“One Dollar, Bob”

21 Sunday Apr 2024

Posted by Colby Alexander in Agency, atonement, General

Tags

bible, christianity, Faith, jesus, salvation

For most of my adult life, I have introduced myself as “Catie’s husband”. It may seem weird, but, it’s the best way to name drop and oviously highlight my biggest achievement. For anyone who knows her, it makes total sense. She is by far the most outgoing, friendly, happy, cheerful, and social one in the relationship. She is the life of the party. She even has an annual summer event in a particular corner of southern Utah County named in her honor. Catiepalooza.

She also happens to be one of the luckiest people alive, not because she married me, but because she wins all the time. Most of these are games or events that are random or determined by chance. She has story after story of these lucky wins.

Just one example happened on our honeymooon on a cruise ship. She hit the grand prize playing bingo, much to the dismay of the more “experienced” participants at least 40 years her elder. This lucky strike became twice as lucky, as we were both unaware of the expected “tip” charge that would come early the next morning on our final bill that was slid under our stateroom door. As newly-married, less than dirt poor, cruise newbies, we had been blissfully unaware of that expense, and would have been washing dishes on the next cruise without her “winnings”.

Catie’s meteoric rise to stardom, however, occured years later while we were living in southern California for anesthesia school. She was invited to celebrate her friend Alli’s birthday by going to watch one of the Price is Right episodes that was filming that day. Turns out, she did a lot more than just watch.

As anyone familiar with the famous gameshow knows, its full of almost maniacally excited, and optimisticly crazy happy people. Most people don’t know, however, that everyone waiting in the hope-to-get-in line, participate in a sleuthy interview process by the show’s producers. Potential participants are evaluated for their potential “entertainment” value. True insiders know to wear colorful shirts, coordinated apparel, or employ some other gimick to increase their chances of getting called up to bid and participate in the show. Obviously, Catie was a shoe in.

Catie and her friends had all worn pink matching shirts with glittery lettering identifying them as “wives of Gasspassers”. To the non-anesthesia familiar public, this probably carries a different meaning, but, as Catie’s husband, I’m going to be ok with that.

Needless to say, by the aforementioned, seemingly ever repeating, stroke of endless luck, she was called up to bid, and the following ensued…

Now, if you watched the whole episode, you would have enjoyed not only the nostalgia of watching the 30 minute commercial disguised as a gameshow, but that Catie’s rise to Price is Right stardom was not without its bumps and near misses. Especially in the crucial, stressful, chaotic seconds of the showcase showdown.

If you listened closely, you would have noticed that she clearly, slowly, and distinctly bid $45,000 as her showcase showdown bid. This bid was received with an apparent sudden onset of temprary deafness, and a verbal lifeline, “Four, I, I…I beg your pardon?” from Bob Barker. His telepathic message sunk in, and Catie quickly withdrew the bid, and desperately returned her gaze back to the audience chaos looking for assistance. Now, almost paralyzed with indecision with the weight of the world on her bidding shoulders, she chose to listen to just one person amid the entire audience of hundreds screaming at the top of their lungs with indistinguishable jabber. This one person had a single finger in the air while mouthing the words that Catie would then pass on to Bob’s pressing microphone, the same words which would also eventually make their way to a custom license plate on a black Dodge Magnum delivered a few months later…..”One dollar, Bob.”

What a win. What a moment that was. It took me three full days to actually believe her when she told me she had won. Who even gets on a gameshow? Who ever wins any prizes? Who gets to bid on the showcase showdown? Who actually wins it? But its immortalized on YouTube now and will live forever.

The best part of the story is the moment where Bob Barker clearly, and intentionally hints to Catie to try again. Instead of just going with the answer that was clearly wrong, he allowed her to try again, he did everything in his power to give her the win. The wrong answer was erased as if it never happened, to give place to a better one. And, that made all the difference.

Here is a smaller replay of that amazing redeeming rescue.

Now, why would this demostration of Bob Barker’s grace have anything to do with the normal content we discuss here? Oddly enough, its because I was reminded of this little exchange while listening to General Conference.

During Elder Christofferson’s talk labeled The Testimony of Jesus, he starts off with the following paragraph…

“In 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received a remarkable vision concerning the eternal destiny of God’s children. This revelation spoke of three heavenly kingdoms. President Dallin H. Oaks spoke about these “kingdoms of glory” last October, -noting that “through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb,” all but a relatively few individuals are eventually redeemed into one of these kingdoms, “according to the desires manifested through their choices.” God’s plan of redemption constitutes a universal opportunity for all His children, whenever and wherever they may have lived on the earth.”

The idea to highlight here is the concept of the welcoming invitation that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone is invited to live with God, and it becomes our choice to stay, or go. It is our choice to live in a way that makes us comfortable in God’s presence, or be repulsed by its goodness. We get to choose. Alma described this sentiment even more specifically in “judment” terms when he taught…

“These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.” -Alma 41:7

Sometimes the feeling of not deserving salvation and redemption is something we struggle with. At least, I did. It’s hard not to think that way when we live in a world of winning and losing. This last week, my daughter and I had a little discussion about this same thing. She is a junior in high school, and neck deep in the ACT test, tryouts for the school play, job interviews, college prep, and every other competition you can think of. The reality of constant competition, winning, losing, acceptance, and rejection is part of all our lives. But, ironically, these things don’t apply in the same way to the concept of salvation, forgiveness, the final judgment, or the atonement. The eternal blessings of salvation are not reserved for those with a high life point average. The final judgement will be much more like Catie’s experience with Bob Barker than my experince the AP History test (obviously not good).

Brad Wilcox famously described this same thought process in his talk, His Grace is sufficient, he explains…

“In the past I had a picture in my mind of what the final judgment would be like, and it went something like this: Jesus standing there with a clipboard and Brad standing on the other side of the room nervously looking at Jesus.

Jesus checks His clipboard and says, “Oh, shoot, Brad. You missed it by two points.”

Brad begs Jesus, “Please, check the essay question one more time! There have to be two points you can squeeze out of that essay.” That’s how I always saw it.

But the older I get, and the more I understand this wonderful plan of redemption, the more I realize that in the final judgment it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, “Let me stay.” No, he will probably be saying, “Get me out of here!” Knowing Christ’s character, I believe that if anyone is going to be begging on that occasion, it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, “Please, choose to stay. Please, use my Atonement—not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay.”

Jesus wants us to choose to stay with him, Jesus wants us to win. Jesus is not waiting for the moment for us to mess up once, so he can immediatly hit the trap door button and gleefully watch us slide backwards out of sight in a heavenly version of chutes and ladders, or say, “Nope! I clearly heard you say $45,000. Thanks for playing, but you lose!’

Jesus will always be patient, and quick to erase our wrong answers, and be excited beyond measure and thrilled when we choose to accept his eternal invitation to come, follow, and stay with Him. It was Jesus himself that described the feelings of the father of the prodigal son when he chose to come home, and how “when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him“. -Luke 15:20

That is the feeling we can expect when we get “home”. That is the absolute love, compassion, and forgiveness inherent in our Father in Heaven, and his only begotten Son. Their arms always have been, and always will be, wide open towards us begging us to stay.

Everlasting Gobstoppers and Foodless Feasts

24 Sunday Mar 2024

Posted by Colby Alexander in Angels, Food, General, Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ

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Tags

christianity, Faith, jesus, passover

When I was kid growing up, I thought I knew what a feast was. In my 8-year-old mind, a feast was one of two possibilities. First, a feast was what happened on Thanksgiving when I could pile as much turkey and mashed potatoes as humanly possible on a single plate. Advanced Thanksgiving plate construction carefully avoided any yams, any variation of cooked vegetables, or their poisonous contaminating “juices”, and/or soggy stuffing. This main course “feasting” a.k.a. food inhalation, was immediately followed by another round consisting of as much pumpkin pie as was allowed. This whole process would last approximately 7 minutes.

My second version of feasting was an imaginary pigging out on the candy trees, grass, and bushes that grew along the chocolate river in Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. Although fictitious, this feast was on every kid’s to-do list.

In both of my 8-year-old mind’s examples, feasting involved some form of shoving large amounts of food into my mouth as quickly as possible before my stomach screamed for mercy. Feasting was simply a hyped up, turbo-boosted, no-limits form of eating. At the time, my understanding of the meaning of a “feast” was incomplete. However, one clue that points to the real meaning of a feast can even be found in the Willie Wonka story itself. Even though every magical item in the Chocolate Factory was innovative, edible, and delicious, the real prize of the whole factory was the small and simple, Everlasting Gobstopper.

This special candy’s flavor never ran out. And, its size never shrunk, no matter how long you enjoyed it. Willie Wonka recognized it as his most prized invention, and wanted to protect it at all costs from immitation from his nemesis, Slugworth. Both Wonka and Slugworth knew and understood something about real value, that I hadn’t even contemplated yet.

So, even in an endless, feastable factory made of chocolate rivers, edible foliage, and lickable wallpaper, the most valuable item available was the smallest and simplest. Whomever possessed this wonderous piece of candy, could simply pop in the everlasting gobstopper and instantly remember, feel, and experience all over again the special moment of the Chocolate factory experience.

Maybe the meaning behind a real feast isn’t about who can eat the most turkey or pie, or the biggest chocolate park bench in the shortest amount of time, or even who can float the highest after guzzling fizzy lifting drinks. Maybe a “feast” has more to do with how long it can be enjoyed, or remembered.

Maybe the whole point of the feast isn’t about food at all. Maybe best way to look at a feast is to concentrate on what is being celebrated, commemorated and remembered.

Let’s try a better definition.

A feast is a celebration. A feast is a commemoration. A feast is an event to help us remember something significant and meaningful….mingled with food.

Thanksgiving is a feast, but it isn’t about turkey, its about remembering what we’ve been blessed with, and celebrating those blessings.

The Passover feast isn’t about unleavened bread, but about commemorating the salvation of the Israelites from the angel of death right before escaping Egypt.

Feasting isn’t about the food.

One of the most well known scriptures in the Book of Mormon highlights the word “feast”…

“Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” -2 Nephi 31:20

I can’t tell you how many times I have read that verse, and the one thing that always pops in my mind when I read the word “feast” is…….food. Or, stuffing my face with food. That initial, superficial thought is kind of like finally being able to visit Paris, the culinary capital of the world, and when dinnertime comes, heading over to the nearest Burger King. There is so much more there to be enjoyed. We just need to explore a little more.

And, while we are comparing French pastries and soufflé to whoppers, we may also benefit from looking a bit closer at the menu items for our feast. The scripture has us feast upon the “word of Christ”. In our Willie Wonka metaphor, this might be similar to the famous Willie Wonka Chocolate Bar. Willie Wonka was famous for his delicious chocolate. It was the most commonly seen, accessible, and familiar symbol for his candy empire. But, as those who got to enjoy his factory tour could attest, there was so much more to enjoy than just the chocolate bars. The chocolate was just the beginning.

It is similar for the “words of Christ”. The “chocolate bars” are the delicious words we read in the scriptures. But, there is a whole factory full of other sweets to enjoy. In the very next chapter, Nephi gives us some more details on what the words of Christ are.

“Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.” -2 Nephi 32:3

OK, so the words of Christ are the sciptures, and anything the angels say, got it.

What else?

Well, if we read that again, that phrase isn’t really limited to angels. The whole verse explains that Angels speak the words of Christ, BECAUSE they speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. In that sense, any feeling, memory, hymn, urging, prompting, thought, experience, or moment that is experienced under the influence of the Holy Ghost, constitutes the words of Christ. Every moment in our life where we feel the spirit, or his influence is a singular word of Christ because it is truth. They become even more special as we realize they are custom made for us individually. My “words of Christ” are His words to me. Every time I feel the influence of the Holy Ghost, He is speaking directly to me. Custom made candy. That opens up a whole entire factory full of deliciousness.

Now that we have an updated view of what a feast really is, and hopefully a better understanding of the very diverse, delicious menu items that are the words of Christ, lets go back to the original verse again… It could sound a little bit more like, “Wherefore, if you press forward, celebrating, commemorating, and remembering each experience, moment, or feeling of peace and comfort influenced by the Holy Ghost, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

That is a feast. That sounds delicious. And the best part is, we are all invited.

If we recognize that a feast is a celebration, a commemoration, and a way to remember something special, observance of that feast becomes even more meaningful, valuable, and filling.

And, let’s not forget the most valuable item in the chocolate factory menu. The Everlasting Gobstopper. The smallest item that was valued for its eternal flavor and its ability to bring back the special memories and experiences over and over again.

If only there were a spiritual everlasting gobstopper. How amazing would that be if we had a real life, simple, small token that we could partake of over, and over, and over again in order to help us always remember the spiritual experiences we’ve had. Now that would be a real feast.

Peanut Butter Cups, Counterfeit Confections, and the Hope for a Superior Interior.

05 Thursday Oct 2023

Posted by Colby Alexander in General

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Nothing much can compare to the first bite into a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Even with its rather unassuming simple outward appearance, it’s magic. We have all learned by gratifying experience, that we are all after the hidden prize inside. We buy it for the delectable peanut butter center.

Other food arrangements mimic this culinary style of ordinary presentation with delectable delivery. Tootsie Pops, Jelly Doughnuts, Lava cakes, Turducken, Pot stickers, Beef Wellington, and the crisp meat burrito we find at Taco Time, all try and delight their human consumers with a hidden, delicious, far superior, interiors.

Unfortunately just like in all things, there are counterfeit confections. Sneaky wolves in sheep’s clothing in the food world. Anyone wondering why you would name a simple little hard candy a “warhead” soon understands through squinted eyes, puckered cheeks, and tears. Likewise, we can find nasty surprises lying hidden in a jar of jelly bellys. It may be too late when we desperately reference the flavor list on the jar’s label after reflexively expectorating “stinky socks” and “spoiled milk” flavors masked by their beautiful, colorful exteriors.

Unfortunately, we can’t trace this exciting food methodology back to its origin in order to give credit where credit is due. We can’t sing grateful praises for such thoughtful innovation. However, when we go back far enough, and search hard enough, we may see some clues that are interesting.

Researchers (me) looking into this concept of something wonderful being hidden inside of something less wonderful to draw extra attention to that which is most wonderful on the inside, have found references to this “hidden treasure” concept as far back as the early first century.

The unverified culinary innovator, yet verified master teacher, Paul, gives us one clue…

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

-2 Corinthians 4:7

For Paul, and his Corinthian audience, this would have been a common reference. I imagine all the clay vessels used for wine, water, grain, spices, oil, etc. We can also imagine the weathering process that would naturally occur with daily use and exposure to the elements. Many of these clay pots likely had pock marks from the kids and their slingshots, some may have been smeared with greasy toddler fingers, and others with cracks that come with age, along with fading color from being outside in the sun. Nothing could have been more common, or unremarkable.

But, Paul teaches that it wasn’t what we see on the outside that really matters. It is the treasure inside. In just the previous verse he describes “this” treasure. Notice all the reference to bright, shiny stuff that you might see opening a treasure chest…

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

-2 Corinthians 4:6

And, a few verses before that, he gives another description of the treasure in a more obvious way…

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:”

-2 Corinthians 4:3

Paul is not describing the development of, or the prototype for the Oreo cookie, a caramelo bar, or food at all actually. But, his simple message still shines through…

It’s what’s on the inside that really counts.

And, in this case, the glorious treasure hidden inside all of us human clay pots, is the bright, shining, gleaming goodness, and light of Jesus Christ and his Gospel

Jesus himself a few years before warns against the alternative of focusing only on the outer appearance in his stinging rebuke of the Pharisees.

“…for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”

-Mathew 23:27

Doesn’t sound so delactable whether its applicable to us as humans or a jar of jelly bellys.

All of this sounds very familiar conceptually. How many times have we all heard this same thing from our parents, or grandparents, teachers, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, or even Dora the Explorer? Hearing about, and conceptualizing this idea is the easy part. Understanding and changing our behavior because of our believing this concept is the hard part.

In his letter, Paul demonstrates exactly how we can apply this concept of hidden treasure. He specifically highlights how we can focus on the treasure inside while simultaneously recognizing the the weaknesses or afflictions we carry on our outside. His explanation helps to answer one of the most common critiques of God, and faith still being used today…

“If God is so good, why does he allow afflictions and suffering in the world?”

Paul’s answer to this difficult question draws from his own experience and introduces a seemingly paradoxical answer. On its surface, Paul’s answer doesn’t seem to make much sense, because we tend to first look at life through our human eyes. We focus on the cracks and greasy smudges on our clay pots.

But, let’s read Paul’s explanation carefully, remembering the treasure inside, and how the Lord wants us to turn to, focus on, and draw strength from Him. He sees us differently, and wants us to see ourselves, and each other, differently as well. Even a perfect clay pot pales in comparison to the strength, power, and glorious treasure of the King of Kings.

Paul writes…

“there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:

for my [God’s] strength is made perfect in [our] weakness.

Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake:

for when I am weak, then am I strong.“

-2 Corinthians 12:7-10

How is this even possible? How does having a weakness, a thorn, a trial, an affliction make us strong? What is Paul talking about? Did he maybe hit his head a little too hard during one of his three shipwrecks?

For a long time, I misunderstood this concept. I always thought of weakness or affliction similarly to being a terrible 3-point shooter. All I needed to do was be humble, ask for a bit of help or training, and practice some more, and with time and relentless personal effort, I could overcome the weakness and become a strong 3-point shooter. Hence I would change my weakness into a strength. The humility part was just in the initial realization that I wasn’t a great at shooting.

The only problem with that is that 3-point shooting percentage doesn’t effect our salvation. We can’t make ourselves spiritually stronger. The clay pot can’t turn itself into gold. Our personal skill improvement plan may work with free throws, 3-point shooting, handwriting, playing guitar, and Nintendo’s Super Mario Brothers, but doesn’t really apply when we are talking about understanding the value and power of our celestial treasure.

Why? What is different? In the 3-point shooting example, with hard work and practice, improvement comes, and we tend to take the credit for the work we do. That formula doesn’t typically stem from, or lead to, humility. Which is the main ingredient in the weakness into strength recipe. Remember Paul’s original verse…

“we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

-2 Corinthians 4:6

Let’s look at this concept in the tree of life analogy. Let’s look at our weakness, thorns and affliction as the reason we depend on the iron rod for stability, direction, and strength. Without our reason, we let go, and we depend on our own clay pot ability to go forward, which is is just about good enough to get us through some fog, wade through a river, and into a big building where we poke fun of all the lame people clinging to that “old fashioned” hand rail. Our individual pride buys us admission into this spacious building occupied by other perfect clay pots.

It all comes down to where are we drawing our strength from, and what exactly are we strengthening. Are we hoping for a strong earthen vessel? Are we trying to improve our clay pot with state-of-the-art epoxy resin coating? Maybe we upgrade to the earthen vessel 15 (EV15) with a titanium frame?

Or, alternatively, are we hoping to grow our internal golden celestial deposit by depending on, and drawing strength from, the Ultimate Supreme Creator of the Universe whose work and glory just so happens to be bringing about our salvation and eternal life?

If we allow our thorns, weaknesses, and afflictions to humble us, we start to understand, and act like we are 100%, wholly and entirely, without exception, dependent on the Lord for strength to overcome them. And, when we are dependent upon, and closely aligned with God inwardly, we become stronger because of our proximity to him, and his power. Not because he removes the thorn, or we improve the outward clay pot housing our treasure.

It is God’s power that makes us strong. It has almost nothing to do with any thorn, or afflictions being removed at all. It really has nothing to do with our physical clay pot at all. God cares much more about our inner spiritual strength and value. He cares much more about the inward treasure than our exterior clay pot that he has already promised to ressurect and upgrade. He also wants to encourage us to understand the same. Thorns and all.

The Lord kindly explained the same to the prophet Joseph Smith while he suffered in the Liberty jail..

“…know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good…

Therefore, hold on thy way…for God shall be with you forever and ever.”

-Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-9

Although it may be painfully frustrating sometimes, I’ll take, and keep my thorns and weaknesses. I’ll keep them if they help me focus on the treasure planted inside me. I’ll take that peanut butter cup over a sack of dead men’s bones any day.

How to Grow Grasshopper Legs

27 Monday Mar 2023

Posted by Colby Alexander in atonement, General, Jesus Christ, Motivation, Portuguese, Success

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These days few things seem to surprise us. With a Youtube society, we are used to seeing the outlandishly improbable happen. We can see cats dancing, watch sculpture art being created out of cheese blocks, and amazing trick shots from basketballs thrown off of waterfalls into a hoop 200 feet below.

However, a few months ago, I watched something that I had a hard time believing, even though I watched it live. My mind couldn’t quite process what was happening.

I watched some 6’1″ little hobbit look-a-like named Mac McClung, who had only played in 2 NBA games total, win the Slam dunk contest.

He competed against some of the worlds best athletes and won. It wasn’t even particularly close. He blew them out of the water. How was that even possible? The first time I saw him grab a ball, I thought it was a joke, or some sort of construed, elaborate ploy to get the attention of the judges by having the ball boy run towards the basket. Then the magic happened.

Judging by the reactions of the other participants, announcers, fans, and the other NBA players on the court, I wasn’t the only one that was shocked. They all looked at him like he had just walked out of a spaceship.

In Utah, Mac McClung saves the NBA Dunk Contest

Not only did this little guy look just like Merriodoc Brandybuck from the Lord of the Rings movies (which could explain his abnormal abilities somewhat because of his consumption of the magic draughts of water he received from Treebeard the Ent, and his connection to Galadriel, the Queen of the Elves of Lothlorien) but he also apparently possesses the jumping ability of a human grasshopper. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Martin Betancourt (@martbetancourt1) / Twitter

He had become way bigger, he had become way more than what he was just the day before. To be honest, I don’t think anyone really knew who he even was. It was a miracle. What a fun story.

Maybe the funnest part of the story is how applicable it is to all of us. The same principle that powered his legs into video game super-springs can be used to treat any obstacle we face in our lives. Probably not in the same way this worked for Mac McClung, but in our own unique circumstances.

The idea and principle is this…

We can be much more than what we think we can be.

We can acomplish and achieve much more than we think we can accomplish and achieve….and,

We can overcome any and all obstacles and challenges.

We just need to tap into a special power that is offerred freely to all of us.

Just a few short weeks ago, our daughter Olivia left to serve a mission in Brazil. Before she left, she spoke in our sacrament meeting about this exact principle. It had significant meaning to her.

She shared that the Atonement of Jesus Christ not only has the power to save or redeem us from sin and physical death, but it also has the power to enable us to overcome any obstacle we face. The Atonement of Jesus Christ has both a redeeming power, and an enabling power. Elder Bednar spoke about this particular subject in 2002.

So what does this look like in real life? What does it mean for us to use the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ?

Alma taught the people of Gideon about the enabling power jointly with the redeeming power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in the Book of Mormon…

“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and ^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities.” -Alma 7:11, 12

Afflictions, temptations, pains, sicknesses, and infirmities are not sins. They are not relieved through the repentence process. These are directly addressed as conditions subject to relief and succor of the Savior of the world through his Atonement. He has already felt, experienced, and overcome all of these conditions along with all our sins, in order to be perfectly empathetic to our needs. He knows how to help us.

Moroni also shared what he was taught by the Lord directly about weaknesses.

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.” -Ether 12:27

That sounds a lot like enabling power to me. And, Jesus actually gave us the recipe on how to access his enabling power. All we have to do to grow our own set of spirutual grasshopper legs to compete in the Dunk Contest is to humble ourselves, and have faith in him.

Olivia did a great job highlighting that principle in her talk, and sharing her experiences in the months leading up to her decision to go on a mission.

If anyone has ever evidenced the principle of the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, it would be Olivia. Her story is as dramatic, as incredible, and as amazing as a Hobbit winning the Dunk contest. She is a quiet, reserved, and humble young woman who loves her chill time, family, and a good movie.

But, in just a few short weeks, she has already blossomed into someone even more incredible. She is now a person willing to leave everything that is comfortable, everything that is familiar and safe, to step out into the vast unknown of a mission experience. And, this experience will happen thousands of miles away.

In this process, she is managing to influence all of us, her Mom and Dad, her amazing younger sister, and brother, and even her older brother away in school.

She is now in week 3 in the missionary training center in São Paulo, Brazil, learning how to be a missionary. She’s learning Portuguese, learning a new culture, learning how to budget time, and spending 16 hours a day to reach those goals. At times it has been a struggle, and the struggle will likely remain. But, we have already seen how she has been stretched and grown to become much more than she was, even a few short weeks ago. She is tapping into the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and growing spitual grasshopper legs.

We are proud of her and her decision, we grateful for the example she is to all of us, and grateful that we get to share her expericence right along with her. She is now running towards the hoop and preparing for the 360 behind the back, double clutch reverse dunk that will blow our minds!

Te amamos Olivia!

The Big Box Paradox and the Fable the Labels Enable

19 Friday Aug 2022

Posted by Colby Alexander in Book of Mormon, Discernment, Fundamentals, General, Humility, Jesus Christ

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About a year ago, we upgraded the thermostats in our home from the simple little button kind to the fancy Google Home Nest version. They have no buttons, just a sheen face, and look really slick. Supposedly, these were the way to go because you could control every little thing from your phone. The app would allow you to change temperature, schedule the heat or cold during certain times of the day, and certain days of the week. I even got the impression that it could magically sense when you were home, or not, and adjust the temperature accordingly. I was excited.

Until I tried to set it up. I’m not a tech novice, but setting this thing up was not simple. I won’t even tell you how long it took. What’s worse, is that I had to refer to a youtube video to do it, and even then it took way too long. Eventually we got it sort of running.

Fast forward about 2 weeks and the thermostat in our main living area stopped working. No matter what we did, it gave an error message, which sent us to searching online message boards to discover it had no power source. Well, I had no idea how to fix that, so we went without, it wasnt too hot so we let it go.

Fast forward to yesterday, we had a maintenance check on the A/C units and I mentioned to the technician that we had been having this issue for several months, and to see if he could figure out what was wrong. Five minutes later, after running up to the attic, he informed me that a simple cord had been left unplugged, and that he plugged it in, and it should work like a charm.

Six months of summer struggle fixed in 30 seconds by plugging in a cord. Seems about right. I then spent the next 30 minutes re-learning how to program the system on YouTube and we are back to normal. Seems like a lot of extra complication to get back to the way it was before. Sometimes we complicate things that don’t necessarily need to be.

Life can also be complicated. Or, sometimes we can make it that way. Look at the title of this post, for example. There are likely 4,678 other titles that could better articulate my ideas in a much more concise, direct, and appealing way. But, instead, I went with the over-complicated, alliteration-attempting, tongue-twister version that no one can read through without getting a slight headache. I guess I should start listening to my own advise when picking post titles.

One of the most common ways we can overcomplicate our lives (besides upgrading to a Nest home thermostat) is in our quest to figure out exactly who we are. Our identity is inseparably connected to our purpose. And our purpose drives the decisions we make everyday. When we have a clear understanding of who we are, we have a clear purpose, and a clear path to our goals and destinations.

When we are fuzzy about who we are, our decisions, actions, and goals likewise can be complicated, ambiguous, and vague. We all want to fit in, and play our part in a meaningful life story. This aspiration is what drives us to determine who we really are, and where we really belong.

We all share this eagerness to belong. But, if we aren’t mindful, our uber-concentrated efforts to fit in somewhere, or anywhere, can fog our thought process, and overcomplicate our understanding of our most fundamental identity.

Dr Seuss’s Story about the Sneetches is a perfect example of this. When this overcomplication happens in our own lives, we may end up picking and choosing the fancy, or popular labels, identifyers, and metaphorical “stars” to stick on ourselves. These are often meant to help us feel like we belong, but can oftentimes overshadow and hide our true identity.

This leads us to the big question…

What is our purest, most fundamental identity?

What is the biggest “star”, or label we should be placing upon ourselves?

In our church, one of the first songs we learn as kids is a simple answer to this big question…

I Am a Child of God.

That is our truest identity. It is who we are underneath all the extra superficial fan-gear, hats, facepaint, stickers and labels. And, as a child of God, we have unlimited divine worth and potential. That is our shiniest star. That is who we are at our core.

When we understand and accept this identity, it informs and guides our actions. It gives us purpose, and an ultimate divine destination. Understanding and acting upon our true identity can help keep our lives simple, and help us focus on what is lasting and important.

Many of the secondary labels we affix to ourselves can be fun. I’ve labeled myself a Utah Ute, a Payson Lion, a wanna-be triathlete, and a Bosa buttermilk-donut-addict among many others. Most of the time, these “stars” we slap on ourselves are harmless. We get together with other similarly starred sneetches that look, think, and believe like us, and cheer for a team, enjoy a hobby, or stuff our faces with sugary scrumptiousness. But all these secondary labels are less important and should not be the determining factor on how we treat, or interact with other people in our families or society.

Not all labels are benign, however. Some Sneetch stars can be a problem. Whenever any label displaces or replaces our most important one, it weakens our clarity, understanding, and eventually the committment to our divine potential.

When these sneaky, popular and flashy stars start to drive our thoughts and actions, we begin to limit ourselves and our eternal growth. These ever-changing and morphing imposter stars supposedly meant to help us feel more included, instead become a hindrance, and a stumbling block in our development.

These labels or stars can overpower our persona. We can end up portraying ourselves as a wholesale representation of the label itself, instead of a person who enjoys that particular trait, hobby, or characteristic. We become the label, rather than the label representing just a small part of a larger, more complete, more comprehensive whole.

This is the Big Box Paradox. Our intent may be to gain acceptance and belonging into a larger community when we label ourselves a certain way. Instead, we end up further isolating ourselves and limiting ourselves into ever shrinking identity boxes. For example, when my primary label is “Yankees fan”, my prospects for making friends barricaded in the Red Sox box tend to get smaller. When my primary label is a “Militant Vegitarian”, it becomes a bit harder to hang out every weekend at the Brazilain Churrascaria with the “Meat Freaks”. It becomes even more intense and tenuous when these pre-packaged, and pre-labeled boxes become political, racial, or centered around many other hot-button cultural or societal issues.

Our society can be a true melting pot of these political, racial, cultural, and even spiritual identifiers, and still live together in mutual respect, love, and understanding. This becomes doable, only if we keep our identifying stars in the correct and proper order. It will work if we are committed to the things we have in common more than we are committed to our inevitable differences. That was the lesson the Sneetches had to learn!

These principles are not new or novel. They have been taught from the beginning.

King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon taught about the best Sneetch star thousands of years ago…

“And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons and daughters…I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God…” -Mosiah 5:7,8

The Psalmist was also on board…

“I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.“ -Psalms 82:6

It continues today, our prophet recently addressed this exact issue in a talk he gave to young adults…

“I am simply saying that no identifer should displace, replace, or take priority over these three enduring designations: child of God, child of the covenant, and disciple of Jesus Christ.”

Are we all there yet? Do we all avoid judging others or stereotyping others based on appearance, or perception? Maybe not. But, if we choose to take an honest new look at how we really perceive the world and the people who live in it, and try to see the value in others that lies underneath whatever stickers and labels they have on display, we can get a bit closer to that ideal.

Our goal should be to see others the same way God does. That is the standard. Nephi describes God’s inviting love for everyone, with all their different stars, in the Book of Mormon…

“…he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.” -2 Nephi 26:33

Let’s try to stop looking at society as if it were a chaotic frenzy of spilled skittles needing to be sorted, labeled, and boxed according to outward appearances, beliefs, activities, actions, skin color, social, or cultural differences. Let’s all try and simplify our lives and focus on our true identity, and let the divine nature inside each of us all shine brightest to steer our thoughts and actions- and be more loving and kind to all the other Sneetches in the process.

Stranger Things Have Happened

26 Sunday Jun 2022

Posted by Colby Alexander in Agency, Battle, Example, Freedom, General, Obedience, Opposition, Pride, TV

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As is well documented on this blog, gospel lessons can come from anywhere. Sometimes they are obvious, and sometimes not so much. Sometimes, while watching a Netflix series about awkward nerds saving the world from the threats of an unknown realm called the Upside Down and its real life monster versions of Dungeons and Dragons bad guys, we can notice character similarities to the Old Testament progression of the Kings of Israel, …or is that just me?

Well, Stranger Things have happened (in best Dad joke voice).

Lucas, Mike, Eleven, and Dustin react to Dad Joke

Everyone loves a good story. They help us connect to each other through the shared experience. The key to good storytelling is to base the conflict on the real struggles of everyday life. This is how we really identify with the characters, and internalize the story. In today’s society, our stories are told not only through books, but movies, and tv shows. Some are good, and some are not so good.

If we can relate to the struggle, or see similarities in our own lived experiences, we are drawn to it, connect to it, and have a vested interest in the resolution. These stories detail how our heroes defy the odds, fight through the turmoil, and overcome the conflict. We all find inspiration, courage and even hope in these stories. Somehow, we want to incorporate our favorite character’s ability to overcome into our own personal struggles. That is what makes us love the stories and the characters within them.

I’m not saying that we often find ourselves caught in a battle with Vecna, the powerful psychokinetic Wizard trying to grow his power to take over the world through thought control. But, we are all caught in a constant back and forth between right and wrong, and good and evil. Sometimes this battle occurs more overtly with our relationship challenges with one another. Sometimes the struggle is internal within the boundaries of our own heart and mind.

This ancient struggle between right and wrong that occurs inside each of us happens in a very specific way. This battle is over which of our human character traits will be in the driver’s seat in control of our everyday actions. Will we overcome our natural selves, and choose to have honesty, integrity and love control us? Or will be falter, and revert back into our base, natural inclination for selfishness, greed, and passive lethargy?

This particular struggle has been at play inside the human heart for a very, very long time.

This is, of course, where the ancient stories of Saul, David, and Solomon, combine with the slightly more contemporary, albeit entirely fictional, Lucas Sinclair to teach us about this character control struggle.

Lucas Sinclair

First, because Lucas does not currently have a book in the Old Testament, we should all get up to speed on his story. He is one of the characters on the Netflix series, Stranger Things. He plays one of several nerdy boys who spend their time playing Dungeons and Dragons in the basement. This series takes place in the 1980’s, so it obviously precedes video games. We find him in seasons 1-3 utilizing his, and his friends’ nerdy D&D skills and knowledge to fight off attacks from Demogorgans, the Shadow Monster, a.k.a. the Mind Flayer, and some Russians who have taken over the local mall. Through their collective efforts, and Eleven’s amazing mind power, victory was secured.

Season 4 is different. Lucas has now “grown up” and is part of the school’s basketball team. He is not a star, far from it actually. He’s a benchwarmer. He is also desperate for approval and acceptance into the cool kids popular crowd. He sees the basketball team as his ticket out of nerddom, and into the cool circles he only dreamed of before.

Through a wild series of events, Lucas finds himself in the very unlikely scenario where he is forced to choose between his basketball team’s championship game, or his friends Dungeons and Dragons championship match. They are held at the same exact time. Lucas chooses basketball, which is devastating to his friends.

Somehow, Lucas manages to not only play in the basketball game, but he makes the game winning shot at the buzzer, instantly rocketing him up the popularity ladder into stardom.

This scene is one of cinematic mastery. Tense music backdrops both the scenes of Lucas’s final shot, and the final roll in the Dungeons and Dragons challenge match. His basketball heroics are painstakingly highlighted through slow motion focus, concurrently and perfectly congruent to the highlights of the nerd’s game. Slow motion scenes cut back and forth as the highlights simultaneously peak in crescendoed victory in both diametrically opposed games of skill.

With that newfound stardom, however, Lucas is forced to abandon his longtime friends in order to join the cool basketball kids, and soon finds himself actively fighting against these friends in the story.

He is torn between where he has been, where he is, and where he wants to be. Ultimately, Lucas’ true character shines through, and he overcomes the temptation and superficial allure of popularity and fame, and he rejoins his longtime friends in their collective fight against their enemy. He chose to let the right character drive his actions. What a story.

Not all stories have such a happy ending. And especially the stories we will talk about today. But we can learn from negative experiences just as easily as we can from positive ones. From our list above, there are three other examples to learn from. This time, lets look at the three successive kings of Israel in the Old Testament.

Saul, David, and Soloman were all kings of Israel. All of them started their lives, and reigns, in much the same way. They were all chosen because they possessed the character needed to be a righteous king. They were humble, full of faith and relied on the God of Israel. Lets take a peek at each one…

Saul

Saul was chosen as the first King of Israel. He was described as, “a choice young man, …and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he…”. He was chosen by God who, “gave him another heart…and the Spirit of God came upon him…” (1 Samuel 10:9,10).

So far, so good.

The prophet Samuel, who anointed Saul to be King, when prophesying of the blessings of obedience, did leave him and the people of Israel some advice. Maybe we could call it foreshadowing?

Samuel warned, “Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” (1 Samuel 12:25)

Yikes.

So, what happened to Saul? How did this ancient story play out? How did the internal battle for control of his actions end up? Would he rejoice in ultimate victory and celestial bliss?

Well, If we fast forward just a few chapters, we get this…

“…and there was a javelin in Saul’s, hand. And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it.” (1 Samuel 18:10,11)

Hmm. That’s not good. Sounds like an Old Testament version of pin the tail on the donkey. Saul degenerated From humble, goodly, faithful beginnings to attempted murder. How did he get there?

Let’s look at two examples that may shed light on the slow methodical nature of Saul’s fall. Neither one may seem all that big of a deal, but together, and likely among a host of other small decisions, it proved enough to change his heart and mind. This change of heart then was enough to alter his actions. These actions then led to a person unrecognizable to his younger self. How did he let the wrong internal Saul take control?

First, let’s glance into the experience he had while waiting for the prophet Samuel to come and offer a sacrifice to the Lord before a battle that was looming. Samuel had instructed Saul, the leader of the army, to wait, and that he would come at a specific time to offer a sacrifice in the army’s behalf.

When Samuel was late, Saul took it upon himself to offer the sacrifice for Samuel. Saul was king, not prophet. He was not authorized to offer sacrifice. By now, he was likely used to being obeyed, and having events revolve around him, and his timeline. He likely would have been pressured by those around him to do it himself. He was a king after all. He was the one that should dictate when and how things should be done.

How far off was his thought process? He just wanted to make sure the Lord was on his side, didn’t he? But, he had overstepped. He had relied less on faith, and trust in God’s prophet, and more on the arm of flesh, or the perceived reality and pressure of the moment.

When confronted by Samuel, Saul explained why he had proceeded on his own, “because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice” (1 Samuel 15:24). He was worried about what other people would think of him. Sounds like a modern problem as well.

Saul had lost his blessing. Later the scriptures elaborate, “But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit [which was not of] the Lord troubled him”. (1 Samuel 16:14)

This absence of the spirit of the Lord in Saul’s heart left it to be filled with opposing sentiments. Anger, greed, and jealousy took its place. This doesn’t usually happen overnight, it takes multiple, small, and consistent choices, changes, and allowances to let the natural man to take over. But, once we invite it in, the floodgates open.

Fast forward a little bit. Now Saul, and his newly named successor, David, are returning from battling the Philistines. Saul overheard the women in his city saying, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him…”

Now Saul was really jealous. He couldn’t stand to be disrespected. He was offended that David got more credit than he did. He wanted to be the most revered, the most adored, the biggest and the best. He wanted to be perceived as the most powerful. He now allowed the full natural man, the jealous man, the greedy man to drive his actions. His next act was throwing a javelin at David. The wrong Saul was driving the actions. The internal battle was lost. He spent the rest of his life trying to destroy David. Small, seemingly insignificant choices eventually led to a complete change in character.

David

The aforementioned David is our next example. He was the perfect poster child for early potential. The same Samuel the Prophet who had called and anointed Saul, had called and anointed David to be the next King, after Saul and his line proved unworthy.

We know, of course, of his early days when he used the power of faith in God to slay the Giant Goliath with a sling and stones.

David and Goliath – Bible — Image by © Lebrecht Authors/Lebrecht Music & Arts/Lebrecht Music & Arts/Corbis

Throughout David’s life he proved again and again to be a capable warrior and King. He became king of all Israel, united its kingdoms under a single banner, and moved the capital to Jerusalem. He even made plans to move the Tabernacle and the ark of the covenant there and wanted to build a permanent temple. David recognized all along who had given him success.

“And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways. and the Lord was with him.”(1 Samuel 18:14), and was “a man after the [Lord’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14)

Until he wasn’t. He slipped and allowed personal gratification with Bathsheba, and the subsequent aftermath with Uriah to ruin it all.

He had allowed a single moment, or a series of lead-up moments, to derail his ultimate potential. What a king he could have been. But, he chose to open himself up to be driven, and influenced by the natural inclination towards selfishness, and instant gratification. Good David lost the internal battle of will to Bad David. And, If it can happen to him, it can happen to any of us. It takes constant, continuous, cognizant, and relentless hard work to fend off temptation, pride, and the natural man. These choices happen every single day. They seem small, but are meaningful.

Although the promise of his exaltation was lost (Doctrine and Covenants 132:39), David did try and reconcile with God for the rest of his life. He continued to worship the God of Israel, and charged his son Solomon to keep the Lord’s commandments when he passed on his throne. “And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest…” (1 Kings 2:3)

Solomon

As David’s son, Soloman also learned from an early age to worship and love God. After he was named king, he remained humble, and relied on the special gifts God had blessed him with. “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as at the sand this is on the sea shore.” (1 Kings 4:29)

Not only was Solomon the smartest guy in the world, he was one of the kindest. He, and Israel were blessed immensely. He built a temple and dedicated it to the Lord. He had not one, but two visions where he saw the Lord in dreams.

In his dedicatory prayer for the newly constructed temple, he admonished his people to, “…know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else. Let you heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.” (1 Kings 8:60,61).

However, Solomon didn’t take his own advise. only a few chapters later, we read, “But king Solomon loved many strange (foreign) women…of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love…And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart… For it came to pass, that when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods:.. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord…” (1 Kings 11:1-6)

He even built high places unto these other gods, and sacrificed unto them. Yikes. I guess he went all in.

To us in 2022, this may seem like an easy thing to avoid. We may think, “well, at least I’m not building a temple to some weird gods named Ashteroth, Milcom, Chemosh, and Molech. I’m in good shape.”

But, if we look into what those gods represented at that time, and how they were worshipped, it’s not so different from what is “worshipped” today in ever increasing numbers.

Overall, Solomon had allowed himself to be compromised. He had allowed himself to stray too far from the doctrine of God. He spent more and more time concentrating, and validating the beliefs of others than he did feeding his own faith. This allowed the truth to dwindle in his own heart, and fed the natural man and his indulgence.

In time, Solomon’s commitment to truth wavered. Subsequently, the blessings that came because of his commitment to the truth, were taken away. He lost the blessings because he lost sight of the source of the blessings. What a shame.

So what can we learn from these stories? What is the takeaway? How can we be more like the young versions of Saul, David, Solomon, and even Lucas?

The one glaring principle that is taught in flashing neon lights in these stories is one we read in the Doctrine and Covenants…

“We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:39)

So how do we avoid the fates of Saul, David, and Solomon?

We can recognize that we are in a battle. We are fighting everyday for control over our heart and actions. We can recognize that every little decision we make can have lasting, far reaching influence on our own future, or even the future of our family. We can recognize that if we really want to reach our full potential, we have to limit that base, natural man that wants us to succumb to our lesser characteristics.

“For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, 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, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19)

We can recognize that we can never relax into a state of comfortable complacency, no matter how strong we are today. We can recognize that fidelity to God and his Gospel strengthens us, and develops the character traits that provide protection against rage and ruin, and provides infinite potential for the world to come.

We can decide now to reject the worldly thoughts, ideas, and temptations that will surely come to us with ever increasing frequency and power. We can look for the modern iterations of the false gods that plagued ancient Israel.

We can recognize that without God, or his blessings, we are nothing. Without God, our intelligence and understanding are limited, our strength is temporary, and our happiness is fleeting.

We can recognize the source of every single blessing we enjoy. We can recognize our own weaknesses and predispositions and actively seek to fortify them. We can decide, and choose which characteristics we will allow to inform, and guide our actions.

We can recognize that we have the power of choice, and we “are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. … I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto this great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit” (2 Nephi 2:27,28)

I hope we all take the time to watch our step, and focus on each small decision we make every day so that we can fight off the natural man, and his pernicious, poisonous pitfalls.

The Real Gift of Christmas

25 Saturday Dec 2021

Posted by Colby Alexander in Angels, atonement, Christmas, Divinity, General

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During Christmas season, we think a lot about gifts. We think of the gifts we want to give to others and admire the generous gifts we receive. However, if we slow down from the hectic scramble to check off the items on our Christmas lists, we can ponder and benefit greatly from understanding the reason we celebrate with gifts during this time of year.

Sometimes, recognizing the greatness of a gift in the very moment it is given is difficult to do. It requires proper perspective and understanding. Unfortunately, I am not known for for being an expert in either maintaining the proper perspective, or in possessing anything that resembles great understanding. However, as I often do, I have a story that demonstrates my lack of perspective and understanding, and I’m glad to share it.

When I was growing up in Payson, Utah, the entire gamut of youth sports programs was comprised of just two options. We had summertime city baseball, and wintertime Junior Jazz basketball. Not quite the same as the full time year-round club teams kids now have for every sport. Needless to say, as kids, we looked forward to those seasons (mostly for the snow cones we would get IF won our baseball games).

In my first year of playing this Junior Jazz basketball, I was 8 years old. I barely knew how to dribble or shoot, and hardly understood the game itself. However, Junior Jazz did have its perks. Each year, they would have some members of the Utah Jazz organization put on a little basketball camp for all the kids in town to kick off the season.

In this particular year, 1985, the players that were sent down as guests to help run the camp in the thriving metropolis of Payson were the new guys. Some short, spindly, second year player from Spokane, Washington, and the new rookie kid from Luisiana.

It’s likely that the veteran Jazz players used the camp as a cruel hazing initiation for the new guys, or teach them patience. It was certainly needed to run a basketball camp full of 8 year-old kids in Payson. I am fairly certain it was not to bolster up a developmental league or to identify the next shining star, or future prospect for the NBA.

All I remember from that day, was the short spindly player that came could dribble like a madman. He went over some dribbling drills for us to do, which, when he demonstrated, looked more like the roadrunner’s feet from the cartoon. None of us could do them. When we tried, the gym was almost instantaneously a madhouse full of kids chasing the basketballs that had bounced of our heels, feet, knees, and butts. I remember him demonstrating another ball-handling drill while laying on his back and scissoring his legs front to back while moving the ball between them, all while talking to us. He looked more like a magician than a basketball player. I just remember thinking and wondering how on earth a real human could even do that. He looked more like what you’d see on a video game.

The only thing I remember about the other guy was that he was super tall, and he could actually dunk.

After the camp, the two guys sat down and were signing pictures and handing them out to the kids. I remember my dad being adamant that I get that signed picture from each of them before we went home. I was just wanting to go home and eat my bowl of cereal that was my custom on Saturday mornings. I remember chatting with the tall guy very briefly as we walked down the hall on the way home. Whatever, no big deal.

Some memory huh? Just a normal day in the life of and 8 year-old boy in 1985 Payson, Utah. Nothing to see here.

Well, as it turns out, I still have those signed pictures that my Dad was so worried about (and thanks Mom for helping me keep them from the trash heap). The players just happened to be John Stockton and Karl Malone.

After thirty-five years, I can now look back at the events of that day with added perspective and understanding. Captain Crunch consumption should not have been my focus that morning. What an amazing day that was. What a gift. How often does a little kid in Payson get to go to a free basketball camp put on by two future hall of fame NBA players? Once in a lifetime, that’s when.

Sometimes, the magnitude of the gifts we receive takes time to sink in. But, as we look back, these gifts can grow in meaning for our lives. This happens to us all the time.

In order to fully understand the immensity of the gift we celebrate each Christmas, we need to better understand the nature of God Himself, and the nature of our Savior. Just as an additional thirty-five years of life added to my appreciation of a special basketball camp as a little boy, added knowledge and understanding of the true nature of God and his benevolent gift can add to our love and appreciation for Him.

This perspective, or lack thereof, is not a new challenge to overcome. One of the most pointed questions on this subject came from an angel to Nephi during his vision of the history of the world. In that vision, he saw Mother Mary and the birth of our Savior. During these scenes, the angel of the Lord asked Nephi this poignant, probing question. This question may be one we skip over a lot of times because of the way the meaning of the word has changed over the years. The question he asked Nephi was…

“ Knowest thou the condescension of God?” (1 Nephi 11:16)

To us, the word condescend isn’t necessarily a good one. Usually we associate this with people who talk down to others. But, in this particular case, it is the perfect word to describe Jesus’ pathway to his earthly experience. If we look at the 3rd definition of condescend in the dictionary, it says this…

“to put aside one’s dignity or superiority voluntarily and assume equality with one regarded as inferior:”

It feels like we are getting closer with that definition.

It is almost impossible to fully appreciate the immense distance between who, and where, Jesus Christ was in the moments before his birth, to who, and where he was in Bethlehem at his birth. They couldn’t be further apart. We need to fully appreciate how great Jesus was BEFORE he was born, and just how human he became, to better understand his condescension.

Before the little baby Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes, He was the God of the Old Testament. He was the God that cleansed the earth through the flood. He was the God that led Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt. He was the God that parted the Red Sea, and sent down fire to engulf the soaked alter for Elijah in his fight against the priests of Baal. This baby Jesus was the mighty Jehovah, the Great I am. This little one in a simple manger was the Creator of the Universe and worlds without number.

Isaiah captured this concept best in his famous scripture we often hear around Christmas time, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…” His prophetic writings then perfectly describe the divine destiny of that little baby as he continued, “and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

The mighty Creator of the Universe chose to fulfill the Father’s plan, and pass through a veil to become that little baby in Mary’s arms. He gave up everything to be with us, and to learn like we would learn, and to face and overcome everything in much the same way we would be asked to do.

Jesus didn’t only sacrifice his perfect physical body in the garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary’s hill. He sacrificed all that he had BEFORE he was even born. By coming to earth as an innocent baby with a mortal mother, he left behind his position at the Father’s side. He gave up all his power, all his knowledge, and all that he had become, to join us on this humble earth. With his mortal birth, he was fulfilling the Father’s plan. By virtue of his mortal birth, he sacrificed all that he was before, and chose to descend below everything just for us.

That is the condescension of God. What a gift.

In section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord reveals more understanding about his nature, his growth, and his condescension. By teaching us more about his nature, he is teaching us about our nature, and our divine potential.

It is in this section that we learn when it was that Jesus received a fulness of the Father. His first 30 years were spent learning, growing, and becoming who he was meant to be. This was an example for all of us and our own individual paths of growth and learning.

At the baptism of Jesus, he fully became who he was meant to be.

“And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace; And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness..And I John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my Beloved Son. And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father; and he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him..” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:12-16)

The Lord then turns to teach us how this applies to us. He teaches us about who we are, and why it’s important to understand the nature of God. His entire life was the gift. We need to celebrate it all.

We should celebrate together the gift of his birth, his teachings, and ultimately in his atoning sacrifice. His life, in it’s entirety, is the greatest gift ever given because of what it makes possible for all of us. Because of him, we also have divine potential. We can receive the fulness of the Father all because of him.

“I give undo you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness. For if you keep my commandments, you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:19, 20)

This time of year we give and receive many gifts. Let’s take just a little more time to think about the most important gift of all. Jesus gave himself as a gift to all mankind in a garden in Gethsemane, and again upon a cross on on Calvary. But, before that pinnacle event in human history, he gave up everything to [con]descend into our world as little baby in Bethlehem, and became the greatest gift ever given.

The modern day apostles may have said it best when they declared…

“God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son”.

Killer Butterflies, and the Best Day Ever.

18 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by Colby Alexander in Battle, General, Motherhood, Preparation, Sports

≈ 2 Comments

Every once in a while, we experience moments we will remember forever. They become etched in our minds and become a part of who we are.

Yesterday, was one of those days. Jake was playing in his end-of-season basketball tournament for his little club team. It was a long day. They played 4 games starting at 8 o’clock in the morning. The final game finished up around 3:30. If you’re 8 years old, or 42 years old, that makes for a long day. The Mountain Dew and Lunchables from Circle K can only get you so far.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the day would shape up to be one of the best we have ever had. But, you would never think it possible by the way it started.

For a little context, Jake can be a bit of a perfectionist and a huge worry wart. He has a lot of his older brother in him. He loves to win, and hates to lose. He obsesses over, stews about, analyzes and contemplates all the possible outcomes for each game. He constantly worries how he will play, who he will play, and all the “what if’s”. Many of us have likewise experienced cases of these pre-game jitters or “butterflies”. It’s normal to get that uneasy feeling in your gut before a big game, event, or concert.

Jake is a bit different. He gets a severe case of the killer butterflies that cannot be contained within the pediatric limits of his gastric capacity. Sometimes, his killer butterflies spill out and manifest as a major hurdle for him to overcome in the hours before his games. I think his butterflies are above average in size, because he cares about these games in an above average way.

Yesterday was killer butterfly day. They must have multiplied inside as the gravity of the day ahead weighed on him. It was a lot to worry about as it was, a win or go home, single elimination tournament. Luckily, Jake has one of the best known treatments for killer butterflies. A good Mom.

Moms have superpowers. Sometimes they know just how to slay the killer butterflies.

Jake may never tell you this, but what he and his mom did that morning, is what they always do when the butterflies come. They went into a quiet room and knelt down and asked for Heavenly Father’s help. They thanked him for a healthy body to be able to play, and that Jake would be able to do his best and have a good time.

Sometimes all we need is to be close to someone who really knows, and believes in the power God has to change our lives. When we are younger, we naturally depend on our parents to help us understand life and its challenges. They can also teach or show us the best, most effective way we can deal with the difficult stuff that will surely come.

Along with asking for divine help, one of the things that Catie has always taught the kids, is that if they are prepared, there is no reason to fear. This principle applies to their school work, sports, and every other fear in life. I don’t think that she is the only mother who has ever taught this principle.

Jake was prepared. He had spent hours, and hours, and hours outside on our little basketball hoop practicing. His team had spent hours and hours over the last several months practicing together, drilling, shooting, running through plays, and slowly improving, and getting better. His Mom also prepared his mind by taking him time after time after time into that quiet room to pray to slay the butterflies.

In one of our favorite stories about supermoms in the Book of Mormon, we read about the young stripling warriors who had also learned how to be brave, and fight through their killer butterfly moments. In Alma 56 we learn about a life altering choice these 2,000 rookie warriors were faced with. They had to choose whether or not to join a hopeless battle against the seasoned, mature, experienced Lamanite army. Imagine the butterflies during that somber moment when their father figure and military leader Helaman asked them, “

“Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle?” -Alma 56:44

As they answered, I’m sure they thought back to many times before when they knelt with their mothers, and thanked Heavenly Father for their healthy bodies, and asked for courage, and help to tackle whichever scary butterfly inducing situation they faced that day. So, they were prepared to answer,

“Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; We do not doubt our mothers knew it.“ -Alma 56:48

I am sure that these young men were not born with the courage they displayed. They likely learned it through shared experiences. This invaluable experience gained chiefly by the help of their Mothers. It was the reason they chose to be courageous. Moms really do have superpowers. Maybe most importantly, they have the power to help shape the hearts of young men.

Yesterday all the physical and mental preparation of the last several months came together for Jake. It was needed as the killer butterflies were in full force for the big day. But, just as each time before, and with the constant help of his Mom, he was able to work through them and play and have some great games.

Jake’s team played well, and fought through each game, one by one, and won each of them leading up to the coveted championship contest.

As the game started and the battle began, all the parents were nervous and screaming and yelling. The coaches’ foreheads and neck veins were bulging as they screamed instructions. Constant noise reverberated through the gym. Our coach was fighting through his lost voice from yelling all day during the previous games. The buildup had been intense. The games were intense. The coaches were intense. The stakes were high, and even the little 8 year olds were focused, and inherently understood how big this game was for them.

As the final game’s battle went on, it was a back and forth struggle filled with bad calls, missed opportunities, and blown assignments that are commonplace to any league with little kids. However, as fate would have it, and like the movie script of the day’s destiny, it came down to the very end.

We could almost hear the soft subtle sound of the theme music from Hoosiers starting to play in the back of our minds, as we glanced up at the scoreboard every few seconds. Time started to slow down as every little moment further built the intensity of the occasion. The clock ticked down to under the final minute or so, as the other team tied the game.

After a scramble over a loose ball led to an inbound play, the drama completed its crescendo. Our team had the final opportunity to win the game with just about 7 seconds left. We had the ball out of bounds and we ran our best sideline inbound play.

The imaginary soundtrack music intensified as the clocked ticked down in each of our heads. The Killer butterflies that Jake had successfully vanquished earlier in the day came roaring back with a vengeance finding new hosts in the churning stomachs of the eager spectators.

Fingernail fragments were flying as nervous nibbles went unchecked. Fists were clenched and blood flow stopped. Jake inbounded the ball to Max as he headed towards the basket. He was met with an immediate double team spoiling any chance of a clear shot. He screeched to a halt as he faced the towering wall of opposition, and reversed course. He quickly looked around for a way out, as hope of victory started to wane.

Time ticked away, Max then noticed Jake. He had worked in behind his drive and was clear of defenders. He instinctively flipped the ball back towards him as the drama peaked. Jake caught the ball, and without hesitation, turned to the basket and let it fly.

The music in our minds climaxed intensely as the ball arced upwards, floated impossibly slow and then hung at its midpoint in the air. Time seemed to stop. Life itself on earth stood still. The stars in the firmament paused their cosmic duties for that moment to witness the outcome. As the ball then resumed its downward trajectory, every eye in the gym was fixed singularly on it. Jake’s shooting arm and hand stayed locked in follow-through position as if willing the ball to find its way through the net. The ball’s gentle backward rotation added to the beauty of the moment, as the parabolic arc finally completed its journey, and the ball lit softly within the welcoming embrace of the nylon net. It was over. We had won. We were the champions.

The deafening roar of parents, onlookers, players waiting for the use of the gym, all joined in the ecstasy of the moment drowning out the closing buzzer. People went nuts. inhibitions were thrown out. Grown men danced like fairies across the hardwood. The disbelief soon gave way to utter joy and complete bliss. The Best Day Ever. It became the moment that Jake, and all of us, will remember forever.

This day will be remembered for the loud shouts, and hollering, the hugging, and screaming, fist bumps and high fives. And it should be. But, it should also be remembered for the quiet little moments before it all began when a good mom, knelt down in a quiet room to help a young man slay the killer butterflies.

Listen, Prepare, and Live

01 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by Colby Alexander in General, General Conference, Jesus Christ, Obedience, Preparation, Prophets

≈ 1 Comment

“Being a good listener” is not a trait we are born with. We have to actively think about it, and be aware of our tendencies to passively dismiss what we are hearing. It demands practice, and and active desire to develop this lifesaving trait.

Several years ago, there was a funny Youtube video that went viral. It was a clip of a little 3-year-old boy arguing with his mother. Apparently, in his understandable overexcitement to pursue the immediate, instant, and pure gratification that would undoubtedly come via grandma’s cupcakes, he ran into a Momma roadblock. He then tried to convince momma that there should be no roadblock to confectionary bliss.

Like most three year olds, he selectively un-heard (an actual inherited genetic trait common in males) his mother’s directions to not eat, or go after said cupcakes.

When caught, he spun an impressively articulated tale, well-steeped in lawyerly gobbledygook, lasting almost three minutes in a hopeless attempt to justify, argue, spin, deflect, and rewrite history. This was his attempt to prove to his mother that he, 3-year-old Matteo, somehow was right, and that he didn’t really have to listen.

Again, actively listening is not a trait we are born with, but one we have to develop.

One of my new favorite examples in the scriptures that perfectly illustrates what it means to really listen, and how our lives may depend on it, is in the new testament. This story is also one of the last discourses that the Savior would deliver before his crucifixion.

On this particular day, the Lord was with his disciples and they were all climbing the Mount of Olives that rises directly across from, and in perfect view of the majesty of the Temple Mount. King Herod’s imposing temple crowned that sacred space and stood magnificently above the city.

The disciples, looking back at this impressive view, commented on the beauty and grandeur of the city, its buildings, and its massive temple centerpiece.

“Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!” (Mark 13:1)

View of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

This comment spurred the following prophecy from the Savior…

“Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:2)

It is probably safe to say that this was not the comment that the disciples were expecting. There may have even been a few blank stares. After all, the temple had recently completed a 46 year rebuilding effort initiated by King Herod. It was adorned with special white stone that gleamed brightly in the ample sun. It was crested and decorated with gold donated from Jews throughout the land, and symbolized the wealth, power, and strength of the Jews.

The disciples then posed the obvious follow up question to Jesus…

“Tell us when shall these things be which thou hast said concerning the destruction of the temple, and the Jews;

Jesus’ recorded answers to this and other questions are now known as the Olivet discourse. We read it, or portions of it, in Mathew 24 (improved in clarity in JST-Mathew), Mark 13, Luke 21, and even more recently referred to by the Lord in Doctrine and Covenants section 45.

Today, mostly because we have the benefit of hindsight and recorded history, I’d like to focus on the answer to this first question, and what lessons we can glean from it, specifically about developing our listening skills.

His answer to “when shall these things be?” was simple..

“And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. (Luke 21:20)

And they [the Jews] shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” (Luke 21:24)

Mathew described Jesus’ answer a bit differently noting Jesus’ reference to an even earlier prophecy…

“When you, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, then you shall stand in the holy place…

Then let them who are in Judea flee into the mountains;

Let him who is on the housetop flee, and not return to take anything out of his house; Neither let him who is in the field return back to take his clothes;” (JST Mathew 1:12-15)

The Lord stated as plain as could be, what would happen to Jerusalem, and her people. AND, even more importantly what to do, and when to do it, to stay safe- When the armies come, head for the hills, and don’t look back.

I imagine that word spread. I’m sure in the A.D. 33 version of the Ensign, or LDSnewsroom, twitter, Instagram and Youtube, that the specifics of the prophecy spoken by the living Prophet, were taught, discussed, and written down.

So how did this prophecy play out? Was anyone listening? Did the early Saints heed the warnings of the prophet and prepare? Or did they argue like little Matteo that the cupcakes really weren’t off limits?

If we fast forward to a few years after Jesus’ crucifixion, the tension between the occupying Romans, and the citizens of Judea increased. Citizen rebels tried to fight back, and attacked two Romans fortresses. The Romans responded forcefully and released their soldiers on those in Caesarea and killed about 20,000 jewish citizens. It then quickly escalated into a full blown war.

After an abandoned earlier attempt at a siege of Jerusalem with a single legion, Flavius Vespasian and his son Titus returned the next spring with and entire army of 60,000 Roman soldiers. They took two and a half years methodically destroying their way back towards Jerusalem.

Once there, Titus surrounded the city and commenced another three-year siege of Jerusalem. It was horrible. Rampant starvation, death, and disease filled the streets. Dead bodies were left to fester piled upon each other in buildings, the smell of death and rot was unbreathable. No one within the city could escape. Those who tried were crucified outside the city walls for all to see.

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70AD — a painting by David Roberts (1796-1849).

On sept 26 AD 70 Titus breached the walls of Jerusalem destroying everything and everyone. Men, women, and children were slaughtered. Josephus, an historian, recorded that 1.1 million jews, or 90% of the population, were killed. The remaining 10% were sold into slavery.

Titus then ordered that everything on the temple mount be completely leveled, so the jews would not be compelled to try and reclaim their holy place.

Thirty seven years after Jesus’ prophecy, it had all been fulfilled.

So, again the question is, did anyone make it out alive? Were any members of the primitive church able to escape and “flee into the mountains” as the prophecy dictated? Was anyone prepared? Had any group of members been watching, listening, and recognizing the signs, in order to act on the words of the prophets?

In AD 325 the early Christian historian Eusebius wrote

“The members of the Jerusalem church by means of an oracle [something spoken through revelation or inspiration] given by revelation to acceptable persons there, were ordered to leave the city before the war began and settle in a town in peraea called pella” [Eusebius, Book III, 5:4]

A hundred years later, another historian recorded:

[There was an] exodus from Jerusalem when all the disciples went to live in Pella because Christ had told them to leave Jerusalem and to go away since it would undergo a siege. Because of their advice they lived in Perea … (Epiphanius, Panarion, 29, 7, 7-8)

There was indeed a happy ending for those who had truly listened, followed through, and acted on the warnings of the Lord and his prophets.

As we contemplate the importance of becoming better listeners, let’s examine just the first 16 verses of the 45th section of the Doctrine and Covenants.

Remember, this is the same section in which the Lord references this very same prophetic moment from the Mount of Olives he shared with his disciples 1800 years before…

“Hearken, O ye people of my church, to whom the kingdom has been given; hearken ye and give ear to him who laid the foundation of the earth…

And again I say, hearken unto my voice, lest death shall overtake you;…

Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father…

Hearken, O ye people of my church, and ye elders listen together, and hear my voice while it is called today and harden not your hearts;…

Wherefore, hearken ye together and let me show unto you even my wisdom—…

Wherefore, hearken and I will reason with you, and I will speak unto you and prophesy, as unto men in days of old.

And I will show it plainly as I showed it unto my disciples as I stood before them in the flesh… (Doctrine and Covenants 45:1-16)

Even those of us who suffer with the genetic impairment of selective hearing can pick up on those hints. I think we are being invited to listen. Remembering also, that…

“…whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38)

We need to be much better at listening to the Lord, his words, the words of his servants, and his Spirit. Through his prophets, the Lord will tell us what to do, where to be, how to be, and when to be there so that we can be safe.

Prophets instruct us, teach us, and inspire us to be prepared. This is the necessary action that is almost always associated with listening to prophetic warnings.

Our preparation, however, is not just stuffing away a year’s supply of whole wheat buckets, canned beets, powdered milk, and 50 pound sacks of beans. It is also referencing the necessary spiritual preparation.

Being spiritually prepared enables us to have the courage to “… not return to take anything out of [our] house;” as we, “flee into the mountains” (JST Mathew 1:12-15).

I imagine that if the Prophet made a special YouTube video asking us to drop everything we were doing, and head to Missouri for an emergency general conference with some “special guests”, most of us would head out immediately.

But, what if that same prophet said it was time to work on our daily scripture study? What if that same prophet asked us to be better at prayer, being thankful, or developing a better testimony? What if he asked us to be more spiritually self-reliant, teach the gospel to our families in our own homes, be better ministers, and to develop an increased capability to “hear him”? Would we be just as willing and committed to do those things?

These are the true tests of our listening skills. These are our opportunities to really prepare, and thus eliminate the fear of the unknown from our lives. Especially when we know there are “bumpy” times ahead.

Catie has often told our kids, from the time they were little that, “…If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:30) and she is exactly right.

We may not have physical armies compassed about and threatening us, but we most certainly have the desolation of abomination that is gathering outside ourselves, our homes, and our communities. It is everywhere. It’s in our media, language, merchandise, fashion, and often taught in our schools. Increasing political unrest dominates the news cycle, along with a constant drumbeat of societal pressures to accept sinful behavior as normal. Economic strains, along with increasing health concerns from a world wide pandemic are prevalent throughout the whole world. Cumulative stresses brought about by all these things together may indeed make us feel like we are being compassed about by threatening armies.

We may not currently face impending physical threats posed by the invading armies of Titus, but, does it not feel like our families are under threat of a growing spiritual siege?

Just as the prophetic warnings from Jesus given way back in AD 33 prompted earlier saints, we can also “flee into the mountains” today. We simply need to listen to our Prophet and find safety in not only listening, but acting on his words. Once we divert our focus away from the chaos, instability and stress that flourish out in the world, and focus on the peaceful simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those around us that share our hope and faith, we feel different. But, this peace can only come through listening to, and living within the safety of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let us all forget the worldly cupcakes and their fools gold promise of instant satiety, and improve our capacity to listen, to hear, and act. When we do so, we will enjoy the eternal fruits, and living water that come through living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Notes:

If we look a bit more closely at the many topics in the last general conference, we can start to see themes. These are our prophets today, are we really listening to them? Are we actively trying to follow their direction and council? Are we listening with a purpose to change ourselves, our habits, and our character?

Elder Bednar: “Now is the time to prepare and prove ourselves willing and able to do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us.”

Bishop Wadell said: “…in an ever-changing world, we must prepare for uncertainties. Even with better days ahead, we know that the temporal peaks and valleys of mortality will continue. As we seek to become temporally prepared, we can face the trials of life with increased confidence, peace in our hearts, and like Joseph in Egypt, we will be able to say, even in stressful circumstances, “There was bread.”

Elder Uchtdorf: “As a fighter pilot and airline captain, I learned that while I could not choose the adversity I would encounter during a flight, I could choose how I prepared and how I reacted”

President Nelson: “How are we to deal with both the somber prophecies and the glorious pronouncements about our day? The Lord told us how with simple, but stunning, reassurance: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”

The Fierceness of the Wind

24 Tuesday Nov 2020

Posted by Tyson Alexander in General, Journeys, Preparation, Strength, Success, Trials

≈ 2 Comments

Quite a while ago, I wrote about how some of the travel stories in the Book of Mormon have common themes and are great examples of trials, tribulations, and struggles during a trip, including the idea that a journey might not just be defined as the time period elapsed or distance traveled between point A and point B. Recently in re-reading the Jaredite journey, I liked a particular phrase (and theme) that could be related to the pre-journey and preparations that set the stage for the journey more than the actual journey (even though I love the journey on it’s own). I know that many times this Jaredite journey has been ‘likened’ unto our mortal journeys, but what about the preparation, instruction, and stage-setting that took place prior to the actual journey?

This story starts out in Genesis 11:4-9 where the people become ‘confounded’. Their language or ability to communicate with each other was disrupted to the point that they couldn’t ‘understand one another’s speech’. Soon after this confusion, the people become ‘scattered abroad upon all the face of the earth’. The notable exception to this mass confusion is the brother of Jared, his family, and a few of their friends. Ether 1:33-37 tells us that the brother of Jared ‘cried’ unto the Lord for the continued ability to ‘understand’ his brother (Jared), and then cried unto the Lord a second time to expand this restored understanding to their family and friends, and that ‘the Lord had compassion upon them, that they were not confounded’. Now, with the language confounded (mostly), and the people being scattered abroad upon all the earth, there is little doubt that these guys (the Jaredites) knew that the Lord was ‘in his anger’ – and in a very humble way the brother of Jared asked the Lord (in verses 38-39) for some additional guidance. He asked the question ‘whither shall we go’? He did not ask if they had to go, or if they could stay where they were – he asked ‘whither’.

The response from the Lord in verses 41-42 is one that sets the tone for this blog post, and is the hallmark of a pre-journey stage setting. He says: ‘Go [get all your stuff and your families], and meet me in the valley which is northward. And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth. Yes. Sign me up for that journey. I can’t imagine it was very hard to follow that advice – even in these circumstances.

So, let’s set this stage for ourselves at the same time as the Jaredites. I can imagine that the mass of people in the pre-existence experienced some level of ‘confusion’ (potentially being ‘confounded’) when Lucifer introduced his plan, campaigned for our support of his plan, and even starting gaining a significant following who thought his plan was a good one, and the assurances of being ‘saved’. There was essentially the introduction of a ‘new’ or ‘alternative’ means of communication. In addition, let’s not discount that fact that the Lord had instructed each of us that we would all (by necessity) be ‘scattered abroad upon all the earth’ – which meant we had to leave the place of our residence. This left all of us with at least the choice of which voice (communication) to follow and seek to understand. After the differing plans were presented and the confusion set in, we hopefully followed the example of the brother of Jared and ‘cried’ unto the Lord and asked him to lessen the effect of the ‘confusion’ that was present (which is code for ‘please allow me and my family to keep ‘understanding’ the right voices). Then, I like to think of us (our loved ones, families, etc.) counseling with one another being thankful that we could understand each other, expecting and hoping that even though the Lord will be sending us out on a journey, that He would ‘carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth’ and letting that hope guide us to humbly approach the Lord and asking the same question that the brother of Jared did; ‘Lord, whither shall we go’?

Next, let’s imagine the Lord’s response to the brother of Jared as our response: ‘Go to and gather together [your flocks] and go down into the land which is northward. And there will I meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth. Our flocks in the pre-existence could likely represent our knowledge, understanding, talents, characteristics, growth, motivation, testimony, etc. that we were blessed with or developed during our time there. He essentially gave us the opportunity to ‘gather’ it all together, mentally prepare ourselves, and meet him ‘in the land which is northward’¹ for our next step in the preparation stage. Notice that there is no timeline or due date for this ‘gathering’. The process of ‘gathering’ our stuff in the pre-existence could be hundreds or thousands of years.

Ether 2:1-7 next explains the various preparations that the Jaredite party completed; they gathered flocks, fowls, vessels, honeybees, fish, and all manner of seeds. Please note that they went on a mini-journey (to the land northward) as preparation for and part of the ‘gathering’ for the real journey to the promised land that was in the future. Then the Lord guided and directed them, and ‘gave directions whither they should travel’ along the way (another journey). In addition, they did ‘build barges, in which they did cross many waters’. Let’s pause and ask ourselves if during this preparation stage the lord was helping them learn and grow and experience things that would help them later on? (Hint: building barges to cross many waters during their pre-journey might be a helpful thing to learn because the Lord knows that He will soon ask the brother of Jared to build ‘barges’ ‘to cross that great sea which divideth the lands’ – which is their big journey). The fascinating phrase during this preparation/gathering/mini-journey activity is that the Jaredites were ‘being directed continually by the hand of the Lord’. After their mini-journey, the Jaredites take a little break (potentially thinking they had arrived at the promised land) – only to realize that the Lord was just wrapping up the ‘preparation’ or ‘pre-journey’ phase.

This little break earns the brother of Jared a 3-hour chastisement, which prompts him to quickly repents and is then told to ‘go to work’ (Ether 2:14-16). Notice how the ‘work’ that the brother of Jared is told to do, is remarkably similar to the ‘work’ that they had already done (during the preparation journey). They are asked to build barges ‘after the manner which they had [already] built’. I wonder if the Jaredites were grateful for the knowledge and experience they had gained during their pre-journey when they were asked to cross the great sea…probably.

When we liken ourselves and our pre-mortal journeys to the Jaredites, we can see some themes that help us understand that the journey we took during our ‘gathering’ and ‘preparing’ in the pre-existence and those growing experiences we no doubt had which took us to ‘the land northward’ for our next meeting with the Lord are very real mini-journeys that were preparing us and giving us experiences that will likely be drawn out of us during our ‘real’ journeys (if and when they come) during the pre-existence and certainly here on earth.

III

The next step in the Jaredite journey occurs when most of the requisite preparations have been completed, and the brother of Jared is putting the finishing touches on a few things before they cross the great sea. I see this last little series of exchanges as a final closeout meeting in order to make sure everything is in tip-top shape before they actually ‘set forth’. In verses 18-20 (still in Ether Chapter 2) the brother of Jared says; “I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges”… But, then he explains that he sees 2 potential problems: 1) There is no light, and 2) we can’t really breathe in these barges. The lord handles problem number 2 by instructing him to make a hole in the top and the bottom, but leaves problem 1 apparently unsolved.

The brother of Jared makes the holes as instructed, and then comes again to the Lord regarding his first problem (light) – and asks the Lord ‘wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness’? I don’t know what the Jaredites had used for light in their previous barges, but it seems to me that the Lord was using this situation as a teaching opportunity for the brother of Jared to work some things out on his own – essentially study it out in his mind and come up with a solution – because He doesn’t answer the question directly, but does give some basic guidelines; they couldn’t have windows (they’d break), and couldn’t have fire (burning boat in the middle of the tempest tossed ocean could be bad news). Then, in addition, he gave some context for the brother of Jared to consider (while he is coming up with a proposed lighting solution) that he (the barges) will be a ‘whale in the midst of the sea’, and that the ‘mountain waves shall dash upon you’, and that he will be ‘in the depths of the sea’ due to the winds, the rains, and the floods that He will send forth.

At this point – the Lord says something totally amazing – “behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds… and the floods” – essentially letting the brother of Jared know (or remember) that the previous years of instruction, focused ‘gathering’ and the mini-journeys have all been ‘preparation’ against the trials that have been laid out, and that are sure to come in the ‘real’ journey. The reason that is important is because that he literally could not cross the ‘real’ journey save he was prepared. Amazing. Yet, not as amazing as the next question he asks – ‘therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea’? I have prepared you for all these things – but, what is it that you need, or what else would you like as ‘preparation’ for this great journey – when (a key word), when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea. He doesn’t ask what he needs for light when it’s sunny and calm, The Lord asks what he needs for light ‘when [he is] swallowed up in the depths of the sea’. When we think of these things being ‘prepared’ for the journey (these things being the winds, the floods, the rains, and the mountain waves) and realize that they are a necessary part of the journey – He doesn’t ask the brother of Jared what he needs to avoid them, He asks what he needs ‘when he is swallowed by them’.

Let’s take a break and put ourselves back into our pre-mortal Jaradite ‘type(s)’. We complete the work that the Lord has asked us to do in the pre-existence. We have finished the majority of our requirements, we have ‘gathered’ our flocks and our other things, we have mentally prepared (and we even traveled to ‘the land which is northward’ to meet up with the Lord and receive a few more instructions along the way). Then, we worked through a mini-journey to get to the seashore and are asked to ‘build a barge to cross the great sea’, which we do. After all these preparations, we feel like we are nearly ready, but there are a couple of nagging questions that have been lingering in our minds that we’d like answered before we take the plunge into ‘the depths of the sea’ (mortality). So, we humbly ask the lord for a little more clarification on a couple of things. Our concerns could have been based on the makeup or functions of our physical bodies (pain, weakness, illness, disease and death) or they could have been based on situations or even family relationships (stress, emotional turmoil, etc.), they could have been based on the functionality of the veil that we would pass through, – or they could have been based on areas that the Lord seems to have been quietly waiting for us to work out on our own – but his guidance to us would be the same. He would help us to re-remember that “behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds….and the floods”. He says to us; ‘I prepared you [yes, just you] against everything that you will see down there. There is no way you could make it without everything I’ve taught you here. But, since you’re concerned about it, ‘what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea’? In addition to all that I’ve prepared you for (and against) in mortality, what more do you need/want to give you light when ye get completely buried by it all? Such an amazing question!

This question (what else do you need?) spurred the brother of Jared to go to work. No doubt he laid out a plan, thought about his options, worked through the pros and cons of each idea, and finally settled on a plan that would give light to the barges. He likely talked it over with his family based on their previous building of barges. They learned from their experience, previous experience from others and the scriptures and he went to work on a solution. In Ether 3:1 we learn that the brother of Jared ‘went forth unto the mount, (which is exceedingly high) and did molten out of a rock sixteen small stones’. With this passage we learn some things that the brother of Jared did not do. He did not wander to the nearest rock pile from his tent/house and grab 16 stones. He did not walk to the river and select a few clean rocks. He did not even just go chip out a few clear rocks from a larger clear rock. What he did do was ‘go forth unto an exceedingly high mount, and molten out of a rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as transparent glass’. Molten (the verb) is the past participle of melt, but when used as an adjective means liquefied by heat; in a state of fusion or produced by melting and casting.² This means that it wasn’t very easy for the brother of Jared to make these sixteen stones and they most certainly were not something that he found on the ground. He created them with a singular purpose in mind.

Once he had diligently created and developed his sixteen stones, ‘he did carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount’, presenting his proposed solution to the Lord. He asks the Lord to ‘not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness’, – and acknowledging what may appear to the Lord as a completely weak and rudimentary solution – to ‘look upon me in pity’ and ‘suffer not that they shall go forth across this raging deep in darkness’. So humble and so powerful – but he’s not done. He says; ‘behold these things (he doesn’t even dare call them anything other than ‘things’) which I have molten out of the rock’…therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us… that we may have light while we shall cross the sea’. Then, as the story unfolds, we realize that this humility and this faith that the brother of Jared demonstrated (remember, we are still in the preparation and pre-journey stage) is the catalyst for maybe the most amazing vision and experience ever. They are so great in fact, that we can’t even read them because they would overpower us [and they’ve been sealed] (see Ether 12:24 and Ether 4:4-5). The Lord touches the stones – or as it’s referred to in both Ether 3:4 and Ether 6:2 the Lord ‘prepared’ the stones – ‘and they did give light unto the vessels’ – because ‘the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness’. Now, after each phase of his preparation (‘after they had done all these things’) the Jaredites ‘got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea. He was finally ready to start his journey.

If we transplant ourselves back in time to when we had been asked by the Lord (what else we needed to give us light when we were to be swallowed), and think about the process that the brother of Jared went through before he approached the Lord with a potential solution, it can open up some interesting possibilities in our characters, our personalities, our interests, and maybe most importantly, our talents. If we each took that pre-mortal time individually to reflect on the question (what is it that you want for light during the dark days of your journey) internally answering the question. We – just like the brother of Jared – likely counseled with loved ones, reflected on past mini-journeys or preparations, looked at the pros and cons of various different possibilities, and then ultimately, we selected an option that we felt was the best solution. Hopefully each of us came up with these solutions after much prayer, meditation, and work, and didn’t just pick up some rocks that were in the nearby field. Then, if we imagine the term ‘molten stones out of rock’ to be synonymous with ‘developed talents, or abilities, or skills, or compassions, or character traits’ that would allow for ‘light’ to shine in times of greatest darkness, then we can see how amazing of a parallel this really is. As we (young and struggling premortal spirits) worked so hard to develop a solution for a journey that we barely understood, the natural results of that hard work would have made us feel incredibly humble as we approached the perfection of the Lord and asked Him to ‘not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness’ and to ‘look upon us with pity’ while we feebly explained to a perfect spirit how or why we felt this meek and lowly talent could help us when we are ‘swallowed in the depths of the sea’. Yet, we continued and asked the Lord to ‘prepare our stones, that they may shine forth in darkness… that we may have light while we cross the sea’. Our stones are the individual talents, abilities, gifts, and natures that we spent time developing in the pre-existence molting out of rock – and as the Lord had compassion on us – he ‘prepared’ them and caused them to shine in darkness for our journey through mortality. Even though it was the brother of Jared who created the stones, and brought them to the Lord, and even though the talents or gifts were developed by us through much hard work (in the pre-existence and here) it was and is the Lord who causes them to shine. We bring our gifts and our talents to the Lord, and he gives them light. Then we, like the brother of Jared, hopefully use that humility and that blessing from the Lord as a catalyst of spiritual power and faith to sustain us through the long journey ahead. Then, and only then were we ready to ‘get aboard our vessels and set forth into the sea’.

Once the Jaredites were sufficiently prepared, boarded, and actually in the water, ‘the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus were they tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind… they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind… the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land… and thus they were driven forth before the wind’ (Ether 6:5-8). If I imagine a voyage across the sea (cruise, sailing, etc.) I don’t want to see the following words; furious wind, tossed upon the waves, buried in the depths, mountain waves, great and terrible tempests, fierceness of the wind, and wind did never cease. Yet, somehow the Lords words ‘I prepare against these things’ may have echoed just enough in the Jaredites ears that they understood the reasons, plus the fact that these winds ‘did never cease to blow towards the promised land’. It may have helped them realize that the mountain waves that were burying them in the depths of the sea, were somehow getting them closer to their destination. And, there is little doubt that those bright white stones prepared by the Lord offered comfort, peace, and light during the most troubling of times, and also provided them a constant reminder of the hard work, faith, humility, and presence of a savior and guide who would never leave them alone.

Once we as pre-mortal spirits were sufficiently prepared, were able to have our final pre-mortal pep talks and interviews and had both feet in the water of mortality, ‘the Lord God causes that there to be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus are we tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind… we are many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which break upon us, and also the great and terrible tempests which are caused by the fierceness of the wind… the wind will never cease to blow towards the promised land… and thus are we driven forth before the wind’. It helps us to know that the great and terrible tempests, the mountain waves, and the repeated burying in the depths of the sea, are all due to the fierceness of the wind.

The fierceness of this wind is in direct proportion to the fierceness of His love – since that furious wind is eagerly blowing each of us towards the promised land. In times of trouble, when we are swallowed up, and when it seems as if there is no way out of the darkness – let us recall the gifts, talents, and small stones that we have molten out of rock that were touched and prepared by the Lord to give us and others traveling with us light specifically for those times – when we are seemingly buried in the darkness and remember, that being buried in the depths was always part of the plan.

Notes

1 ‘The Land which is northward’ could represent any check-in station where we evaluate or re-evaluate our direction, trajectory, or standing before the Lord. It could also represent a very real change of phase or responsibility. It’s use in this story was a launching pad or starting line for the first part of the journey. I don’t think it is strange to think of ‘the land which is northward’ being a starting line for any and all new journeys. It is also likely that ‘the land which is northward’ could reference the temple since that is where he can give us counsel and direction and help us determine our location and/or direction in our various journeys.

2 Dictionary.reference.com/browse/molten?s=t

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