Free as a Bird

Birds have intrigued me during the last year.  Inspired by bird feeders, bird books, bird statues, and living birds, I observe their freedom to act.  They go where they want, unrestrained by borders, countries, laws and ordinances.  Seeing what most other creatures will never see, they make the air their home.  Having lightweight bones, slick feathers, and sharp beaks, they survive somewhere between heaven and earth.

They often eat by pulling food from the earth, and taking it to higher ground.  Their primary cautions are predators and weather.

God is mindful of each sparrow, and knows when they fall.  The average human pays little attention to birds, because they are not in their field of vision.  But in spending more time looking at the sky, one observes a vast world of birds.  Some extremely small.  Some extremely large.  What is their purpose?

I suppose they are to teach me something about freedom.  

Revolting at that which is of God

I found this thought to be impressionable.  From The Words of Joseph Smith, (p..60) as recorded by William Clayton in his private book on 5 January, 1841:

"The first step in the salvation of men is the laws of eternal and self-existent principles.  Spirits are eternal.  At the first organization in heaven we were all present and saw the Savior chosen and appointed, and the plan of salvation made and we sanctioned it.  We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the Celestial Kingdom.  The great principle of happiness consists in having a body.  The Devil has no body, and herein is his punishment.  He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine showing that he would prefer a swines body to having none.  All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not.  The devil has no power over us only as we permit him; the moment we revolt at anything which comes from God the Devil takes power.

This earth will be rolled back into the presence of God and crowned with Celestial Glory."  

[Copied as in original.]

I greatly enjoyed the quote regarding our revolt.  When we revolt at anything, be it scripture, correct principles, or any other form of truth which comes from God, the devil gains power.  Does that mean he has complete control?  No.  But perhaps he gains or increases in power when we choose to decline the light of truth, essentially saying, "No thank you, that pushes my belief system too much so I'm going to decline anything you have to say."  Do I believe that?  I can see it evident in those around me.  When I observe that they prefer to observe their traditions and beliefs over what scripture plainly dictates, it gives me pause.  When I find myself accused of being out of the way because I prefer the words in scripture to our "beliefs", these thoughts from Joseph remind me that perhaps the tables are turned.  I hope to memorize this one.  It ties in (but also contradicts, if one is not careful to understand) with this thought:

“If any man writes to you, or preaches to you, doctrines contrary to the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or the Book of Doctrine & Covenants, set him down as an imposter... Try them by the principles contained in the acknowledged word of God; if they preach, or teach, or practice contrary to that, disfellowship them; cut them off from among you as useless and dangerous branches.” - April 1, 1844 Times and Seasons (Thank you, Michael Hamill, for a recent reference to this.)

I don't know if this was revelatory or opinion from Joseph on how to handle these types of disagreements.  The principle is there, however, on how dramatic the idea is of holding to the word of God.  It would be a branch or a thought inching toward apostasy, to teach things which are contrary and opposed to the word of God.  What if we did set down men that impose their traditions or false interpretations onto scripture?  Indeed, they would be in the act of imposting.  This is such a tricky concept, because I have seen people reject ideas that have been from God which perhaps are not well-known or easily found in scripture, and set down a true message because they don't know where the concept is found in scripture.  Likewise I have seen people set down the truth contained in scripture because it was not one of their favorite verses, or something that came down from a given church's headquarters as their doctrine, so they disregard it.  In either case it is imperative that we understand how to detect truth.  (I really enjoyed stumbling across this explanation on how to interpret the Spirit, which is how we often claim to recognize truth.)    

"This earth will be rolled back into the presence of God and crowned with Celestial Glory."

I find the part about the earth being "rolled back" to be quite fascinating too.  Joseph also makes a distinction between the words 'world' and 'earth'.  

"The world and earth are not synonymous terms.  The world is the human family.  This earth was organized or formed out of other planets which were broke up and remodelled [sic] and made into the one on which we live.  The elements are eternal.  That which has a begining [sic] will surely have an end.  Take a ring, it is without beginning or end; cut it for a beginning place, and at the same time you will have an ending place." (WOJS p. 60, 5 Jan 1841, extracts from William Clayton's Private Book)  

The imagery that comes to mind is that we are on a giant sliding board, where perhaps God is at the top, and we are at the bottom of the slide in our fallen state.  Another image that it reminds me of is those birthday noisemakers.  

When you blow air into them, they extend, but when the air is released, it rolls back.  I wonder if the thought has any merit.  

Reading The Words of Joseph Smith has expanded my understanding and contemplation to consider things I never considered before.  I hope it serves as a launch pad for greater revelation and understanding, as we are all intended to learn and know the fullness of God's dealings, power, and the Truth of His Love.  

Earth Should Pass Away

After Alma was led to Amulek, and after a space of time where Alma spent blessing Amulek's home, they "went forth and began to preach and to prophesy unto the people" (Alma 8:32).  Mormon includes five whole chapters of their preaching to the people, specifically of Ammonihah.  This is aprox. the same size of the book of Jacob.  It is longer than the book of Moroni.  The sermons last about 18 pages long.  

Two verses into their preaching, we learn of the first objections of the people of Ammonihah.  What were Alma and Amulek teaching that was so contrary to their beliefs?  In as soon as verse 2 of Alma 9, we find out: 

"Who art thou?  Suppose ye that we shall believe the testimony of one man, although he should preach unto us that the earth should pass away?"

Who are you, Alma?  You think we should believe your single, solitary word?  Why should we believe you?  Where's your authority?  You're not coming through the proper "chain".  You look awfully weak, don't you?  Why should we listen to what you say.  We can pretty much count on knowing that you're a wack-job who is going to suggest we drink some kool-aid.

And you're preaching that the earth should pass away?  Whoa, whoa!  Next you're probably going to say your god will destroy this city.  Let's laugh at you.

So the folks did not believe Alma, and objected at his simple nature, but also thought his concept of the earth being destroyed was mock-worthy.

Question: if someone came to you and told you the earth should pass away, in all seriousness, would you believe them?  Do you believe the earth will pass away?  That it will die?  What does that even mean?

"We believe ... that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory." - Articles of Faith 10 

What does that mean?  We have little to no concept, really, of what Alma was talking about.  It was a big enough of a deal that Alma taught it to these stiff-necked, hardened people.  And he taught enough about it that they objected to it, and it is the first of their objections.

To be honest I know very little about what particulars will happen when the earth dies and is renewed.  Does this only refer to it being burned at the Lord's coming?  Later in this chapter we receive quite a warning about the Lord's coming, although frequently when I have read it, I presumed it was about his First Coming.  But when looking closer, Alma points out when he comes, it will be in great glory.

"And not many days hence the Son of God shall come in his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering, quick to hear the cries of his people and to answer their prayers.  And behold, he cometh to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance, through faith on his name." - Alma 9:26-27 

He is referring to his Second Coming.  The whole of this chapter is a warning to us, not just the people of Ammonihah.  We frequently say that Mormon and Moroni saw our day.  That Nephi warns us in our day too.  Right here we have evidence that Alma, too, saw our day.  It's pretty phenomenal.

Despite the fact that the passing of the earth appears to be a largely lost doctrine, really the bottom line is that Christ comes to redeem those who will be baptized unto repentance.  We must have faith on HIS name.  I believe this is different than simply being baptized to join a church.  While that might be important to fit into a community or social structure, being baptized to repentance has much greater weight.  When we place the focus on baptism solely to join a group, that is mal-placed; there it is ill-defined.  If God knows the intents of our hearts, and our heart simply intends to show gratitude for people who accept us into their social circles, that is different, I believe.

If you have been baptized, was the intent of your heart to give it to God, to have a complete change of heart?  Or was it to show your teachers that you appreciate them?  Currently I have a nephew serving a mission, and he bears testimony with great power.  There is electricity in the room.  Then the question becomes if the person will accept marriage, chastity, abstinence or some other prohibition as well.  This is all well and good, but will not the change in behavior be a natural result of true repentance?  Must we act as gate-keeper to the kingdom?

I love that Alma simply taught truth.  He had a LOT of it.  But like other prophets who see our day, they repeat that the bottom lines are very, very simple.  Faith on his name.  Baptism unto repentance.  And if we're lucky, we learn some of the mysteries of the kingdom along the way. 

1 Nephi 1:11 - a Book

Continuing from 1 Nephi 1:10, 1 Nephi 1:11:

And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and ^astood before my father, and gave unto him a ^bbook, and bade him that he should read.

It says "they" came down.  I trust that this means "the One" and the twelve, and I will assume that is the case.  (In the previous verses, the One descended and the twelve followed him.  This verse follows, so I trust they is all inclusive.)  So they came down.  Not up, but once again, they are descending from their sphere onto this earthly one.

They went forth upon the face of the earth.  Is this a loaded statement, or was this just a simple description that they came in contact with the earthly elements on this earth?  Did they do more than just walk around?  Did Lehi witness ministering, and then veil it in such a broad statement?

The first came and stood before Nephi's father.  Is this first the Savior?  I assume it is, but I'm not sure why it's not a capital F for first.  But assuming it is him, this is quite a remarkable experience.  At this point, Lehi is having a one-on-one encounter with Jehovah, the firstborn of the Father.  And He - Jehovah - came to Lehi.  This is noteworthy, as this is not just Lehi feeling overwhelmed with the Spirit any longer.  He's not only witnessing the heavens open, but now the One is approaching him, and giving him a gift.  This is a very significant experience, and is changing Lehi's live, milli-moment by milli-moment.

Lehi receives a book.  Of all things!  Not a flower, a hug, or a chocolate ice cream cone.  A book.  Books are one of my favorite things, because in such a small space can be such powerful information be contained.  That is the case with this book, as we will soon find out.

Lehi was then bidden to read the book.  Can you imagine if he received the book, but never took the time to read it?  I've given out lots of books to friends as gifts, and I'm always curious to know if they've read it.  Can you imagine if Jehovah would present you with a book, bid you to read it, and then you just don't have the time?  The horror!  I can't imagine Lehi giving that excuse.

Yet often we do it all the time.

When I come home to my parents', I always love looking at their bookshelves.  I scour them for anything new, and even better–anything old.  Today I found some really great old books.  But I have to think that to be given such a book as Lehi got to read... wow.  That'd be quite the gift!