Easter svithe
For people who only read my blog and not those of my friends, "svithe" is a lovely word invented by Th. to describe his weekly religously-themed posts. I don't plan on starting a tradition of weekly religous/philosophical musings, but I do have occasional thoughts that might be interesting to share. Also, I'm not very good at expressing my feelings and opinions on things, so I hope that the practice of writing will help me get better at organizing and articulating them.
The other night I was reading chapter 4 of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, which includes King Benjamin's speech to his people. As I read the familiar words starting in verse 13 that list all the things we should be doing in order to be righteous people (not letting our children fight, giving generously and unjudgementally to those in need, living peaceably with others, etc), I started to get that familiar uncomfortable feeling that I am a selfish, petty person incapable of truly loving others. But then I looked back a few verses, to verses 9-11, and I had a sudden realization. King Benjamin isn't just commanding us to be nicer and to live better lives, he's listing the end results of a process outlined a few verses earlier. In verse 9 we are told that we should have faith in God, then in verse 10 we learn that we need to repent and be humble in order to let God into our lives, and in verse 11 we find out that it's important to keep praying and seeking God diligently every day in order to keep His influence in our lives. Verse 12 tells us that if we are diligent in enduring to the end we will receive forgiveness for our sins, feel the love of God, and increase in our knowledge of who He is and of His love. Then verse 13 starts in with all the heavy stuff that seems like a whole lot of little things we have to do in order to be perfect. But, God isn't just commanding us to do those things on our own or anything. He uses the verb "will" here, but it's not a command. It's a description of the result of our coming closer to God and feeling his spirit and influence more fully in our lives. Therefore, when he says "You 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", it's not so much a commandment that we need to screw up our self-control and try harder on our own to be kind. It's letting us know how wonderful life can be if we live closer to our Heavenly Father and allow Him to influence us.
This actually wasn't a completely new revelation for me. Several years ago, while serving as a missionary, I decided that one of my favorite scriptures was Moroni 7:45, which lists all the attributes of charity, or Christlike love. I decided that I was going to have that kind of love for everyone, and I tried very hard to do it. When my companions were irritating or the work got hard, I gritted my teeth and reminded myself that "charity suffereth long and is kind". If I wasn't doing a very good job, I thought about verse 46 which tells us that without charity we are "nothing". I didn't do a very good job of being charitable, and that made me feel guilty and irritable and even less charitable than I had before. Then one day I read the last few verses after my new favorite verse, and I realized that I had it all wrong. After discussing why charity is so important, Mormon tells us in verse 48 how we get to have this kind of love. And it's not by gritting our teeth and just trying harder to be kind and patient. We have to ask for it and live worthy of it. It's a gift from God, not something we take on ourselves. It's not even possible to accomplish by on our own--we have to ask for His help in being charitable.
As it often does, the discussion of the true meaning of words such as "easy" or "simple" came up today in Sacrament meeting. That's probably a subject best left for another post, but I feel that I have come to see the gospel as something much more simply beautiful, and much more mysteriously difficult, since reading these scriptures more closely. I love the idea of change: another favorite scripture of mine is Isaiah 61:1-3, where the Lord tells us His mission is to completely change our lives and make us whole, beautiful and perfect. Life is imperfect, unfair, and difficult. But seeking the Lord's help is not easy either and it can't just be done once. But if we do our best as well as ask for His help, perhaps we can experience more holiness in our lives. I know that I am a vain, selfish, mean person, and I don't like that about myself. But I still have faith that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me". Hopefully that small bit of faith will be enough to make me into the kind of person I truly want to be.
The other night I was reading chapter 4 of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon, which includes King Benjamin's speech to his people. As I read the familiar words starting in verse 13 that list all the things we should be doing in order to be righteous people (not letting our children fight, giving generously and unjudgementally to those in need, living peaceably with others, etc), I started to get that familiar uncomfortable feeling that I am a selfish, petty person incapable of truly loving others. But then I looked back a few verses, to verses 9-11, and I had a sudden realization. King Benjamin isn't just commanding us to be nicer and to live better lives, he's listing the end results of a process outlined a few verses earlier. In verse 9 we are told that we should have faith in God, then in verse 10 we learn that we need to repent and be humble in order to let God into our lives, and in verse 11 we find out that it's important to keep praying and seeking God diligently every day in order to keep His influence in our lives. Verse 12 tells us that if we are diligent in enduring to the end we will receive forgiveness for our sins, feel the love of God, and increase in our knowledge of who He is and of His love. Then verse 13 starts in with all the heavy stuff that seems like a whole lot of little things we have to do in order to be perfect. But, God isn't just commanding us to do those things on our own or anything. He uses the verb "will" here, but it's not a command. It's a description of the result of our coming closer to God and feeling his spirit and influence more fully in our lives. Therefore, when he says "You 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", it's not so much a commandment that we need to screw up our self-control and try harder on our own to be kind. It's letting us know how wonderful life can be if we live closer to our Heavenly Father and allow Him to influence us.
This actually wasn't a completely new revelation for me. Several years ago, while serving as a missionary, I decided that one of my favorite scriptures was Moroni 7:45, which lists all the attributes of charity, or Christlike love. I decided that I was going to have that kind of love for everyone, and I tried very hard to do it. When my companions were irritating or the work got hard, I gritted my teeth and reminded myself that "charity suffereth long and is kind". If I wasn't doing a very good job, I thought about verse 46 which tells us that without charity we are "nothing". I didn't do a very good job of being charitable, and that made me feel guilty and irritable and even less charitable than I had before. Then one day I read the last few verses after my new favorite verse, and I realized that I had it all wrong. After discussing why charity is so important, Mormon tells us in verse 48 how we get to have this kind of love. And it's not by gritting our teeth and just trying harder to be kind and patient. We have to ask for it and live worthy of it. It's a gift from God, not something we take on ourselves. It's not even possible to accomplish by on our own--we have to ask for His help in being charitable.
As it often does, the discussion of the true meaning of words such as "easy" or "simple" came up today in Sacrament meeting. That's probably a subject best left for another post, but I feel that I have come to see the gospel as something much more simply beautiful, and much more mysteriously difficult, since reading these scriptures more closely. I love the idea of change: another favorite scripture of mine is Isaiah 61:1-3, where the Lord tells us His mission is to completely change our lives and make us whole, beautiful and perfect. Life is imperfect, unfair, and difficult. But seeking the Lord's help is not easy either and it can't just be done once. But if we do our best as well as ask for His help, perhaps we can experience more holiness in our lives. I know that I am a vain, selfish, mean person, and I don't like that about myself. But I still have faith that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me". Hopefully that small bit of faith will be enough to make me into the kind of person I truly want to be.
Comments
That was a fascinating point--that that list of things is not a requirement but a forthcoming blessing. I like that. Thank you.