Softening Hearts and Baseball Gloves

Over the last couple of days I have pondered on the state of our hearts, and how they can become hardened if we do not continually work to soften them. "The heart" is an age-old metaphor for that which is in our core, that which truly defines us when no one is looking. It is in the heart where our deepest desires lie, as well as our sincerest intentions, be them good, evil, or some complex mix in between the two. The softness or hardness of our hearts is greatly influenced by the culture in which we reside, and more importantly by how we appraise that culture. Great examples come from the scriptures, including the account of the house of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. As many know, Sodom and Gomorrah were two of the most wicked cities in known history, but Lot and his family were more righteous followers of God. The Lord warned Lot to leave the land, as the two cities would be destroyed in a rain of fire and brimstone. Angels hastened the escape of Lot, his wife, and his two unwed daughters, but as we remember,

"But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." (Gen. 19:26)

How often do we go about our daily walk, and unwittingly do like unto Lot's wife, "looking back" to the things that don't matter toward our salvation, and that in fact pull us away from the Savior? I dare say that this happens all too often! A member of our stake presidency today told our Elder's Quorum that in these latter days Satan's greatest tool is preoccupation--deceiving the children of men in a way so subtle as to keep them from righteousness long enough until it's too late. I believe that the adversary doesn't care if we fail to merit outer darkness; he'd be content if we just separated ourselves long enough from the Spirit that we don't receive the greatest of all blessings, that is, immortality and eternal life. The adversary counts as a win against the saints of God anything less than perfection.

With this in mind, it is ever important that we fight against the wiles of the adversary by constantly seeking to soften our hearts. How do we do so? Well, because mixing metaphors can be so much fun, let's think about a baseball glove. Anyone who has seen "The Sandlot" knows that a brand-new baseball glove looks like a piece of plastic, and really isn't good for much. However, baseball gloves can be made useful through time and effort: the first, more tedious way is to just play with the glove for hours and hours, hoping that it will take the proper shape through use in practice and games; the second, more effective, quicker, and safer way to break in a glove involves use, but also involves culturing, massaging, and setting the glove for some time outside of a game situation. This second way requires care that only the educated can perform, but getting such an education can mean the difference between booting a ball or digging out a screaming grounder. And even after initial "breaking" of the glove, it still requires constant care to keep it in ideal playing condition.

Likewise, the most effective way to soften our hearts is through the cycle of continual education, culturing, massaging, and testing in game use. We receive our education by studying the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern, and pondering on how to apply their teachings. We also educate ourselves as we take our study before the Lord, seeking the Spirit to guide us toward greater understanding of how to personally apply what we learn.

The game is played every day in our minds, our hearts, and with our hands, as we are daily bombarded with messages contrary to the principles we learn. Though this step may seem painful it is absolutely essential. Just as the infielder doesn't know how good his glove is until it sees adversity, so to must our hearts be tested. The prophet Lehi said:

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so...righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility. (2 Nephi 2: 11)"

If we must endure trials and study the scriptures to ready our hearts, what is the middle step of culturing and massaging? This, of course, is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We learn the Gospel and we go out into the world, but it is through the Atonement of the Savior that we are healed from all that damages. It is the Savior who took upon himself all the pains, sufferings, and afflictions of this world, that our hearts and gloves might not have to be hardened beyond repair. Elder Kent F. Richards spoke of this in the April 2011 General Conference:

"The Savior is not a silent observer. He Himself knows personally and infinitely the pain we face.

'He suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children.'

'Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.'

"Sometimes in the depth of pain, we are tempted to ask, 'Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?' I testify the answer is yes, there is a physician. The Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all these conditions and purposes of mortality."

I add my testimony that there is a Balm in Gilead, and when applied it covers all pains that we ever have had or will have to bear. I know this not of myself, but of the Spirit which has constantly borne record of it to me. My friends, the Atonement is real. It really works. It will keep us from being deceived, keep our hearts from hardening to a point of disrepair. Of this I testify in the name of He who provides such a Balm, even the Savior of all mankind, Jesus the Christ.

Have a great week!

The Plantar Fasciitus of the Soul

Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many;
but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee,
even unto the end of thy days.
--D&C 24:8

As I continue to gain new and what seem to be increasingly more difficult experiences, I am struck by the increasing striving that it takes to feel that I'm "doing okay." By this I mean the feeling that I am in good standing with the Lord, and that I am even deserving of the richest blessings which I desire. However, I know that there is a Balm in Gilead, and it is called the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This balm, when applied in diligence and sincerity, can foster healing to the point that there is no sign of the burn caused by our iniquitous behavior and cognition. A temporal yet salient example comes from my own life just yesterday.

As a part of my often feeble efforts to get in shape, yesterday I decided to go for run. The weather was perfect: mid-70s with bright sunshine. I set out from my house with the intent of going through my neighborhood, cutting through a church parking lot, and then making a gradual rise to the side of the Provo Temple, about 2 miles round trip. However, about three minutes into my run I reached a fence where i thought there wasn't one, and was forced to make my ascent around the temple, and not directly to it. I decided that I would give this route a try, only to see a daunting task ahead of me: a steep, windy incline to the top of the bench of Y Mountain. I toiled up the hill for what seemed like forever, but persisted. I made it to the top (admittedly with a couple of stops to breathe in the thin air), and coasted for much of the return trip, passing the temple from the top, and not from the bottom as I had originally anticipated.

I made it home, ragged and dehydrated from about 30 minutes of running and hiking. As my body began to regain homeostasis, I noticed a pain in the bottom of my left arch. This pain reminded me of a running injury I sustained two years ago, developing a condition known as plantar fasciitus, where the arch of the foot experiences excess swelling when under stress. I was reminded of the pain that improper running had caused, and reminded of the consequences that I still must live with.

Now, there is a type in this story. How often is it, that as we strive to improve, strive to go through the process of cleansing, that we are reminded of our tendencies toward spiritual wear and tear? This is a natural consequence of trying to fit godliness into the ungodly. The Savior said unto Moroni:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. --Ether 12:27

How grateful am I for this reassurance! This scripture means that if I am striving to give myself to the Savior by coming unto Him through obedience and repentance, he will show unto me my weakness. The Savior's people are a humble people, whether they decide to humble themselves, or if they are compelled to humility through trial and tribulation. For "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. (Matt. 19:24; Mark 10:25)."

I know that we receive trials as a consequence of the perfect love of God towards us. Trials are necessary in the Eternal Plan of Happiness, a Plan which has each and every one of us living with God again, taking up our first estate in the Kingdom of Heaven. I am grateful that I cannot know what God knows, for in such ignorance I may be led by faith on the Savior, ever striving to put off the natural man in favor of a new creature. Let us remember that He is always with us, and be patient through our many afflictions. If we do so, one day we WILL be able to say that we were able to give all of ourselves, and at last we could do so without the pain of imperfection returning. May we be faithful until that day arrives!

Have a great week!

BEST OF ME: Empathy--More than an inkling, more than a feeling

Hello! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday! On this day, let us strive to always remember the Savior, and all that he has done for us. For those of us who are fasting, let may our fast not be in vain, but be counted in Heaven for our good, and for the good of he or she for whom we wish a special blessing.

As a part of my "Best of Me" series, I chose to bring back a post from about 18 months ago on fasting. Enjoy!


EMPATHY--MORE THAN AN INKLING, MORE THAN A FEELING

ORIGINAL POST DATE: SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

I'm Baaack!! Thanks to all those who patiently awaited me getting my act together. It has been a little precarious trying to figure out my Sunday schedule, i.e. when I would take the time to sit down and write a good, thoughtful blog post. I hope that this week does not disappoint; rather, I hope it does the exact opposite, providing direction to those who earnestly seek it.

My thoughts today are a culmination of over two weeks of contemplation, and as such, may seem a bit disjointed, but I will do my best to pull it all together. I want to discuss the doctrine of fasting, but I want to do so in context of the construct of empathy.

The word empathy is derived from the Greek empatheia, which connotes a combination of affection and suffering. It is defined as an intellectual identification with or a vicarious experience of another’s feelings. The definition seems pretty dynamic, but I submit that it has the potential to be even more applicable. Oftentimes empathy can only be reached through learning from personal experience, and then aptly applied to similar situations of others.

Let’s take fasting as an example. From a scholar’s perspective, fasting is going without food or drink for two meals or up to 24 hours, donating the money that would have been used to the needy of the Church, and praying for both personal and impersonal purposes. The scholar perhaps does not see the synergy that these three things produced when righteously combined, but it is invariably unmistakable in the eyes and gait of the true disciple. There’s something about pushing oneself to the edge of their ability, there’s something about putting aside convenience, willingly laying oneself down for a further benefit. This is especially salient when the fast is performed on behalf the welfare of another. This takes faith that one’s own needs will be met as he or she selflessly turns toward someone in greater want, trusting that a loving Heavenly Father will bless others just as the faster has been blessed. He or she who fasts in this vein is overcome with love for God and fellow man, so much that their personal welfare is an afterthought. This is the point at which affection and suffering reach their peak. This is true empathy.

We should all have the goal to reach the point of true empathy, but also understand that we will never fully reach it unless we fully turn to the source of true empathy:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
--Isaiah 53:4-5


That fount of every blessing (including empathy), of course, is Jesus the Christ. His empathic understanding transcends experience on intellectual or vicarious grounds, for He experienced everything, as is evident in Alma 7:11-12 and D & C 19:16-18:


And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

I know that the prophecies in the former scripture were fulfilled, and I know that the words in the latter are the honest, literal words of the Savior through a modern prophet. I am grateful to have a source for my striving, to have a reason to give up my own will, and seek the welfare of others. I hope that one day I will be able to have that type of empathy that only requires love, and nothing else. But for all of us, purification process is necessary. Let us all be able to willingly walk that path. Elder Neal A. Maxwell (Liahona, 1999) said the following:

Revealed truths reassure us that we are enclosed in divine empathy. As Enoch witnessed, we worship a God who wept over needless human misery and wickedness (see Moses 7:28–29, 33, 37). Jesus’ perfect empathy was ensured when, along with His Atonement for our sins, He took upon Himself our sicknesses, sorrows, griefs, and infirmities and came to know these “according to the flesh” (Alma 7:11–12).

He did this in order that He might be filled with perfect, personal mercy and empathy and thereby know how to succor us in our infirmities. He thus fully comprehends human suffering. Truly Christ “descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things” (D&C 88:6).

I echo his testimony with my own. May we all continue to emulate the Savior in all that we do! Have a Great Week!