Skip to main content

On faith and love

So Nephi, after having heard his father's dream, decided he wants to hear and see and experience for himself. It occurs to me that faith is the desire to know things, the belief that those things CAN be known, and the action required to obtain that knowledge. Sometimes it's as simple as being still and pondering - this has often been the case for me. Some of the sweetest experiences I've had in my life have come when I was pondering scripture, the words of Church leaders, my parents, or life in general. The communication that takes place between me and my Father in Heaven will often transcend verbal communication and I send Him feelings, hopes, desires, and even images from my mind. He gets them and responds in kind.

The angel that is guiding Nephi through the visions he is having asks him if he knows the condescension of God. Condescension is almost always used as a negative term, as in - Oh, she is SO condescending... Where the implication is that someone is haughty and arrogant. For a long time I struggled with that word. Then I started to realize that the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Jehovah, truly did condescend to put on Him the form of a man, to become subject to the frailties and weaknesses we share, and to experience even death and alienation from His Father so that He might succor us better - so that He might know how we feel and what we are going through. He was (is!) perfect, yet it pleased Him to come to this sphere and take on imperfect physical, mortal characteristics in an effort to draw us closer to Him. We can trust Him. We can love Him perfectly because He has descended below all things. And God be praised for his infinite love and mercy.

Nephi's response is interesting - he says he knows God loves His children, but he (Nephi) does not understand the meaning of all things. It is not required or even necessarily desirable for us to understand all things. It may even be impossible. But if we believe that God loves us (and surely He does!) then that knowledge forms the foundation for everything else we want and need to know. If He loves us, and knows our names (as He called Nephi by his name), He will answer our prayers and give us what we need. If He loves us, we can seek Him and His will, bending ourselves to Him and abandoning everything we think we want to Him - finding then that we have what we really need. If He loves us, we must love each other if we would be like Him. If He loves us, He will teach us truth and peace and comfort. If He loves us, surely He has a plan for us to be like Him.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baptism

Yesterday Ellie was baptized. She turned eight on January 27, 2020, and she made the decision to be baptized. I want to tell you a little bit about Ellie. I have never met a child that is quite like Ellie. She is full of life and fire and joy and light. She knows no fear and is infectious in her passion for life and for goodness and for FUN!!! Above all things, she seeks the joy and fun in life. She is also wickedly clever and funny, she’s a delight to be around and makes everyone feel so good. Because she is happy, she wants everyone else to be happy. I first met sweet Elizabeth in 2018, and on the day I met her she was not feeling well. We decided that a movie would be a fun thing for a sick little girl, so I brought one of my favorites to share with her - The Neverending Story. When I got to the house, I picked her right up. It had been a very long time since I was able to pick up a girl, and she snuggled right into my arms. Her poor sick body was warm, but I was more impressed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Excommunication

My heart is heavy this morning. I read that Kate Kelly and others are being brought up on Church disciplinary action. For those who are unfamiliar with the process/proceedings of LDS Church discipline, it can be a bit mystifying. There are several levels of censure that the Church may impose. These range from a simple removal of some privileges for a short period of time to the most severe action - excommunication. When one is excommunicated, the person's membership in the Church is terminated. It is a very extreme measure, and for the faithful it can be a very difficult thing to consider. What people don't understand - what is nearly impossible for someone outside the proceedings to understand - is the amount of love felt. It's discipline. It's intended to be harsh (at times). And it's intended to be unpleasant. But it is done with love and care for the person. Since excommunication is such an extreme measure, it is really only very rarely applied. There are ...
18 comments
Read more

Ephesus

Paul got around. Ephesus is right on the Aegean Sea, on the coast of present-day Turkey. Yesterday he was in Galatia, which was much more towards the middle of Turkey. And when he actually wrote these letters, he was in Rome... So the man could travel. He probably walked. Today's item of interest comes from chapter one in Ephesians. Verses 18 and 19 are particularly interesting: 18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power This is not the first time Paul talks about an inheritance. In Galatians he talks about the inheritance that comes of being part of the Abrahamic Covenant. He notes that we are joint-heirs through and with Christ. In Ephesians, he uses the word "adoption" - that we are adopted as the Children of Jesus Chris...
7 comments
Read more