This is my chaos

Been thinking about a scripture recently (Alma 32):

13 And now, because ye are compelled to be humble blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh ^arepentance; and now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy; and he that findeth mercy and ^bendureth to the end the same shall be saved.

14 And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be ^ahumble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word?

15 Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed—yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty.

16 Therefore, blessed are they who ^ahumble themselves without being ^bcompelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without ^cstubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.

That very last phrase is an intriguing one but that’s for another post.  Today I’ve been mulling over the humility bit.  (more…)

A post on Millenial Star led me to a painting called "Add to Your Faith Virtue; Add to Your Virtue Knowledge". I'm not much of a visual art man despite my sparse sketching efforts, but I really like this piece, mostly because of it's reliance on referential symbolism.

I find that by and large most gospel-based art does nothing for me. While I appreciate their use as visual reminders during lessons, there aren't many pictures that I consider to be more than the sum of it's parts. The good ones that spring to mind are among the 'official' Book of Mormon illustrations (Samuel the Lamanite, Christ's initial visit to the temple at Bountiful, Mormon keeping the record). To me, they don't just tell the story, they give life to it; the painting of Samuel on the wall captures the chaos of the scene well for example.

I'd be interested in any good gospel-art tips you may have.

I can imagine the hate-mail I could get for this one (Alfie can be a real stickler at times ), but I've decided that some General Conference traditions are now so ingrained that they deserve their own awards ceremony. Naturally, I will be the entire Academy panel and will make a Fair and Balanced Judgement(TM) on who gets the awards and what the awards are…yeah, anyway…. (more…)

Happy New Year everyone. That’s right – both of you!

I know I promised this post ages ago, but there’s been this distraction called Christmas…

Anyway, my latest rambling spawns from this quote from the lectures on faith:

Let us here observe, that three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation.

First, the idea that he actually exists.

Secondly, a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes.

Thirdly, an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to his will.

It’s this third part that troubles me, not in the sense that I think it’s not a true principle (I think it’s perfectly logical), but in the sense that I can’t honestly say I’ve ever experienced it in full. The closest I ever got was being on my mission and only in the sense that I knew I should be on a mission. Otherwise, I’ve always second-guessed my life. Especially when things I thought most sure turned out to be false. I’m often left wondering whether I missed something important somewhere, a task I was supposed to do but didn’t for some reason, that’s left me on an unordained track.

All the saints of whom we have account, in all the revelations of God which are extant, obtained the knowledge which they had of their acceptance in his sight through the sacrifice which they offered unto him; and through the knowledge thus obtained their faith became sufficiently strong to lay hold upon the promise of eternal life…But those who have not made this sacrifice to God do not know that the course which they pursue is well pleasing in his sight; for whatever may be their belief or their opinion, it is a matter of doubt and uncertainty in their mind; and where doubt and uncertainty are there faith is not, nor can it be.

It’s certainly a matter of doubt and uncertainty, but what is the sacrifice and how is it achieved?

Having read Ether 1 to Moroni 10 in one sitting, it’s been a surprise to me to see just how much of a fixation Moroni had on faith and the power thereof. He just can’t stop talking about it. You’d think someone in his position would talk about the dire consequences of sin (as Mormon often seemed to me to do) and exhort his readers to avoid sin at all costs.

But then I suppose Moroni’s situation was different from his father’s. Mormon, being the keeper of the records, saw a world that was once good go to pot, and with his historical talents was able to pinpoint what went wrong and how it could have been avoided. He led the Nephite armies in the days when he believed there was still hope that they could in some way be saved. While I wouldn’t call Mormon a pessimist, I do believe a lot of his later writing showed how affected he was by the situation.

Moroni, on the other hand, was in a world that had already gone to pot. He knew the condition was terminal. Indeed it was, as far as I can tell, several years after the destruction of the Nephites before Moroni even finished Mormon’s account, let alone add anything else. All while at constant risk of death, and with only heaven for company.

For Moroni though, that was enough. He’d had no choice but to rely on the Lord or perish. If anyone has a right to talk about faith and it’s blessings, I can think of no mortal better qualified. He’s my scriptural hero, mostly because he embodies the qualities I sorely lack. He lost everything, but still trusted God and worked to see a time where everything would be exactly as it should.

One day I hope to be able to have such faith and not murmur and lose hope when things go horribly wrong. Today, however, is not that day.

Today I completed reading The Book of Mormon (and with 2 weeks to spare! ). While I was reading Ether 11, I came across something that I’d noticed once before – Ether’s royal connections.

Ether’s grandfather was Moron (poor guy!) who just happened to be the king until he was overthrown. This isn’t exactly unusual in the book of Ether, the kingdom was always being thrown back and forth between someone or other. What is interesting is that the royal family (Ether’s ancestors) had had such problems before, but even if the deposed king hadn’t recovered the kingdom himself, one of his descendants always did. This raises the question of Ether’s upbringing. Was there a hope amongst his family that he would reclaim the throne? Had others in the family tried and failed? And given the circumstances, is it any surprise that Coriantumr didn’t want to listen to a member of the ‘true’ royal family? Especially as the descendants had always proved dangerous before.
In any case, I find it interesting that the Lord chose one such as Ether for the task of being the final Jaredite prophet, and seeking a revolution, not of politics as one would suspect of one in his position, but of faith and obedience to God.

The final irony for me is that by so doing, Ether showed just how great a king he will be.