Once upon a time there was an awesome missionary.  His name was Ammon.  Based on his righteous example, he taught the gospel – which invited the spirit – which in turn prompted the conversion of a Lamanite king named Lamoni.  This Lamoni had previously been a pretty rotten guy.  But, since repentance is awesome and the gospel is true – Lamoni became a totally good guy (the truth will set you free).

Lamoni’s father– who was the king of all the Lamanites – was also a pretty rotten guy (generational ignorance helps people be rotten sometimes) and when he met Lamoni and Ammon on the road one day, he asked Lamoni to go ahead and kill Ammon since he was (according to his belief) “one of the children of a liar”.  Lamoni politely declined, and commenced in telling his personal tale of conversion at the hand of Ammon in an attempt to do away with the murderous thoughts that gripped his Lamanite king father.

This detailed explanation didn’t work.  To Lamoni’s astonishment, his father was still angry with him, and “commanded” Lamoni to slay Ammon.  He still wouldn’t – so Lamoni’s father then took matters into his own hands and started a sword fight with Ammon.  Ammon channeled his inner Westley (a.k.a. Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride) and “withstood his blows, and also smote his (Lamoni’s father’s) arm that he could not use it”.  This left king Lamoni’s father at the mercy of Ammon (I imagine him sitting/kneeling on the ground clutching his wounded arm/shoulder with a full realization that his mortal life is now completely in the hands of his opponent) – and he got a bit nervous.

In this spot, Lamoni’s father says to Ammon “If thou wilt spare me I will grant unto thee whatsoever thou wilt ask, even to half the kingdom”.  So, in return for Ammon sparing his physical life, Lamoni’s father was willing to give up to half of his kingdom.  That’s the high priced value of his physical life.

Ammon of course spared his life (and didn’t even collect on half of the kingdom), but required that Lamoni’s father let his son be and do as he pleased with his conversion and his religion.  This perplexed Lamoni’s father enough that he later “insisted” that Aaron (one of Ammon’s missionary companions) administer unto him, and teach him the things that had caused Lamoni to change his ways.  Aaron began to teach Lamoni’s father about everything (the creation, the fall, the atonement) which naturally filled the king with a burning desire to be born again, and to have his “wicked spirit rooted out of his breast… that he may be filled with joy.”  Then, after hearing the good news of the gospel he exclaimed: “I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

In summary, he was only willing to give up half his kingdom to save his physical life, but was willing forsake all in order to gain his spiritual life.

So, in thinking about how I could relate this sentiment (giving up half the kingdom, vs. forsaking all my kingdom) to the real world and our everyday lives, I naturally thought of triathlon unitards.  Yes, triathlon unitards – stay with me.

Last summer, I signed up for my first triathlon (I signed up on June 14, and the event was Aug. 8 – that’s a little less than 2 months to train).  I was fairly naïve in my training regimen leading up to the event.  I swam a bit, rode my bike a bit, and even mixed in a couple of runs on my way.  After all, it was a short distance triathlon and I was confident in my ability to just make it.  Please remember I used the word naïve in the previous sentence.

On race day I showed up a bit early and what I saw was a bit concerning – or even alarming.  Most of the other participants were wearing skin tight suits.  I later learned that these are triathlon suits (sometimes called tri suits or tri jerseys) – which are pretty much the equivalent of an adult onesie or a wrestling singlet.  These are designed to be worn in all 3 disciplines (swim, bike, run) to avoid the time wasting activity of changing clothes during transitions.  In other words – they are made specifically for triathletes to wear during a triathlon.  I on the other hand, had brought a backpack full of shorts, shirts, jackets, extra socks, headphones, my phone case, etc.

I even thought to myself “these other people (like 90% of them) look pretty silly in their spandex unitards”.  But not me, I look totally amazing in my gym shorts and my warm jacket.

Needless to say, my transition times were about what you’d expect from a first timer.  I watched these veteran triathletes dash from the water and jump soaking wet onto their bikes and ride off in a matter of seconds while I calmly dried myself completely with a towel, put on a t-shirt, shorts, and a jacket, and managed to spend a good 5 minutes not moving at all.  For reference, 5 minutes equates to about 8-10% of the winner’s overall time (and that was just my first transition).

After reviewing the results of my first triathlon (my finish time but most of all my transition times) and in evaluating my weaker areas, I metaphorically sat on the ground, clutching my wounded shoulder and said to myself: “I will do whatsoever is required to improve my triathlon times, even to half the kingdom”.  And I did.  I sacrificed ‘even to half the kingdom’ by increasing my training intensity, my training frequency, and my mental focus.  Then, I had another race.

I improved my split times, and even placed in my age group.  In addition, I have done 3 other races since the first, and been right on or near my goals for each race, yet for the purposes of this blog post, and the likened story of king Lamoni’s father – I still haven’t been able to move from giving up ‘half of the kingdom’ to ‘giving up all that I posses”.  I was still holding something back.

In order for me to be like Lamoni’s father and fully give up all that I possess – I had to wear the unitard.  There was just no way around it.  I can’t hold anything back if I expect to enjoy the absolute joy of knowing that I gave it everything I had.

I thought in the beginning of my triathlon life that I felt like I gave it my all – and I was right, because the first race or two, I gave it all that I had.  But, now that my training has improved and I know a lot more about the sport, I fully realize that my previous all is barely ‘even to half’ of my current all.  This means I need to re-evaluate my commitment every time – just like we do each week when we take the sacrament.  The more I improve, the more my all demands of me.

Maybe the unitards look silly, but they are designed to help save time and ultimately be a tool for improvement.  And after all, isn’t the goal of a triathlon to finish with your absolute best time?  Yes.  So, in order to give up all that I possess, I need to give up whatever self-conscience barriers I have built up around donning the elastic triathlon unitard.  I need to be ‘willing to take upon me the unitard’ in order to ‘always’ have it benefit me.

And since this blog is about principles of faith, and faith is a principle of action, and I don’t want to only be a sayer of the word (and not ‘a doer of the word’) – AND since I am desirous to become more than recreational weekend triathlete, AND because I am finally ready (just like Lamoni’s father) to give up all that I possess, I vowed to wear a stretchy triathlon unitard in my next race.

That race was May 7^th – and that date is past tense.  I totally wore a triathlon suit – the whole time.  Let me write that again: I wore a spandex-like suit while biking and running through hundreds of spectators.  And I loved it. Wait, what?

Upon crossing the finish line last week, I knew that my effort was ‘all’ that I had to give.  I felt completely satisfied with it.  Then, two days later, I realized that I wanted that feeling again, and started to realize that I wanted to ‘improve’ even more, and started to identify things that I had kept back.  I had now only given ‘most’ of my kingdom, even though it had been all just a short time before.  So, I made a new¹ list of everything in my kingdom that I was willing to give up.

The more we improve, and the better we become, the more we realize we have to give up to take the next step in our progress.  The small things that we hadn’t thought mattered before start to stick out and we try to get rid of them one by one.  Slowly but surely we become something better – and maybe the best news of all, the Lord is patient with us as we recognize and attempt to become like him – and he helps us all along the way.

Notes

¹  For some reason, I felt better about giving an example of my ‘new’ list in the notes instead of the body of the blog post – I just couldn’t bring myself to indicate that by shaving my arms and legs in order to become more aerodynamic I am taking the logical next step in my spiritual progression.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day – and I (like many others) want to do something special for my wife.  I want to do this because she is special to me, and because of all the mothers in the whole world that I know, she is the one that I love the most.

I thought hard about all of the things that she loves (vacations to tropical beaches, Disney cruises, home renovations and/or home décor) and then I decided that the thing she would probably love the most is for me to write a blog post about Alma and his visit to Ammonihah (found in Alma chapter 8-9) as a tribute to her awesomeness as a mother.  So you’re welcome dear.  Please note that while this post has drawn much from her greatness (that I get to see regularly), it is also a tribute to all of the women and mothers who truly make the world the great place that it is.  To be clear, mothers are NOT just those who have birthed and/or raised their children and mothering is NOT limited to immediate parent/child relationships.

Backstory for context:  This Book of Mormon story takes place in 82 B.C. (a.k.a. the end of the 9^th year of the reign of the judges) and Alma (who has recently retired from his day job to focus on preaching the word of God) has recently completed his sermons in the cities of Zarahemla (Alma 5-6), Gideon (Alma 7), and Melek (Alma 8:4-5) and has just arrived in the city of Ammonihah.

Alma starts to preach to the people, and the very first thing we learn is that “they would not hearken unto the words of Alma.”  It took all of 1 verse (Alma 8:9) for us to relate Alma and his preaching to motherhood right?  How many mothers can say (about their children or spouses or friends or co-workers or the world) that “they would not hearken unto the words of [insert mother’s name]?” I’ll give you a hint – it’s all of them.

“Nevertheless he (Alma) labored much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer, that he would pour out his spirit upon the people who were in the city”.  How many mothers labor much in the spirit, wrestling with God in mighty prayer in order for him to pour out his spirit upon the people under their watchcare?  The mother I know best labors much in the spirit, and wrestles with God in mighty prayer – all the time.

Verses 11-12 further describe the people of Ammonihah and their murmurings in response to Alma’s teaching.  In today’s language they said something like: “you can’t tell us what to do”, “you’re not the boss of me”, and “your rules are stupid”.  I would guess there are a few mothers out there that have heard something similar to this.

Then we read in verse 13 that the people “withstood all his [Alma’s] words, and reviled (criticized) him, and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city.”  Now, at first glance we might say that’s a bit of an extreme parallel to motherhood, but if you reflect honestly I can promise that the mothers we know the best have all been criticized, spit upon (burping babies) and caused to be cast out (hello teenagers with locked doors and raging emotions that say things like “I hate you” or “you are the worst mother ever”).

Motherhood is starting to look a whole lot like Alma in Ammonihah right?

After being cast out of the city – in the moments immediately following this rejection – Alma is feeling pretty lousy (just like mothers do sometimes), “being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul”, because of the people who were in the city.  Just like a mother, Alma was weighed down because of the people he served and cared for (and their choices), not just because he didn’t get his way.

It’s no surprise then, that during this time (after he was rejected and while he was “thus weighed down with sorrow”) that an angel appeared to Alma and said to him: “Blessed are thou Alma; therefore, lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great reason to rejoice; for thou hast been faithful in keeping the commandments of God from the time which thou receivedst thy first message from him.

Just like Alma, mothers are sometimes “weighed down with sorrow” because of the people they love.  Motherhood is extremely tiring work, and more often than not it is the most thankless work that all to often only pays in criticism, being ignored, forgotten, taken for granted, spit upon or even cast out by those whom they are trying to save.  And, as hard as it is for us to understand it is in this great sorrow and tribulation and struggle that the angel comes to offer a pick-me-up (please see 1 Ne. 20:10-11 and Luke 22: 41-44 and verses 4-6 of Hymn 85).

But before we take our next step, let us try to fully understand Alma’s feelings of sorrow.  He probably feels like he has failed in his spirit-led quest to preach the gospel to the city of Ammonihah.  He might be wrestling with his self esteem or his effectiveness as a prophet using the logic that would go something like this: “God called me to this office, and he led me to this city, and I preached here, and even though I can look back and see some baptisms, repentance, or conversions in the past from other cities, this most recent failure (and my sorrow because of the people) in this city must mean that I did something wrong, or that I wasn’t good enough, or that I failed in my one duty (as prophet) and therefore God is disappointed in me because I’ll never be as good a prophet as Moses.”  Sound familiar yet?

Now, I understand that there isn’t anyone who can fully grasp the trials and daily hardships of motherhood like another woman/mother – but can we all suppose for just a minute that when the angel came down and told Alma to ‘cheer up because you are awesome’ it may not have immediately prompted him to jump up and down and cheerfully say “you’re right – I do have ‘great reason to rejoice, and I am awesome”.  Can we imagine the possibility that it could have made his feelings of sorrow even worse?  Worse because it highlighted the fact that he wasn’t finding ‘joy in the journey’ during the hardest of times and therefore wasn’t appreciating the struggles of his sacred prophethood.  After all, didn’t Alma already know that being a prophet wasn’t always just the pure joy of baptisms and the conversion parties and the spiritual outpourings?  Didn’t he know that being a true prophet also included a fair amount of being spit on, cast out, and reviled?  Didn’t he know that there must be opposition in all things?  I think he knew that, but I also think that Alma was a bit surprised with how hard it was at the moment, and with just how sorrowful he felt when they wouldn’t even listen, and with how hot the refiners fire can be.

Now, it’s not mentioned in the official record, but what could have also contributed to Alma’s sorrow was all of the super happy photos on his prophet friends’ Instagram feeds of their baptisms, conversion stories, miracles, great hair, great teeth, perfect kids, and super clean tents, crops, and herds.  Yet, here was Alma (in the real world) learning from his own experience that being a prophet was stinking hard work and it weighed him down.  In fact, I think Alma was learning that it was the hardest work that he’d ever be asked to do.

Another reason that the angel’s words might have failed to put a huge smile on Alma’s face is what came next: the angel continued “I am sent to command thee that thou return to the city of Ammonihah and preach again unto the people of the city”.  The summary of the angel’s message (in today’s language) goes something like this: “Alma, I see you are sad.  But, you have a lot of reasons to be happy; because you have been doing the Lord’s work.  Now, go back to the city of Ammonihah and preach again (because they really need your help).  See you later.”

Hey moms out there – you tell me if this sounds like an awesome pep talk for sacrament meeting this Sunday (after you’ve spent the morning wrangling your kids to get ready for church against the formidable opposition that is present on Sundays) “Mothers, don’t be sad.  You guys are awesome.  You have a lot of reasons to be happy, mostly because you are continuously doing the Lord’s work.  Now, go back to the city (the crucible of home life) again (because your family really needs your help and in some cases you are their only hope) …. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Following the angel’s visit, Alma realized and perhaps identified on a different level with Nephi (also a prophet) who wrote that he was “overcome because of [his] afflictions, for [he] considered that [his] afflictions were great above all” (1 Ne. 15:5).  The trials and tribulations and sorrow that Nephi felt in his day were indeed ‘great above all’, and now so were Alma’s.  The same holds true for every single woman and mother out there who tries like crazy every day to be the best she can be despite the difficulties and struggles and hard times of daily life.  And every single one of them can claim that their struggles actually are ‘great above all’ because that’s exactly what they are.

The difficulty of motherhood is ‘great above all.’  It is the one job in mortality that is ‘above all’ in goodness and Christ-likedness.  The problem with this is that by necessity it means that it is also ‘above all’ in its difficulty and unrelenting demands on your emotions, spirits, and bodies.

Curiously, there is no recorded response from Alma after the angel commanded him to go back to Ammonihah.  But, what is recorded is that he didn’t just return, he returned ‘speedily’.  He was exhausted physically, mentally, and spiritually yet he returned speedily to the very city that caused his sorrowful exhaustion.  This sounds exactly like a mother who at the end of a grueling day crawls into bed completely ragged after giving every effort to her family… only to be summoned ‘back again’ and answers ‘speedily’ to the additional demands of motherhood in the middle of the night for a coughing child, a crying baby, or someone else in need.  Could there be a closer tie to Jesus Christ than a mother?

The next part of Alma’s story in Ammonihah can give mothers a welcome ray of hope and allow all of us to appreciate the tender mercies that the Lord provides – especially when he asks for more than we feel like we even have to give.  When Alma was weighed down and at the end of his rope, the Lord provided ‘a man’ (Amulek) to receive him as he entered Ammonihah this second time around.  Amulek took him in, fed him, and tarried many days with him (Alma 8:26-27).  In other words – Amulek was a blessing provided by the Lord to strengthen Alma in his time of extreme need – no doubt a welcome blessing after so much sorrow.

Could there be a better model for Amulek than the mothers we all love?

There are times when the women in our lives have felt just like Alma (weighed down with sorrow) when a friendly Amulek arrives seemingly out of nowhere (provided by the Lord) to feed, care for, and tarry with them in a time of need.  AND, there are times when these same mothers have acted just like Amulek (who recognized Alma and heeded a promting) to feed, care for, and tarry with others in need.  Many of those times, the Amulek’s of the world were at the end of their own ropes and yet “speedily returned” to feed, care for, and tarry with those whose struggles were also ‘great above all’.  And because the Lord is awesome, and because he rewards those who love him – “they (meaning both parties) were filled with the Holy Ghost” (Alma 8:30).

My dear wife knows how to feed, care for, and tarry with me in a time of need.  I am so blessed to have her, and we are all so blessed to have the women and mothers in our lives.  They – through their Christ-like service – fill us with the Holy Ghost.  And because of this, “they [have] power given unto them, insomuch that they could not be confined in dungeons; neither was it possible that any man could slay them…” (Alma 8:31).  Oh how our wives, mothers, and women have “power given unto them” in our day.  They are the driving force of nurturing our Heavenly Father’s children here on earth, and they do a magnificent job.

Before we wrap up this story of awesome motherhood I would like us to read and understand one more part of this story – which happens to be a question from the people of Ammonihah to Alma (after he’s begun preaching to them this second visit).  “As [he] began to preach unto them, they began to contend with [him], saying… Who art thou?”… “And they said: Who is God, that sendeth no more authority than one man among this people, to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?”

The world asks these same questions to our wives and our mothers and our daughters.  Who art thou? And Who is God that sendeth no more authority than a mother to declare unto them the truth of such great and marvelous things?

For all of us, I hope we can understand exactly who and what our mothers are.  Then, I think we will begin to understand how that relates to the reason why God didn’t (and doesn’t) need to send more authority than one man to save the world.

Mothers are the ones ‘speedily returning’ to Ammonihah.  They are the ones who are feeding, caring for, and tarrying with those in need.  They are the ones who are constantly partnering with Christ in his efforts to develop, nurture, and love his children.  And they are the ones pointing and leading all of our souls to him and leading us to his open arms.

To close, please understand that I don’t think (nor would any mother tell you) that every minute of every day is so incredibly difficult that mothers are just constantly weathering the storm trying to make it to the next day – because that’s not the case (even if some days it does feel that way).  Mothers are wise and kind and gentle, and they know that “sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven”.  They also know in a very intimate way that pure joy can be found in selfless giving – and each of them consider their callings as mothers to be their greatest treasure.

I used to wonder why there wasn’t more stories about mothers and wives in the Book of Mormon.  I don’t wonder that any more.  I have found that If I know what to look for, and if I remember how the Book of Mormon (and the spirit) teach me, every story can be about a mother – because every story in the Book of Mormon is about Jesus Christ – and every story about Jesus Christ can be a story about a mother.

Please celebrate the wonderful women in our lives this Sunday (and everyday) by telling them and showing them how amazing they are and how grateful we are to have them.

Freedom is often misunderstood.  This means that arguments, positions, and claims for freedom are just as often flawed and in many cases lacking.  This is not new, and people have been discussing and striving for their ideal version of freedom ever since (and before) the very beginning.

In the pre-existence when our heavenly father proposed his plan of salvation to his children and asked for a volunteer to be the savior, there was already a mistaken understanding of freedom.  Lucifer, as an eager volunteer, claimed that he could truly ‘free’ everyone once and for all, by relieving them – or helping them be ‘free’ from – the responsibilities of choosing for themselves.  Thus, he offered a false sense of freedom (freedom from the possibility of failure, and freedom from progression and learning).  Please note that his plan for total freedom for us also included himself being ‘free’ from the responsibilities of actually being a savior.¹

The very first family on earth also includes a reference to this false sense of freedom, when Cain – after being encouraged by the master deceiver himself that he would somehow be a true master, and ‘get gain’ by being ‘free’ from his brothers unfair yoke, he “rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him”.  Following this murder, “Cain gloried in that which he had done, saying: I am free; surely the flocks of my brother falleth into my hands”.²

The Book of Mormon is also full of individuals desiring to be ‘free’ from restrictions.  Laman and Lemuel repeatedly murmured about the ‘hard things’ required of them, and they often expressed the desire to be ‘free’ from Nephi and Lehi’s teachings and expectations.  Korihor claimed that the people (followers of Christ) were “bound down under a foolish and vain hope”, and further referenced that belief as a “yoke”.³ King Noah, his followers, and then many of the Lamanites and the kingmen that follow all throughout the remaining Book of Mormon stories repeatedly want to be ‘free’ from the burden or bonds of responsibility and duty (as required by society and order).  But, because I love his example so much, I am going to highlight what I think is one of the best examples of this false freedom – Giddianhi.⁴

Giddianhi was a guy that wanted to be free.  Free from anything and anyone that told him what to do or how he should live his life.  He had a bunch of friends who liked to be free as well, so they dissented (to dissent is to hold or express opinions that are at variance with those previously, commonly, or officially expressed) from the Nephites and the authoritative governing body.  By dissenting (and choosing to leave), he and his band of friends were totally free.  Free from the oppressive rule of society and its norms, expectations, rules, laws, and on an on.  With his new freedom, he convinced many others that life outside of the government and its societal yoke was much better – and many listened and joined him in his utopian refuge of freedom.  The only problem that Giddianhi encountered was that his little band grew to a big band fairly quickly – since everyone loves the idea of freedom (especially Giddianhi’s version of it), his followers soon looked to him (as the leader of the free people) to provide them with their daily sustenance (food, shelter, clothing, support) in order to stay alive and they likely asked him several times about the details of this new society (where the food was, who was cooking them dinner, who was planting the crops or raising their flocks – and other things that a rule-laden society would produce through responsibility and the yoke of bondage also known as a market or economy or industry or just bondage).  Suddenly, his freedom seemed a whole lot like bondage.  He was bound to his promise of freedom from all cares and responsibilities.  He soon realized that freedom from sowing is also freedom from reaping.

So, being a smart man, Giddianhi (like many others before him) just stole stuff.  They began to lay waste to all of the cities that were nearby, and stole the food and other necessary items in order to survive.  After all, true freedom means you are free to do whatever you want right?  Yep, his community really is the best.  Nobody could tell Giddianhi what he could and couldn’t do – he was the only one who could decide what was right and wrong, and just taking whatever you want seemed like a nice plan to everybody.

Eventually, Giddianhi’s dream world of free people started to look bleak, as the cities and towns that his people laid waste to weren’t spontaneously being rebuilt and the fields and flocks that they had plundered and eaten were not being replanted with food in order to sustain the appetite of his ever growing band of robbers and let’s be honest, Giddianhi isn’t going to rebuild or restore them.  That’s too much work.  That is why he dissented from the Nephites in the first place – too much responsibility and not enough freedom.

So, the law abiding citizens burdened under the yoke of bondage (the kind of bondage that drove Giddianhi and his fellow dissenters away) decided (under the wise leadership of Lachoneous and Gidgidonni) to move in together and store all their food in one central location to avoid being plundered continuously by Giddianhi and his robbers.  After this move, Giddianhi’s newfound freedom left him with limited options – mostly since they were unwilling to actually work for anything.  Somehow, the very freedom he claimed to embrace was the source of his stopped progression.  He was certainly free from the Nephite rules and laws, but he was not free at all.⁵

Realizing his plight, Giddianhi wrote a letter to the governor of the Nephites in a desperate attempt to sway the government (which they had dissented from) to provide for his needs without any effort on his part.  He politely asked (or demanded) Lachoneous through this letter to give him all of their food, lands, possessions, and the power of government – and then he adds the kicker – “that this my people (the band of robbers) may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government”.⁶

This band of robbers led by Giddianhi considered anything that prevented them from being government leaders and having slaves with no effort on their own part (similar to what king Noah was) as ‘wickedness’. All of the societies and laws that make up a good nation with hard work and cooperation is just labeled as bondage to them. They feel that this way of leadership (free of responsibility but somehow full of all the available benefits) is their ‘right’.

This is remarkably similar to people today that think it is their ‘right’ to act any way they please, and that anyone who opposes their personal thought process is bigoted, racist, sexist, or has directly wronged them in some way. And when others don’t agree with their view of ‘freedom’ they shout to the world and all who will hear that they have been wronged, and demand retribution by their rights of ‘freedom’ to which they are obviously entitled.

Just to recap how ridiculous this stance is, Giddianhi’s letter could really read something like this:

Dear Lachoneus,

Me and my merry band of robbers like your city. In fact, we like your city so much we want to live there. We want to plunder and steal all of your crops, buildings, and everything else. It would be so much easier for us if you just let us have it. That way, my ‘warriors’ don’t get tired and nobody gets killed (and because if you and your people are dead, nobody will be around to keep the flocks, plant the crops, and really keep life going – because we don’t know how to and don’t want to do it for ourselves).

 Further, and because I want to justify this stance in some way, we feel that it is our right to rule over you. Why you ask? Well, because we don’t like the way the laws are set up and we don’t like the rules you have.  They aren’t fair to us and they don’t provide a way for us to not work and still enjoy all the benefits.  After all, that’s why most of us ‘dissented’ from you in the first place. We think in our minds that we should rule over you, (and you didn’t let us rule over you while we were there) and that makes you wicked therefore we think it is our ‘right’ to rule over you now (again/still).

 Please understand noble Lachoneus, that we have no intentions of being civil, instituting or living by justice, common sense, reality, or anything else (because we are totally free) and if left to ourselves we will probably run the city and your crops into the ground like we’ve done elsewhere because it would be hard work to maintain order and keep up with everything, and we both know that’s one of the reasons we ran away and complained about your system in the first place.  So, in summary, please give us your city because we can’t build or maintain any of our own.

 Giddianhi

If we think that freedom is being ‘free’ from any and all rules, responsibilities, duties, restrictions, expectations, or any other external factor that we feel prevents us from being truly free to do whatever we want, whenever we want, for no other reason that our simple desire – we have a very limited view of freedom – we limit it to our being free from something – and by doing that we prevent ourselves from actually being free to something.  Freedom to something is the actual capacity and resources and ability to make a choice – or do something.  I can enjoy the temporary feeling of being free from my piano teacher, but not without forfeiting my freedom to actually learn how to play the piano.  The freedom to play the piano by necessity includes bondage to practice.

Freedom, the true and real and lasting kind of freedom – is binding.  It permanently binds us to things (especially responsibilities).  Just ask Moroni, who indicated to Zerahemnah that “the sacred support, which we owe to our wives and our children, by that liberty which binds us…”⁷ was in fact the very thing that strengthened them (allowing them to prevail in battle).  Pahoran, in his epic response to Moroni’s scathing letter, also indicated that “the spirit of freedom” is in fact “the spirit of God”⁸ and I don’t think for one second that God acts the same way as Giddianhi (wishing to be free from his duties).  God has a whole lot of responsibility on his plate, and yet, somehow he is the freest of all beings.

Somehow, somewhere we got confused and forgot that true freedom isn’t the fairy tale idea of not having anyone to answer to, or having any responsibilities, or any authority figures at all.  Too many complain that “they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; nothwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them”.⁹

Before we think that this is just a political context, – please know that this is most definitely a universal context and a family context – and that freedom from one thing is slavery to another.  “Freedom from evil is slavery to goodness”.¹⁰

There are many in the world today who act like Giddianhi and ‘free’ themselves of the duties, responsibilities, and expectations of any long-term commitment (including commitments they have made contractually) all while claiming that it is their ‘right’ to avoid or leave any commitment if at any time it suits their fancy (i.e. when it gets hard or inconvenient or they just get tired) or if they’d simply like to be ‘free’ of all the interference.  If however, (and when) we fail to give ourselves an excuse or an alternative (when we bind ourselves fully) – the untapped capacity to dig deeper inside us is triggered, and suddenly we understand what the ‘bonds’ of freedom really are.  “In this sense, our bonds are our liberation.  Until being ‘forced’ by such voluntary commitment, we may never tap into the reservoirs of strength and compassion we carry within ourselves”.¹¹

In our effort to be free from the obstacles that would prevent our progress, let’s not hesitate when we see the bonds of liberation being offered to us by the Lord.

Notes

1. If people are not allowed to choose between good and bad, they will never choose badly, and thus there will be no sin. If there is no sin, there is no need for repentance and no need for a savior to take upon himself the pains and sickness of his people in order to overcome death and redeem them from sin.  Thus, Satan proposed a way to save everyone without having to actually save anyone or do anything at all except ‘free’ everyone from the positive and spiritual development opportunities brought about by the effects of sin (grief, guilt, remorse, humility, repentance, increased love, service, etc.).
2. Moses 5:31-33
3. Alma 30:13 (see also verse 23 referencing ordinances)
4. Colby mentioned some of Giddianhi’s qualities here.
5. We all complain about school and the never ending assignments, projects, tests, etc. (wishing to be free from them) without realizing that the bondage of school is the very thing that makes us free to be something by giving us options in life and for a career.
6. This letter is so awesome, and one blog post cannot do it justice – so please read the entire story found in 3 Ne. 3 (and surrounding chapters).
7. Alma 44:5
8. Alma 61:15
9. 12:6
10. This is a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. (as quoted by Tim Ballard in The Lincoln Hypothesis) pg. 207.
11. The Belonging Heart, by Bruce C. and Marie K Hafen. 182

Every time I see someone playing the guitar or the piano skillfully I think to myself “I wish I could do that” – and I really do wish it.  I have a strong interest in playing the piano and the guitar (among many other things) as well as anyone in the world.  The problem is that I don’t have an interest in actually practicing.  I don’t have an interest in spending the time that is required in order to learn to play well or learn new songs.  It seems that I only have an interest in having a talent miraculously bestowed upon me – which could also mean that I really don’t have an interest in learning to play these instruments at all.  I only have an interest in wishing I could.¹

This same idea could be said for anything that is difficult or that requires a lot of effort.  In fact, there are literally hundreds of things that I have an interest in doing well, but don’t have a strong enough interest to actually practice or spend time to develop them.  This seems to be a problem with my talent development.

In fairness, there are some things that I do actually work hard at, and I feel that I am even improving (even if I acknowledge that my improvement is modest).  Yet, with that same realization comes the understanding that for real and measured and sustainable improvement to continue, a lot of effort is required.  This process may also increase our respect for some individuals who in fact do that thing extremely well (i.e. professionals in the field or activity) which we are attempting to develop within ourselves.  This can foster motivation and emulation.

Last summer I decided that I had an interest in doing a triathlon.  After all, how hard could it be to swim (I’ve gone swimming a thousand times), ride a bike (we’ve all done that since we were 4), and run a little (I learned to walk/run when I was 1).  At first this interest was just a ‘wish’ – but then I started to actually let that interest work within me and signed up for a triathlon (sprint distance).  I felt confident in my ability as a “formerly decent high school athlete” and in my somewhat-active lifestyle as an “occasional church and friendly neighborhood pick up basketball game player” to somehow be able to perform each of these disciplines in succession with minimal effort.

Then I went swimming (for distance, not for fun) one time. That’s all it took.

The swim distance (for a sprint triathlon) is 800 meters.  For reference, that’s only 2 laps around a regular sized track.  That’s it.  How hard could it be?  With no formal swim training, a sufficient ego, and plenty of naiveté I went to the pool (6 weeks before race day) on day 1 of training with lofty goals.  I jumped in, fastened my swim goggles, and off I went.  By the time I was completely gassed, I stopped to assess the situation and measure my baseline effort and wonder why my entire body was hurting and I murmured internally about the non-stop difficulty of not sinking to the bottom of the pool.  Somehow it surprised me that the moment I stopped swimming I started sinking.  I had struggled mightily to swim 50 meters (that’s two measly laps in a standard 25-meter pool).  Suddenly I realized just how amazing Michael Phelps really is and I had to make a decision on just how ‘interested’ I was in actually completing a triathlon.

A similar situation that I can relate is my interest in earning an MBA (Masters of Business Administration).  I have always wanted an MBA to round out my business education, yet what continually prevents this from happening is the list of requirements to actually earn one.  I get hung up on actually taking the required pre-application GMAT or GRE test, applying to MBA schools, without even mentioning the commitment of actually paying the tuition, going to class, doing the homework, studying, completing the projects, (you know, actually earning the MBA).  Needless to say, I have not earned my MBA and my supposed interest is waning.  In all reality, we get to decide how interested we really are in things once reality (the list of requirements) is presented to us, and we get to decide all along the way if we are still ‘interested’ as we start the process and understand just what that reality means as we continue forward and struggle to improve.

Only those who have actually struggled through the process of repeated pain and effort (regardless of what talent or goal it is), or who have let their ‘interest’ in that thing to lead them to real and marked improvement can relate to those who are like minded.  The rest of us just think to ourselves “that would be nice if…” or maybe even “it’s probably not that hard – I could do it if I wanted” or “those guys are just weird.”  We likely think that being able to do something incredible is just ‘given’ to other people that we see – because that’s what we ‘wish’ would happen to us.

The more you struggle through and begin to overcome (see results) – your love for that thing increases, and your ‘interest’ is deepened.  Deepened to the point where we may be searching for ‘plans’ or ‘programs’ or ‘mentors’ to help guide us in our quest to become even better.  We start to look for additional routines and techniques, tips and tricks, and suddenly we find ourselves enveloped in the process of ‘becoming’ more and more.  Because when we are truly ‘interested’ in something, we are interested in actually practicing and thinking about and trying to improve that something – and find ourselves willing to go to whatever lengths are required while someone who isn’t comfortable giving 110% effort for that thing wouldn’t feel comfortable wanting to train with those who do, and would quickly realize that they are actually more interested in something or someone else.

What are we interested in?  Is our interest merely a wish, or do we let it guide us to repeated thought and action and to actively developing our talents and skills and love for that thing?  Or, are we too easily deterred by the list of entry requirements or our first effort at improving?

King Benjamin gave us the answer; one in which he had a bunch of people express their ‘interest’ in something.  After he had given them an amazing and promotional advertisement for salvation outlining the benefits of the “kingdom of God” they (his audience) all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

In other words, they said “we have an interest in being part of the kingdom of God.  Apply the atonement to us.  We want to be saved.”

And king Benjamin again opened his mouth and began to speak unto them, saying: My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you.

In other words, he said “okay, here is a list of the requirements for the thing which you desire.”

1. Trust in the Lord, be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life
2. Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.
3. Believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you;
4. And now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.
5. Ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come
6. Ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.
7. Ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another…
8. Ye will teach them (your children) to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.
9. Ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

Disclaimer:

Perhaps thou shalt say: The man (who is in need or is asking for succor) has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

In other words, he said “this is a list of things that bring salvation, and it includes a whole lot of ‘doing’.  You may even look to excuse yourself from actually doing some of the things on this list for seemingly rational reasons or because of other people’s actions or your assumptions of their situation.”

“But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this (stay his hand, a.k.a not complete and live and do the requirements on this list, a.k.a withhold your succor and/or your ministering effort)… the same hath no interest in the kingdom of God.²

 In other words, he says “if you don’t try and actually do these things, you really aren’t interested, you’re only wishing.”

 King Benjamin did not say that they couldn’t be saved, but he did say that they “hath no interest in the kingdom of God.”  I think this means they really won’t have an interest in it – and wouldn’t like participating in the activities there anyway.

Training for a triathlon (especially real ones – like an Ironman) is made up of a whole lot of swimming, biking, and running.  Mix in some nutrition plans, some strength training, and some brick workouts, proper sleeping habits and mental toughness exercises that will be never ending for as long as you want to be a triathlete – because that is what it means to be a triathlete or to belong to the kingdom of triathletes.  If you aren’t interested (in love with and finding joy in) the training regimen, you are in fact uninterested in becoming a triathlete.  As a note, the end result of all that training is actually a race that includes a lot of swimming, biking, and running.  Imagine this voice on race day: “Congratulations, all of your swim, bike, and run training has earned you the right to swim, bike, and run with other people who love it just like you.”

Training for the kingdom of God is made up of a whole lot of serving, ministering, succoring, teaching, sacrificing, feeling and caring for the sick and the needy, believing, hoping, praying, and loving.  These activities will be never ending for as long as you want to be part of the kingdom of God.  If you aren’t really interested in these activities, or if you cannot find joy in performing these duties, or if you think that by somehow completing enough of them to ‘earn’ your MBA in Christianity (or if you just want these talents to somehow be bestowed upon you) – you are in fact uninterested in belonging to the kingdom.  Heaven is made up of a bunch of people doing kingdom of God training exercises all the time. Imagine this voice on race day “Congratulations, all of your repeated succor, care, blessing, teaching, ministering, and sacrifice training has earned you the right to succor, care, bless, teach, and minister to people who love it just like you.”

The means really are the very ends that we so earnestly seek.  To learn to love the process is to understand what heaven is really like.

I am hoping for the kingdom of God.  I am wishing for the kingdom of God. But am I really interested in the kingdom of God?

Notes

¹ This is a touchy subject for me.  Mostly because I feel like ‘wishing’ or ‘hoping’ that somehow a talent or gift could just be mine (without the struggle to develop and earn that talent) is in fact a strong talent of mine. I have given multiple lessons on ‘talents’ and have been free to disclose that one of my strengths is identifying desirable qualities in others and ‘wishing’ I had them.  In full honesty, I then also disclose that I am not willing to actually work for any of them, thus highlighting (with levity) the gap between the two ideas.

² Mosiah 4:2-18

I know it’s a bit late and Christmas has already come and gone, but let’s pause for just a moment to remember the story of the well known Christmas song the “Little Drummer Boy.”  This song – also knows as “Carol of the Drum” tells the story of a drummer boy who is summoned to see “the new born king”, and is encouraged to bring his finest gifts to lay before this new king.  Yet, this boy – being poor – has no gifts to bring, at least no gifts fit to give a king especially compared with others.  That spot – the one where the drummer boy finds himself – that’s where I want us to go mentally.  Go to the place where you have to think deeply and honestly about what gift you could possibly bring to “the new born king.”

Now, let’s change gears and go to another place in time (the old world long before the first Christmas):

In chapter 2 of Ether we are with the Jaredites (prior to their great journey across the sea) and the brother of Jared is concerned that their vessels don’t have any light and he is a bit nervous about the long journey without it (not to mention there are women and children that may have expressed some hesitation about 344 days in the dark).  He mentioned this problem to the Lord in verse 19 but didn’t get a satisfactory resolution from the Lord – so he brings it up again in verse 22.

The 2^nd time he brings it up, he doesn’t ask the Lord to solve the problem, he just states that “there is no light” in the vessels and then asks the Lord if it is his will that they cross the great water in darkness.  The Lords answer (in verse 23) is a question – “what will ye that I should do”?  The Lord then explains to the brother of Jared all of the reasons that normal thinking and construction won’t work on these vessels, and that the Lord has indeed ‘prepared’ the Jaredites for this journey.  Then, the Lord asks the same question again; “what will ye that I shall prepare for you (that ye may have light)”?  Thus, the brother of Jared is left in the same place as the little drummer boy.  Deep and honest self examination to decide what on earth could I bring to the king?

So often we find ourselves in this place.  We are asked or called to lead a group, teach a class, give a lesson, build a boat, cross the sea, raise a family, be an eternal companion, home teach our friends, and make a difference in the world – and we look around and see what everyone else has to give and are left wondering what we have to offer.  We must then ask ourselves (just like the drummer and the brother of Jared) what do I have to give that is unique, special, or even worth giving to someone so important, and how could I ever give enough?

The little drummer boy likely thought about his predicament seriously, and maybe even became nervous, anxious, or petrified about it – and I think that the brother of Jared did the same.  If the brother of Jared is anything like the rest of us, he probably walked home from his prayer very slowly and with a heavy heart.  Not heavy with pain or sorrow, but heavy with responsibility and stewardship and pondering the challenge.  He was probably thinking to himself; what can I do?  How can I provide light to this whole party?  How can I measure up to that task?  What on earth can I do that will give light to these 8 barges while we cross the ocean? He probably asked his wife what she thought he could do. He probably asked his family, friends, and certainly his brother.  They probably all gave him advice to the tune of “this is what I would do”, or gave him support, or maybe they just told him “you’ll figure it out.” This likely gave him several options, many of which could have worked just fine – but they didn’t seem right.

A few months ago, I was asked/called to be the president of the Young Men organization in our ward.  Immediately, those same thoughts went through my head; what can I bring to these boys?  What can I do?  What can I teach?  How can I teach?  What approach should I take?  How can I make a difference?  I could feel the same weight of responsibility on my shoulders.  I know that this feeling has and will come many of us as we accept a new calling or responsibility (if it hasn’t happened to you yet – it will).  I also think we can learn much from the little drummer boy and from the brother of Jared in how they processed the various options in their minds, and then ultimately in how they responded to that challenge.

I doubt the little drummer boy just decided to play his drum for the king because he couldn’t think of anything else to give – I think in the end he felt like it was his duty to play the drum because that is what he did best.  He knew that even if other people were able to give gifts of great worth that wouldn’t be right coming from him (nor could he give those gifts, because let’s not forget who this boy is – he is the little drummer boy), the thing that he was the best at was drumming, and that is what he was going to give.  His very best effort using his very best talent.  He was humble enough to realize that his drumming talents that he had worked so hard to develop would have to be enough – and if there was anyone who could recognize and appreciate all the effort, love, and desire that went into his emotional drumming – it was this new king.

Just like the little drummer boy, I don’t think the brother of Jared chose stones because they were easy or convenient, or even practical in their size.  I don’t think he chose stones because that was the best idea the Jaredite group could come up with.  I think he chose stones because that is what he knew the very best.  In Ether 3:1 it reads that the brother of Jared “did molten out of a rock sixteen small stones.”  Molting already paints a picture of hard work, patience, and attention to detail – yet there is one more piece of the puzzle.  The footnote on the word “molten” leads us to the topical guide (TG) to study the word “skill”. Then, as we review the word “skill” in the TG, we also see that it says “see also Art.”  Skill and art and their various synonyms are not words used to describe 6^th grade science reports (and they aren’t even used to describe any of the college science projects that I’ve seen) and they certainly wouldn’t be used in this situation if the brother of Jared had just wandered around the mountain and picked up 16 small-ish stones.  Skill and Art are used together with molting to describe professionals, accomplished craftsmen, and projects or treasures that take months or years to complete.  Let us remember that while we continue this story (and as they pertain to the little drummer boy).

I think that the brother of Jared may have considered many different ideas to present to the Lord, and many of them were probably fantastic ideas (and he may have even tried some).  He may have tried to go outside of his comfort zone (which is encouraged), or he may have even considered moving forward with something that he had seen others do in the past – yet in the end they just didn’t seem right.  So, the brother of Jared used his skill and his art and his talent to “molten out of a rock sixteen small stones” – or in other words, he skillfully crafted sixteen smooth, transparent, glass-like stones and carried them humbly up to the top of the mount to present his best effort to the Lord.

I played my drum for him pa rum pum pum pum

I played my best for him pa rum pum pum

Put yourself in the Lord’s shoes during this time (watching the brother of Jared use his hard work, time consuming skill to artfully craft some seriously awesome stones out of the mountain) – knowing full well the level of effort, care, thought, and love that is going into the process.  Don’t forget – the whole reason the brother of Jared asked for light is that he didn’t want his party to cross the ocean in the dark.  With that love and admiration for watching the brother of Jared work and really bring his best offering in mind – what the Lord does next is so amazing (I’m not talking about showing himself to the brother of Jared, the veil being rent, his faith becoming a perfect knowledge, because even though that is amazing, as its captured in Ether 3:2-22); It’s what happens after that that we need to remember – I’m going for the next line in the drummer boy’s tale…

Then he smiled at me….

Please imagine the scene – really imagine it.  The Lord has watched the brother of Jared search his soul and counsel with his family for the best possible solution, only to humbly identify his own unique talent – a talent that maybe nobody else in the Jaredite party had – and then he maxed out his effort using that skill and art to create a set of smooth, beautiful, amazing stones to present to the Lord with a singular purpose in mind – so that he can “prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness.”  This is such a humble and amazing approach to the situation.  I can only imagine the smile on the Lord’s face as the brother of Jared presented his gift – a truly unique gift and solution to the problem.  One that only he could bring.

Yes, the Lord smiled, and presented himself in spirit as a gift to the brother of Jared (see Ether 3:2-22).  But, after that, the Lord does something truly remarkable (and perhaps if the little drummer boy song had another verse it would contain something to do with what the drummer boy received in return) – he gives a gift to the brother of Jared.  So the question is; if you are the Lord, what do you give the man who just maxed out his effort, his skill, and his unique art in making beautiful and transparent stones to provide light in the darkness?

In verse 23-25 the Lord says “and behold, these two stones will I give unto thee… these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men these things…” and just to make sure that the brother of Jared knew how well these special stones worked “he [the Lord] showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth.”  The Lord gives the brother of Jared the ultimate gift of skillfully and artfully molted stones.  He gives him a Urim and Thummim – two stones that will truly illuminate and magnify – just like the stones that the brother of Jared prepared. Who better to care for, appreciate, and look after the Urim and Thummim¹ than the brother of Jared?  Who else could appreciate the power and perfection and beauty of these two stones?  Just imagine how this made the brother of Jared feel.

Sometimes when we are presented with a challenge, or a new calling, or a difficult situation, we may think that we need to be or act or do something different than who we are – and I think that if we just understand and accept that we have something inside of us that is uniquely us – something that only we have to give, that is what the Lord wants.  He wants the very best of what is us – but remember that he wants every bit of it.  He wants to watch us search our souls, identify what makes us unique and special, and embrace that to the fullest so that we can present our drumming or our stone making in the way that only we know how – and then give it away so that he can smile at us, and then give us two additional stones that are truly magnificent.

Notes

¹ It is of note that the words Urim and Thummim are often translated directly as lights and perfections – especially in the context of this story of where and why they were given to the brother of Jared.

A few weeks ago I was reading a book where the author made a point using a particular scripture in a context that I had not thought of.  This allowed me to see more of it’s full meaning – especially when I compared it with other scriptures (which I will also share).  I had read the passage before, but had either forgotten about it or had not understood it fully until it was delivered in the context that it was, which allowed it to finally stick in my mind and more importantly to understand its importance.

D&C 29:34-35

“Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.  Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual.”

I would just like to highlight the absolute-ness of the word ‘all’ as used above.  All means all.  All means every single thing.  It’s opposites (‘neither’ or ‘no’ or ‘not at any time’) are also used to further emphasize the all-ness of it.  Here are some related passages:

Moses 6:63

And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.

Alma 30:44

…the scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

2 Ne. 11:4

Behold, my soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.

So, let’s recap what we’ve learned so far – all things:

1. Are spiritual unto God
2. Have their likeness (can be seen as ‘types’) that bear record of Christ.
3. Have been created for that express purpose (to bear record of Christ)
4. Denote or witness (prove) that there is a God
5. Are the typifying of him (Christ)

At first glance, this list might seem obvious, but let’s not forget exactly what ‘all’ means.  It really does mean all.  Yes, it means that the more obvious things like attending church and partaking of the sacrament, and reading the scriptures are spiritual and point us to Christ, but it also means that all of our daily activities and even (seemingly) temporal commandments like food storage, debt avoidance, tithing, the word of wisdom, the law of Moses, church ball, and every last one of the programs and commandments and suggestions given by the church, are also spiritual and are ‘the typifying of him’ and have been created to bear record of him (Christ).  If we haven’t seen how that is possible, it is because we aren’t looking or we are attempting to place temporal and spiritual things into separate boxes when they should all be in the same (spiritual) box.

But, we aren’t talking about just the commandments; could all things really mean that folding the laundry, washing the dishes, getting dressed each day, mopping the floor, fixing the doorknob that broke, getting the oil changed in my car, driving to work, scrubbing the toilet, or any one of the billion other tasks that we do as humans in this world (at home, at school, at play) can and will testify of and point me to Christ?”  Yes.

What about newsworthy issues in the world today?  Constant war, crime, terrorism, non-stop litigation, pornography, genocide, increasingly hostile political climates, opinions, or organizations, advertisements on TV, social media, rampant bullying (in person and via social media), and the disintegration of tolerance and the increasing barrage or indifference towards free speech, rights, the constitution, political kindness and the importance and sanctity of the traditional family unit?  Yes – these things are all spiritual and are the typifying of him.

If that weren’t enough to open our eyes, we can rest assured that every single commandment (morals laws, remember) that we’ve ever been given (including the ones that we think are just in place to make our temporal or non-church lives easier) ‘are spiritual unto God’.  He said so himself.  Every single commandment – whether it comes from his mouth or the mouths of his prophets – is a spiritual commandment.  Remember that he said “not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal.”  That’s pretty absolute.

What this means for all of us, is that ordinary life, and the mostly unglamorous parts of that life that we all live (full of its seemingly unending and often frustrating, repetitive and non-spiritual details), are way more spiritually important than we might have realized.  In the abstract, this seems logical and even amazing right?  We get to live and participate in the daily happenings of an earth patterned after heaven, all while every single thing we see points to nurturing and teaching some of God’s precious children through various means and amazingly spiritual scenarios.  I wonder if in the pre-existence we marveled at  this thought, viewed all of the simple yet profound things that we could see on earth and the patterns of commonplace things that are present here (as they were in heaven) and we thought to ourselves “how can we not succeed in that spiritual wonderland”?

However, what happens is we get slapped in the face with real life where things never go exactly as planned, we forgot who we are, where we came from, we have these weird and complex physical bodies that we struggle to master, and in our homes nobody cleans up after themselves, messes seem to appear out of nowhere, homework doesn’t get done, stuff breaks all the time, kids fight, and we get sucked into the realization that some if not all of the tasks (cooking dinner, running kids around, going to work every day, paying bills, being an adult, having responsibilities, etc.) that we thought made up a spiritual wonderland (before we actually experienced them) seem to be the very things that develop the most disruption, and present themselves as the most non-spiritual, time consuming, and energy-draining moments imaginable.  Combine those chores with the complexities of the emotional world where God’s other children are given full agency to ‘choose for themselves’ creating a spiderweb of consequences that we didn’t realize add up and weigh heavily on our individual perception of reality. If we are honest, we’d rather not be doing most of these chores at all (I don’t like to sweep the kitchen or do the dishes) – so what possible explanation could there be that these activities and stressful consequences are somehow sacred and spiritual, when they feel like anything but?

I would love to provide that explanation, but the fact is I can’t even answer it – at least not the way I’d like to.  You are welcome.  But, please thoughtfully consider the question.

I will offer this additional information for your pondering that question: we read in the Bible Dictionary that “only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.”  I think part of the explanation has to do with our everyday, repetitive, chore laden homes being that spiritual wonderland that we previewed from heaven despite the chaos, and maybe even because of the chaos, when we remember what it is we do there.

Sometimes we become frustrated when we try to compare our homes to the temple because the only factors we are using for comparison are spot-free cleanliness, white clothing, celestial décor, and the presence of courteous whispers.  We try to use like for like comparisons – which may not be appropriate. It says that our homes are the only places that compare with the sacredness of the temple, but it didn’t and doesn’t mention anything about the need for perfect cleanliness, reverent whispers, fancy chandeliers, or white clothing.

Let’s think about what we do at the temple, and maybe more importantly, why we do it.  Each of the ordinances (steps) performed in the temple prepare us to receive something more – but the temple also teaches us that the only way to receive that something more is by being driven out of the garden of Eden where everything is awesome into a world full of problems – just where we find ourselves these days – and overcome it.  And we overcome it by working through it day by day and minute by minute one step at a time.

The crowning ordinance performed in the temple is the creation of an eternal family unit – the sealing of a husband and wife together for all eternity.  And by ‘creation’ we mean the starting point.   The temple creates a new family unit, and then in our homes every single day during the laborious chores of life (i.e. life outside of the garden of Eden) take us in and out and up and down and all around while that development process is continued, strengthened, tested, and refined over and over and over again.  We learn about it in the temple, but we practice it at home.

Our home is the best place to understand that without misery there can be no happiness, and without pain there can be no joy.  Our home is also the best place for us to understand how “their journeyings in the land, their sufferings, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their incomprehensible joy”¹ all fit perfectly into the same sentence.  Our home is the only place where we can somehow be satisfied when we see the results of our long, hard and thankless work wiped away by a simple smile, or an innocent giggle from one of our precious children.  In that small moment, we can feel and we can somehow understand what sacred really means – and how our home can indeed be the most sacred place of all because of what we are doing and becoming there.  Then, we start to feel completely overwhelmed with gratitude that fills our hearts because the Lord allows us such a privilege to help build his kingdom by building its inhabitants.

Perhaps this is what we need to understand; that normal, everyday home life is presenting each of us with a multitude of opportunities to capitalize on the opposition, trials, and learning in the most common of all circumstances.  And since God loves us, he gives us a lot of chances to learn and to help us “establish [our own] house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God”² just like his.  We just need to look for the smiles that help us remember why – because there is no other way.

As we start to see things “as they really are, and things as they really will be”,⁴ we can start to see the Savior in all things.   We will see that Jesus himself worked, walked, clothed, washed, fed, swept, gathered, dried tears, helped, healed, restored, fished, played, talked, and did every other seemingly unspiritual and mundane activity (in this same fallen world we live in) all while teaching his friends the greatest truths, overcoming death, and redeeming all of creation.

Let all of us look for ways in which our homes and daily lives can help us to remember that all things bear record of him, all things are the typifying of him, and that all things are spiritual.  That is what Jesus did.

Notes

¹ Alma 28:8

² D&C 88:119

³ Jacob 4:13