a moment, and let the world go on its merry way because I have work to do and its more important than almost anything right now.  I don't know how I'll do what else is going to come, and nothing else matters but for just this moment, I'm tying my wife's shoes.