participating

Participate 

During church today, the choir got up to sing. As sometimes happens, an understanding was opened up to me.  

First, these two scenes from the nick cage sorcerer's apprentice. 

"Dave: (dismayed groan) Oh, no, please, Bennet. Not this again with the gray wolf. I can't...

Bennet: (showing the calendar's current animal month: Gray wolves) The gray wolf is a pack animal. He must find a mate. He must hunt and grunt. He must participate! You're going to get booted out of the pack! Alone. Eaten by a hungry bear."

Dave kept to himself. He didn’t participate in life. He ends up being the sorcerer's apprentice and is embroiled in crazy magic and preventing world domination by the evil Mab. He interupts Bennet's date to get help.  

"Bennet: (excited that Dave now participating in something) I don't know what you're into here, Dave, but whatever it is, you are definitely participating!"

Back to the sacrament meeting vision. Everyone particpates in the gospel differently. We even participate differently at different times in our lives. Ministering, choir, service, callings, greeting new faces, reading the lesson, commenting in class, family histor, temple attendance ...... there are a lot of ways we participate in the gospel.  

As we talked about the individuality of the atonement, this all came back to me. Jesus Christ lived every bit of our experience. He knows the sins, sorrows, weaknesses, joys, triumphs, and strengths. He knows our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual resources and deficiencies. 

I'll probably never be a choir person. I'll always volunteer to give a prayer though. It doesn’t have to be perfect. I'm not measured against anyone else. It's just important that I'm participating. 

I think that goes for the gospel and relationships with those around us. We're always going to screw up. We'll have strengths and weaknesses. It's important to participate and recognize the participation of others. We're all just fallable mortals after all. 

Go participate. Make mistakes. Make messes. Just keep going.  

“Doubt not, but be believing” 

Mormon 9:27

It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don’t worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. If you do your best, it will all work out.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Alma shushes

Alma 12:22 ...This is the thing which I was about to explain....

No higher thinking today. This verse just amuses me. I can hear the exasperation across th centuries. "Dude. If you'd shut up for a minute I'd answer your question." 

I don’t know that alma was a sass mouth. He could have been very patient in this moment. It still amuses me. I know what it's like for people to completely miss the point. Sometimes it seems like it's on purpose because no one can be that dense.  

Then again, sometimes I'm the dense one. I try to remember that when my patience is thin.  

plain truth

2 Nephi 33:6

I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.

I love these summary type scriptures. They are the short scriptures that have a ton of truth bundled up inside.  

Plainness. Be direct. Truth gets lost in vague wording.  

Jesus is the truth. A person believing, disbelieving, or even denying a thing doesn't change truth. I love the saying, "It's ok if you don’t believe in God. God still believes in you." That's why a redemption was made for you.  

scripture potluck

2 Nephi 33:2

"As you ponder Nephi’s counsel, think about how you study the Savior’s words. Would you describe it as snacking, eating, or feasting? What’s the difference, in your opinion?"

Come follow me 2024 manual 

I had always thought of these terms as checking off reading, maybe marking amd tagging, and really researching.  

Denton had a different definition that I love.

He says snacking is sharing bite sized pieces.

Eating is personal study.

Feasting is a banquet when many people get together and all bring something to the table.  

What are some other definitions? 

binding temptation

2 Nephi 30:17-18

All things will be revealed. Nothing will remain hidden. Satan will be bound. I think of the 400 years after Christ appeared to the people in the Americas. Sin was overcome by choice. During the millennium satan will be bound. We can work toward that everyday though. We have to bind temptation in our own lives. We won't be perfect but we can practice.

Nephi the dad

2 Nephi 33:3

This scripture is such a parenting thing to say.  

"But I, Nephi, have written what I have written," - i know you might not believe me but I'm old and know what I'm talking about.

"and I esteem it as of great worth," - you can listen and learn or screw up and learn. Listening doesn't hurt as bad.

"and especially unto my people." - I claim you and love you so now your stuck with me being concerned and invested in your welfare. That means I'm going to tell you stuff you may or may not want to hear....like right now.

 "For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry." - because I love you, I implore the most powerful being I know to watch over and care for you. I'm telling you how much I tely on Him. Even if you don’t, I'm going to use my faith in your behalf. Surprise, God loves you more than I do, which is a lot, so He's going to do everything you'll let Him do for you.

why the gospel

“In our interview with the President [of the United States], he interrogated us wherein we differed in our religion from the other religions of the day. Brother Joseph said we differed in mode of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We considered that all other considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost”

Elias Higbee about Joseph Smith, Dec 1839.

John 14:16–27 

Moroni 8:26

2 Nephi 32:5

baptism by water and

2 Nephi 31:4–13 Jesus Christ set the perfect example of obedience when He was baptized

John 3:2-8

I love that baptism represents death and resurrection but also birth. We are "buried" in the water and raised up to a new life. We are born of water and fire or the spirit. We leave our old life behind and are reborn.

Jst Matt 3:38

First, we must be born into this mortal world. We leave our Heavenly patents and home to learn and grow through mortal experience. Our mortal birth is accomplished through water and blood. We are carried and cared for by a woman, our mother. She labors, suffers, and sheds her blood so that you can be born. This is a personal sacrifice that you cannot accomplish on your own.

Through the Atonement, Jesus Christ has made it possible to return to your Heavenly home. His sacrifice is a personal one. He carried your sins, sorrows, struggles, suffering so that He can better care for (succor) you. He shed His blood to accomplish this Atonement that you cannot accomplish on your own. 

endure

Elder Dale G. Renlund taught: “Enduring to the end is not a separate step in the doctrine of Christ—as though we complete the first four steps and then hunker down, grit our teeth, and wait to die. No, enduring to the end is actively and intentionally repeating the steps”

2 Nephi 31:15-20

miracles

2 Nephi 27:23 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles.

Mormon 9:19

Moroni 7:27-29

What miracles have you seen today?

2 Nephi 26:27 talks about people saying they have enough word of God. I realized today that meant denying not only the prophets but the further revelation from the Holy Ghost too. Joseph smith history 1:21 says that's exactly what happened to Joseph smith. They said, "there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased." John 14:26John 15:26John 16:7In these scriptures, Jesus says He'll send the Holy Ghost to testify. That's further revelation. I don't think people realize that what they're saying is against the scriptures. It's the subtlety of satan. He's good at blinding the eyes and blurring lines.I'm grateful for prophets and the Holy Ghost continuing revelation that helps us come ever closer to Jesus Christ.

ministering angels

2 Nephi 32:2-3

Moroni 7:22, 25, 29-30, 36-37

Hebrews 1:14

Alma 32:23

Doctrine & Covenants 20:35

Alma 39:19

Jst Hebrews 1:6-7

“If you live up to these principles, how great and glorious will be your reward in the celestial kingdom! If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates."

Joseph Smith 

Sisters in Zion

By President Henry B. Eyring

"When we keep the covenants made in these ordinances, we are promised that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. The ministering of angels is one of the manifestations of that Spirit...

The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament  

By Elder Dallin H. Oaks

He loves you

Luke 12:6-7

“Whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers. He does hear us. He does see us. He does love us."

Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lessons from Liberty Jail” (Brigham Young University devotional, Sept. 7, 2008),

we talk, rejoice, preach

2 Nephi 25:26

And we talk of Christ, 

we rejoice in Christ, 

we preach of Christ.....

I love this verse. If you love something, you share it. It's a simple formula. Later is says that they did it so their children would know Christ also. If something has blessed you, wouldn't you want to share it with people you love?

Lehi did. 1 Nephi 8:12

warp and weft

2 Nephi 25:26

While our subject might be about families or service or temples or a recent mission, everything in our worship should point to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We Talk of Christ  

By Elder Neil L. Andersen

This has been the subject of my daily book of mormon posts. Sometimes it's hard to condense the wordier texts into a short post. It's made me more aware of Jesus Christ in the scriptures though. Possibly more importantly, it's made me more aware of Jesus Christ in every part of my life. It's easy to lose sight of Him in all the chaos. His plan, His care, His mercy, His guidance, His comfort are always there. He is woven into every part of life.  

Actually, the plan of salvation is a base of our lives. Jesus Christ is central to the Plan. It makes me think of woven tapestries. I love watching the base, white yarn (warp) fill up with colorful yarn (weft) to create a picture or pattern. The pattern emerges slowly, line upon line, depending on the weaver's decisions. The warp is constant. It's stretched tightly across the loom so it has to be stronger than the weft. It holds the entire textile together. Without the strong strands of warp, the weft has nothing to hold it in a pattern. Jesus Christ is our warp. We decide the pattern of our lives. If we try to build on our own weaker strands, it simply won't hold. We can choose color and pattern but we must weave ourselves into God's plan and Jesus Christ is the center of that plan.

love

Love is the thing that changes hearts. It is the purest motive of all, and others can feel it. Let’s hold fast to these prophetic words offered 50 years ago: “No home is a failure unless it quits trying.” Surely, those who love the most and the longest win!

Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens  

By Sister Tamara W. Runia

1 john 4:11, 20-21

carnivorous

2 Nephi 21:6

Isaiah 11:6

2 Nephi 30:12

Isaiah 65:25

Lions, leopards, and wolves, oh my.  

The millenial promise of these great carnivores laying peacefully with a helpless lamb is a well known one. Of course, everything with Isaiah has multiple meanings. I felt inspired with a different view point for these verses.  

These great hunters are used in other scriptures as disrupters of peace, sin or the consequence of sin, temptation, even the devil. For them to lay down peacefully or raise their children on grass/straw, is not just a millenial promise. These predators are active now. Unfortunately, each of us, sometimes and in some ways, acts more like predator than prey. Following the peaceful Lamb takes practice. These symbols of sinful behavior laying down or changing their nature is a call for is to do the same. If a lion can eat grass and a wolf not stalk the sheep, I can tame my temptations too.  

cockatrice

I made a connection the other day. It's not profpund but it's at least interesting.

Cockatrice - some type of venomous snake.

These chapters refer to a cockatrice being a bane, harmful, or a danger to the people. Kind of like the "fiery serpents" which are also some type of venomous snake. Venomous snakes running around loose. You need to watch for them, take steps to avoid them, and prepare an antidote in case you're bitten  

Isaiah 59:5

Jeremiah 8:17

Isaiah 14:29 - 2 Nephi 24:29

I always thought this verse referred to peace eith the animals. The venomous snakes will be friendly. 

Isaiah 11:8 - 2 Nephi 21:8

This is Isaiah though. Nothing has just one meaning with him. Here's my ah-ha moment. Yes, he's referring to the millennium when there will be peace with all, invluding the animal kingdom. Here's the other side, he doesn't say the child will play with the snake. He says they will put their hand on the hole of the asp and the den of the cockatrice. *The snakes are gone.*

For now, be watchful and prepare for the day that sin no longer is a temptation. 

Head smacking "duh". Who do snakes represent biblically? Satan. Ohhhh! It represents the absence of temptation. Satan will be bound. The danger is gone. Sin is not enticing. All of the caution we have to take to avoid the "snakes" in the top verses is gone.  

repetitive

2 Nephi 19:21 - Isaiah 9:12

Isaiah 5:25 - 2 nephi 15:25

Isaiah 14:26-27 - 2 Nephi 24:26-27

Isaiah 10:4 - 2 Nephi 20:4

Don’t be too hard on your parents and leaders when we repeat ourselves. The Lord had Moroni teach a young prophet through repetition. Repetition ingrains gospel principles in our minds and hearts.

Glad Tidings from Cumorah  

By Susan W. Tanner

One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of witnesses, authorized witnesses, has been invoked. When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time.

Finding Safety in Counsel  

By Elder Henry B. Eyring

Repetition is a key to learning. Our sons need to hear the truth repeated, especially because there is so much falsehood abroad.

Worthy Fathers, Worthy Sons  

By President Ezra Taft Benson

The other day, I posted a meme that quoted the above verses, "but his hand is stretched out still." Someone remarked that she loved that phrase and it's repeated several times. I thought of how often the prophets have said to pay attention to anything that's repeated. It means it's that much more important. The Isaiah chapters are huge sevtins of repetition. The nephites had these words on the plates. Nephi recirded them specifically for us in our day. If God took up precious space to record Isaiah again, it must be important.

joyful

2 nephi 22:2-3

I love the visual of verse 3 : Therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Drawing water from the well is work. It could be following stairs up and down (my knees ache at the thought) or dropping a bucket and hoisting it back up. It could be plunging the handle of a pump or any other variety of ways mankind has invented for water retrieval. It is work but it is rewarding and joyful labor.  

Doctrine & Covenants 123:17

anger

3 Nephi 11:28-29

Moses 7:26, 28, 33

When we contend with each other in anger, Satan laughs and the God of heaven weeps.

The Peace of Christ Abolishes Enmity  

By Elder Dale G. Renlund

Anger is such a hard thing. It gives control over to someone or something else. It's irrational and even dangerous. 

Ancient greek philosophy is that the initial emotion is unavoidable. I remind myself that emotions are chemical reactions. They are real in the sense that the chemicals are real but the important thing is what I think. That's the part I control. At least I try to. Take a breath and act instead of reacting.

Seneca said, "when the sea is stormy, you see nothing clearly."

Here's the 10 points of "stoic anger management" or greek philosophy with a gospel twist.

1. Remember that we are all children of God and are meant to help and love each other. Seeing a person with God's love lens.

2. Consider the person as a whole. Put one annoying trait in context with the rest of their character. 

3. No one is naturally evil. People do things we don't agree with because they think differently. 

4. We're all flawed. We tend to hate the traits in others most that we hate in ourselves.

5. Try to understand their perspective, background, or motives. If you understand why a person does something, it's harder to be angry.

6. Think eternally. Will this matter in 50 years? 

7. Am I angry because it's universally wrong or just because I don't like it / agree?  

8. Anger hurts you more than the thing you're angry about.

9. Kindness is the antidote to anger.

10. Let people make their choices. Don’t expect people to think the way you do.

rejoice, again I say, rejoice

At the beginning of the year, I decided to make a study plan for the book of mormon. The app divided it up into daily chunks for me. Every day, I choose a scripture to make into a meme to share on social media. I look for something that testifies of Christ. It's also got to be short enough to fit a meme. The Isaiah chapters are killing me! It's not that there's no testimony, it's just too long and complex for memes. I've had to clip pieces from a few verses and stitch them together sometimes. They are still in context and are meant to go together. Isaiah just talks about such vast topics all at once, you have to do some reorganization to simplify it a bit. 

Today's is 2 Nephi 18:10-12

In the study manual is says "The writings of Isaiah include strong warnings, but they also offer hope and joy. This is one reason Nephi included them in his record. (2 Nephi 11:8) In a sense, the invitation to read Isaiah’s writings is an invitation to rejoice."

That made me think about Isaiah's complex writing. He's rejoicing over a lot at the same time. My rejoicing every day might be as complex and intricate as Isaiah or the Atonement. It can alo be as simple as a phrase, a meme, a cool breeze, or a cool rock I found. Mainly, i think god wants us to rejoice every day.

Samson

I was scrolling through my "encouragement" tag in the gospel app to find some scriptures for someone. This note from June 2022 is in there:

Samson has always been confusing to me. I never understood why a nazarite or dedicated discipline could go after the harlots and philistine women, take such horrid revenge, and keep trusting these women who betrayed him. After reading the seminary manual I understand that he isn't being held up as a good example. Maybe the bad examples are more relatable and hopefully I'll learn before making my own disasters.    

I do appreciate that when Samson had repented, the Lord granted him the strength to perform one last task. We all screw up over and over. It's never too late. Try not to go so far astray and make your own suffering worse, as we see with Samson. But even if we do, there is always a way back.  

Now I understand and relate better to Samson. He bore the scars of sin and bad choices but was able to return and be of use in the work anyway.  

Judges 16

which way are you facing

2 Nephi 28:30

“The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improved it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”

Sir Dave Brailsford

Quoted in "One Percent Better" 

By Elder Michael A. Dunn

"Brothers and sisters, our divine destiny and purpose is ultimately to become like our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. We do this as we change, or repent. We receive the Savior’s “image in [our] countenances.” We become new, clean, different, and we simply continue to work at it every day. Sometimes it may feel like two steps forward and one step back, but we continue to humbly move forward in faith."

Then Will I Make Weak Things Become Strong

By Elder Kevin S. Hamilton

I love these talks and the humble understanding these men have of progress. Some days, I think I fell 2 steps back and am still trying to get a step forward. As president nelson said in an april '96 talk, "Which Way Are You Facing?" As long as I'm striving forward, with real intent*, I'm ok.  

*Moroni 7:6, 9 & Moroni 10:4

bridles

We have a loving Heavenly Father who will see that we receive every blessing and every advantage that our own desires and choices allow.

Kingdoms of Glory  

By President Dallin H. Oaks

I want to emphasize is Alma 38:12, which reads in part, “See that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.” Bridle is an interesting word. When we ride a horse, we use the bridle to guide it. A good synonym might be to direct, control, or restrain.

Be True to God and His Work By Elder Quentin L. Cook

shall rule over them

2 Nephi 13:12

President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) interpreted 2 Nephi 13:12: “And so today, the undermining of the home and family is on the increase, with the devil anxiously working to displace the father as the head of the home and create rebellion among the children. The Book of Mormon describes this condition when it states ‘And my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.’ And then these words follow—and consider these words seriously when you think of those political leaders who are promoting birth control and abortion: ‘O my people, they who lead thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths.’ (2 Ne. 13:12.)” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1970, 21).