Jun

29

Defensive About Beliefs

Filed Under Gordon B. Hinckley, Gospel, Respect, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

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I am not someone who sets out to bash. I have had less than a handful of incidents where I felt that combative feeling come out when confronted with people who had views opposed to my LDS beliefs. And such feelings are always met with regret. One of the people was someone who I liked and had only recently starting teaching. He was not bashing but rather sharing another religion that he had considered and I think how they felt Saturday was the Lord’s Day. I made a snide remark about pork or something. I felt bad and apologized. Later, I would learn a lot more about a denomonation who considers Saturday to be the Lord’s Day and gain so much respect for them after watching their network.

I think bashing removes us from the humanity of the other person. While it may not have been bashing per say, I have an older friend who said that she told the missionaries knocking on her door that she was already saved. As an LDS missionary, I remember having conversations and feelings about this and sometimes they were not so kind. The missionary retorted in what she felt was a rude way that he was going to heaven too or something to that effect. This woman had been a friend of my family for years. My dad worked with her husband. We socialized as a family and they had a daughter my age. She is very religious. Family is so important to her. She has expressed such care for me though we don’t talk much. I was hurt for her.

Sometimes I think bashing comes from insecurity or thinking we have to prove things. God is able to do his own work. And in the end, faith is always required to have any religious belief as you cannot prove it. You can help people with concerns and often bring out facts or help with false information.

I recall seeing President Gordon B. Hinckley be interviewed by Larry King years ago. The interview went well. There was mention of something of the Church and blacks and the Priesthood. President Hinckley pretty much said that was the past and we needed to look at the Church’s current postion. I would have probably have given some long drawn out explanation.

There was a sister missionary who according to a mutual companion was the hardest working of all missionaries. She also had such a love for her pioneer ancestor who crawled during part of the stretch of her Pioneer journey. I think she had a strong testimony. When someone confronted her about a belief, I think that according to this mutual companion that she was calm and did tell them that was what we believed.

I also have a side of me that likes to argue and win at times. I have to keep it in check. Usually I am very noncombative. Sacred truths are not a sport. We need to share with love and concern with a person and love them. I have had a couple of well-meaning people get under my skin as they tried to discuss my beliefs. One man was clearly trying to show me the error of my ways. My heart was not as it should have been in those moments. If love goes out the door, the conversation needs to end. Period.

Jun

9

LDS = Politically Dormant or are we just not listening?

Filed Under Atonement, Debt, Ezra Taft Benson, Faith, Food Storage, Government, Joseph Smith Jr., Preparedness, Prophets, Spencer W. Kimball, Teachings, Topics | 7 Comments

Signing the ConstitutionI know the title is a little bit of a generalization, and it’s probably due to my own lack of finding out, but I still wanted to talk about it.

With the Presidential elections coming up, political climates, and after listening to a few older talks by General Authorities and past Church Presidents, the question arises.

You listen to talks given by Ezra Taft Benson, and realize rather quickly that he had some very poignant words about the proper role of government 1, the divinity of the constitution 2, and various other quotes 3, that there was a different climate in the church.

What happened?

I sometimes lament to my wife that our church has taken a less active role in being proactive in politics. My wife of course who is the smarter of us explained that maybe it has to do with a bigger problem in our church.

By this I mean a listening problem. What were we told 50 years ago about food storage, 30 years ago, 10 years ago? I don’t know either, I would hazard a guess that it started at something like storing as much as possible, then worked it way down to 1 year of food, fuel, essentials to the current level of basically just get something stored, a 72 kit and like 1 month of food storage.

Do you know in the 70’s, Spencer W. Kimball said:

Recognizing that the family is the basic unit of both the Church and society generally, we call upon Latter-day Saints everywhere to strengthen and beautify the home with renewed effort in these specific areas: food production, preservation, storage; the production and storage of nonfood items; fixup and cleanup of homes and surroundings. We wish to say another word about this in the next meeting.

We encourage you to grow all the food that you feasibly can on your own property. Berry bushes, grapevines, fruit trees—plant them if your climate is right for their growth. Grow vegetables and eat them from your own yard. Even those residing in apartments or condominiums can generally grow a little food in pots and planters. Study the best methods of providing your own foods. Make your garden as neat and attractive as well as productive. If there are children in your home, involve them in the process with assigned responsibilities.4

I was listening to a statement on NPR the other week that talked about how much can be saved by just growing tomatoes and other small vegetables over buying them from the store in the course of a year. It said that the average savings was ~$1500. That goes a long way in helping to reduce debt too. But don’t get thinking this was for home owners with large yards, if I remember correctly the woman they interviewed lived in a town home or apartment.

But why have we reached such a low level of storage? I’m sure some of it has to do with smaller living spaces, but I also think as a church, people just aren’t listening, and this is exactly what they [The Church] was running into in the 70’s. Quoting from the same talk by Spencer W. Kimball:

As I listened to their addresses, I kept thinking over and over of something the Savior said,“Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” It rolled over and over and over in my mind: “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” [Luke 6:46] 5

So why am I going in such a large circle to explain a point of political dormancy? Well it’s to put it into context. Why do our Prophets and General Authorities continually going over the same principles every conference?

Do we listen?

But back to politics.

I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose[D&C 101:80].

It would seem to me, that the Constitution is a rather important document to our church. I can’t find the article I read that explained the LDS church and the Constitution being intimately connected but suffice it to say - if it [The Constitution] fails the LDS church fails.

But knowing that the Lord brought about the Constitution, why aren’t we as members doing more to uphold it, to stand behind it, to defend it?

Are we caught up in the idea that a member will save it when it hangs by a thread therefore we don’t need to do anything? Are we content in just letting someone else do something to fix it (and how well is that working?)? Are we just too complacent?

I can’t answer the question wholly, and trust me I understand how hard it is to know what to do. But I think there are some basics we can do to start with.

Get to know the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. All three of these documents are the foundation of our country. Teach them to your children, right along with learning the Articles of Faith, help to them to understand our rights and freedoms. I feel the more you know, the more likely you are to take offense when they are violated.

Take some time to listen or read some of the older talks. Especially “The Proper Role of Government” by Ezra Taft Benson. He offers a lot of great talks that are politically charged. There are also some talks given by Cleon Skousen that are part of this subject too.

I’ll leave with one last thing…

Children should learn to work. Parents should not spend their nights and days trying to find something to interest their children. They should find something to occupy them and get them busy doing something that is worthwhile.6

  1. The Proper Role of Government - Ezra Taft Benson ↩
  2. Our Divine Constitution - Ezra Taft Benson ↩
  3. Various Quotes ↩
  4. Family Preparedness - Spencer W. Kimbal ↩
  5. Family Preparedness - Spencer W. Kimball ↩
  6. Family Preparedness - Spencer W. Kimball ↩

Jun

8

Respecting Nonmember Family

Filed Under Family, Respect | 4 Comments

I was serving in an area shortly after a young woman who was the girlfriend of a member joined the LDS Church. I believe it was our Ward Mission Leader who was very concerned that her “New Member Lessons” would be taught in her home. He wanted her family to know that we did not take people from families. While I am not sure why he felt so serious about the matter, I could speculate that it may have been based in a misconception.

There are times when people who are of age do have to make a decision to join the LDS Church against family wishes. I have known some who have made sacrifices in the short-term until family came around and even in the long run to join the Church or be active if they were raised in a part member family that was hostile to the Church. When possible we do try to respect family members and have appropriate relationships with them.

I was 19 when I was ready to join the Church. I think that I was of age by the rules then, but I was told to ask permission before taking the discussions possibly because I lived at home. Having worked with a lot of members, one of my parents was very open to the idea. The other parent was open but had a condition that I wish she had not said at the time. I had to break her condition down the road as I felt God wanted me to serve a Mission despite my promise not to do so at 19. Over all, my family has been so amazing and supportive to my activities. When they felt I was depressed at one time, they felt that I needed to go to Church as they felt I had been much happier when I was active. They have shown respect in many ways for my callings in my area. There may have been a few times when they wanted me to do more for them than for those in the Church. Yet, they have really taken an interest. One time when I had a couple callings at one time, my parent gave me a planner.

At my last knowledge, I believe that a woman needed her husband’s permission to join the LDS Church if he was not a member. The Church respects the sanctity of marriage. God knows the hearts and desires of a woman who is in this situation. I think he is so mindful of those who are not able to partake all the blessings of membership due to any circumstances that are not in their control. I had a friend whose husband said that he heard that members of our Church were excommunicated if they married a nonmember. She pointed out to him that if that were true that she would have been excommunicated for marrying him as he was a nonmember.

The Church encourages activities that bring families together whether members or nonmembers including Family Reunions. I have an extended family that was very close growing up and had many opportunities to get together. With the passing of grandparents, we don’t not get together as often. But we have so many memories from those times that I think they do give us a closeness even when we don’t see each other.

Well, I may be a novelty to my family at times. But I am loved and suported and that makes a world of difference.

Jun

3

The growing spiritual void

Filed Under Ensign Articles, Ezra Taft Benson, Magazines, Prophets, Spencer W. Kimball, Spirituality, Teachings | 2 Comments

I haven’t really watched a commercial in years, so it was bound to happen. As I got ready to watch something that was void of commercials, the a/v component that brings my computer files to my TV failed. So I ended up flipping through the channels. That’s when it occurred to me.

Something I’m familiar with, but I’ve since grown away from - or filled. I’ll call it a spiritual void, others may just call it a void or emptiness and some may not even realize they are a victim to it. But it’s effects are all the same. People want to fill it - and that’s where the problem lies.

Before I started writing this I went looking for some subject material and came across an article written for Islam, but it brought up a very good point. It said:

Look to the hard-core sports fan. He spends his life supporting specific teams, financially, physically and emotionally. He attends every game, either in person or vicariously over the TV. He buys the memorabilia. He is devastated when they lose, and he reaches Paradise when they win… Sounds strange. We need to just change the way we look at it. This person is completely preoccupied with sports because his life lacks something else. This is how he has chosen to fill that spiritual vacuum.1

I knew what I had filled my life with before I came back to the Gospel, and it wasn’t sports - but I hadn’t thought enough through it to even make a connection about those who become so fanatical about anything. Don’t get me wrong, having goals and being motivated is good, but this goes beyond that.

Look at the increase of “Reality” shows. What is the main goal of anyone of them? To gain an amount of money, but what is lost?

Each of these shows require people to participate, people to sell their lives for the chance to win money, how empty a person must be to sell their life just for a chance to win money.

How have we gotten here?

It’s occurred to me that there’s been a gradual move towards secularism. By that I mean the removal of anything spiritual from our lives. We were listening to a speech given by Ezra Taft Benson in 1970, title “The American Challenge” 2. In it, you’ll hear about the problems they faced then, which sound a lot like the ones we have today - so the expansion of secularism isn’t something new, it’s been going on for awhile - I would even hazard a guess since day one.

Last night we had a discussion with our children about proper Sunday activities. I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed with the war and battle games my boys play all day everyday - so I talked to them about what Sunday means.

Spencer W. Kimball stated:

It is a day on which to read good books, a day to contemplate and ponder, … a day to study the scriptures and to prepare sermons, a day to nap and rest and relax, a day to visit the sick, a day to preach the gospel, a day to proselyte, a day to visit quietly with the family and get acquainted with our children, a day for proper courting, a day to do good, a day to drink at the fountain of knowledge and of instruction, a day to seek forgiveness of our sins, a day for the enrichment of our spirit and our soul, a day to restore us to our spiritual stature, a day to partake of the emblems of his sacrifice and atonement, a day to contemplate the glories of the gospel and of the eternal realms, a day to climb high on the upward path toward our Heavenly Father 3

This is basically what we decided would be great Sunday activities. But what does this have to do with the rest of the topic?

Well, this is just one thing that can be done to shore up the loss of spirituality in the world. While this doesn’t seem like much, it is a lot. Think if everyone observed the Sabbath in this manner, if all the stores closed, and sports weren’t played. How more spiritual would the world be?

While I know this isn’t the only answer, there are so many other things that have transpired to bring us to this point, but it is something we can change now.

As we talked in our discussion, I admitted my own failings when it comes to Sabbath observence and explained to my children that I would make a concerted effort to raise the bar - “Good Better Best“.

  1. Filling the Spiritual Void By Shariffa Carlo ↩
  2. The American Challenge Benson, Ezra Taft ↩
  3. Teachings, 216 ↩