The Ghost and the Darkness

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by Colby Alexander in General, Jesus Christ, Motivation, Obedience, Preparation

In 1898 during the construction of a railroad in Eastern Africa, two rogue lions terrorized the construction workers that had been imported to complete the project for several months. These lions weren’t hunting for wildebeest, antelope, or any of their normal prey. They were hunting humans. The large tent camps where the workers were sleeping were prime targets largely because they were so poorly defended. These man-eating lions upended the workers lives. They worked, and slept in constant fear.

According to the records kept by the construction foreman, over 100 men were taken in just a few months. In panicked desperation, the workers hastily constructed thorn bush barriers, lit fires, slept in trees, and did whatever they could to stay safe from the two lions. The lions would come at night under the cover of darkness and were rarely seen until it was too late. Every moment of the workers lives was spent in constant worry and fear of the two rouge predators. Because of their elusive nature, these terrorizing lions became known as The Ghost, and The Darkness.

If we flash forward 122 years to 2020, we are dealing with our own modern day unseen version of a rogue lion. Albeit much smaller. The COVID-19 virus is an unseen force that is wreaking havoc all around us. We can seemingly do very little to protect ourselves from it. Normal barriers, made out of what we typically have available to us, just like the thorn bush walls, are insufficient. The only real way to stay safe is to to stay away from wherever it is, or, have the appropriate protection that is effective against this particular assailant. It has changed our way of life, effected our work, our schools, our routines, and our priorities.

For many of us, it has truly brought some darkness, confusion, and fear. This virus appears as a Ghost, and often leaves Darkness in its wake. Governments, leaders, and people all over are scrambling to find solutions to fight something so small it’s almost inconceivable.

The whole world economy has been shaken, and come to a halt by an organism 100 times smaller than a single bacterium. For being only 250 microns, it seems to have had a massively and inconceivably disproportionate effect on the market demand for one of the most imperative survival items known to man….toilet paper. Who saw that coming? You know its bad when even Costco can’t keep it in stock.

The hardest thing about fighting off a virus, or apparently, a rogue man eating lion, is that you simply cannot see it coming. You don’t know exactly where it is, you don’t know exactly how or even if you’ll run into it, or from who, or where it’s been, or where it’s going. It can be everywhere, or no where. How do you know exactly when to wear a mask, or wash your hands? When should we wear goggles, or a full on hazmat suit? How do you know exactly when to sleep in a tree, or stay awake til 4:00 am with a gun pointed at the opening in the thorn bush wall? You simply have to be ready, protected and prepared all the time. You cannot take a break.

I guess we could ask the ten virgins about all of this.

Their story in Mathew Chapter 25 tells of a wedding feast, and ten virgins were tasked with the oil lamp welcoming group for the Bridegroom. In those days, the Bridegroom would come to pick up his bride whenever he was able to care for her on his own. It was not a specifically designated time at all. The virgins would have to be ready for his arrival at any time. The parable tells of five foolish virgins that took lamps without any oil, assuming they would have time to fill them. The remaining five wise virgins kept oil in their lamps full and ready for the appearance of the awaited Bridegroom.

“Five of Them Were Wise” by Walter Rane

When the time finally came at midnight, and there was a “cry made¹” announcing that the arrival of the Bridegroom was near, the five which had not brought oil in their lamps, were now desperate. They scrambled and asked to borrow oil from those who were prepared. The wise virgins, earning their name, refused, claiming there wouldn’t be enough for all if they gave up their oil.

The Bridegroom came, and entered into the wedding feast at the very moment the foolish virgins had gone to purchase oil for their empty lamps. They missed it. When they finally arrived and knocked on the door and petitioned entrance, they were denied. The Lord, opening the door said, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not².”

Being ready and being prepared is the only thing we can do. If we wait to prepare until the Bridegroom turns the corner it will be too late. We may find ourselves on the outside of the party holding an empty lamp.

We can wait to put on protection until everyone else around us is sick, but we may develop a cough and a fever in the meantime.

We can sleep on the ground until the guy next to us is missing a limb from a middle-of-the-night lion attack, but we may suddenly and rudely be awakened by that same lion as he runs off with our left leg for his dinner.

The important thing about viruses, or bridegrooms, and maybe even lions, is that you need to be ready for them yesterday, not scrambling around the moment they appear. We need to be prepared, and ready, at all times. Even when no one else is. Sometimes, doing what is right may make us look silly and seemingly out of place in todays world, but it’s the only way to be safe.

So, what exactly are we preparing for? or preparing against?

Today, in the gospel sense, we are preparing for the return of the Bridegroom. We are preparing ourselves to be invited into the wedding feast. And we are preparing against anything that would keep us out.

In today’s world there are plenty of things that would keep us out of the wedding feast, or cause us to miss the return of our Savior. Continuous distractions, procrastination, immorality, pride, apathy and hate are just a few.

Preparing ourselves to be ready is taking all the precautions against whatever hidden lions lay outside waiting to attack in the darkness. It’s completely avoiding, or donning the most protective equipment available against a new deadly virus, or putting on the whole armor of God. It’s becoming more like the Savior and trying to keep his commandments and living by the precepts of His Gospel.

When we treat the threat of losing our spot in the Bridegroom’s wedding feast with he same urgency as we do from contracting COVID-19, or losing our limbs or lives to the Ghost and the Darkness, we are doing it right.

Medical workers in protective suits tend to coronavirus patients at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Wuhan, China.

The real eternal threat to us today isn’t two rogue lions, or even a microscopic virus that causes a terrible disease. The most devastating threat is missing our opportunity to be with the Savior when he comes again. Can we even begin to bear the thought of our Savior saying to us, “I know you not²“?

Let’s treat our preparation for that wonderful event with the urgency it deserves. Our eternal survival and happiness depend on it.

To the End Enduring

When all the worldly Lions pace, and creep, in darkness waiting,
How do we escape their bite and ravenous attacking?

How do we survive an unseen foe as it is spreading
And preventing joined humanity once felt through our connecting?

Or, how do we prepare ourselves for wedding feast approaching,
So we can enter in with Him, to live in joyous feasting?

We fill our lamps, prepare ourselves, and others who are searching,
To find the peace, that in Christ lay, because of His atoning.

Believe in Him, and follow Him, fulfill his words proclaiming
To love our God, and neighbor both, while to the end enduring.

Mathew 25:6
Mathew 25:12

The Much Anticipated, Long Awaited, Death of Death

09 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by Colby Alexander in atonement, Death, Faith, General, Jesus Christ

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In the movie, Back to the Future II, the bully extraordinaire, Biff, received a gift from his time-traveling future self. This Future Biff gave Past Biff a sports almanac that spanned 50 years. This future sports almanac would eventually help Past Biff place huge wagers on every sports game for the next several years and amass a huge fortune. All because he knew the future.

He had cheated. He had all the information. He had the power of knowledge. All he had to do, was wager on the events because he knew the outcomes beforehand.

remember this scene?

Wouldn’t that be nice? How would it be to know the outcome of future events?

In some ways it would spoil the fun of competition. But, what if the outcomes we knew were more meaningful than trivial sporting contests? What if we knew the results of the bigger world events? What if we already knew of the triggering events, or the outcomes of wars, or when an earthquake would hit, or a volcanic eruption, or other cataclysmic events? What if we knew the outcomes of our own difficult life decisions, or challenges? What if we knew the outcome of every scenario including the battle of life and death?

In a way, we do.

And, we don’t need a crazy future uncle Biff or his space-time-continuum-altering almanac. We can know the outcome of Good vs Evil, and Life vs. Death.

This week I was listening to a book by Tad Callister called The Infinite Atonement. It is excellent by the way. As I was listening, I was impressed by a poem that he quotes while describing Christ’s victory over death as a portion of his Atonement. It was written in the 1600’s by an English poet named John Donne.

John Donne (1572–1631)

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think’st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and souls delivery.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better then thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

I loved the last phrase, “Death, thou shalt die.” I have never really thought of death in this way. Who would have imagined the irony that death was alive? Who would have imagined that death could die? I had thought of death more as an event. I imagined it as something that we all will experience, something necessary, something that is inevitable, with no inherent goodness or badness.

The way it is phrased in this poem, however, explores Death almost as if it were a person, or an idea, or something that is actively trying to claim us. It is portrayed as if it is waging a battle against what would then be its alter ego, its competitor, it’s more wholesome nemesis…Life.

These days, we seem to love stories of superheroes. Maybe we could look at this proverbial battle between Life and Death as the next best superhero story. “Death” would be like Lex Luthor, the Joker, Thanos, or the big Green Goblin Guy that steals all the super tech from Ironman, etc. “Life” would then be the Superhero that goes largely unnoticed, fights for the little guy, and restores peace and prosperity. Through a series of drastic events, Life would engage in an epic battle with Death, and eventually overcome and heroically bring the world back to normalcy. Life would be the conquering superhero that saves the world from utter chaos, pain and despair.

What if we took that superhero storyline and rephrased it just a little? We could even say that Life would be the hero that saves us from the “pains of Death“. Wow, where have I heard that before? Maybe if we added to the storyline one more time, the Superhero we are calling “Life” could have an introductory line, “I am the way, the truth, the life…” (John 14:6)

I guess that in a way, we are living in a world that has a real Superhero. We are all participants in the battle of Good and Evil, and of Life and Death. We also know how it will end.

Like Biff, we have a place where we can read about the battle and the eventual winner. Lets read a few words from the Divine Almanac of Human Events both past and future…the scriptures. This is our cheat sheet where we have access to inside information, and can read about the outcome of this continual war between the two titans- Life and Death.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
(1 Corinthians 15:22-26)

How have I missed this for so long? Just as the idea in Donne’s poem infers, Death is an enemy, it will be destroyed. It dies. Life will win.

Hosea also leaves little doubt as to the outcome of this epic battle…

“I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction…” (Hosea 13:14)

We already know the outcome of the battle and the war. So what does it mean for us? What good does this information bring? Just as it benefitted Biff, we can use this knowledge to benefit us. Because of this, we can have complete and total confidence and faith that we all will live again. We all will. We can have complete and full confidence in being able to see, be with, and enjoy the company of all those who have passed on. Death will die, and Life will live.

Over the last few years in our community, and across the country, we have been too familiar with Death and its plague of painful devastation. It rears its ugly head way too early sometimes. When it happens to come abruptly, or unsuspectingly, it shakes us and our belief. How could it not? It is a surprise attack, an ambush. Death is something that we all think will happen after a full and complete and fulfilling life. When it comes early, it causes us to reexamine all the things we believe, or have believed, or been taught about that happens after we die. We are left with nothing but faith. Death quickly morphs from a future eventuality and screams forward and slams us with its sudden present reality.

As I thought more about this, I began to realize why death is such a difficult enemy to deal with. Although we will all pass through that door, Death is powerful and painful because of the sorrow caused by its separation. We love to be, and long to be with those we love. When we are apart from them, it hurts. Even more so when it comes unexpectedly and abruptly.

This is true with both physical and spiritual death. It hurts. We are separated from either where we want to be, with whom we want to be, or even how we want to be. Does it not also hurt when we ourselves, or a loved one make choices that can bring about spiritual death, or separation from the Spirit?

But, there is good news. We know who wins. We have the Almanac. It is abundantly clear. Death dies. Life lives. Both in physical and spiritual senses.

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” (Hebrews 2:14-15)

In our Divine Almanac, we can also read about how some amazing people have stared directly into Death’s eyes, and overcome. It can inspire us to exercise patience in developing the faith necessary to do so in our own lives.

In order to face the end of your own life with peace and calm requires a sure understanding and a rock-solid faith. It requires a testimony hardened and engrained so permanently that it is impossible to extract even when Death unsheathes fear as his weapon of choice.

The sons of Helaman had it…

“Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” (Alma 56:47)

Joseph Smith also faced his fate with faithful confidence…

“I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am as calm as a summer’s morning. I have a conscience void of an offense toward God and toward all men…” (from the Diary of Willard Richards)

In the Book of Mormon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehis laid prostrate down on the ground in prayer before an advancing vicious Lamanite army and willingly gave up their lives so as to not break a covenant they had made with God to never spill another’s blood again. Imagine the unshakable faith it would have taken to conquer the fear of that moment.

When we are trying our best, yet still suffer through difficulties and tragedies in our lives, we need to understand that we are in good company. We aren’t alone. This battle of life and death has touched almost all of us. We can be assured that our experiences with these events are acknowledged and recorded in the heavens above, and that our “labor is not in vain”.

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not vain in the Lord.”
-1 Corinthians 15:55-58

The sting of death is calmed by the Savior. He won. Life wins. Death dies. His Atonement eliminates the eternal sorrow of separation. He, the Savior, is the one who gives us peace.

“…He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound…to comfort all that mourn…to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” (Isaiah 61:1-3)

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces…”(Isaiah 25:6)

Because of our Ultimate Superhero, our Savior, we are able to overcome physical, and spiritual death. He won. He overcame. Life wins. Death dies. And he invites us to share in his victory with him by and through our obedience to his commandments, and following the precepts of his Gospel.

Because the Savior overcame all, we will all live forever.

Where we live forever, and with whom we live forever, is up to us.

The Gift of Choice

08 Monday Jul 2019

Posted by Colby Alexander in Agency, Freedom, General, Obedience

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We have never, since the beginning of time, been compelled to do or be good. We have always been invited to do, or become good. This holds true going all the way back to our the pre-earth life. The essential principle that guides our relationship with God and our progression to be more like him is Agency. It is a divine gift. We will never be compelled to action by God. He invites, inspires, petitions, prompts, nudges, beckons, teaches and leads.

In the Book of Moses we learn more about what happened in the preexistence when this gift that God had already given us, was threatened. Lucifer wanted to force or compel obedience, at the expense of agency, in order to guarantee that, “one soul shall not be lost” (Moses 4:1). We also learn what became of him, at least in part, because of his desire to take away this essential gift.

Stained glass window in St Mary, Hitchin, England

“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him …. I caused that he should be cast down;”
(Moses 4:3)

So, why is Agency so crucial?

Agency, or our freedom to choose, allows for the growth and development of Godly characteristics. No one is compelling God to be God. His character is who He is. He is pure. He is authentic. He is love, He is charity. He is perfect. Because He is pure and perfect, in order for us to become like him, we must develop his attributes. This simply cannot be forced or compelled.

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure…” (Moroni 7:48)

It’s like when I was a kid, my brothers and I would be caught fighting and smashing each other’s faces in the carpet. When this happened, my mom, following the mom code, broke up the fight, and subsequently compelled us to hug each other and say two good things about the other, inevitably “you’re good”, and “you’re nice”. During those moments, I didn’t really feel sorry. I didn’t really feel that my sibling opponent of the moment was actually good or was actually nice. It wasn’t real. Unfortunately, it was not yet in my character to feel it, or even say it. It wasn’t who I really was to give that hug, and say those things. We were a perfect live example of…

“…for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing. For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness. [if] he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift…If he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.” (Moroni 7:6-9)

It was, however, teaching us how we should be.

We gain greater power, or growth when we freely choose faith, and when we freely choose to believe in and follow God and his plan of happiness. This progression and spiritual growth is stunted and inhibited or even reversed when we are compelled to action. Elder Tad Callister wrote, ”There exists an eternal principle—the greater the agency, the greater the opportunity for growth.” (The Blueprint of Christ’s Church)

This growth begins as a result of a desire or yearning to be with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. To be with them, however, requires us to be more like them. This seedling desire then can steer our daily decisions and influence our actions. Our personal desires to emulate our Savior and His character can effect how we view and treat ourselves, our spouses, our own families, and everyone else around us.

We all know the Book of Mormon story of Nephi and the brass plates. Nephi had exhausted all his options to fulfill the Lord’s commandments to obtain the brass plates from their wicked owner, Laban. One night, while following the promptings of the Spirit, Nephi was led to a drunk Laban lying alone in the street. In that moment, he was prompted to slay Laban. He was faced with an enormously difficult situation. The choice before him was to follow the directive of the spirit and slay Laban, or shrink, and disobey. This Laban also happened to be the same man that had stolen his family’s property, threatened them, and even attempted to have Nephi and his brothers killed in their previous attempts to obtain the brass plates.

I imagine the natural man in Nephi had some strong feelings about Laban at that moment. I imagine he might have struggled to know if the promptings he had felt to kill Laban were actually from the Spirit, or if they might have been his own. Nephi had to decide —to obey the voice of the Spirit, or disobey. He would either slay Laban and obtain the plates, or question, doubt, and shrink. I imagine it would have been enormously difficult to trust the feelings and promptings in his heart.

He took eight full verses to explain these feelings and the honest and difficult conversation he had with the Spirit. Ultimately, he made his choice. He stated, “I did obey the voice of the Spirit” (1 Nephi 4:18)

I imagine this experience with the whisperings of the spirit taught Nephi a great deal bout how to recognize these intimate promptings of the Spirit. I imagine he learned to trust in God more fully. I imagine this experience effected and guided Nephi with his future choices.

If we fast forward just a few more pages in the Book of Mormon, we learn about the time that Nephi broke his bow while his family was traveling in the wilderness. This fine steel bow had been the only means by which his entire family could obtain food. No bow, no hunt, no food. The family dinner situation had just taken a very bad turn. Even his father Lehi, the Prophet, was complaining. So in this terrible situation, how did Nephi’s past experiences guide his decisions?

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones. And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?” (1 Nephi 16:23)

His previous experience had taught him to trust in God. It had helped him build the faith and character that could now trust God enough to fashion a handmade wooden bow, and a single arrow, not a quiver of arrows, but a single arrow, and faithfully and confidently head into the wilderness for food. That is complete trust. Nephi level faith and trust is not built in a day, or built upon desperation or compelled humility. It is built upon consistent righteous choices and experiences over time.

Just like Nephi, our own righteous choices today build the character we need to influence our choices and actions tomorrow.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of agency and its practical influence in our lives, is when we attempt to honor it as parents when raising our children. At what point do we step back and allow our kids to exercise their gift? When are we teaching, inviting, or beckoning, and when are we mandating, compelling, and forcing?

I won’t attempt an answer here, as I am still working on this one. Im also not sure where the mom code section about making fighting kids hug each other fits either. I do know, however, that our Father in Heaven lost 1/3 of his children before they even came to earth. He, a perfect Father, still would not compel his children to obey, even at the expense of losing their opportunity to gain a physical body, partake in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and have a chance at Eternal life.

When we look for an example of a perfect parent, we should look to Him, even when we see our kids choose something other than what we would have them choose. We have to remember that real growth only happens when it is preceded by a free choice.

When we freely choose the right, it means that we have aligned our desire and will to God’s desire and will.

Our choices become a way to test or trigger our own spiritual development.
Our choices become consequences of the character we have developed
Our choices become an outward expression of who we really are, and act as stepping stones in our attempts to develop Godly attributes.

In Hymn number 240 “Know This, That Every Soul Is Free” the lyrics describe this concept perfectly.

Know this, that ev’ry soul is free
To choose his life and what he’ll be;
For this eternal truth is giv’n:
That God will force no man to heav’n.

He’ll call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless with wisdom love and light
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind.

During the earthly ministry of the Savior, he continued to honor the principle of Agency. He never mandated compliance with his Gospel. He taught and lead by perfect example. He loved, taught, then invited…

“Wherefore, Hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people…”
(Doctrine and Covenants 38:22)

To the rich young man he beckoned, “…If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”
(Mathew 19:21)

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mathew 16:24)

If we choose to follow the Savior, his Gospel, and his law, He will receive us, heal us, and bless us.

He demonstrated this with the 5,000 who would eventually experience the miracle of the bread and fishes…

“And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.” (Luke 9:11)

In this same way, and still honoring the gift of agency, we are all invited to follow the Savior even today through the teachings of living prophets and apostles. Living Prophets have encouraged the people to exercise their divine gifts of agency and make the choice to follow God from the very beginning…

The Prophet Enoch was instructed to tell the people …

“Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you.” (Moses 6:33)

Joshua famously encouraged, “…Choose you this day whom ye will serve; … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Today we are experiencing an extension of this same timeless invitation. We have been encouraged to Come unto Christ and come to know him primarily in the safety and security of our own homes. Through his prophet the Lord is inviting us, once again, to…

Come unto Him, to “Learn of [Him] and listen to [his] words, to walk in the meekness of [His] Spirit,… [that we] shall have peace in [Him].” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:23)

The name of the program we now have to study is perfectly named. Our Savior still, as he did in days long ago, opens his arms and invites all of us to “Come, and Follow Me” (Mathew 19:21) and it now becomes our choice, our decision to either follow, or not.

I hope that we all, as individuals, make the choice to accept the Savior’s invitation to follow Him, to learn of Him, and find the peace that only He can bring. As our own testimonies grow, our responsibility is then to strengthen our own families and our own homes. We can make them sanctuaries of peace in an ever more chaotic world. As we ourselves, and as families, choose to be more committed and converted to Jesus Christ and His gospel, we then have the responsibility to invite, encourage, beckon, and lead others along their path towards Him.

Freely choosing to follow and be with our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ, and to ultimately become like them is the goal.

I hope that we all choose this day to accept the invitation, and follow Him.

Tales of the Two Ocean Walkers

14 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by Colby Alexander in General

≈ 1 Comment

Julius Sergius von Klever Tutt'Art@ (36)

It has been a minute since we last contributed on here, or shared a story…..Well, its been a little over 164,000 minutes, but here we go.

Over the last few years, I have written several times about how I’m terrible at swimming. I’ve written about my first experience trying to swim laps and how I barely made it 25 meters before nearly dying of exhaustion, and suffocation. It was a literal near death experience.

Subsequently, I wrote about how I made small improvements, and, over time, was able to refine my technique into something that resembled a stroke that could support my life in the water for a longer period of time. I even survived a couple of half Iron Man events (I owe a lot of that survival to a buoyant wet suit). I thought it was as good as it could get with me, given that I don’t have a ton of time to practice or refine the way I swim. I thought I was capped out.

But, now, I bring you the next step in my journey in the water. The story you’ve both been waiting on for hundreds of thousands of minutes, and also the principle it taught me on the way home this evening after spending an hour in the water.

Several weeks ago, I stumbled upon a random guy on an instagram post. His name was Adam Walker. His instagram account is @adamoceanwalker. More on that name to come. His story is that he was a competitive swimmer before a shoulder injury stopped him from competition. He had to have surgery to repair it, but he never really healed in a way that would allow him to swim in the same way, so he invented/tweaked his stroke to support his now limited range of motion in his arms.

I won’t bore anyone too much with the details, but it has taken off. His ideas are simple, and efficient, and they have made a difference for people like me, in our quest to not die in the water.

I was intrigued, so I splurged, and spent the 20 bucks on his instructional video that looked like he had filmed it on a flip phone propped up on his kitchen counter. But, it has made all the difference in the world for me. It took me about 2 weeks to really relearn how to swim using his techniques. But, ever since I’ve switched and improved the way I do things, I can go so much longer, and even have energy to spare at the end, which is a full-blown miracle.

As I look back at the first time I attempted to swim up and back in the lap pool, and being ready to succumb to an early death after merely 45 seconds. It baffles my mind that tonight I was able to swim 2,500 meters without stopping, without even getting winded. It makes no sense to me. I was doing everything just a little bit wrong. I had the basic principles down, but there was a way that was just a little bit better, a way that made just a bit more sense, a way that fit just perfectly for what I wanted to do. It has taken the anxiety of swimming 1.2 miles, or 2.4 miles during iron man events off of my shoulders. Now I can simply worry about sharks eating me, the ocean swells, and being flogged with flailing feet and hands.

So, what was the principle I learned, you might ask?

As I thought on the way home about how this made such a difference to me, I was struck by the name he chose to use for his account. Adam Ocean Walker. I’m sure it was intended to reference the way in which simplifying and easing the strain makes it so that you expend the least amount of energy in the water and trying to simulate a nice brisk walk. But, it reminded me of the original ocean, or sea walker, Jesus Christ, and of the time He taught a flailing Peter his “technique”.

I thought also about how many people in this world know of Jesus Christ, and of his miracles, and of his stories of walking on water, healing the sick, etc. Yet, they don’t have all the knowledge, or techniques completely right. They are somewhat like I was, they know the basics, but there are some key elements that are missing, or being done “almost right”. I thought of how the true techniques can be learned by following the original One who walks on water.

There are many, many people in this world who believe in Jesus Christ. They love him. They try their best to follow his teachings, treat others as he did, and do as he taught us to do. These people are amazing, and are doing everything they can to improve themselves and be worthy followers of Christ. In many ways, I want to be just like them in my pursuit to follow Jesus Christ. But there is always room for improvement.

We all can improve the way we live, and follow Christ. We are blessed, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, to have the “techniques” available to us to maximize our potential!

We have a living Prophet receiving revelations to customize the gospel message to us for our specific needs.

We have the Book of Mormon that testifies of this same Jesus who walked on water in the old world, and who visited the people here in America, and taught his Gospel.

We have living Apostles who teach us about the true nature of God.

A few weeks ago in Sunday School, we read a quote from Thomas S. Monsen from the Ensign in 1990. I loved it. It perfectly described our busy days, our flailing about trying to swim the wrong way, and the ways in which we seek Jesus. We should look to him to help us improve our “techniques” in life. We should look to him to calm our fears. We should look to him to take away our pain or grief. We should look to him when we are sinking in the busy ocean waves of life.

Here is a link…

“Before we can successfully undertake a personal search for Jesus, we must first prepare time for him in our lives and room for him in our hearts. In these busy days there are many who have time for golf, time for shopping, time for work, time for play—but no time for Christ.

Lovely homes dot the land and provide rooms for eating, rooms for sleeping, playrooms, sewing rooms, television rooms, but no room for Christ.

Do we get a pang of conscience as we recall his own words: “The foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” (Matt. 8:20.) Or do we flush with embarrassment when we remember, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7.) No room. No room. No room. Ever has it been.

As we undertake our personal search for Jesus, aided and guided by the principle of prayer, it is fundamental that we have a clear concept of him whom we seek. The shepherds of old sought Jesus the child. But we seek Jesus the Christ, our Older Brother, our Mediator with the Father, our Redeemer, the Author of our salvation; he who was in the beginning with the Father; he who took upon himself the sins of the world and so willingly died that we might forever live.

This is the Jesus whom we seek.”

I look at what we enjoy and have access to in The Church of Jesus Christ, in much the same way I see the knowledge of a better way to swim. We can always improve, we can always do just a bit better. But, in order to do it, just as in swimming, we need to truly seek out and learn from the One who walks on water.

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Green Eggs and the Great I Am

21 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by Colby Alexander in General

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Every six months during general conference we take a couple days and listen to our Prophets and Apostles and other leaders speak and teach us about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Over all, it consists of about 10 hours of gospel instruction over a two day period. Throughout that 10 hour instruction period, we cant really expect ourselves to remember each and every phrase, idea, instruction, and encouragement, but the ideas and feelings we get can last forever. Sometimes a certain phrase, or sentence really resonates with us and it triggers a train of thought that inspires us, or helps us to want to learn more about that topic or principle.

Last week I had one of those moments. It wasn’t necessarily an awe inspiring, life changing, burning bush moment, but a fun idea that Im looking forward to.

It was during Elder Bednar’s talk Saturday morning entitled, “Gather Together in One All Things in Christ”. The part that triggered my idea in his talk was when he quoted the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians…

“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:”

-Ephesians 1:10

I loved that. I had the thought that we can look for and find signs of Christ, and his gospel principles all around us here on earth. We can find the gospel in everything. That we find the things of Christ in Heaven, and in Heavenly places is obvious. But, the fun part is in the second half of the phrase about finding the things of Christ “on the earth”. Those things are a little less obvious. But, If we look close enough, we can find these lessons in the most unlikely of places.

So, because I can only look on things here on earth, I thought I should start looking around to see what I could find. Also, because I’m sure all 3 of our readers are tired of reading about how swimming is hard, lets mix it up a bit. So, the obvious first place to expand our search for gospel lessons, is…..?

“Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss.

This literary masterpiece is a story of a seemingly annoyingly persistent little character named Sam, who, for some undisclosed reason, finds it necessary to try and convince the main character that green eggs and ham are delicious. He tries to offer them in a wide variety of places, situations, and with several differing scenarios. All in an effort to get the main character to try green eggs and ham.

The main character stubbornly refuses to even try them based on the obvious outward appearance of the green eggs and ham, and maybe in part by the relentless optimism and cheery disposition of Sam himself. Eventually, and mostly to get Sam to leave him alone, the main character actually tries green eggs and ham, and, to his surprise, he actually likes them. He then thanks Sam for introducing him to green eggs and ham and everyone lives happily ever after.

So, where is the gospel lesson in this story? To start, lets refer back to one of my favorite scriptures on how to gain a testimony. It comes from the New Testament in the book of John.

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. -John 7:17

And, what about this famous one in Malachi, that invites us to try the Lord with regards to tithing?

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

-Malachi 3:10

And, of course, one of the most famous scriptures we know in the church, the scripture that in essence, triggered the restoration of the gospel.

”If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” -James 1:5

These scriptrues all have one thing in common, they are invitations to act, or to try. When we try, we gain a sure knowledge. We know for ourselves whether we like green eggs and ham. We know for ourselves because we live the gospel, whether its true or not. We know when we pay tithing, whether the Lord blesses us by opening the windows of Heaven. We know when we ask for wisdom in faith from God, that he provides answers.

But we need to jump in, we need to try green eggs and ham. We need to ask God and live the gospel as it is meant to be lived in order to gain a real knowledge of its truthfullness. It cannot happen in any other way. We can’t live hoping green eggs and ham are good because they have amazing reviews on yelp, or that our friends, or parents say they are.

We need to try them for ourselves. When we do, we know for ourselves.

From the book….

“You do not like them.
So you say.
Try them! Try them!
And you may.
Try them and you may I say.”

“Sam! If you will let me be, I will try them. You will see.”

“Say! I like green eggs and ham!
I do! I like them, Sam-I-am!
And I would eat them in a boat! And I would eat them with a goat. And I will eat them in the rain. And in the dark. And on a train. And in a car. And in a tree.
They are so good, so good you see!.

I do so like green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you,
Sam-

I-am.”

“Hearken and listen to the voice of him who is from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I Am, even Jesus Christ—“ -D&C 39:1

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Run, and Not be Weary

24 Saturday Feb 2018

Posted by Colby Alexander in Baptism, Failure, General, Humility, Jesus Christ, Sports, Strength, Success, Trials, Weakness

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I ran my third Marathon today. I ran another one this year after a great experience a year ago at the same event. A year ago, I was as well prepared as I could have been, and even ended up finishinig with a little gas left in my tank. My legs were tired to be sure, but I had enough left to accelerate through the finish line, and finish well ahead of where I expected to be. What a difference a year makes.

This year, I was well prepared-ish. I had run plenty, but hadn’t been able to get the long training runs in like I had in past years. The longest training run that I did complete was just 14 miles. I am learning, the hard way, that this might not cut it.

As much as I omitted the longer training sessions, and hadn’t really prepared my legs for 26.2 miles, that wasnt the main problem. The biggest, most obvious, most glaring mistake I made this year was in the nutrition department. I thought I had prepared well enough. I thought I had a good plan, but I didn’t. I thought that rather than going with the tried and true plans presented by experts, experienced runners, and people who understand exercise physiology, I would go with the Colby plan instead.

My brilliant plan consisted of nutrition powder mixes that I had been using on my not so long training runs. My foolproof plan consisted of said powder mixes of which I had neglected to even read the ingredients on the label. My innovative plan was a disaster. Lets just say we could probably rename it the “original marathon nutrition plan”. It would probably be the most accurate considering that the dude that supposedly ran the original marathon died after he “finished”.

After feeling great for about 18, or 19 miles, I suddenly realized upon gazing at my internal energy gas tank, that it was completely empty. Not like almost empty, or dinging that little warning light that reminds us to refuel soon empty, but sputtering, and spattering, and metal grinding, and engine stopping empty. I was toast.

That was no bueno. I was 7 or 8 miles short of the finish line, with only a few more water stations between where I was, and the promised land. I was in trouble. I was hoping for one of those stations to have some of those sugary goo things, or chews, or pizza, or even cooked vegetables, I was that empty. But, as luck would have it, none of the next few did. It was water, gatorade, or some tasty advil.

I was in survival mode. My legs felt more like the rusty hinges on the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz than something that would carry me the next several miles. The reason? I really was out of gas. The powder mixes that were my main source of energy had exactly 0 calories each. Even though I had mixed 3 of them over the race, if you do the math, that’s 0 calories in, and about 3500 calories out during that almost 4 hour run. No wonder I felt so awesome.

With only about 2 and half miles left, I did run past some people handing out little honey sticks, that I promptly grabbed, and voraciously tried to suck out the 4 drops of honey. I think I may have aspirated some in my lungs I was in such a hurry. I also stole a piece of banana bread from one of the volunteer tables that was off limits. But, at that point, I was more like gollum devouring a raw fish after 7 days without food, than an actual runner.

Even with the honey, and the bread, my tank was beyond empty, it was on negative empty, if there is such a thing. It would take more than some honey drops and a stolen piece of bread to get me back to normal. The last 8 miles had been the definition of enduring to the end.

But, apparently, this is just the way that I learn best. The hard way. I had learned that nutrition was important, I had even worried about it, and planned it out meticulously in the past, but not today. I had taken it for granted. I had relied upon my own planning, and didn’t give enough thought or attention to it. In my prideful mind, I had thought, “Ive done this before, no big deal” even though, before, I had taken much better care in being really prepared by being well nourished.

As with all of the things I learn, there are parallels, and types, and comparisons that cover all aspects of my life. Truth is truth, and principles are principles. Being well nourished during a race is essential to helping me endure for the entire duration. This is as true for my physical body as it is for my spiritual side.

In the Book of Mormon we learn about the real race we are all running, and how we need help finishing. This real race consists of all of us winding our way back home to God. This race begins with our committment to run! That comittment to run is our baptism. What follows that committment is a life full of hills, long stretches without water, and others seemingly more expert at running than we are. But, the instructions on how to finish this more important race, are right at our fingertips….

“And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.”
-Moroni 6:4

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. 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

No matter our race, we need nutrition and nourishment. Whether it be enduring a marathon, or in real life. In a physical race, we need food, or energy to keep us going. In our spiritual races, we need spiritual energy that comes from beign nourished by the word of God, and feasting upon them.

We can’t always wait until our tank is empty before we even start to think about refilling it. The effect of neglecting physical or spiritual nutrition is the same. We run out of gas. We simply cannot expect to finish the way we want to, in either race, unless we stop thinking that our own plan is best. We have to give up thinking that our own plan is foolproof, or that any success we have had in the past was because of our own strength. The simple truth of the matter is that we will always finish best when we rely solely on the One true Expert- the “Author and Finisher of our faith”

When the Wheels Fall Off

18 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by Colby Alexander in Agency, Failure, Faith, General, Trials

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One year ago, I attempted my first triathlon. I had a great time, and didn’t die, so I figured I would give it another try this year. While I have been training, its been hard to avoid learning a lot. My lessons haven’t been just about how to swim and not drown, or bike up hills, or run more efficiently, but Ive learned a lot about everyday life. I guess you have a lot of time to think and ponder life’s meaning while your head is under water. Exhalation bubbles can be very therapeutic.

This last Saturday, I learned another valuable lesson. This particular learning opportunity happened about 3 minutes into the bike route. I had just exited the transition and had turned and was heading up a big hill climb. I was pedaling my little heart out, but because of the grade, wasn’t going very fast. The only issue I was having had to do with my race bib. I had in the modesty position on a belt in the front, and It was crinkling and crackling each time I would pedal and was driving me crazy. So, I sat up just a little bit, and leaned over to twist my belt so the bib would be on my backside.

That little shift in weight was all it took. My back wheel came completely off the frame. As it came off, the bike seized up, and the wheels skidded to a halt. I instantly went from full speed to no speed, and was going down. My catlike speed and reflexes were apparently taking a cat nap, and so I was only able to unclip one foot, my left one- which was largely unhelpful of course, because the bike tipped over to the right-The side of my still clipped in foot.

I went down. I was a mass of legs, arms, hands, and bike. I was going so slow, it took what seemed like a full minute to actually hit the ground. Of course my first instinct was to look around and see just how many witnesses there were to my pathetic dismount. I could deal with broken bones, but my pride was also at risk. There weren’t any. This, of course, proved that sometimes amid our most trying times, small miracles do happen.

So, I spent the next 5 minutes, untangling myself, smacking wheels back into alignment, flipping the bike upside down, re-attaching the wheel, and tightening, then retightening it to prevent any repeats of my not-so-finest hour.

After hopping back on and resuming my ride, It only took another 10 seconds and I was over the top of the hill. Another 5 seconds, and I was screaming down the other side at over 30 miles an hour. Quite a different scenario. After another moment, I found myself praying and thanking my lucky stars that my wheel had fallen off when it did. Had the timing been different, this story might have been written with me in a body cast writing through a straw like Stephen Hawking. Timing is everything.

All that day I thought about what had happened, and how it relates to all of us. This is the lesson I was meant to learn that day. We sometimes look at the times in our life that are really hard as if we are being picked on. As if God is withholding his protective blessings from us even though we are trying as hard as we can to do what is right. We feel we deserve some downhill time. We cannot possibly take another problem, another pitfall, another trial, another difficulty. We feel that all too often when we are struggling the most, our wheels fall off, and we tip over, alone, on the side of the road.

The hard moments in our lives give us a choice. We can choose to be angry with God because he allowed our wheel to fly off right in the most difficult climbs, or we can try and see things as He does. We can accept that He loves us unconditionally and that He is aware of every little pain, feeling, insecurity, disappointment, and struggle that we deal with. Or, we can ignore it. We can choose to believe that He loves us, and will be watching out for us every step of the way, every climb, every spill, every failure, or we can choose to pretend we are on our own.

When we choose to accept our lives as something our Heavenly Father has orchestrated for our benefit, and that He is intimitely aware of what we need, and when we need it, we can feel peace. We can feel peace in the tough times as well as in the good times. He understands timing perfectly. I learned that lesson even more last Saturday, as I was the beneficiary of some extraordinarily good timing. Even though that “timing” meant my wheels had to fall off.

“God’s promises are not always fulfilled as quickly as or in the way we might hope; they come according to His timing and in His ways. … The promises of the Lord, if perhaps not always swift, are always certain.”
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf

When the Wheels Fall off

Many times I find myself amid an earthly race,
Furiously peddling just to finish in last place.
I think and hope that life should have some easy times as well,
And not just be survival- grinding, winding up a hill.

Like, shouldn’t there be downhills too? And not just uphill climbs?
A time to stop my pedaling- to rest, and clear my mind?
Its only fair that someone else would get that bitter pill,
And why would God then pick on me who’s struggling up a hill?

And then, just at the top, when I can see relief ahead,
The climb is ending, and at last, I’ll cruise downhill instead.
All the work, and all the struggle going up will soon pay off
Its then, exactly then sometimes, when all the wheels fall off.

To add insult to injury, my graceless fall ensues,
My arms and legs, and body parts go up, and down, then through
A windmill somersault, that leaves me staring at the sky
And on my back, I can’t help wonder why I even try.

It seems no matter what I do, I fall just short again,
disheartened, and convinced that I will never, ever win.
But now, somehow I get back up, untangle one more time,
tighten up the wheel that slipped and stopped my uphill climb.

I somehow manage to replace the wheel onto the frame,
and tighten, then re-tighten, and hop back into the game.
I shake my head and wonder why I didn’t check before
I won’t be making that mistake for race prep anymore.

But something happens in my heart and mind when I think back,
And realize the timing of the wheel-slip off the track.
Although untimely- to eat dust, and fall back in the race,
My turtle-pace of uphill speed had surely saved my face!

For now, just seconds after I enjoyed my awkward spill,
I find myself, now flying fast, at full speed down the hill.
I also think, through whistling winds, and blurry lines that pass,
“Oh, man! I’ll lose my skin if I go down right now and crash!”

I might have been the winner on a “Race Fails” YouTube clip,
Or slid a mile and scraped three feet of skin clean off my hip
I see the scary, and unpleasant fate that I escaped,
had just been traded for an unseen, tiny, little scrape.

I then thank God for waiting until just the perfect time,
To pick on me, kick off my wheel, right then- back on my climb.
My graceless, awkward, low speed fall, that barely marked my shirt
Had been a blessing in disguise! My crash had helped, not hurt.

And through this new perspective I look back, and I can see,
That timing, isn’t always what we think initially
We have a Heavenly Father who is watchful and aware
Who sometimes kicks the wheels off of your bike- because he cares!

Nearer, My God, To Thee

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by Colby Alexander in Angels, Dreams, Faith, General, Jesus Christ, Temples

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A few weeks ago, I learned something I thought already knew.

It reminded me of those pictures that have hidden images within the artwork. The art is nice, but if we spend a little more time looking, we can discover all the secrets that are hiding there. These images have always been there, we just didn’t look closely enough at first glance.

I learned all over again, that the temple ordinances really are the pinnacle of our gospel goals, and should be the focus of our own individual spiritual development, and the best way that each of us can really be connected with Heaven.

I knew that temples had always been and important part of our religion. But, I didn’t quite realize how prevalent the ordinances, endowments, blessings, and promises were throughout the scriptures.

The temple has always been taught in scripture. If we look specifically for the word “temple” we can find several obvious instances in the Bible where it is mentioned. When Jesus went missing at the young age of 12, Mary and Joseph found him teaching the elders in front of it.

Jesus again visited the temple during his ministry. This time to turn over the tables of the money changers right outside its walls.

There are many, many other references to the temple, or its ordinances that are in the scriptures. To find them, we just have to look, and listen a little more carefully to see more clearly.

Even if we are familiar with the existence of these ancient Temples, we sometimes don’t seem to associate them with our modern temples. Especially when we think about our own ordinances. We don’t think Solomon’s temple has much to do with the one we drive by on the way to Costco.

We seem to think that what takes place today inside these beautiful buildings is somehow vastly different than what took place anciently. But, while there may be some differences in the implementation of the temple ordinances, I think there are many more similarities than we really understand. After all, we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored, not created anew.

The importance of the temple has always been taught. Whether by word, or by actions. The Lord’s Prophets have always gathered The Lord’s people to the temple. Why? It is the perfect place to gather for anyone looking to be closer to God.

Here are just a couple examples…

“Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the temple, having first obtained mine errand from the Lord.”
-Jacob 1:17

“And now, it came to pass that Mosiah went and did as his father had commanded him, and proclaimed unto all the people who were in the land of Zarahemla that thereby they might gather themselves together, to go up to the temple to hear the words which his father should speak unto them.”
-Mosiah 1:18

And of course, the most famous chapter in all of the Book of Mormon. This section describes where the people were in the very moments right before Jesus Christ appeared….

“And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; …..”
-3 Nephi 11:1

We also know that the Lord himself taught the Apostles about the temple and the power it endows us with…

“And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them…And [they] were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.”
-Luke 24:49-53

So the question becomes, what is it specifically that makes the temple so significant to God’s people? What is it that draws the most sincere followers of Christ to its doors? What is it that happens there that makes such a difference? Why do we go? Why should we go?

I think the answer is really plain and simple.

We go for the ordinances.
We go for the covenant blessings we receive.
We go for the endowment of power.
We go for the feeling we get when we enter the Lord’s house.
We go for the assurances we feel when we participate in those ordinances.
We go to be instructed.
We go to become elevated.
We go to be lifted up, and
we go to connect with Heaven.

The covenants we make there literally connect us with Heaven. When we covenant with God, we are connecting ourselves with Him. What closer connection could there be with God, than a covenant connection?

This has always been the case. This is not something that originated in 1836 when Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland temple. This has happened since the beginning.

Lets look at a few scripture stories and instead of skimming the surface, and seeing them for what is sitting out in the open, lets look a little closer, and see if anything pops out to us as we read the words. Lets examine these verses through lenses that filter everything into a temple context. Not just the idea of the temple, but specifically the ordinances, blessings, and connections that all happen inside. Lets see if we can pick out any similarities to what we experience today.

We can start at the very beginning. Before any of us are allowed to enter into the temple, we have an interview. In this interview we have the opportunity to really consider ourselves and evaluate our worthiness to enter into the Lord’s House, and participate in the ordinances. During this interview we are asked simple questions regarding our faith, and our relationships with God, and others.

Lets apply the context now. Do we suppose that a similar process to our modern interviews may have taken place 3,000 years ago when someone wished to enter into an ancient Temple?

Lets read Psalm 15 to get a little glimpse…

“Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?

He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.”
-Psalm 15

Or, again in Psalm 24……

“…Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or
Who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
-Psalm 24

One of the most descriptive scriptural passages that highlights the blessings and promises from God in a “temple” sense is the story of Jacob’s ladder in Genesis 28. It describes a vision/dream that Jacob has on a journey from Canaan to seek for a wife from his own people. In that context, let’s read the highlights of the chapter and imagine ourselves preparing for our own temple marriages, and the blessings/ordinances we received in the temple beforehand…

“…And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, … And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place;… this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el:”
-Genesis 28:10-19

The name “Beth-el” translates into “The House of God”.

So, after Jacob has this amazing experience, he promptly calls the place where this took place, the “House of God”, and the “Gate of Heaven”, and builds an altar, and consecrates it with oil. Then, just a few chapters later in Genesis 32, as Jacob returns towards Caanan, he again meets God, face to face, and receives a new name…

Marion G. Romney lays it out nice and plain for us…

“Pondering upon the subject of temples and the means therein provided to enable us to ascend into heaven brings to mind the lesson of Jacob’s dream. You will recall that in the twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis there is an account of his return to the land of his father to seek a wife from among his own people. When Jacob traveled from Beersheba toward Haran, he had a dream in which he saw himself on the earth at the foot of a ladder that reached to heaven where the Lord stood above it. He beheld angels ascending and descending thereon, and Jacob realized that the covenants he made with the Lord there were the rungs on the ladder that he himself would have to climb in order to obtain the promised blessings—blessings that would entitle him to enter heaven and associate with the Lord.”  Temples are to us all what Bethel was to Jacob. Even more, they are also the gates to heaven for all of our unendowed kindred dead. We should all do our duty in bringing our loved ones through them.”
-Temples—The Gates to Heaven,” Ensign, March 1971, p. 16

The Brother of Jared had a similar experience when he went high on a mountain to converse with the Lord, and inquire about how to light his barges that he had constructed to cross the ocean. During this visit, he heard the voice of the Lord, and saw his finger. Because of his faith, the Lord allowed the Brother of Jared to see him as he was. Listen to the specific words the Lord uses during that exchange…

“And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.”
-Ether 3:13

Isn’t this what we all want? To be brought back into His presence? The temple does this both literally and symbolically. It tethers us to God. We become his. We commit to Him and He, in turn, empowers us, or endows us with unbelieveable blessings and promises.

The scriptures are rich with these plain and simple truths that are right in front of us, if we just scratch under the surface and look a little deeper. They teach us of the importance of the temple. Not just to redeem the dead, or help us feel the Spirit, but to literally connect us to Heaven. This is our purpose here on earth. And we can be more clear in emphasizing its importance! We are here to learn, and to become what we are meant to be. And the Temple is the earthly place that teaches us how to do just that, and connects us to our Heavenly home.

We all know the famous hymn “Nearer, My God, To Thee”. But, what we may not know, is that it is a hymn about the vision of Jacob’s Ladder from Genesis. In its 3rd verse, it describes in simple words the steps we can take towards heaven, and that all along the way, we will have angels to beckon us upwards along this temple ladder that leads to God.

There, let the way appear, Steps unto Heav’n
All that thou sendest me, In Mercy giv’n
Angels to beckon me, Nearer, My God, To Thee
Nearer, My God, To Thee
Nearer To Thee.

Entropy

29 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by Colby Alexander in Agency, atonement, Faith, General, Humility, Jesus Christ, Pride, Strength

≈ 1 Comment

It can get really hot in Arizona. Especially in the summertime. Not really news to anyone, just a basic fact, but somehow living in this desert gives you a better appreciation for how draining this hot can be. In the Arizona summer, as we open a door to go outside, it can literally become indistinguishable from opening up the oven to take a nice up-close look at baking cookies. No sane person would ever consider actually living in an oven, even with delicious cookies. So, for good reason, not a lot of outdoor activities are done here in the months of June-September. There is a reason why summer golf in Phoenix is so cheap.

Because of this temperature challenge, my stay-in-shape training has taken a back seat. I had been on a pretty good regimen while training to get ready for some simple triathlons over this last year. It was nice, almost perfect all throughout the winter, and up until my last race in St. George, Utah last May. After that, it got hot. Really hot. Arizona hot. I remember texting a picture of the dashboard temperature gauge to Riley one afternoon when it read 126℉. I nearly suffered 2nd degree burns just by putting my hands on the steering wheel that afternoon.

The problem with summers here, is that no matter what time of day or night, it feels like the inside of a toaster. “Why don’t you just swim in the pool during the summer?” you might ask. Well, that is a great idea right up until you jump in the pool, and instead of instant coolness, refreshment, and bliss, it feels like an overheated hot tub under a fast-food heat lamp. Instead of achieving solace from the scorching rays while floating through the water, it feels more like you are a piece of meat slow roasting in the crock pot. You don’t last too long swimming when the mist coming off the pool isn’t really mist, its more like steam arising from a pot of boiling water.

And that’s not all.

You may think, “Well, if you cant run or swim outside during the summer, maybe the bike would be better?”. “Maybe the wind blowing over you as you pick up speed would cool you down as you ride?” Yes, that would be a great idea, and, yes, there is a nice wind that is created, but it feels more like a industrial sized blowdryer set right at your face. So, needless to say doing any physical activity outside of scrambling from one air conditioned building to the next, is almost out of the question.

So, long story short, I took a bit of a break. The funny, not so funny part of that break, is that after the temperature “cooled” down to around 90℉ at 10:00 pm, and I started to try and train again, I noticed that because of my self-imposed break to wait out the summer fires of Hades, I had become out of shape. It was the consequence of inactivity.

Instead of running several miles and feeling great, I was lucky not to quit after just 1. It was almost like I had to start over. All the benefits of the months, and months of training had seemingly melted away just like an ice cube on Arizona asphalt. I felt like I had reverted all the way back to square one. I guess walking from Splash Mountain to Pirates of the Caribbean isn’t adequate triathlon training.

This has been a painful reminder that our fitness or “in-shapeness” really is something that is constantly changing, for better or worse. It never really is static. Just when we get comfortable, content, and happy with where, or how we are, we relax. And this little relaxation is when we start to slip. It requires constant, consistent, and repeated work to maintain ourselves with where we want to be. If you aren’t going forward, you’re going backward. And that is exactly what had happened with me.

As I was further contemplating my physical regression after just a few weeks, I realized that I was living out a vocabulary word that I had recently rediscovered in a Sunday School class. The word was “Entropy”.

This word is a shortened idea of a more sophisticated physics law known as the 2nd law of thermodynamics. I wont even pretend to be a physics guru, or attempt to explain the intricate details of closed and open systems, energy, or its predecessor the 1st law of thermodynamics. But, it has a simple definition. The one that fits the best in this case is….

“a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder”.

That is just a fancy way of saying that everything is constantly wearing down. Its kind of like rusting. Everything is becoming less orderly, and unless we put energy into reversing that natural process, it will take its toll, and we will digress, regress, and lose all the progress and order that we have achieved.

So, my “in-shapeness” had degraded, devolved, and definitely trended towards disorder. In even simpler more personal terms…

Unless I keep training to stay in shape, I become more out of shape.

Unless I put energy into improving, I get worse.

Unless I continue learning, I forget what I had learned.

The process is universal, and applies to all sorts of things. This concept may even be the most valid in a spiritual sense. This degradation can happen to each of us in our lives. There are times when we are in great spiritual shape, and we have been “training” hard, working on getting better every single day. During these times, we continuously work to build up endurance, feel strong, and healthy. Then, inevitably, there are the other times when we take some time off to rest a bit, and then, before we know it, we are feeling like are running around with a plastic bag over our heads.

King Benjamin knew all about this concept of spiritual entropy. He simply described it using different words. He understood that each of us needed to work continuously to become more like our Father in Heaven. It was something that doesn’t just happen naturally. In fact, it was the “natural” part that we had to fight. It is human nature to oppose God. It is human nature to only think of ourselves, and to drift constantly away from God, his plan, and his laws. It is human nature to be selfish, greedy, and secular. King Benjamin described this condition perfectly in the Book of Mosiah…

“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

But, just as I needed to get back into shape by working constantly, continuously, and repeatedly, King Benjamin explains exactly how we can fight the natural man, or spiritual entropy and stay in spiritual shape. He specifically singled out several words or phrases that can act as our workout list.

First, he said we must “..yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit…” This is tough in todays world. We need to listen. Not just hear. My wife has been trying to teach me this concept for 18 years. I must be a very natural man, because she still has to constantly remind me of this. Yielding means to allow the Spirit to work in us, to allow someone else to drive, to let the spirit guide us rather than depend on our own supposed knowledge. We don’t always have to be in charge, or know everything because, “His thoughts are higher than our thoughts” -Isaiah 55:9

Second, King Benjamin teaches that we need to become a “Saint”. Becoming a Saint is to be associated with, and bear upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. This entails, or necessitates, using the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is only through his atonement that we can become something “unnatural” or improved. It is by utilizing his atonement that we become something better than we thought we could be. And, the only way that this is even possible, is to work on developing the character traits that King Benjamin lists in the same verse. These required traits are, “becoming as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient”, and being “full of love”. -Mosiah 3:19

These traits do not occur naturally. They must be developed. They need to be practiced. Just like running a marathon, or swimming 2 miles in the ocean, or riding a bike for 6 hours straight. We are not born with these traits. We cant just decide to be an ironman on Monday and race in the Kona World Championships on Sunday. They must be learned. They must be developed. We all have the potential to do these things, or become these things, but we need to work at them constantly and continuously. We need to practice, and we need the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Each of us needs to fight this entropy all day, everyday. There is a perfect phrase used in the Doctrine and Covenants that teaches us the best way to start, and keep going in our own spiritual exercise regimen.

“Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;” -Doctrine and Covenants 58:27

As we try our best to be anxiously engaged to do good around us, to be happy, to be kind, to look at people in a more loving, forgiving way, to look at life through a gospel lens, we will slowly be changing our character. We will be slowly getting in better spiritual shape. We will be fighting the “natural man”, and spiritual entropy. If we combine these efforts with a steady dose of the cleansing and enabling power of the Atonement of the Savior, we can be who we want to be, and stand on the highest podium at the end of our mortal race.

Nature’s Entropy

Our hearts and minds continually,
Are pulled by nature’s entropy,
Unfocused, dimmed, erroneously,
To earth, and not to Heav’n.

But, if we struggle faithfully,
And look up, kneeling, pleadingly,
And seek forgiveness constantly,
Our flaws can be forgiv’n.

And if we then walk steadily,
And try to live more righteously-
More loving, and more honestly,
A spark of Faith begins-

In Him, who suffered willfully,
So we can look up hopefully,
To see his hands spread willingly,
to bring us home again.

The Sword of Laban

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Colby Alexander in General

≈ Leave a comment

Sometimes, the right tool for a job, is a sword.

“Wherefore, I call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thresh the nations by the power of my Spirit; And their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their shield and their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me; and their enemies shall be under their feet; and I will let fall the sword in their behalf, and by the fire of mine indignation will I preserve them.”
-D&C 35:14

Last week, myself, my wife, and two oldest kiddos got to do something pretty amazing. We all went camping. Well, I was enjoying the camping in a regular tent with my wife, while the two kids were in survival mode in group tents covered in about 4 inches of dirt and dust. Bear Grylls might have even called it quits. I think the front door of the kids’ tents acted more like a vacuum sucking in the dust, than a barrier to keep it out. Every time I went to visit the Young Men’s tent, I thought I was experiencing an indoor haboob.

It was quite a bit more than just a regular campout however. It was a four day youth camp called Moroni’s Quest. While we were there, we were able to watch several reenactments of the stories from the Book of Mormon. It was like watching a 4 day long play or a production.

All of the scenes were awesome. Every single one. But one theme really stood out to me. It was the reoccurring presence of the sword of Laban. His sword was obviously a big part of how the story of the Book of Mormon really got started. It was the “means” by which Nephi was able to obtain the Plates of Brass, or scripture record, from the very beginning…

“Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit, and took Laban by the hair of the head, and I smote off his head with his own sword.”
-1 Nephi 4:18

In addition to being a fatally convincing tool for Laban, it also was on Nephi’s hip as he pretended to be Laban as he then convinced Laban’s servant to give up these records containing the law of God. These plates of Brass were the beginning of the record that Nephi and his descendants would keep from that point forward.

A few years later, and several thousand miles away, across a sandy wilderness and a vast ocean, this same sword acted as the template that Nephi used to make other swords that were needed to defend themselves against their splintered off nemesis, the Lamanites.

“And I, Nephi, did take the sword of Laban, and after the manner of it did make many swords, lest by any means the people who were now called Lamanites should come upon us and destroy us; for I knew their hatred towards me and my children and those who were called my people“
-2 Nephi 5:14

It didn’t really stop there either. If we fast forward even more, we catch glimpses of it all through the Book of Mormon. Nephi, who had used the sword as a defense against the Lamanites, had also kept the record that always seems to accompany the sword. He passed the record keeping and protecting duty to his brother Jacob. Jacob then wrote in and guarded the record, and then passed it on to his son, Enos.

After Enos, it gets interesting. The records, and likely the sword also, passed from father to son from generation to generation. So, from Enos it went to to Jarem, then Omni, and all the way through Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki. Then the chain of the record keeping by the direct descendants of Nephi gets broken, and the record then goes to the next best thing- a righteous king named Benjamin.

With King Benjamin, we see the Sword of Laban again mentioned, and this is what gives us the clue that it always accompanies the record, as King Benjamin was not a direct descendent of the line of record keepers since Nephi.

“And it came to pass also that the armies of the Lamanites came down out of the land of Nephi, to battle against his people. But behold, king Benjamin gathered together his armies, and he did stand against them; and he did fight with the strength of his own arm, with the sword of Laban.”
-Words of Mormon 1:13

Benjamin then, just as before, passes on the record and the sword and a few other extra goodies to his son, Mosiah….

“And moreover, he also gave him charge concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass; and also the plates of Nephi; and also, the sword of Laban, and the ball or director, which led our fathers through the wilderness, which was prepared by the hand of the Lord that thereby they might be led, every one according to the heed and diligence which they gave unto him.”
-Mosiah 1:16

Its funny, but because of my previous thoughts about this amazing sword, my wife and I had mentioned it to our tribe (the great group of kids we were in charge of) on the first day. We mentioned how they should try and watch specifically for it, and try and see how many times this sword would come into play. And, come to find out, it did. Over and over again.

I feel there is something really extraordinary about that sword and what it represented. Its amazing to think about how long it survived right alongside the record that was being kept. It was almost like a constant reminder to the one entrusted with the care of the sacred record, that God would protect his words.

If we fast forward again, many, many years, the record passed through all the prophets. And finally made it all the way to Mormon, who abridged the massive accumulation of plates documenting the last thousand years. This abridgment, known now as the Book of Mormon, ultimately then passed to Moroni, who buried it along with the sword in a continuation of the protection of the record of the people.

This sword had passed from the hands of Laban in 600 B.C. in Jerusalem. It had then traveled all the way across the ocean, and through the hands of many writers and prophets, until it was buried in A.D. 421 by Moroni with the gold plates. That is a 1000 year old sword. Amazing. It then laid interred under that stone on a hill in New York for 1400 years, when the same man, Moroni, now in angel form, showed where the records had been deposited to Joseph Smith. Im sure that today, it still stands by the record just as it has for the last 2600 years and counting!

It is a testament to me of the power, and importance of the Book of Mormon. God’s hand protected it by any means necessary from the time it began, until it was finally translated, and beyond. I now have a better appreciation for the Book of Mormon, and the sacrifices, and lives that were given so that I could enjoy it.

It was a special 4 days. I watched and felt the stories and saw them come to life and change the lives of several young people over the course of the camp. But having my wife with me (and a real tent), as well as my older two kids to experience this amazing book in such a different way, was the icing on top!

The Sword of Laban

From deep within Jerusalem,
The sacred, Holy land,
Came precious gleaming sword – born of
the forge, to Laban’s hand.

Its sharpened blade of precious steel,
And hilt of purest gold,
Would slay its way through history,
To see God’s plan unfold.

Its master, one who’s greed was blind,
Cast pearls before the swine,
And spent his time in sinful waste,
His love, on casks of wine.

Then God, through angel tongue, inspired
A visionary man,
To seek, procure, his holy words,
From evil’s clenching hand.

This sword protected Plates of Brass,
Upon which lay the law
Of God, but lay unused, unread-
dormant treasure sent by God.

By fate, and lots, one night a son,
Was led by Spirit voice,
To Laban’s side- as he lay still,
Then struggled with the choice

Of taking life, and thus providing
Hope of gospel light.
Or shrinking, and condemning
All to ignorance’s night.

This son, this valiant, faithful, son
Then took that stainless sword,
And severed Laban’s guilty head,
As soldier of the Lord.

It traveled then through deep travails,
And miles of wilderness,
Arriving then in promised lands,
Protecting righteousness.

It never left the side of all
The records of the Lord,
Standing up as symbol of the
Power of God’s word.

From Father down to son it passed,
And fought, defending truth,
For centuries, and then beyond,
Endured, providing proof

That God protects his record still,
And does what must be done,
Ensuring all his people will
have knowledge of his Son.

E’en then, when God’s own people fell,
In sinful, prideful ways,
The sword remained as pure and clean,
As truth, that never fades.

Lastly, now its day had come,
Its final duty shown-
Remain interred with record pure,
Its angel now had flown.

And in the earth it stayed, alone,
For fourteen-hundred years.
Until its flying angel once again
Returned! Its time was near!

To once again defend God’s word,
Against its wicked foe,
God’s record, pure, inspired, now lay
Inscribed on plates of gold.

The record now has gone throughout
The world in purity,
Translated by God’s gift, and pow’r,
Through his divinity.

This sword of Laban, precious steel
And gold, endured, survived
A people blessed, and holy, who
Had faltered in their pride.

But warning words remained, engraved,
To help all come to Christ,
And teaches of the Son of God’s
Atoning sacrifice.

This sword, this symbol of the pow’r of God
Now still defends,
The sacred record, as it has,
And will, until the end.

4 brothers blog

Author Archives: Colby Alexander

The Ghost and the Darkness

To the End Enduring

The Much Anticipated, Long Awaited, Death of Death

The Gift of Choice

Tales of the Two Ocean Walkers

Green Eggs and the Great I Am

Run, and Not be Weary

When the Wheels Fall Off

When the Wheels Fall off

Nearer, My God, To Thee

Entropy

Nature’s Entropy

The Sword of Laban

The Sword of Laban

To the End Enduring

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When the Wheels Fall off

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Nature’s Entropy

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The Sword of Laban

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