The Book of Ether and “The Power Cycle”

Students of the Book of Mormon are familiar with the “pride cycle,” that part of Helaman edited to warn us about society’s tendency to become morally slack in times of wealth.  An equally important observation is given in the second half of Ether, a sequence that might be called “The Power Cycle,” or even “The Politics Cycle,” as it shows us the ruin brought upon communities when selfish leaders claw their way to the top by any means necessary. 

Mormon edited the pride cycle; the power cycle is the work of his son, Moroni, who writes it as a cold, hard overview of a civilization’s tragic tunnel vision, its refusal to learn and remember its own lessons.  Time and again over hundreds of years, those in authority indulge in petty games of power, to the detriment of their people, who themselves often fall into general wickedness as their leaders fail to guide them in more spiritual paths.  Moroni’s commentary in these chapters gives us some of the Book of Mormon’s clearest inspiration (the rejection of the prophet Ether’s ministry is Moroni’s launching point for his famous sermon about the power of faith) and direct instruction (such as his declarations in Ether 8 that he’s writing all of this so that readers in the last days will “repent of your sins” and “be persuaded to do good continually“).

Perhaps most significantly for contemporary readers, no specific ideology is identified with any of the scores of unworthy leaders who hinder their people over time–one bad leader is often overthrown by another who turns out to be equally bad.  Let’s remember this on election days.

Though I’ve added and changed some elements, my notes below are based mostly upon Hugh Nibley’s work, “The Prophetic Book of Mormon,” from the book of the same name.

 

THE POWER CYCLE	Greed/wickedness/lust for power	Prophets minister	People repent?	Result of repenting or not
Round 1	7:4-7	n/a	Yes, 7:13	Posterity, 7:14
2	7:15-17	7:23-24	Yes, 7:25-26	Prosperity & peace, 7:26-27
3	8:2-19, 9:1-11	n/a	n/a	Genocide/destruction, 9:12
4 –Happiness 9:13-25	9:26-27	9:28-29	Yes, 9:34-35	Revival, 9:35
5—Happiness, 10:1-4	10:5-15	n/a	n/a	Finally, a righteous leader / people prosper, 10:16
6—Happiness, 10:17-29	10:30-34	11:1-3	No: prophets rejected, 11:5	“Great calamity,” 11:6
7	11:7	n/a	Yes, 11:8	“mercy,” 11:8
8	11:10-11	11:12	No: prophets rejected, 11:13	Ongoing wickedness, 11:14-16
9	11:17-19	11:20-21	No: prophets rejected, 11:22	n/a (status quo)
10	n/a	12:2-3	No: Ether rejected, 13:13,17,22	“Great war,” 13:15 “Ceased not,” 13:22 Robbers, 13:26 Theft, paranoia, selfishness, 14:1-2 Total destruction, 15:12-30

Book of Moses Commentary Part IV: Fathers Must Teach Their Sons the Gospel

[Previous installments here, here, and here]

Quick, who can spot the pattern in these two verses?

“Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begat Enos, and prophesied in all his days, and taught his son Enos in the ways of God, wherefore Enos prophesied also.”  Moses 6:13

“And Jared lived one hundred and sixty two years , and begat Enoch; and Jared lived, after he begat Enoch, eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.  And Jared taught Enoch in all the ways of God.”  Moses 6:21

This formula is certainly used or suggested elsewhere in scripture: in the Book of Mormon, for example, Nephi starts off by telling us that he had been “taught somewhat in all the learning of my father,” (1 Nephi 1:1), just as Enos begins his story by declaring that he, “knowing my father was a just man–for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord…” (Enos 1:1), and King Benjamin had three sons whom he also “caused that they should be taught in all the language of his fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding; and that they might know concerning the prophecies which had been spoken by the mouths of their fathers…” (Mosiah 1:2). 

(Maybe this post should have been called, “Fathers must teach their sons the gospel…and, apparently, literacy skills.”)

The relative silence in the scriptures about the training that comes from mothers, or towards daughters, shouldn’t be construed to mean that no such teaching takes place, nor should this emphasis on father-to-son teaching be taken to mean that no other teaching is important in the family.  After all, the Book of Moses reminds us that as Adam and Eve started having children, “Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters.”  (Moses 5:12)  Adam may have had some personal priesthood interviews with Cain, Abel, Seth, and his other sons, but certainly the first family also had plenty of family home evenings where the teaching was more generally dispersed. 

The “Gift” Of Faith

One of my favorite colleagues in education was an agnostic science teacher with whom I whiled away more than a few lunch periods commiserating about all our sundry complaints.  Particularly at the school where we worked together, we had both noticed that the population had a strong, seemingly built-in sense of fatalism, wholly internalized, woven into the fabric of their DNA.  Far too many kids would come into our classes at the end of a summer already convinced that they couldn’t learn, that they would never want to learn, that work of any kind just wasn’t important.  Their philosophy was one of paralyzing nihilism, a mix of predestination and hedonism, I thought.  They were absolutely sure that their intelligence, talents, and abilities were all immutable, a fixed, inherent quantity that they couldn’t improve or develop even if they wanted to, so why bother?  My friend and I lamented our failure to convince them that they were far more powerful than they were giving themselves credit for. 

During one of our conversations about religion, though, he short-circuited my attempts to get him to analyze his own agnostic assumptions when he asserted that I simply had the “gift of faith,” a thing which he said he respected, but just didn’t have.  I don’t think any amount of banging my head against the wall ever got him to see the irony. 

Now That’s Charity

Elder Holland’s recent Conference talk about the intense depth of suffering experienced by the Savior for the Atonement–and the Church’s incredibly successful YouTube clip from it–have got me thinking about how this episode also teaches us perhaps history’s greatest lesson about charity. 

Sometimes I’m tempted to pull my head back into my shell and call it quits as far as the world is concerned.  I think we all feel that way sometimes.  Work is stressful–or lost, finances are tight, illness is soaking up strength, family problems are heartbreaking, addictions are threatening, or a combination of these or any of a thousand other adversities conspire to drag us down.  Often we may feel that the best option to preserve what little sanity we have left is to circle the wagons and just worry about yourself, and let the rest of the world go its way. 

When this temptation surfaces, it’s good to remember how the Savior conducted himself in the midst of the Atonement.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus Christ felt infinitely for “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and…the pains and sicknesses of his people…their infirmities…[and] the sins of his people” (Alma 7:11-13)–truly, every negative experience every mortal has been, will be, or even could be called to pass through–a sacrifice so profound that the “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” (D&C 19:18), He did not pull his head into his shell, or circle the wagons, or give Himself up to worry or self pity, letting the rest of the world fend for itself. 

First, he

Satan’s Threat and Expulsion: Evidence For Inspiration In Islam?

I’m a big fan of the Qur’an.  Like a lot of other people, I read it after 9/11, taking tons of notes.  Though there were some things I didn’t understand, and others that I disagreed with, my overall impression was very positive.  For every verse that seemed to promote violence of any kind, there were twenty others that clearly demanded peace.  The most famous example of a “jihadist” verse–Sura 9:5–is obviously, when read in context, a limited injunction pertaining to one certain time and place. 

Among my many notes on the Qur’an I included comparisons with LDS doctrine and scriptures where similarities were strongly evident.  (For some of these notes, please see the charts at the end of the article posted here.)  However, the strongest parallel isn’t with “scripture” at all.

In the Qur’an, Sura 7, verses 16-18, one reads this portion of the story of the Fall in the Garden of Eden:

He said: “Because thou hast thrown me out of the way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on thy straight way:

“Then will I assault them from before them and behind them, from their right and their left: Nor wilt thou find, in most of them, gratitude (for thy mercies).”

(God) said: “Get out from this, disgraced and expelled. If any of them follow thee,- Hell will I fill with you all.

 

There are two major elements there that should make LDS readers sit up straight and pay attention (and the next few verses after that continue to present a version of the Fall that sounds very comfortable to Latter-day Saints): Satan, angry at being chastised by God, threatens to subvert God’s work with humanity, and God responds by sending Satan away.  Now, the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon are clear that Satan is a deceiver and tempter who opposes God–and the Book of Mormon emphasizes that Satan wishes to make mankind miserable by separating them from God (2 Nephi 2:18,27)–but these specific elements of the Fall aren’t mentioned in either of those holy books.  They’re not even hinted at, anywhere.  In the Bible and in the Pearl of Great Price, for example, God curses “the serpent” after he gets Adam and Eve to eat the fruit, but nowhere else do we see God expelling Satan after he threatens to sabotage God’s work with humanity.

Except in an LDS temple. 

Worshipping Through Prayer, Singing, and Fasting

One topic to which my eye was drawn during a study of the Book of Mormon was how exactly God wants to be worshipped.  As Latter-day Saints, we often say that lives of steady, regular devotion to righteousness and service constitute the ultimate worship, which is all fine and good–no problem there–but in light of the examples set by prophets in the scriptures, it seems incomplete.  Consider:

1 Nephi 1:14-15: Lehi exclaims to God how great God’s power and plan are

1 Nephi 18:16: Prolonged praise and suppression of desire to murmur (see also Ether 6:9)

2 Nephi 4:30-35: Proclaim trust in God while pleading (with firm faith) for help

2 Nephi 9: 8,9,13,17,19,20: Extol the virtues of God

Mosiah 2:3-4: Mosaic sacrifices and offerings explicitly linked with showing gratitude (see also verse 20)

Mosiah 18:30: Praises to be sung to God

Alma 26:8: Again, singing laudatory praises of gratitude

Alma 45:1: Fasting and prayer mentioned in conjunction with grateful worship

3 Nephi 4:31: Again, singing laudatory praises of gratitude (see also Mormon 7:7)

And those eleven citations are just a sampling of what the Book of Mormon shows in its narrative about the nature of worship.  This may be something that we could benefit to learn from our Evangelical friends: while the kind of demonstrative emotion shown in much of their public worship might strike us as overly ecstatic to the point of being irreverent, our own scriptures surely show that it does have a proper place.  I offer three suggestions–which I’ve practiced myself–to try integrating into our own worhsip, and see if they don’t invite the Spirit:

On America’s Future

As we scrutinize political trends, demographics, and cultural indicators, two prophecies from the Book of Mormon should give us all something to seriously mull over as we ponder America’s future.  Consider:

3 Nephi 16: 7–”in the latter days shall the truth come unto the Gentiles.”  Indeed, the gospel was restored in America in the early 19th century, primarily among Caucasian people (Gentiles).

verse 8–”they have come forth upon the face of this land, and have scattered my people who are of the house of Israel…”  That same population that received the gospel also oppressed some of God’s chosen people.

verse 9–”after all this…”

verse 10–”At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel…I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.”  (emphasis added)  This single verse should scare the heck out of every Anglo American, especially among the Latter-day Saints.  The prediction there is pretty clear: when our society becomes pervasively unrighteous, rejecting our Christian heritage, God will take that gift of gospel truth away from us. 

It’s not giving away any big secret to share that convert baptisms into the LDS church in the United States have been fairly stagnant over the last decade.  The explosive rate of growth in the second half of the 20th century has largely leveled off. 

So, if the gospel is going to be taken away from us white Gentiles, to whom will it go?

verses 11-12–”And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them.  And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel.”  (emphasis added)  Here, Jesus Christ plainly foretells that after the initial phase of the Restoration has been accomplished by the Gentiles, they will reject it, and the gospel will then be embraced by the descendants of the native people of the Western Hemisphere to whom Christ was speaking. 

Just as conversions are dying out among white Americans, the LDS church is growing explosively abroad–there are now more Mormons outside the United States than within.  Christianity in general is experiencing a staggering injection of growth among the poor, “global south.” 

I Give A Morningside At Seminary

For years I’ve secretly harbored a desire to speak to a group of seminary students.  I’ve subbed for a couple of classes, but that was several years ago.  Last month, though, my dream was realized: the student council at our school’s seminary asked me to give a morningside (a devotional speech). 

I’ve wanted to do this because there are things I’d love to say to the LDS kids at my school that I just can’t in the classroom.  After working with me for a year or two, most kids figure out that I’m Mormon and conservative, but neither is something that I advertise: they have no place in my teaching.  I’ve always said that my job is to teach people how to think, not what to think.  I’ve heard other teachers talk about slipping references to their political or religious beliefs into their classes, and I find it grossly unethical.  Proselyting authority figures are unacceptable. 

But at seminary, I could advertise a little in a perfectly appropriate environment.  And today was the day.  I was very excited as I got to the church at 5:45 this morning, and met the teachers there.  As I started my remarks to a chapel full of about 120 kids, I talked about Elder Perry’s “apostolic endorsement” of my American Lit. class in General Conference last Fall (which I also joked about with Elder Perry when I met him at a missionary training for local leaders last month), and joked that this doesn’t mean that English is more spiritual than their other classes…but when was the last time their electives got the seal of approval from an Apostle? 

I then reviewed my conversion story, which ties into seminary, and my testimony of the Atonement and the Book of Mormon (which also testifies of the Atonement).  I told them that the Book of Mormon, this little blue book that we give away for free by the truckload, is a miracle, more wise than every other book I’ve ever read put together, and more important than every artifact in every museum in the world.  I reminded them that an English teacher was saying this!

Disciples Of Jesus Christ Are Ministers

My last post reminded me of some notes I took once on an important lesson in the Book of Mormon; one of its primary themes, really.  Since my last post mentioned our obligation to “minister” to each other, I thought a more specific definition might be in order.  So, according to the Book of Mormon:

 

Disciples of Jesus Christ are ministers—3 Nephi 26:19

 

TO WHOM—“every people” and “every soul”–Alma 29:1-2

          “all men”–2 Nephi 26:27-28

 

WHERE and WHEN–”at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in”–Mosiah 18:9

 

WHY—responsibility—Jacob 1:19

          desire for the welfare of others—Jacob 2:3

          gratitude for salvation–Mosiah 27:29-33

          desire to share gifts with others—Alma 36:24

 

HOW—1 Nephi 15:25—exhort with energy to keep the commandments

          2 Nephi 33:3—pray for them daily

          Jarom 1:10-12—warn, teach, persuade, stir up to repent

          Mosiah 26:38-39—be obedient, teach, admonish each other

          Mosiah 27:33—console people, confirm faith

          Alma 4:19—stir up remembrance of duty, pull down pride, bear testimony

          Alma 48:19-20—serve, preach from scriptures, perform ordinances

          3 Nephi 6:20—teach and testify of the Atonement

          3 Nephi 18:16-21,25—pray for others; invite all to come in

          3 Nephi 23:14—teach doctrine from scriptures

          Moroni 6:4—fellowship, nourish, keep watchful

 

Jesus Christ Teaches Us How To Minister

One of the great overlooked gems in the Book of Mormon is 3 Nephi 18, in which the Savior both ministers to his disciples and teaches them directly how to minister to others.  It’s a treasure trove of wisdom for all who would follow the Lord’s example in serving others, and more practical and succinct than any other such manual there is.

In verse 16, the Savior declares, “Behold, I am the light; I have set an example for you.”  Especially considering his directive soon thereafter that “the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do” (3 Nephi 27:21), this is clearly an injunction for observant disciples to take notes and “go and do thou likewise” (Luke 10:37).  So we need to pay attention both to what Jesus tells us to do and what he actually does himself, for both are to be guides for our own conduct. 

Verses 15 and 18 have the Savior telling us to pray always to escape the power of the devil.  Such admonitions are hardly rare in scripture.  We do ourselves a grave disservice if we don’t take seriously the warning that unless we inculcate a steady habit of fervent prayer in our lives, we risk straying into behaviors borne of temptations.  There is no hyperbole here: without prayer, we will lose the light within ourselves, and so cannot be in position to share it with others.

Verse 21 extends the primacy of prayer into the next realm: praying with our families.  Once we have prayer instilled as a wellspring of spirituality in our private devotions and in our family worship, we then pray with and for “any man…coming unto you” (3 Nephi 18:22), whom we’re commanded to welcome into our community as we “meet together oft.”  In verse 25 Jesus intensifies the counsel to allow all others into our meetings to pray with us by commanding that we go out and actively invite all in to “feel and see.” 

Huston’s History of the World

I read William J. Bennett’s Book of Virtues to my children once.  Well, by “once,” I mean for a year and a half, but it was worth it.  As we read, I was intrigued by how much I was learning: I started the project to help my children develop character with good literature, but I had no idea that this collection could form the rudiments of a decent liberal education. 

Bennett’s anthology presents an assortment of world literature that ranges deep and wide, giving us the greatest hits of history better than any of the college texts with which I’ve worked, and it plainly shows how morally didactic the classics are.  I read something that referred to this book as an arrogant attempt to indoctrinate people with right-wing beliefs.  Really?  Where does Bennett twist a text to mean anything other than that for which it was clearly intended?  Which of the virtues in here are peculiar to conservatives?  Honesty?  Patriotism?  Faith?  (Now, now, no cheap shots.  Although, I would defy any socialist liberal to write a similar book that made such extensive use of classics to promote, say, the social and governmental experiments that their philosophy favors.)

As I read The Book of Virtues, I saw so many wonderful works that I’d never read or even heard of before (The Athenian Oath, the story of Cincinnatus, the funeral oration of Pericles, Roosevelt’s speech on “The Strenuous Life,” etc.) that painted such a glorious picture of our civilizational heritage, that I wanted to organize them into a timeline for use in instructing my children (I had also just read The Well-Trained Mind and loved it, hence my list’s preponderance of important texts).  Bennett’s thematic chapters were appropriate for his purpose, but I wanted a way to use the text for a more academic setting.

As I made a list putting my favorite items in chronological order, I rounded it out with other historical events I deemed worthy for my children to study, including major historical events narrated in the scriptures.  I also added some family events, such as the birthdays of my wife and I, and our children, though I deleted those from the copy below.  For your entertainment and edification, here it is.  (If I ever have a ton of time to kill, I’d reformat this with links to all these texts online.)  References to page numbers in italics are to Bennett’s Book of Virtues; underlined references are to scripture:

 

Ancient World

 

5,000,000,000 BC Earth formed Moses 2, Abraham 4

64,000,000 BC Dinosaurs extinct

9000 BC Ice Age ends

2925 BC Egypt—Menes, first king of the 1st Egyptian Dynasty, Memphis

2570 BC Egypt—Great Pyramid of Cheops

2500 BC Egypt—Sphinx built to guard Great Pyramid

2300 BC Ur—Abraham Genesis 11-25, Book of Abraham

2000 BC Sumeria—Epic of Gilgamesh, the world’s oldest story

1780 BC Babylonian text, Code of Hammurabi, world’s first written law

1500 BC England—Stonehenge completed after hundreds of years of building and use

1410 BC Egypt—Joseph interprets dreams (for Pharaoh Thutmose IV?) Genesis 40-41

1325 BC Egypt—Tutankhamen (King Tut)

1290-1224 BC Egypt—Ramses II, see Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” page 68.

On The Virtue Of A Soft Heart, Despite Discouragement

Pessimism is tempting.  In a world where we constantly face rejection, scorn, and, for the most part, the failure of our work to do much lasting good, it’s easy to give in to the reflex to put up walls around our emotions, to practice not caring about those who we might care for but who will end up letting us down and breaking our heart.  Sometimes it feels like the only way to handle the overwhelming sadness of the world’s willful self-destruction is to shake our heads and say, “Oh well.  Good riddance.”

The Book of Mormon strongly encourages the opposite.  In the midst of risking the most bracingly discouraging setbacks, we are still shown example after example of prophets who wear their hearts on their sleeves, and invest every ounce of their own deepest feelings in their work, despite the ongoing pain.  It’s hard, it’s noble, and it’s necessary.

[all italics added for emphasis]

LEHI

1 Nephi 1:5 “…my father, Lehi, as he went forth prayed unto the Lord, yea, even with all his heart, in behalf of his people.”

1 Nephi 8:36 “…he exceedingly feared for Laman and Lemuel; yea, he feared lest they should be cast off from the presence of the Lord.”

NEPHI

1 Nephi 2:18 “and being grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, I cried unto God for them.”

1 Nephi 10:4 “…I, Nephi, was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts…”

1 Nephi 12:25 “…I did exhort them with all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed…”

1 Nephi 17:9 “…I, Nephi, was exceedingly sorrowful because of the hardness of their hearts…”

1 Nephi 17:47 “Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever…”

2 Nephi 26:7 “O the pain, and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people!  For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me…”

Notes On The Ministry And Character Of Jesus Christ

This morning I finished a project I’ve been working on for a long time; in fact, it’s the product of the bulk of my personal scripture study in 2008.  Last year, my stake president advised all Latter-day Saints in our areas to read the New Testament so we could renew our devotion to the Savior. 

Inspired by that, I started taking notes on everything I could recognize that Jesus said or did, in the spirit of “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21) and “the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do” (3 Nephi 27:21).  My goal now is to practice imitating the items on this list, integrating them into my own character.

As I’ve worked on this, I realize there are two serious limitations.  The first is my own spiritual imperfection, which hinders the degree of light I can discern in the scriptures and obscures my perception of what I do understand.  The second is my intellectual immaturity, which leaves much truth in the text uncovered.  (I suppose factors such as being tired or in a hurry at times also contribute to failings in the notes.)  A better person surely would have made a much longer list, and worded them in a far more profound manner.

For my study of the gospels this year, I used Bruce R. McConkie’s Doctrinal New Testament Commentary Volume I: The Gospels, a harmonized text that I’ve studied before and with which I am very comfortable.  Because I used a gospel harmony, references in the notes to items that occur in one or more of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), are usually represented only with a citation in Matthew, hence that book’s disproportionate standing in the notes. 

I also elected to include a “gospel” from the Book of Mormon in my notes, 3 Nephi.  The personal ministry of Jesus Christ to the ancient inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere shortly after his ascension is a true record, and invaluable for its additional insights.  In the notes, I’ve italicized items that include Book of Mormon references, putting those that are exclusive to the 3 Nephi text at the end. 

This exercise provided its own lessons: the nature of the Savior’s work in the West was much more simple and positive than the dramatic epic of the Holy Land, but adds only a little major doctrine to that main ministry: truly, the Book of Mormon’s primary purpose is to testify of truths in the Bible.  3 Nephi strikes me now as a surprisingly prophetic and didactic document, in the best possible way. 

I consider this a first draft, to be revised over a lifetime:

 

Notes on the ministry and character of Jesus Christ

 

1. Be in the temple often. Luke 2:46, John 7:14, 8:2, 10:23, Mark 12:35, Luke 21:37-38

2. Both hear, and ask, “the doctors” questions. Luke 2:46

3. Achieve understanding. Luke 2:46 (2:40, 52)

4. “Wax strong in spirit” Luke 2:40

5. Be subject unto your parents. Luke 2:51

6. Be baptized. Matt. 3:13

7. Do everything that fulfills all righteousness. Matt. 3:15, Matt. 26:51-56, John 19:28

8. Be with God, alone, in wilderness and mountains. Matt. 4:1, Mark 1:35, Luke 6:12, Matt. 14:13, Matt. 14:23, John 8:1, Luke 22:39, Matt. 26:36, John 18:1-2, Matt. 28:16, 3 Nephi 19:19, 27, 31

“Let Us Labor Diligently”

The following short essay of mine appeared in the “Living By The Scriptures” column of the LDS Church News on August 28, 2004:

 

And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.  -Moroni 9:6, The Book of Mormon

The world is growing more wicked and it’s going to get worse before it gets better.  The signs of the times are clear: the Second Coming is close.

These thoughts and some discouraging experiences had let me slacken my hand in reaching out and helping to improve the world.  If the world is not going to turn around, I wondered, why bother trying?  I saw my wife and many others anxiously engaged, striving to do even the smallest good.  But I felt that I was closing my heart even more.  I was doing less service and, in my mind, focusing on physical preparation for the Second Coming.  Soon, I had to admit that I was losing charity, often not giving others the chances they deserved, judging them instead.

One morning before going to the temple with my wife, at random I came upon Moroni 9:6 in the Book of Mormon.  Mormon knew that the Nephites were doomed; he had seen them falling apart over his whole lifetime.  Now, near the very end, he was counseling his son to keep working with them, no matter how much they might reject him.  Why?  What was the point?  According to Mormon, this struggle is not just for the good of those we serve, but is crucial to our own growth as well.

Pondering this reminded me that the Savior willingly suffered for the pains of all mankind, fully knowing that only a fraction of His family would be grateful enough to take advantage of it.  If we are to become like Christ, I realized, then we must follow Him in serving mankind, even if it seems to bear no fruit.  Our salvation depends on it.

Fewer Green Lights, More Yield Signs

Should we move? Which spouse should work? How many children should we have? Can I miss church this Sunday? How can I help my kids without pushing them? How can I break this bad habit? How can I deal with everything?

And how do we answer these questions? The Lord rarely lays down black and white rules for the big personal choices in life. But do we take that trust in our spiritual maturity and use it as a green light, as an excuse to do whatever we want or what’s easiest?

 

Hopefully not. “I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh.” (2 Nephi 4:34). “If he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsel of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall…” (D&C 3:4). “And if any man shall seek to build up himself, and seeketh not my counsel, he shall have no power…” (D&C 136:19).

If green lights are bad, then is life full of red lights, making us constantly freeze and doubt? No. “It is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant… men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will…” (D&C 58:26-27).

 

 

So if life is neither a permanent stop nor a constant go, then how do we find solid help? “Seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand.” (Jacob 4:10). To put it another way, “Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord…and serve the Lord your God…” (2 Chronicles 30:8).

Yielding, cautiously halting our own agenda to determine the best way to proceed before moving forward, is a great spiritual metaphor for how to live by the Spirit.  Other scriptures give specific direction for gaining strength by yielding to God. “For the natural man is an enemy to God…and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him…” (Mosiah 3:19). “Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger… unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.” (Helaman 3:35).

Prayer is the foundation of yielding: “Ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.” (2 Nephi 32:9). “Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord… Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good…” (Alma 37:36-37).

“But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally; and that which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart…” (D&C 46:7).  When we make a decision with prayer, we will always be right; when we make a decision without prayer, we have no such promise.

These aren’t just generic commands to pray, fast, and be more obedient and Christlike, though. Read them again; these verses promise that the way to be spiritually cleansed and physically led is to seek the Father’s will. Doing these simple things more often, and doing them more deeply, will bring us the answers we need.

And it starts when we yield our whole lives to God. Isn’t the Savior the perfect example of this? “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” (John 6:38). So did we.

As we let go of worry, pride, selfishness, and anything else that’s getting between us and the Spirit, and as we do this by accepting the Lord’s invitation to live by his plan for us, our questions will be answered, and our problems will be solved. We need less of stressful overworking or comfortable coasting in life, and more meditating in our homes and in God’s temple.

And continuing the road sign analogy, let’s point out that sin and the spiritual apathy it breeds are just speed bumps, each one slowing us down a little in our efforts to come closer to God. Repentance smooths out the speed bumps.