of philosophy

"There is surely a piece of Divinity in us, something that was before the Elements, and owes no homage unto the Sun. Nature tells me I am the Image of God, as well as Scripture: he that understands not thus much, hath not his introduction or first lesson, and is yet to begin the Alphabet of man."
-Sir Thomas Brown

"...to accept of their offerings"

I ran across this scripture recently.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that

when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto my name, and

those sons of men go with all their might and

with all they have to perform that work, and

cease not their diligence, and

their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work,

behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men,

but to accept of their offerings."

~D&C 124:49

I think it is nice to know that the Lord realizes there are times we just can't get done all that he asks us to do & that if we have tried with all out ability to accomplish our assignments - he accepts our offerings when our 'enemies' hinder us.

In context, this scripture was refering to building a temple & the intense persecution the saints were faced with. So, one could apply this scripture to callings and assignments at church. I don't have anyone threatening to burn my house, rape me, kill me or drive me from my home, etc. because of my faith. If those things were happening to me, it would be VERY easy to identify the enemy and see how, when & where I was hindered. It is a different time and the 'enemies' today come in different forms, in more subtle forms (see 2Ne. 28:21). (laziness, the negative aspects of TV/internet, contention, you fill in the blank________, etc.) When I read this, I seemed to apply it to some of the experiences in my life that have lead me to where I am today. Sometimes people I know have made decisions or had something happen to them which impact me & have thwarted my efforts to fulfill my callings or my efforts to follow inspiration & even the 'righteous desires' of my heart which only God knows. Sometimes I think I am my own 'enemy'. No, I know I am too often my own enemy.

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I have covenanted to take upon myself the name of Christ. To me that means in all I do, in all I say. All of it. Not just 'the calling' although that is an important aspect. If I am honest with myself, I should apply this principle of 'performing the work' to everything I do. It's not really overwhelming at all when viewed in an eternal perspective, realizing this is WHY we are here. To learn - line upon line, precept on precept. This is why the atonement is so important NOW - not some future event that will save you or me.

What I learned & how I can liken this scripture to me.

• God will ask me to do hard things, so I should go do them!
• No matter how hard I try, I might not be able to accomplish 'the work'.
• God will allow enemies to place stumbling blocks in our path.
• God will not always intervene to 'save' us from others or ourselves. (although gratefully after some fervant prayers He has occasionally intervened in my life - thank you thank you thank you!!!)
• Forgivness: God will forgive me - I need to forgive myself. He wants me to succeed. He can't do that if I am guilt ridden and unable to function for fear of failure. He either has something new for me to do or wants me to try again in some new way. The saints didn't stop building temples just because they were unable to build the temple in Missouri.
• Let go of it and move on.
• Sometimes it means try again with no thought of past failures.
• If I am diligent (ie endure to the end!) he will accept my offerings.

HOORAH!

Hope

In Family night this week, my daughter shared this scripture.

I really like it. I like it because it is something I desire to have...

I'm working on it.

Psalms 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God;

and renew a right spirit within me.

Faith & Obedience

A good friend gave a talk in church about Faith. She talked about how in order to increase your faith, you have to increase your obedience. It was a great a-ha moment. My mom always said Obedience is the first law of heaven. It makes sense... since faith is needed and faith is power of course we need to start with obedience.

Personal Revelation

On Sunday I attended the Ochre Mountain Temple dedication. It was great. I didn't take notes, but I did feel that my heart was open to the influence of the spirit. I felt impressed during the dedication to start a blog that is primarily of a spiritual nature. That's the thing I really love about personal revelation. None of the speakers said, 'go start a blog of spiritual things'. Their words and the music did invite the spirit to be there and I did feel that and as I opened my heart and mind to it, God was able to speak to me. Him to me. No one else heard it, no one else knew, no one would know if I did not act on it. Well, no one but God & me. The point is, this is one of those times when I am using my agency to act on personal revelation. I'm pretty sure there would be no negative consequences if I did not do this - but maybe, just maybe something good will come of it if I do. It's a leap of faith. It always is for me.