Weight of the World

Have you ever felt the weight of the world?  

Yesterday in Relief Society, the lesson was on President Benson's talk on Pride.  Beware of Pride. The teacher highlighted a scripture, found in Ezekiel 16:49-50.

"Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.  

And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good."

Our fabulous teacher highlighted the verse for its application to the lesson, namely the featuring of pride.  The other points were an afterthought.  The iniquity of the city of Sodom was pride, as well as other things.

The teacher read the list, took a breath at this part of the verse, and then began into the next verse.

This was the part she omitted: "Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."

Is taking care of the poor and needy such an afterthought that it doesn't even make it into the list of latter-day abominations?  It is an afterthought!  In fact, a no thought.

As one of the 4-fold missions of the Church, I found its omission in the discussion startling.

I sat there, hoping we would come back to this point.  I waited for someone else to highlight it too.  I even raised my hand at one point, but the teacher didn't see it and was steadily moving on, so I put it back down.  (I've already made a few too many waves of late, so didn't feel like starting another soapbox.)  This day I was not up for a heated heart in a potentially heated discussion.  I think my heart died a little.

WHEN will it be acknowledged a SIN that we refuse to STRENGTHEN the HAND of the POOR and NEEDY?  When will it not be a burden, but a pleasure?

There are so many extravagances in this country.  So many expectations, and taken-for-granteds.  I heard the sisters jump on board in despising pride, yet we walk in it.  We swim in it.  We boast of it!

I posted the following in my Ward Facebook page last week.

Brothers and Sisters, I want to thank _____ ______ for drawing this to my attention today. I hope no one minds me sharing some thoughts about the message she shared.

The cause of the Christians in the Middle East has been heavy on my heart since the start of the new year, when a friend asked me to pray for Baghdad as ISIS was pressing near. I have had my head in the sand politically for a long time, and have simply believed all I could do was pray for these people. _____ shared a link where as individuals we can mark what we personally can do, (at this point it is specifically in pressing the government), together to remove the restrictions for CHRISTIAN refugees. This page gathers our info for how we can commit to help. The Church has committed up to $1 million in donations to this crisis, but it is currently foreign aid only. Currently the US is only open to Syrian refugees, so there is little we can do at home beyond prayer. However the US gov't will NOT justify bringing in Christians. These are our brothers and sisters, and this is not a partisan issue. It is a true humanitarian crisis.

Will you please prayerfully consider what your family would be willing to do to help? I personally would be happy to volunteer any funds relegated to our social activities, ward parties, scouting activities, etc, but I am just one member out of hundreds. Would you be willing to ask that our ward activity funds be offered in service as food, shelter, raiment for these souls? How about our Holiday Dinner funds? We have shown very easily how well we can put together a pot luck for Linger Longer. Can we together voice our support of donation of resources, whatever we may have?

I believe the heavens are watching, truly, to see if we are willing to respond. While there are several organizations I have seen cropping up, asking for donations, I appreciate that this one is not just interested in money, but tangible service, opening of homes, and true agape in the pure love of Christ. I share this here because as a ward family I believe we can do this with greater strength together than separately. I hope the fact that Glenn Beck is a political activist does not repel anyone from considering this opportunity. Last night he spoke in the Brandon, FL, Stake, regarding this opportunity. I hope and pray the message spreads. If you prefer another organization to consider, please, by all means, share some links.

We are on the cusp of the 4th blood moon in a tetrad of blood moons over Jewish holy days. I believe these are signs, just as the scriptures alert. We are being warned. Today marks the Jewish New Year, which Christ would have celebrated the end of the Schmitah, or 7th year, the year of rest. This evening marks the start of a Jubilee year. It is a big, big deal. May we celebrate, please, and remember what Jesus was truly about. Mosiah 3-4.

Thank you, _______, for sharing this. now.mercuryone.org

Would you like to see the follow up comments?  Here is the first, after I tagged the Bishop's wife.

"I appreciate the need for donating to worthy causes. As with anything, each person and family can elect to help. I would caution on expecting the local ward to donate funds. The church has a humanitarian arm where they do what they can and feel is best in the situation. The local funds are set aside for the care of the local members. I don’t know the exact process, but I doubt there are ever excess funds; what is remaining off of events and projects is often put to the members in need. I know that in our hearts we would like to care for those overseas, but the local ward funds are probably not the way to go. This isn’t a commentary on the need or validity of this project. I just doubt that the ward can donate official funds."

Well I expected as much.  Yes, carry on.  THE LOCAL FUNDS ARE SET ASIDE FOR THE CARE OF THE LOCAL MEMBERS.  I DOUBT THERE ARE EVER EXCESS FUNDS.  I JUST DOUBT THAT THE WARD CAN DONATE...

[Ironically, since posting that post last week, Glenn Beck's audience has donated over SEVEN MILLION dollars.  The LDS Church, with its vast resources and reach of over 14 million members, has indiscriminately donated aprox $1.2 million, back in 2012. I have no idea what the total is as of today, however the Deseret News updated their article on 9/14/15 and it circulated as if it were fresh, although written back in 2012. ]

So carry on with your iPhone 6s.  Carry on with your new SUVs and competitive soccer leagues.  Carry on with your Linger Longers, your paper plates and plastic cups (with cupboards full of china and glassware), carry on with your scout badges, your craft parties, your ward budgets designated to buy plastic tablecloths and centerpieces for the chili cookoffs.  Carry on with the corn and mashed potatoes for holiday dinners and the lights and utilities for buildings and temples and shopping malls and billboards and ad campaigns on YouTube.  Carry on with the HeartSell, the paid actors, the MormonMessages, the iPads for missionaries, the General Authority stipends and vacations, the Follow the Prophet, the All is Well in Zion!  Carry on, carry on, carry on!!!

Among the talk of Planned Parenthood selling of baby parts, and boys getting raped in Afghanistan and soldiers being disciplined for not looking the other way, we are ripe.  Let's not even talk about girls who are Activity Day Girls' age getting raped and sold in Syria as sex slaves as our government is giving both money and weapons to terrorists.  Let's not think of the men being CRUCIFIED because they follow Jesus, or toddlers beheaded and left in the streets.  Let's not talk about the mothers being separated from their living children and the culture of death which we ignore.

What if we actually supported a mother in bringing life to this planet?  What if women were paid to bring babies into the world, rather than paying for their dead babies?  What if rather than saying we are pro-life, we quit griping about welfare and supporting single moms who made choices that we don't approve of?  (That's a tough pill for even me to swallow.)  What if we offered a better choice and incentive to KEEP the baby, rather than shaming the woman seeking the abortion?  What if we did this outside of government control, but willingly, such that there were no need for the government?

What if we truly fed the poor, not just food, but true light and knowledge, rather than damning them up, insisting they aren't ready?  What if we lifted them up?

What if rapist men in Aftganistan (and surely other nations) had something better to do with their genitals than screw their sons?  Bastards!!!

What if we talk about the true problem in this world with pornography, and how it is the LARGEST expenditure of money in the WORLD?  How about we talk how to truly overcome it?

This world is so ripe in sin, it is sickening.  This post is dark, yes.  It is not uplifting in the least.  In reading these things I cannot help but weep, feeling the horrible weight of the world on my heart.  Please God, when will You intervene with your earthquakes of which You warned?  When will the earth swallow these horrific sins up, and vomit them out as dross?

But.

The Savior died for ALL these.  All these sinners, these rapists, these murders.  These Satanists.  All these women screaming with pride for their rights to kill their offspring unborn.  All these folks killing police officers as a right of justice.  The men (and hidden women) removing their precious childrens' innocence beneath the sheets.  The thought, just reading the news I just read is nauseating.  It would be better for a millstone to be hung around their necks, but they continue to practice their barbary.  REPENT!!!  Your Allah condones this horror?  Are you SERIOUS?  Your sons are screaming out each night for salvation, and your hellish king says Carry on!?

The one TRUE GOD speaks of REPENTANCE.  Of LOVE.  Of FORGIVENESS.  Of MERCY.  May GOD have MERCY on your hellbent souls.  May you please, please, I beg of you, cease from raping your children, from killing innocents in all lands, and from this horrible, horrible wickedness.  There are people who can help, and there is a GOD who will help if you ask.  May we, as followers of CHRIST

DO

SOMETHING!

Who are the Sons of Perdition

Joseph Smith said,

“… A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God.”

Christ said,

"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.  The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" (D&C 122: 7-8)

Let's add 1+1.  Joseph says we must gain knowledge, or evil spirits will know more than us.  Christ says that experiencing basically hell on earth will give us experience for our good.  I submit the proposal, or the = 2 part of the equation, that to understanding the adversary is something that while unpleasant, each man or woman must undertake, at least by summary, if needed.

For the last few weeks, in several blogs and forums I've seen people saying "Satan this and Satan that".  They have offered all sorts of philosophies, contrary to the established LDS doctrine, and while I've contemplated them a little, they all felt largely off.  Until I could do some study, I didn't have any desire to buy into them, but put them on the back burner.  Most of them didn't provide any scriptural sources, and I wanted to find some.

For days I've been trying to dig into D&C 76.  I wanted to compare what's in my D&C to the one on the Joseph Smith Papers records.  I checked my copy of Revelations Book 1, but it's not in there.  Just happens to be at the start of Volume 2, which I don't have, but found online.

In comparing the two, I found (thankfully) the copies are largely the same, with only one or two word variations so far.  So I'm going to direct the reader to D&C 76 to get some background, and point out the cause for which I felt to post this today.

Verse 19 points out that Joseph and Sidney were meditating.  I used to think this meant studying and thinking, but having understood that meditation is actually something different, it gave new meaning to this.  Joseph was acquainted somewhat to alternative theories.  It makes me laugh a little, to think of him sitting in a pretzel with hands on his knees.  I don't know that that was the case, but I suppose they were sitting quietly, in a meditative state, perhaps even trance-like, as Peter mentions in the New Testament (before he has his four corners of the earth vision).  I have found that when I practice meditation – simple meditation – I have profound breakthroughs.  Anyways...

Joseph and Sidney had their eyes of understandings touched and opened by the Savior.  They then beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and they received of his fulness.  This is huge.  They are introduced to the Father.  This is much like Lehi's vision in 1 Nephi 1.

Lest I get caught up and write endlessly on the few verses following this, I want to skip to the part that was the object of my study of this section.  Feel free to pull out your scrips and find this one, if you feel so inclined.

They see Christ, on the right hand of the Father.  They also see angels, and then they see this, all as one apparent being.  I'm going to skip the nice ones, and go to the unenjoyable part.  The qualities are thus, describing a being in opposition to the Father.  This being was:

• an angel of God
• who had authority in the presence of God (a BIG deal to have God's true authority)
• he rebelled against the Only Begotten Son, whom the Father loved and who was in the Father's bosom
• was thrust down from the presence of the Father and the Son
• was called Perdition, because the heavens wept over him
• also called Lucifer
• also called "Son of the Morning".  (The scriptures do not capitalize this.  I believe it is a title.)
• He is fallen, even a Son of the Morning.  (This is obviously a big, big, big deal to have this title, or to have fit into this category of angels.)  

This is important enough to know that the Lord tells Joseph and Sidney to write it down, so they don't forget these details.  It seems likewise important that we understand.

Following this they add:

• they beheld Satan
• the old serpent
• even the devil
• who rebelled against God (thus far in the section, God is referred to as the Father.  Christ is referred to as the Son.).  Therefore, this being rebelled against the Father.
• he sought to take the kingdom of the Father and the Son
• he makes war with the saints of God
• encompasses them round about (harasses them ALL the time, all around)

Taking the many theories of others, and leaving open the room for discussion but ignoring their theories, I will make my own proposition.  I will propose, just for this one post, that Satan and Lucifer just may be different – two, separate beings, just as the Father and Son are also separate (yet one).  Lucifer was called an angel, and scripture tells us that when Joseph uses the words angel, he is referring to a resurrected being (sorry, don't have the quote but will come back to this later).  Resurrected beings, Joseph describes, are those who lived or experienced mortality, and were resurrected.  I don't know if Joseph via the Lord was using the term angel loosely here to mean an exalted-to-some-degree being, but I hope he was being clear, as it gives some clarification to make a more clear hypothesis.

To say Lucifer was thrust down from anywhere implies to me that he was higher than he could have been.  I suppose he may have been a noble and great one, described in Abraham.  "These I will make my rulers," (Abraham 3:23).  If Lucifer had authority in the presence of God, he must have had some sort of area or group of intelligence over which to exhibit that authority.  He must have been a leader of some sort, perhaps with his own sort of kingdom.  He was mourned over.  Interesting play on words – morning vs. mourning.

Let's look at Satan.  Described as a serpent, an imitation of the Christ.  I don't know much about this, but Christ was the original serpent, the ultimate symbol, which Satan counterfeited.  (ie. Moses lifted up the serpent on the staff, to which the children of Israel were to look to and live.)  So Satan is the knockoff brand, the cheap Foakley sunglasses.  Not the real deal, and how sad.  This being rebelled against not just the Son, but the Father and the Son.  He wanted to overtake the kingdom of both Father and Son, and this being still makes war with the saints of God.

I would propose that the word "saints" has a bigger meaning here too.  I propose these people are those who have seen the Lord, and been introduced to the Father too.  They have much to lose, and great space to fall, just as Lucifer fell.  So Satan harasses them in effort to add their added glory to his kingdom.

Verses 31-34 we learn those who fall to Satan's buffetings are called Sons of Perdition.  Could also be considered "sons of Lucifer", if Perdition = Lucifer.  It's interesting that in verse 33, it describes that these people are doomed to suffer the wrath of GOD, with the devil (Satan) and his angels (resurrected mortals who likewise fell).

I don't know.  This sounds too much like a far stretch.  Way too much of a stretch.  The old paradigm is much easier to digest.

Verse 34, says these folks, these Saints will have no forgiveness in the world to come.  Why?  Let's look at their characteristics.

• They denied the Holy Spirit, after having received it.  (If this were as simple as we all believe it to be, so many of us are in a LOT of trouble.)  
• They denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father.  (Interesting use of long title, the first time it is used in this section.)
• They crucified him unto themselves.
• They put him to open shame.
• They will go to a lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil (Satan) and his angels (resurrected beings).
• They are the ONLY ones on whom the second death shall have any power.  (Second death is usually interpreted as death of the physical body.)  
• Not redeemed in due time of the Lord after suffering his wrath.  
• (Verse 45) Their torment is "everlasting", "eternal", where their worm dieth not, the fire is not quenched, where there is no known end.  The end (which there does appear to be, because it is mentioned as existing) will never be revealed to man.  And fyi, in other verses in the D&C, it is revealed to Joseph that "everlasting" and "eternal" are names for Christ.  Perhaps this punishment may be equal to what Christ suffered, because these people denied what he offered.  In essence, they denied his sacrifice, meaning they get to suffer for their own sins, of which God, being just, can not look upon with the least degree of allowance.  Justice at its core.  
• The end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof will not be understood by any except those to whom are ordained until it. (Description ends at verse 48.) 

This is a really long explanation of the suffering of the Sons of Perdition.  I submit these are mortals.  They are the Saints who have met the Father (I believe, but could be making an assumption) and denied the Son.  Interesting that they do not deny the Father.  

I highlighted the two lines above because that is what stuck out to me the most, when reading all of this.  The qualities of these folks are that they KNEW Christ.  Most of us shriek in our hearts when we think of what the wicked Jews did to Jesus.  It is truly horrific.  But most of us have not seen this horror, except in our imaginations.  But these people were received by the Savior, in this life.  The veil was taken, they were received into His presence, and quite possibly introduced to the Father.  The must have been shown in real life vision the crucifixion, and the events of Christ's life and also his forordination, so that they became witnesses in the flesh of the truth of it.  And then they deny it as the sun at noon day.  

In essence, they re-crucify him.  They are trusted to come into his presence.  They receive the full measure of the Holy Spirit, and are cleansed and purified, even sanctified (made Saints).  They then yield to the buffetings of Satan, and deny what they saw.  Satan wins them over, as they put the sacred, beautiful nature of what was revealed "to open shame".  

Repeating Joseph, 

“… A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God.”

And repeating Christ,

"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?" (D&C 122:7-8)

Update: After posting this earlier today, I had a few questions come to mind.  Primarily, if Satan and Lucifer are two separate beings, why did Joseph not clarify this?  It seems like a pretty big piece of knowledge worth discussing.  One blogger proposed that Satan is a woman.  Again, if there is a female counterpart, why not delineate this?  It seems that he gave us the basics, and from there, it's either a mystery, or perhaps extrapolation.  I make no conclusions, just offer some food for more discussion or thought.   

When I Vote

I fully intend to never make this a forum for political debate.  However there are a few thoughts that I have been considering, as to why I vote without question for who I get to vote for this upcoming election.

(photo source - not sure if it's 100% the original)

I've been pondering a lot lately, the idea of "pro-choice" vs. "pro-life".  My body looks a lot like this one, and as I ponder that fact, it brings me to both gratitude and agency.

Gratitude – I am beyond thankful for my ability to easily and quickly be able to perpetuate life.  It was never a struggle for me, although I usually didn't enjoy the uncomfortable nature of being pregnant.  I am very petite, so when I am "great with child" I really look like a bus.  There is no where for the baby to go but OUT, so it looks like I have a full size basketball under my shirt at about, oh, 7 months along.  I'm jealous of the taller women, who don't become a walking projectile as fast as I do.  And I'm not that proud of sharing my stretched, saggy belly with others, but I also don't worry about it too much.  In heaven I trust all the stretches will be worked out.  Currently it reminds me of my ridiculously awesome children.

Agency –  this is something so powerful that the whole hosts of heaven fought over it.  Children of God found it so important that they took up sides, and some lost their ability to have life.  It is why we are here – those of us who supported agency got the chance to use it.  I am staunchly pro-agency, and I cannot stand it when someone condescendingly tells me to do something I don't want to do.

I am also staunchly in favor of letting the living live, or the conceived live, no matter the cause of their conception.

Life is so incredibly valuable.  The other day I read a very well done article which lays out many details of what is considered and what isn't, in terms of being pro-choice and pro-life.  The author writes in some gory detail many facets of abortion that most of us would rather not hear, and that many blindly ignore.  These are some of the details that affect my vote this upcoming election.

I don't pretend to go and tell people what they should do to their bodies.  I don't go telling strangers not to have sex when they're not married.  I don't tell people to not have babies when they have no ability or comprehension of what it takes to raise them.  I believe life is precious, and regardless of the source of the life, I believe it should have a chance to live, whether it be by rape, incest, or happily conceived in marriage.  Does that mean I think it is easy?  Is life easy for anyone???

When I vote, I will be voting for someone who supports any and all babies' rights to life.  In the United States, one of our candidates believes in letting the local states decide on the issue, although he is personally in support of life.  The other candidate is pro-abortion, and has voted in the past to support partial birth abortion, which is one of the most grotesque, evil, and horrific practices of our day.  I grieve for the state of the soul of the woman who allows this to be done to her child, and the doctors who are so hardened that they can perform it.  If most citizens were aware of what actually transpires in an abortion, I feel their stance on the issue would likely be seriously reconsidered.  Certainly I have never heard a woman brag about how proud she was that she killed the life within her.  And a woman who does this to a child outside the body is hauled off to jail.  The dichotomy makes no sense.

God has already decided what He wants us to do with life.  Jeremiah 1:5:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

We are to value it, above all the riches of the universe, no matter how it was conceived.  We had life before conception, and God knows us personally.  Does he not have a plan for us, who our parents will be, and when we come here, and why?

I hope and pray that politics aside, people will consider life when they vote, no matter who they're choosing between, no matter what country or what position they're voting for.

That's all I have to say about that.  



What do you think? Has this post impacted you in any way? Please share your thoughts, if so.