Skip to main content

What do you think?

For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7

Who are you?

I think that we, in the Latter-Day Saint tradition, are fairly good at understanding the need to read the scriptures and to pray fervently. But how are we at thinking about what we've read?

The injunction from the Savior is to read, ponder, and pray. We seem to skip the second step.

Because, let's be honest, it's hard.

We have so many distractions, so many things demanding our mental attention - even value-added things - that we find ourselves at the end of our day with our bodies tired and our minds full, but with no spiritual rejuvenation.

Our physical bodies are a good example of this. Food we eat does not pass immediately from our mouth to our (ahem) nether regions. It spends time inside of us. Our bodies are specifically designed to garner every possible nutrient from the things we put in our mouth. Some things don't even pass into our stomach before being assimilated for immediate use by the body (candy, sugar, etc.) But if we spent all of our time eating nothing but sugar (or other things easily assimilated into our bodies) we would find our bodies becoming atrophied and weak. We must partake of a wide variety of nutritional food in order to keep our bodies healthy.

I think there's a parallel with this. Some people may feel that if they read the scriptures and pray about them that is sufficient. But there is much to be gained from carefully considering the scriptures we read. Even if it's only one verse, one phrase. Let that passage work within you. This word has come to you across the millenia and has cost the blood of the prophets. This is the record of God's dealing with man, containing the miracles and foibles of the ages. Each word is a ray of sunlight that can and should lighten our minds. We must let this light reach the farthest corners of our minds, illuminating and brightening. We may also find that we are able to become inspired by such illumination to know things that transcend the written word. This is where the scriptures come to live for us. This is where they have their meaning. It's not enough to read holy writ; we must find a way to make it a part of us.

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalms 119:103

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is this thing still on?

 Does anyone even blog anymore? I remember when it first got started and everyone was having a blog. I like writing, and I do a lot of it in my professional life, but not everything makes it onto this blog, which is where a lot of my personal thoughts come out. I put more into Facebook lately, too, because it's a little easier. But there's something to be said for this long-form writing exercise, and I think I will continue here periodically. You don't mind, do you? Well, in my last post I wrote about how difficult things were for me at the time. That changed in July when I finally got a job working for the State of Utah. I was the program manager for the moderate income housing database program, and that meant I worked from home a lot but also went in to Salt Lake when needed, mostly on the train. It was a good experience, for the most part, and I'm grateful for the things I learned even in the short time I was there.  In October I started working for Weber County in t...
1 comment
Read more

The Other Art

I'm not sure we appreciate photography as much as we do other art forms. Part of this comes from the reality that surrounds and permeates a photograph - it's very, very real, and the photographer strives for clarity and crispness in the representations. Perhaps this is why black and white images continue to be relevant - they strip away extraneous information (color) and leave us with something that is at once familiar and also non-existent - for nothing exists in black and white. Nothing. I also think that pictures are becoming too common-place... Everyone has a camera in their pocket, and while that's a very democratic thing (everyone can express themselves in a picture easily and readily, and can find an audience for these images, which are casually taken and casually viewed, and perhaps just as casually forgotten) I think that we embrace that casual attitude, and it spills over to all aspects of the media, making it impotent. So I read this article this morning: h...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Romantic Encounter

Him (tears in his eyes, heartbroken): I want you to know that I love you, that I'm sorry for my weakness and frailties, and that I will try and do better. I think I am doing better than I was before, and I just want to please you and make you happy. I am very grateful for your continued patience as I try to be the kind of man I want to be. Her: You need a haircut. It's getting a little long.
15 comments
Read more