Transparency

Time has been so short of late.  So much ruckus going on in the world; so many things to consider.  So much in the news and so much in the scriptures.  As I watched the tail end of the Presidential Debate last night between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I realized how easy it is to be confused by the news, and therefore the truth of which way is up and which way is down.  Good is so often called evil, and evil called good.  One thing that cannot be adulterated, however, are the heavens.

Untouchable, immovable by the finger of man, the stars, moon, and sun cannot be changed to our liking.  We cannot adulterate them, their positioning, or their rotation.  The Lord has said that the lights in the firmament are to be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years (Genesis 1:14).  So what have we of signs of late?  Of seasons?

Last week marked the turning of the autumnal equinox.  It was fun because at our home we studied this "corner of the earth" during science class with my new homeschooler.  Neither of us could say "autumnal equinox" very well without getting tongue tied.  I was grateful that our little nature science book called it to attention, because otherwise I might not have given it much thought.

Joseph was visited by the angel called Nephi (in my opinion, despite the bulk of the LDSs believing it is Moroni) on the night of September 21, 1823.  I will summarize the key points of the message Joseph was given, however I acknowledge this will not do the message justice.  So I am simply highlighting for brevity.  This can be found in the Joseph Smith History 1: 30-54.

• Joseph's name would be had for good and evil throughout the world.
• There was a book deposited written on gold plates, giving the account of those who lived on THIS continent, and contained the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel as delivered by Christ to these people. 
• There was also something called the Urim and Thummim deposited with the plates, which were "seers" used for translating the book. 
• He quoted Malachi 3 and 4, and cited some critical points differently than in the King James Version.  (Another post on that...)
• He quoted Isaiah 11, saying it was about to be fulfilled. 
• He quoted Acts 3: 22-23 exactly as the KJV.  Declared that prophet was Christ. 
• He quoted Joel 2:28-end.  Said it was not yet fulfilled but would soon be. 
• Said the fulness of the Gentiles was soon to come in.  
• He quoted many other passages of scripture, explaining much. 
• He gave instructions regarding the plates. 

If that isn't a download of vast information I don't know what is.  But after leaving, again Nephi returned again, and again, and again.  

During the second visit he added a warning of great judgments coming to the earth.  

During the third visit the previous was recited, with an addition that Satan would try to tempt him to use the plates for growing in wealth.  He was warned to not use them for any other motive than building his (God's) kingdom.

During the fourth visit, everything was recited AGAIN, with the addition of instruction to go share the message with his father, Joseph Smith, Sr. 

Joseph describes in his history that it took four years of visiting the hill where the plates were deposited before he was able to remove the contents that were buried there.  Still, it was the night of September 21, 1827 when he retrieved them.  

In the Jewish way of thinking, the new day begins at sundown.  Joseph was visited by the Israelite, Nephi, on the autumnal equinox.  I'm not a calendar genius, however I'd suggest that we Americans label this time as September 21, and an Israelite might reference the Hebrew calendar's recognition for September 22.  

Interesting things transpired on this end of the Jubilee year.  

• I am told that September 22 is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, according to those who use the stars/heavens to recognize the holy days.  (Thanks, Melissa and Jonathan for the tips!)  This is the festival, the holy days remembered as an ordinance from year to year by the Jews, in recognition of the Exodous out of Egypt.  It began this year on September 16, which date also witnessed a penumbral lunar eclipse. 
• In Utah, in the north of the state, near Ogden, there was reportedly an F1 tornado. 
• In Utah, in the south of the state, near Panguitch, there was also reportedly an F1 tornado. 
• In Utah, in Salt Lake City, a new skyscraper was dedicated on the very date of September 22, 2016.  It is reportedly built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' subsidiary named City Creek Reserve.  Let's examine it a bit.  Feel free to break to read it: http://www.sltrib.com/news/4386439-155/new-mormon-church-owned-skyscraper-brings-high  

Some points of concern for me regarding the skyscraper: 

• Address is 111 Main.  111 is often called an "angel number".  The number 1 symbolizes God the Father.  Repeated three times symbolizes resonance of that number, as well as Father, Son, Holy Ghost.  Main street denotes the primary street in town, the center of the town.  A vast number of towns in America have this street name somewhere running through them.  The repetition of the number one reminds me of other numbers with scriptural references which are repeated three times.  
• It is 24 stories high, totaling 387 feet high.  In average sized building standards, this would be aprox. 38 stories.  
• "It is clear Salt Lake City has a new icon," said Mayor Jackie Biskupski, "and this is just the beginning."  The definition of "icon", per Google: 

1.a painting of Jesus Christ or another holy figure, typically in a traditional style on wood, venerated and used as an aid to devotion in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches. synonyms: image, idol, portrait, picture, representation, likeness, symbol, sign; 2. a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something. "this iron-jawed icon of American manhood" synonyms: idol, paragon, hero, heroine

• "City Creek Reserve declined to share the cost of 111 Main. But a similarly sized tower just down the street, 222 Main, sold for $170.5 million in 2014, a record price for downtown real estate at the time." 
• "For Mormons, "this is sacred ground," Caussé said before leading the crowd of about 100 people in prayer."  Caussé is the Presiding Bishop of the LDS Church. 

Soooooooooooooooooooooooo.  Let me put some Chlorox in our muddy water of what's going on here.  

On the autumnal equinox, the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the largest denomination which hails Joseph as their leader and dispensation head decides to dedicate a building, a "Tower", mighty high and mighty expensive, (which are edifices NEVER spoken of in positive terms in any scripture,) only available to the "high end" customer to rent?  And two tornadoes blow through the north and south ends of the state, covered with a high population of Mormons?  

Am I missing any other signs?  

It would do the reader well to study the book of Malachi, as well as Hugh Nibley's Approaching Zion, which can be found and read online with a simple Google Search.  (EXCEPTIONAL book.)  Malachi in particular is a warning to the priests and teachers of Malachi's day.  They were scolded for their misuse of tithing funds, having robbed God with the tithes and offerings.  I suppose the tornado was indeed a sign.  It might have been more shocking and startling had the tornado ripped through the city center during the dedication, but God love and cares for his chickens children, ever covering them with his wings.  I don't understand all the signs, the turning of the seasons, or what it all means.  But He does.  Hopefully we can use these signs as just that: signs.  Not flukes of nature, or random occurrences.

In all the earth, when Christ was born, the only individuals who know of his birth without being informed by heavenly messengers or visions were the wise men.  They knew how to find Him because of the new star.  It would be wise to be informed, to study, and to pay attention to these things.  In asking, God can explain it to us, and let us know how to be prepared ourselves to travel from afar, should it be needed.  

Runaway Laws and School Systems

My son has missed an exorbitant amount of school this year.  Last week he missed 4.5 days, and just this evening I realized I neglected to get an excusal note turned in within the 3 day window required by law.  If I had turned the note in by 2:45 pm this afternoon (8 or so hours ago), it would have been excused.  I wrote his principal asking for a reprieve, and he said that by law, he cannot accept my excusal note after hours.

Fortunately, though, one of the 4 days last week was excused, because I signed him out early (???).  The other three, were not excused, and therefore my son has quickly expended the 3 unexcused absences permitted by law.    Not because he was running around with riff-raff or anything, and not because I couldn't submit a note, but because I simply forgot.  Human error.  Had one of those four days not been excused, we would be facing a $300+ fine from the school district.

At the end of the day last Friday, I received an email from one of his many teachers, indicating that he should have had a project turned in by the end of the day, as the marking period was closing.  So I had to navigate how to maneuver that issue, as he had been recovering from illness, had not completed the work, and I had no idea of how to turn it in.  The policy shown to us at the beginning of the year was that the students would have equal time to turn in their work to the time that they missed.  So having missed four days of school, he should have four days upon return to complete the work.  But they were not applying their own policy, leaving us scrambling.

On Monday when he returned, he also had detention, due to missing 12 assignments in his various classes this term.  I won't say anything about the fact that not ONE teacher could let me know that he wasn't turning in assignments.  Nor will I say anything about the fact that in the beginning of the year, when he received detention for also not turning in assignments, I specifically arranged with his homeroom teacher to alert me if he should miss just 3 homeworks.

On Monday after picking him up from detention, I checked in with the office for the second time that day, to see if they had received a faxed excusal note from my son's doctor, and they had not.

Then I went home, and found out my son missed turning in another final project, and began negotiating with his teacher via email to see if he could possibly turn it in on Tuesday.  The teacher wrote back Tuesday morning saying he could indeed turn it in, but my son decided not to complete it on Monday night, believing all was lost.  So he got a D grade for the term, but overall passed the class (PRAISE GOD!).

In the mail on Tuesday afternoon, I received a form from a different doctor of my son, which required teacher input.  It was miraculously sent to me just in the nick of time, as there were only 2 days of school left.  I scrambled (again) to write his teacher, asking if he had time to fill it out, if he could request that my son give him the form, and then again return it before the end of the year (tomorrow).  My son brought home a completed form.  Let's thank God again.  I could not imagine trying to get this completed once school is out for summer.  Once I get this form submitted, I have another 6 months of waiting to see the specialist we are attempting to see.  This specialist will hopefully give us some answers as to why my son has such a difficult time remembering things related to short-term memory.  (He will take off his shoes, and then five minutes later cannot remember where they were placed.  I will ask him three times to put his backpack in its designated space {so he can find it the next morning} and it still does not get put away.)  So this was a tender mercy, that the teacher was willing to get it done right away.

It was only at 9:20 pm this evening that I realized I never followed up on the doctor's excusal note, and never turned in what I already received from the doctor last week (a two-day excusal note, rather than 4).  My son, therefore, has three days of unlawful absences, which the principal says is nothing to worry about.  "No worries," he says.  Ok.

This really is no big deal.  It's not earthquake recovery, ebola outbreak, or Christian slaughter in the Middle East.  This is seriously first world problems, and complete nonsense.  However, it goes to show that in this country, we have become a country filled with some of the most asinine sensibilities, where common sense DOES NOT RULE, and unceasing nit-picky laws have been created to make life "better" for parents and educators trumps the little common sense left.  There is no leeway for the fact that I contacted the office TWICE in regards to this excusal note, but because I missed the window, the record is marred, and if for some reason the 4th day had be unexcused, I'd have a hefty fine.  Not that it matters, but I wonder if down the road, somehow, it might.  Regardless, what we put out in this world is returned to us.  I am tempted to warn the office staff and principal that yes, there are laws that govern things, but their rigidness will likely be returned to them tenfold.  May I not be so rigid with those I interact with.

Alma described this principle.

And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?  

O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish - good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.  

Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.  

For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.

 Alma 41: 12-15  

My heart is concerned for their well being.  Do those of us who are obsessed with mercilessness realize that whether in this life, or in the next, that this will be returned to us?  I have been a little unmerciful to my children this week.  I wonder if the rigidity of the administration in following the rules is a restoration of the rigidity I showed to my kids this week.  

This is a sign of the times, people.  I pray we are woken up.  I am no better than the next.