Great Sunday Lessons

It has been a very tiring week.  School started on a Tuesday, which made it seem extra long because we usually start on a Wednesday.  That one extra day made me tired!  One good thing did happen because of that.  We had Back-To-School night on Thursday, so with school starting on Tuesday, that meant we had an extra day in-between to get ready for the night.  That helped a lot!  We again had a family night with hot dogs, chips, and drinks.  We were hoping it would bring out more people, but it didn't seem like it.  However, when I counted the parents of my students I was surprised to have so many between the two different sessions.  I can't remember exactly right now, but I had more than half of the parents of my students there.  It was great.  I always wonder if I am able to give them information that will be helpful to them as they begin their journey as third grade parents.

We went to pick out things for our bathroom (that is a story in itself.  Suffice it to say our bathroom is broken and we need to fix it. Not something we wanted to do right now, but can't help it.) I hate spending money so it was a very difficult thing for me to do.  I hate spending, and I had making decisions because I'm not sure of my decisions and then get frustrated with myself.  It just wasn't a pleasant experience.

The one good thing was our visit with Nicky.  She has gone through some tough times this past summer, and along with the tough comes some good.  We love her and pray for her each day.  Some of our prayers on her behalf are being answered and more will be, we are sure.  We want her to be happy, to find those things that will bring her TRUE happiness.  That means hard choices need to be made, but we are sure she will be able to make the choices that will bring her the blessings she has been promised.  We also want her to know that we love her, and believe in her.  We are there to support her in the good things she does.

As we have gone through so many experiences this summer I am learning more and more about our responsibility to ourselves and others as far as support and love.  Today's sacrament meeting, Sunday School, and Relief Society lessons were all about love, support, contention,  and judging (and not judging others).  Contention is Satan's way of getting between people.  He is so smart about using it.  He knows that he can cause people to judge others as being 'not worthy' and thereby cause contention.  And when there is contention there is a lose of understanding, causing a lot of love, and in the end, destroying a family which is the basic unit of heaven.  And Satan wins.  At every point along the way things can change.  People may do wrong, make poor choices, do things that go against the word of the Lord.  This would bring the Lord's judgement upon only them.  But when others exercise their own judgment again that person, the 'wrong' grows to include the judge-er as well. If the judging is spread to others, contention can arise, which will spread the 'wrong' to even more people.  Notice all those "IFS" .  Things do not have to grow like this.  The original person will always be accountable for their choices, as will everyone else.  But, if we choose to judge, cause contention, spread words that discourage love and acceptance, we are also in the wrong.  We will receive the consequences for our actions.  Satan knows this.  What side do we want to be on?  The Lord would like the first person to accept their choices, and the rest of the people to show love, acceptance, support, and encouragement, so the contention does not grow and spread.

Then, in Relief Society, Shirley Van Ziverdan gave the lesson from the Ensign, which was President Uchtdorf's lesson about STOP IT!  She did a great job and pointing out the contention, judging, and forgiving that he stressed. It just went right along with the Sunday School lesson.  I guess I needed this lesson.   Here are some of my notes from her lesson:

Contention never was an allie to Christ.
Choose to either be right or want the relationship.
Strive to be compassionate.
Martha judged Mary, but Jesus' rebuke came when Martha complained.  If she had not complained Jesus would have noticed BOTH women's contribution to the feast.  It's OK to choose to do different things, but if we complain about another person, we might not receive the notice we desire.
Jesus walked among those who needed His love.  We should do the same.

 King Benjamin taught:

“Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

“But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. …

“And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance” (Mosiah 4:17–18, 22).

And this:

My disciples, in days of old, sought ^aoccasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this ^bevil they were ^cafflicted and sorely ^dchastened.

 9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to ^aforgive one another; for he that ^bforgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.

 10 I, the Lord, will ^aforgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to ^bforgive all men.

In all, I learned a lot today.  But I didn't learn now to keep my fonts the same.  I'll experiment on that later.  I'm going to watch the special about Romney right now.

Nearing the End

You might not get what you want, if you think too much about the title of this post.  Nearing the End doesn't mean I am done, finished, dying, or ending any time soon.  It means I am almost to the end of the book about the Beatitudes.  I've been so busy with Garth's operations, getting ready for school, and so many personal things that I haven't had time to stop for a few days.  But I do want to write my thoughts on the last few chapters of the book Blessed Are Ye: Finding Your Unique Path to Christ by Chris Huston.

The last few verses of the sermon called The Beatitudes say:

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding lad; for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.   (Matthew 5:10-12)

Right now we are seeing so much of this behavior toward the church, church members, and the good works of the church organization.  It seems like it is coming from all corners of the earth.  With a 'Mormon" running for President of the United States, many people are happy to jump on the bandwagon that those Mormons are a strange group of people.  Some think we are blind followers who can't think for ourselves.  Then when some make different choices than they think a 'Good Mormon' would, they criticize them because they don't do what the church tells them they should do.  We just have to remember that we probably won't ever please all of the people any of the time.  (Boy, do I know that!)

Jesus knew everyone would feel persecution.  He didn't teach His disciples how to react if  they were persecuted, but when.  He reminded them that the natural man is an enemy of God, and don't enemies fight in the natural world?

Bro. Huston points out that the first seven beatitudes are short in length, but when He teaches about persecution he uses a lot more words.  Could it be because we would all feel the pain of persecution, either from our loved ones or from the world for the things we believe?  We have all experienced it, and it hurts, all the time.  The other beatitudes are about characteristics we can cultivate within our selves.  These verses tell us how to react when our believes are criticized by others.  That is a big difference.

When Lehi saw the dream of the Tree of Life he saw people pointing and mocking others who were partaking of the fruit.  He saw that many fell away and were lost because of being mocked.  Satan really knows how to get a bunch of people to follow his desires, doesn't he?  Get a few people to mock others and many will not be able to withstand the finger pointing.  Then Lehi goes on to say "we heeded them not" (1 Nephi 8:33)

I think we are seeing great examples of church members who have been placed in situations when they have needed to defend their own beliefs at the risk of being mocked, reviled, and persecuted.  We have see the church speak up when others have tried to ridicule the teachings and doctrine.  I see words spoken in kindness, with an effort to teach others, to show by example, while at the stand time standing strong to their convictions.  Mocking will always be there.  How we react will show what kind of a person we, individually, are.

I still stand by my favorite statement which is at the top of my blog:  Being mistreated is the most important condition of mortality, for eternity itself depends on how we view those who mistreat us.  -- The Peacegiver p. 33.  I think it is time for me to read this book again.

Pure in Heart

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

I think the goal for most of us is to see God again, to return to our Father in Heaven.  One sure way to be able to do so is to be pure in heart.  But what does that mean?

According to Chris Huston it means Purity in our intent, sincerity of our consistent effort.  Not of us can be perfect, or pure, during this life so all we can do is strive.  And if we are trying we will show the spirit of purity.

He goes on to explain something I have never thought before.  We are told the pure in heart will see God, but how can we see God in our mortal lives?  We need to look for the hand of the Lord in our daily lives.  Here is a quote from the book: "The only constant I've found is this: when I am the most spiritually in tune, and when my striving to live the commandments is able to override the lethargy of the natural man, I am most able to feel Christ's presence, and recognize his love and care reflected in the world that surrounds me."

That really got me thinking!  I need to live my life so I can see God in my daily activities, or the Hand of the Lord in the things around me.  I need to open my eyes to see, and do what I need to do to invite Him into my life.  That might mean serving others in ways I haven't noticed before.  It might be showing some kindness to others, making a phone to show I care, sending a message to someone, writing a letter - a real letter and mailing it, visiting with someone.  I need to ask the Lord what He would want me to do to show love and care to others.

At the same time, I need to see what others are doing for me.  Perhaps the Lord is inspiring others to help me in some way.  Maybe I am the way others can see the Hand of the Lord.

I also need to look around me and count my blessing and recognize they come from a Heavenly Father.  I need to acknowledge the good, beautiful things that are happening around me.  I need to realize the the Lord  share with us His wonderful creations like the sunrises and sunsets, the flowers, the children, Grandma's wrinkled hands, etc.   When our hearts are pure we see God all around us.   When our hearts are pure and we see God, we want to do what is right so we are pleasing to Him.  And by doing what is right we become pure in our hearts, able to see Him around us.  Isn't it amazing?

Mercy!

I remember hearing my sweet Grandma Olsen says, "Mercy!" usually when she was excited or surprised  about something.  "Oh, Mercy!"  I would love to hear that again.

Matthew 5:7 - Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.  (3 Nephi 12:7)
I sure hope people show me a little bit of mercy.  More importantly, I hope the Lord gives me mercy when my time on Earth is over.  I know I will need it because I am very far from being perfect, even with all the repenting I do.  Somehow He will make justice and mercy work together, but how can I be sure I end up on the right side of the balance scale?  The scripture says what I have to do:  Be merciful.

In order for me to obtain mercy I must first be merciful myself.  So I got out my trusty Webster's New World Dictionary and looked up mercy, base word for merciful.  Here is what I found:  1.  a refraining from harming or punishing offenders, enemies, persons in one's power: kindness in excess of what may be expected of demanded by fairness; forbearance and compassion....a disposition to forgive, pity or be kind; kind or compassionate treatment; relief of suffering...

Well, that about sums it up.  Don't hurt others.  Not just physically, but I'm sure it also means emotionally and spiritually.  Don't punish others when it isn't needed. Be kinder than you should be.  Show compassion.  Strive to have a disposition to be kind and forgiving to everyone.  Give compassionate treatment to others.  Help relief their suffering, whether it be emotional, physical, spiritual, or any other way.

Doing all of these nice things requires us to not place requirements for our mercy towards others.  The author of the book I am reading says that when we judge others as unworthy of our mercy, we are placing ourselves in jeopardy for not receiving our own mercy.

How many times do I think "Well, they deserve it."?  "They must be held accountable for their own actions."  "They have to suffer the consequences."  "It's their problem, not mine."  All of these is true.  We even say in the Second Article of Faith "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins....."  Individual accountability is an important part of the gospel.  We all know it.  It keeps us on the right path.  But what if I use that principal to justify my own responsibility to show mercy?

The author reminds me about King Benjamin telling his people how they need to look at the needs of others. (Mosiah 4:17)  "Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just.  (18) But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent.  And except he repent...he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.  (19)For behold, are we not all beggars?  Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have? .....(22)And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which does not belong to you but to God."

By showing mercy to others I am not losing anything myself.  In fact, I am gaining mercy from Jesus Christ.  At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus reminds us "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."  (Matthew 7:1-2)  I can't think 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth' because other people sin differently than I do.  They might do something that I would never do.  But I should still show mercy and compassion to them.  I need to give my love and let them know that my love is not contingent on my positive judgment of them.  I need to show that I am there to help them overcome any problems or situations they face.

At the same time, I have to protect myself from my own pain and suffering.  I'm not going to let someone take advantage of me with their attitude of "You must do this for me so that you are showing mercy and aren't judging me!"  I had a very fun roommate that I loved so much.  She was always saying, "I'm giving you an opportunity to serve me.  Please get me a glass of milk!"  We always laughed and worked hard to find opportunities for the other person to serve us.  I don't think the Lord expects us to show mercy to others at the expense of ourselves.  But isn't it nice when we can show actual mercy to others?

Remember the shooting of the Amish school children, and how the Amish people showed mercy to the shooters family?  Right now there is a book at Deseret Book about a man who showed mercy towards the person who caused the car accident that claimed the life of his wife and children.  We don't need these dramatic situations to happen in order to show mercy.  Sometimes we need to show mercy to people who are just suffering from their own situations, not because they have done anything to harm or hurt us.  All people need to know they are accepted.  When we don't show that acceptance we are not showing mercy.

If I want mercy I must show mercy.  That is the Gold Rule.  Do unto others as ye would have others do unto you.  I have to do it first.

Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

Have you ever noticed the difference between the Beatitudes the Savior taught to his disciples in Jerusalem and the words He spoke to the Nephites?  His first sermon said "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)  The second time He said, "blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost."  (3 Nephi 12:6)  It seems to be human nature that in times of trial, when we need support and help, we turn to the Savior.  It is sometimes difficult for me to keep up the energy needed to 'hunger and thirst' because of the doldrums of everyday life.  I say my prayers, read my scriptures, read other uplifting books (like this one on the Beatitudes), along with all the other "Sunday school" answers like fasting, going to church, etc.  I go through life just living each day, watching for times when I can help others.  But do I really 'hunger and thirst' except in times of great personal need?  Or should I be expected to?

Look at Enos, and Alma the younger.  They each had a great period in their lives when they needed to know about the gospel.  As Chris Hudson points out: "

" Enos described his quest for knowledge as a 'wrestle which I had before God" (Enos 1:2).             Notice that he wasn't wrestling with God, but before God.  The wrestle was within himself."

Enos then says that his soul hungered and he cried in prayer all day long.  And all night long.  (Enos 1:4)  He had listened to his father all his life, but it was only when his own soul hungered for a testimony that he actually did what he had to do to receive his own testimony and prayed in a way that his voice reached heaven.

Alma was also upset when he remembered his sins, but he also remembered his father's teaching, so he reached to Christ and, in his own words "my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!" (Alma 36:18-20)  It took three entire days of torment for Alma to finally feel that he was relieved of his sins.

Neither story tells us what happens after Enos gains his testimony, or Alma was forgiven of his sins.  I am sure the everyday life crept into their life as well.  We don't hear of them proclaiming their righteousness throughout the rest of their lives, but they did continue to do good.  And when they were faced with more trials, which they were because they are mortals and that is what happens, they knew that their Heavenly Father loved them, and would fill them with feelings of acceptance and love when they needed it most.

We need to remember that we have to put in the effort to discover within ourselves the spiritual strength that only God knew we have.  When we put in that effort the Savior will give us the blessings He promised: We will be filled with the Holy Ghost.  We should be praying for this everyday, so we know on those days when everything seems just too much, we know that our Heavenly Father will give us His strength, and we will be filled with the Holy Ghost.