Joseph Smith taught: “The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God.” While imprisoned at Liberty Jail, I think that Joseph got this very opportunity: to think about all the works of God, who God really is, who he (Joseph) really is, how dark and deep are the works of the adversary, and many other things I am not aware of.
Now, I am not sure exactly what happened to Joseph Smith while he spent those awful months locked up in prison on false charges while his family and friends were being kicked out of their homes, some being killed, and all kinds of false charges were going around. We live in a very different world than back then, and so today it is common to lash out and make our voices heard with phone calls, internet blogs, newspapers, facebook, twitter, or any other source. For Joseph, he could write letters or try to contact the papers, but it was very difficult to make your voice heard. There was no justice, no retribution, and hardly any hope. He had to suffer, sit there, and think.
What a wonderful blessing indeed. I almost cry to call it a blessing, but that’s the way God’s plan works out. Whatever happens to us that is unfair or painful, whatever harm we cause to ourselves and others, can somehow turn out to become a blessing in our lives. While Joseph was incarcerated, he learned that God is mindful of His children, that these horrible ordeals would end, that Justice and Mercy would have their work, and that God will bless those who love Him and endure well. Joseph also learned how the priesthood works, how to better guide the church, and that many wonderful outpourings would come as a result of his trials (D&C 123:17).
I would not want to live in a dark hole for months in the cold, where it was not possible to stand erect, where there is only old filthy straw for comfort, where your guards wish you dead, where your bathroom is just a bucket (which I imagine the guards didn’t really want to clean); but that being the case, I suppose it is a very small price indeed to come to know the Son of Man, and “commune with God.” Joseph got the chance to gain pure knowledge from God, and he was humble enough to learn in this trial.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Salvation for All
This is one of my favorite doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For some reason as a member of the LDS church (or if you are a member of any church), it is easy to sometimes feel that we are the "special ones," that we are the ones who are going to be saved. I will admit though, that my notion was false. God loves His children. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for all men, not just some men. Now before I go on any further, I do want to say that I know that all men must be baptized by priesthood authority, and receive the ordinances of the temple in order to be saved. Fortunately, God has all of those things worked out for everyone to eventually receive all the necessary ordinances, and it is up to us to accept them.
When Brother Topp came into our class, he explained how the Lord views those who have not received the gospel. He talked about how many of Latter-day Saints have not received the gospel either for any number of reasons, not just “non-members” have not received the gospel. What this says to me is that we are not to judge based on what we can see. In fact, some of the people we would least expect to accept the gospel have done so. For example, Saul of Tarsus accepted it in this life after doing horrible things to the followers of Christ. It reminds of Gilead, who was not a perfect man, and who was not really one that appeared to be chosen of the Lord. If you recall the battle of Gilead, the soldiers were to break their lanterns and shout what the Lord had commanded them. The light was not visible to others until the outer layer was broken. Perhaps Gilead and any other person may appear to be rough around the edges, but once you can get through that, you can see that there is light inside of them.
This truth became clearest to me from Lehi’s dream in the Book of Mormon. He talks of a lot of people in the great and spacious building, people getting lost in strange paths, and people losing hold of the iron rod. Then he talk about other multitudes who press forward to the tree of life. I feel that many of God’s children will be saved.
One last story comes to mind that reflects what I’ve learned. Quentin L. Cook shared of his grandfather: “This was an issue with my great-great-grandfather Phineas Wolcott Cook. He was born in 1820 in Connecticut. In his diary he notes that he had made a covenant with the Lord to serve Him if he could find the right way. He attended many churches and at one was asked to “testify [and] join the church [and] be a Christian.” His response was he “could not tell which one to join, there were so many.” He continued to investigate several churches. One doctrine was of particular significance to him. He explained: “Sometimes they found fault with me because I wanted a more liberal salvation for the family of man. I could not believe the Lord had made a part to be saved and a great part to be damned to all eternity.”13 Because of this doctrine, he allowed his name to be taken off the records of one Protestant religion. When the LDS missionaries taught him the true doctrine of the plan of salvation in 1844, he was baptized.
“Phineas’s faith in the loving mercy of the Lord and His plan of happiness has been shared by many honorable men and women, even when the teachings of their own churches were very bleak.”
When Brother Topp came into our class, he explained how the Lord views those who have not received the gospel. He talked about how many of Latter-day Saints have not received the gospel either for any number of reasons, not just “non-members” have not received the gospel. What this says to me is that we are not to judge based on what we can see. In fact, some of the people we would least expect to accept the gospel have done so. For example, Saul of Tarsus accepted it in this life after doing horrible things to the followers of Christ. It reminds of Gilead, who was not a perfect man, and who was not really one that appeared to be chosen of the Lord. If you recall the battle of Gilead, the soldiers were to break their lanterns and shout what the Lord had commanded them. The light was not visible to others until the outer layer was broken. Perhaps Gilead and any other person may appear to be rough around the edges, but once you can get through that, you can see that there is light inside of them.
This truth became clearest to me from Lehi’s dream in the Book of Mormon. He talks of a lot of people in the great and spacious building, people getting lost in strange paths, and people losing hold of the iron rod. Then he talk about other multitudes who press forward to the tree of life. I feel that many of God’s children will be saved.
One last story comes to mind that reflects what I’ve learned. Quentin L. Cook shared of his grandfather: “This was an issue with my great-great-grandfather Phineas Wolcott Cook. He was born in 1820 in Connecticut. In his diary he notes that he had made a covenant with the Lord to serve Him if he could find the right way. He attended many churches and at one was asked to “testify [and] join the church [and] be a Christian.” His response was he “could not tell which one to join, there were so many.” He continued to investigate several churches. One doctrine was of particular significance to him. He explained: “Sometimes they found fault with me because I wanted a more liberal salvation for the family of man. I could not believe the Lord had made a part to be saved and a great part to be damned to all eternity.”13 Because of this doctrine, he allowed his name to be taken off the records of one Protestant religion. When the LDS missionaries taught him the true doctrine of the plan of salvation in 1844, he was baptized.
“Phineas’s faith in the loving mercy of the Lord and His plan of happiness has been shared by many honorable men and women, even when the teachings of their own churches were very bleak.”
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Special Collections Library Visit
This week we had the chance to visit the BYU Library Special Collections. It was absolutely amazing to see in such amazing books and learn about the arduous task of making just one single book. In fact, that is the part that really stood out to me: There were people so dedicated to learning that they would go through the entire publishing process of writing things by hand in perfect detail.
I got to hold some of the books that were written over 500 years ago. Some things were even older than that, but I didn’t get to touch them. They were written in perfect, equally spaced lines and then the absolute care was taken into using beautiful handwriting that must have taken years to develop. I think the history of the books is a story in and of itself, as in, how well these books were cared for and how well they are still preserved. Is it just me, or does it seem that these old documents have somehow carried with them all of the personalities, words, desires, and characteristics of the people who made them and preserved them?
I also was deeply impressed by the books that were printed by the printing presses throughout the ages. We got to see and handle some of Gutenberg's original documents, as well as a first edition copy of the Book of Mormon. It was special to contrast that with the handwritten predecessors published by the dedicated Monks that came before mass production was an option. All of these had their own unique sentiment attached to them. Now that I’m sitting here typing this blog post, I have suddenly realized that the Lord had a direct hand in all of this. He let blessings come down to this earth to help bless His children by the majesty of these inventions. For centuries, dedicated followers of Christ demonstrated to the Lord their devotion, and their understanding of the importance of sacred writ. Because there were people ready and willing to receive light, God began His work through the service of these Monks and Nuns, and then through the jeweler, Gutenberg. Even from the earliest eras we know of, we see that God’s children have understood that there is a point to record keeping. And not just record keeping, but also the development of papyrus, and animal skins, then paper, now digital, and who knows what’s next!
Honestly, I don’t think that the visit would have been complete if our guide didn’t show us the video of “The Medieval Help Desk” at the start. If you haven’t seen it, the link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ
We have so much, and we understand a lot in our times. But we still have a long way to go!
I got to hold some of the books that were written over 500 years ago. Some things were even older than that, but I didn’t get to touch them. They were written in perfect, equally spaced lines and then the absolute care was taken into using beautiful handwriting that must have taken years to develop. I think the history of the books is a story in and of itself, as in, how well these books were cared for and how well they are still preserved. Is it just me, or does it seem that these old documents have somehow carried with them all of the personalities, words, desires, and characteristics of the people who made them and preserved them?
I also was deeply impressed by the books that were printed by the printing presses throughout the ages. We got to see and handle some of Gutenberg's original documents, as well as a first edition copy of the Book of Mormon. It was special to contrast that with the handwritten predecessors published by the dedicated Monks that came before mass production was an option. All of these had their own unique sentiment attached to them. Now that I’m sitting here typing this blog post, I have suddenly realized that the Lord had a direct hand in all of this. He let blessings come down to this earth to help bless His children by the majesty of these inventions. For centuries, dedicated followers of Christ demonstrated to the Lord their devotion, and their understanding of the importance of sacred writ. Because there were people ready and willing to receive light, God began His work through the service of these Monks and Nuns, and then through the jeweler, Gutenberg. Even from the earliest eras we know of, we see that God’s children have understood that there is a point to record keeping. And not just record keeping, but also the development of papyrus, and animal skins, then paper, now digital, and who knows what’s next!
Honestly, I don’t think that the visit would have been complete if our guide didn’t show us the video of “The Medieval Help Desk” at the start. If you haven’t seen it, the link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ
We have so much, and we understand a lot in our times. But we still have a long way to go!
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