Boundless Mercy

This week I would like to ponder on the doctrine of mercy. My thoughts were spurred on by two scriptures:

• "blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy"--Matt. 5:7
• "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." --D&C 64:10

In reading these scriptures I understand that it is of utmost importance to forgiving and merciful, but where does one draw the line between boundless mercy and being a pushover? I was then led to the counsel of the Savior:

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain...love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.--Matthew 5:39-41, 44

Basically, at this point I was feeling the royal smackdown for being unloving and distrusting. Reading on in verse 48, Christ gives the bottom line:

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Interestingly enough, this scripture helped to bring me out of mental quandary provided by the previous verses. This gave me another angle at which to approach the issue, through the guise of the commandment to be perfect. I found out that "charity is the bond of perfectness (Col. 3:14)," which means that the more loving I am, the closer I would come to perfection, and that much closer to understanding how to find the mercy balance!

Then, as many do, my answer came through further study of the scriptures:

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen

--1 Peter 5:6-11

I realized that it is my job not to understand everything, and to have difficulty with some things, such as being perfectly meek, merciful, and charitable. I will be made to suffer for awhile with my imperfect state, but then will be "made perfect" through Jesus Christ. How is this done? Well, as I must have hope that the Atonement is real, it appears that it will be through grace and mercy, after all that I can do. It is the same mercy and grace that I try to perfect that is granted unto me through the power of the Atonement. This may seem a bit circular, but it merely serves to illustrate the infinite scope of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Have a great week!

True Activity

One of the things that has amazed me through the years has been to see the constant ebb and flow of activity in regards to Gospel diligence. It happens to everyone, but why does it have to? It must surely be a manifestation of our own weakness, something that all of cannot help at one point or another. With that in mind, how is it that we can make the "ups" higher, and the "downs" lower?
In realizing my new calling as a member of the ward activities committee, this has become particularly salient as I see those that simply wish not to participate in the fun and camaraderie that takes place. Perhaps they see such social events as merely social, and not of worth to their physical, emotional, and spiritual development. I sorrow on the behalf of those who feel that way, because the ideal activity follows a template laid out by the Apostle Paul:

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him...And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.--Col. 3:17, 23

What does activity look like when it is done in the name of the Lord? I like to use the above painting as an example. It is a depiction of John the Beloved and Peter running to the empty Garden Tomb after hearing that Christ was no longer there. Their activity was accomplished with purpose, which purpose was motivated by faith and love.
Both those who facilitate and experience activities should have in mind their love of the Savior. They are meant to edify both the host and the recipient, and so we should attend in faith that its purpose will touch our hearts and strengthen our personal testimonies of the Savior. Elder Joe J. Christensen (1998) gave some a guide that we can apply:

"Learn to be the kind of person with whom others of high standards enjoy associating. More than 50 years ago, Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People (New York: Simon and Schuster). Among his suggestions that are equally valuable today are these time-honored principles for making friends:

• • Become genuinely interested in other people.
• • Smile.
• • Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
• • Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• • Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
• • Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.

"The Lord expects us to do the best we can with what he has given us. After we have done what we can to improve our own traits and appearances, we need to forget about ourselves and think of others and their needs."

I hope to be able to apply these precepts in my life as I strive toward "True Activity." Have a great week!

A Perfect Love

This week I would like to touch on a scripture found in 1 John 4:15-21:

15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

19 We love him, because he first loved us.

20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

This passage of scripture is one that has newly come to my knowledge and understanding. The question that came to my mind as I pondered the passage was what qualities inherent in love made it able to dispel fear, and how I could move further along the love gradient, and thus having less fear.

Now, when one thinks of the opposite of love, usually the word "hate" comes to mind. Hate is not equal to fear, but most definitely touts fear as one of its components. So, to conceptualize this one, I thought to work backwards. I thought of the opposite of fear, which I know to be confidence and faith, as I have been taught since my youth. So, what is it about faith that is lovely?

From the above verse 20 it can be gleaned that it takes more faith to love God because we have not seen him. Love, therefore, is an act of faith in itself. What then, are the attributes attainable to make love perfect? Here are my thoughts:

• Perfect love first requires faith in true principles, and hope that God's promises will be fulfilled.
• Perfect love toward God and man is expressed in advance of any extrinsic reward, and in fact does not expect worldly compensation.
• Those who have a perfect love are motivated by the desire to serve God, not by the desire to receive spiritual blessings. They wish to be an instrument and to do His will for them.
• Perfect love is pursued and cultivated by the Spirit. It causes service that is selfless and self-propagating, which in turn leads to a greater desire to serve on part of the benefactor.
  

These four points are the ideal, and as such we can only hope to achieve this through the power of the Atonement. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said:

"Because Jesus loved His followers and because they knew He loved them, He was able to speak openly and honestly with them. He reproved Peter at times because He loved him, and He wanted to help him become all that he was capable of becoming. And because Peter knew the Lord loved him, he was able to accept the reproof and grow from it. We need to pray for the gift of love so that those whom we serve will feel our love. Just as Christ’s followers were bound one to another by His love, so too should the members in each ward and branch be 'knit together in love.'" (Ensign, February 1999)

It is my hope that we all can follow the Savior's example, and seek to love those who surround us. Have a great week!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! This for now on will be the place to find my weekly thoughts on different Gospel topics. Remember that these thoughts are my own, and it's okay (even encouraged at times) to have differing opinions and experiences. Heavenly Father works through all of us in distinct ways, and it's our job to develop those modalities. So, with that said, here is my first post, originally posted on Facebook on June 8th, 2009:

Brightness of Hope--A Conceptualization


So yesterday in Priesthood Meeting we read this scripture near the end:

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." --2 Nephi 31:20

One thing that began to weigh down upon my analytical, wannabe-scientific mind was how "brightness" was a measure of hope--if we strive to have a perfect brightness, that means that there must be varying levels of said luminosity.

So, I first looked in the Bible Dictionary...turns out that hope isn't listed there. So, the hard way was to go through scriptures listed in the Topical Guide. I came across wonderful passages like "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12) and "the righteous have hope in his death" (Prov. 14:32). Moving down the line, I came across the writings of Paul:

"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."--1 Thes 5:8

I noticed how this was different than Paul's famous address to the Galatians, which uses the breastplate to symbolize righteousness, and the helmet to symbolize global "salvation". But then I realized that faith and charity (the love we can assume that Paul speaks of) are essential to righteousness, and that hope for salvation seems more apropos as well. So is hope, then, a mental manifestation of faith and charity?

My roommate and I surmised that perhaps hope can be regarded as "positive faith". However, this seemed redundant as faith is inherently positive in its scope. But so is hope! Argh!

So, after trying to reason myself I decided to turn to the modern-day prophets. As I was already thinking deeply on the subject, I was elated to find a talk given by Neal A. Maxwell--arguably the deepest-thinking apostle of my time. Entitled "Brightness of Hope" (Nov. 1994 Ensign) it is a gem in itself that I recommend everyone read. Elder Maxwell explicitly differentiates faith and hope, which thing was at the root of my inquietude. You see, faith is in true principles--the basic building blocks of our actions. For example, I have faith that good grades will produce better opportunities down the road, and so then act according to that faith. In a religious sense, one has faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and therefore strives to be better through daily repentance.

Now, hope extends further those feelers of faith. Its scope is broader, and applies to more daily activities. Using the above example, faith in Jesus Christ leads to hope for forgiveness, and hope for blessings that come as a result of our striving.

But what about the whole "brightness" issue? Elder Maxwell said the following:
" [Hope] is composed, not giddy, eager without being naive, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation taking the form of determination—a determination not merely to survive but to 'endure … well' to the end (D&C 121:8).

"While weak hope leaves us at the mercy of our moods and events, 'brightness of hope' produces illuminated individuals. Their luminosity is seen, and things are also seen by it! Such hope permits us to 'press forward' even when dark clouds oppress (see 2 Ne. 31:16, 20; Heb. 6:19; Ether 12:4; Col. 1:23). Sometimes in the deepest darkness there is no external light—only an inner light to guide and to reassure."

So people with a bright hope are "bright" individuals. What causes that glow? It must needs be that they have the Spirit with them in abundance at that time of "luminance." So, to sum up, here is what I came up with:

HOPE (Measured in Brightness)
FAITH (In Basic Principles)
BRIGHTNESS= luminosity= glow= level of the Spirit
BRIGHTNESS OF HOPE= the level to which the Spirit enlightens one's understanding of the principles in which they already have faith.

This is my interpretation, but it has given me peace. I love the way the Gospel can work through each of us in way that is individually impactful. Have a great week!