I attended the 2008 BYU Womens Conference and heard President Thomas S. Monson give this talk, "Joy in the Journey." Last night I read it from the 2008 WC book I purchased in April while at the 2009 WC. I had forgotten how amazing his talk was, and I was doubly amazed at how much it pertained to all the things the Lord has taught me this year. It's not a long talk, well worth taking some time to read it. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you can get comfort and counsel from our loving prophet.
Here are some of the things that really stood out for me. First of all he praises us for all that we do. "You are sensitive and selfless. You are nurturers; you are compassionate. You genuinely care about others, and you form strong relationships. You love and forgive. With good hearts and willing hands,you make a real difference in the lives of others."
He said each of us is living a life filled with much to do. "I plead with you not to let the important things in life pass you by, planning instead for that illusive and non-existent future day when you'll have time to do all that you want to do. Instead find joy in the journey--now."
He talked about a man who's wife had just passed away who was talking to a friend and said he had found an article of clothing she'd purchased on a trip that sat in her drawer for nine years waiting for that special occasion to wear it. Now that occasion would never come. The friend said that had a huge impact on her life. She started using crystal glasses every day and wore new clothes to the supermarket if she wanted to, she spent more time with family and friends. She said she would wake up every day and say "this could be a special day. Each day, each hour, each minute, is special."
President Monson says, "If you do something that turns out not quite as you had planned, you can almost always put it right, get over it, learn from it. But once you've missed out on something, it's gone."
"...the class you never took, the relative with whom you never became close, the friend you didn't call, the thanks you didn't express, the dress you didn't buy, the soccer game you missed." He said, "Try and keep the list as short as possible."
"Send that note...give your child a compliment and a hug; say, 'I love you' more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved...it's so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they're gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of 'what if' and 'if only.'"
He tells some good stories in this talk, and he does not leave out the fact that, "our mortal life...was never meant to be easy or consistently pleasant. Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become refined through hard challenges, heartbreaking sorrows, and difficult choices....no matter how carefully we plan our lives, we cannot avoid all the storms that come our way...Only the Master knows the depth of our trials, our pain and our suffering. He alone offers us eternal peace in times of adversity..."
He said we sisters often feel inadequate and ineffective because we can't do all that we feel we should. "Rather than continually dwelling on what still needs to be done, pause occasionally and reflect on all that you do and have done. It is most significant. The good you have done, the kind words you have spoken, the love you have shown to others, can never be fully measured."
One of my dear friends gave me a mug last year for Christmas. I got it out Saturday to drink some herbal tea for a sore throat. It's a clear mug on which she painted little flowers and a saying that says,
"Life isn't just about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself!"
Even in spite of challenges, trials, heartaches, sorrows and suffering...we can create a joyful life for our self and others in the small moments, creating special occasions everyday in every way that we can. We just need to slow down a bit, so we can actually see the scenery as it goes by!
And remember to actually do it.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Love of God
God is love.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is a messenger of God's love. At the Saturday morning session of the October (2009) General Conference he gave a talk entitled "The Love of God." If you're feeling a little overwhelmed and discouraged, you can get a big boost from this talk. President Uchtdorf tells us that love should be at the center of our lives as disciples of Christ. He describes that love as a balm that heals, a power, a source, a fire, a joy, a hope. "Love should be our walk and our talk."
"God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God! For what we love determines what we seek.
What we seek determines what we think and do.
What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become."
President Uchtdorf said if all the reasons (he names in his talk) why we should love our Heavenly Father are not enough, we can learn from the words of the Apostle John who said, "We love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely."
"What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."
"...don’t get discouraged if you stumble at times. Don’t feel downcast or despair if you don’t feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all times. The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father, and do the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you."
"How clearly the Savior spoke when He said that every other commandment hangs upon the principle of love. If we do not neglect the great laws...all else will fall into place."
"Love is the measure of our faith."
Truly, God is Love.
Believe in yourself...because God does.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is a messenger of God's love. At the Saturday morning session of the October (2009) General Conference he gave a talk entitled "The Love of God." If you're feeling a little overwhelmed and discouraged, you can get a big boost from this talk. President Uchtdorf tells us that love should be at the center of our lives as disciples of Christ. He describes that love as a balm that heals, a power, a source, a fire, a joy, a hope. "Love should be our walk and our talk."
"God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God! For what we love determines what we seek.
What we seek determines what we think and do.
What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become."
President Uchtdorf said if all the reasons (he names in his talk) why we should love our Heavenly Father are not enough, we can learn from the words of the Apostle John who said, "We love Him because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
"Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely."
"What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."
"...don’t get discouraged if you stumble at times. Don’t feel downcast or despair if you don’t feel worthy to be a disciple of Christ at all times. The first step to walking in righteousness is simply to try. We must try to believe. Try to learn of God: read the scriptures; study the words of His latter-day prophets; choose to listen to the Father, and do the things He asks of us. Try and keep on trying until that which seems difficult becomes possible—and that which seems only possible becomes habit and a real part of you."
"How clearly the Savior spoke when He said that every other commandment hangs upon the principle of love. If we do not neglect the great laws...all else will fall into place."
"Love is the measure of our faith."
Truly, God is Love.
Believe in yourself...because God does.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Removing Negative Weeds & Cultivating Positive Flowers
Another tender mercy from the Lord...
It always amazes me how He helps us "find" when we are "seeking." I've been really working so hard on the words I speak....wanting so bad to replace all negative comments (and thoughts) with positive ones. Wanting so bad to learn not to fly off the handle when I get upset. I'd listened to Elder Holland's talk, "The Tongue of Angels" on my MP3 player a couple of times recently, and so while I was in my study room I decided to flip through my conference editions of the Ensign so I could study that talk a little more. Sure, I could have come to the computer and looked it up quickly, but for some reason, I felt impressed to flip through all my GC Ensigns. While I was at it, I decided to highlight, in the table of contents, all the talks that I especially love, and then I got the idea to write them down in a notebook, so next time I want to find them quickly I could do that...well, in doing this, I had to look through the less recent magazines at each talk to remember which ones I especially liked...I have been making a note next to the title of each talk as to how it affected me. There were two that I came across that I felt a strong impression to leave open and read later. Today, the first thing I picked up was one of those articles---I was highly compelled to read it this morning. I was totally amazed at how closely it fits with Brother Goddard's article I read yesterday, and how closely related some of it is to all this "negative/positive" stuff I have been learning. God is the perfect tutor--that's all I know!
This article is in the May 2004 Ensign by Elder Bruce C. Hafen entitled, "The Atonement: All for All"
It had previous highlights, and I had rated the talk "wonderful!!" with hearts and squigglies. The first highlighted quote I noticed that caused me to set it aside was this statement,
"We grow in two ways—removing negative weeds and cultivating positive flowers".
Wow! I thought. God has been leading me to this all along.
Previous to this Elder Hafen said, "One early Australian convert said: “My past life [was] a wilderness of weeds, with hardly a flower strewed among them. [But] now the weeds have vanished, and flowers spring up in their place.”
I used a different color highlighter as I read this talk, and well, I ended up highlighting at least half of his talk, and it was already half highlighted...so what can I say? Read the whole talk!! But I'll just share a few of the most prominent things that fit in with what Brother Goddard said in his article, those things that gave me God's tender mercy in letting me understand that He accepts my willingness to put my weaknesses upon His alter and work to change them, which change I know only comes as He makes me able to change---and if He is willing to allow those changes in this lifetime. Like Brother Goddard said, we may struggle with some weaknesses our whole life through just to "energize our humility."
This comment by Elder Hafen was especially tender to me:
"Without tasting the bitter, we actually cannot understand the sweet. (D&C 29:39) We require mortality’s discipline and refinement as the “next step in [our] development” toward becoming like our Father. But growth means growing pains. It also means learning from our mistakes in a continual process made possible by the Savior’s grace, which He extends both during and “after all we can do....because of the Atonement, they could learn from their experience without being condemned by it....So if you have problems in your life, don’t assume there is something wrong with you. Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life’s purpose. As we draw close to God, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser, stronger. If you’re seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you’re moving nearer to God, not farther away."
"So once we’ve cleared our heartland, we must continually plant, weed, and nourish the seeds of divine qualities. And then as our sweat and discipline stretch us to meet His gifts, “the flow’rs of grace appear,” like hope and meekness. Even a tree of life can take root in this heart-garden, bearing fruit so sweet that it lightens all our burdens “through the joy of his Son.” And when the flower of charity blooms here, we will love others with the power of Christ’s own love."
It brought to my realization (an "ahha!" moment, as Martha would say) that what appeared to be "cursings" given to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden were really great blessings. That flowers and fruits would not appear spontaneously without effort, and that weeds would choke the earth, and that Eve would bear children in sorrow...all these things were given us so that we could "taste the bitter, in order to fully understand the sweet" and to truly understand what true joy is. It was to help us acquire the "knowledge" that God has. The knowledge that would make us a God like Him. So, it's OK to have these struggles and trials and battle fields...even the same ole' same ole' battles! It's part of the perfect plan. We should have faith and trust in our own weaknesses!
Furthermore, Elder Hafen said,
"This earth is not our home. We are away at school, trying to master the lessons of “the great plan of happiness” so we can return home and know what it means to be there. Over and over the Lord tells us why the plan is worth our sacrifice—and His. Eve called it “the joy of our redemption.” Jacob called it “that happiness which is prepared for the saints.” Of necessity, the plan is full of thorns and tears—His and ours. But because He and we are so totally in this together, our being “at one” with Him in overcoming all opposition will itself bring us “incomprehensible joy.”
"Christ’s Atonement is at the very core of this plan. Without His dear, dear sacrifice, there would be no way home, no way to be together, no way to be like Him. He gave us all He had. Therefore, “how great is his joy,” when even one of us “gets it”—when we look up from the weed patch and turn our face to the Son."
"We can have eternal life if we want it, but only if there is nothing else we want more."
"Yet even when we utterly spend ourselves, we lack the power to create the perfection only God can complete. Our all by itself is still only almost enough—until it is finished by the all of Him who is the “finisher of our faith.” At that point, our imperfect but consecrated almost is enough....Almost is especially enough when our own sacrifices somehow echo the Savior’s sacrifice, however imperfect we are. We cannot really feel charity—Christ’s love for others—without at least tasting His suffering for others, because the love and the suffering are but two sides of a single reality. When we really are afflicted in the afflictions of other people, we may enter “the fellowship of his sufferings” enough to become joint-heirs with Him."
And now a confession. I had between 8-10 of you on the email list to get notification of my postings for this blog. One day, a week or so ago, I was on Good Reads and read a few of the comments made about Rhonda Byrne's book, "The Secret." There were some pretty nasty remarks made. One guys said he literally threw the book across the room at the absurdity of it. I was taken aback. I wondered for a while if I had been deceived by the books concepts. After all, it's not church doctrine. And maybe I was wrong for sharing my views about it online and with friends. So, with the exception of 2 people, I took names off the mailing list. I have pondered it for a time. But I could not deny the unmistakable spirit I felt while reading the book. By now I know the difference between having the spirit and not having the spirit...especially the spirit of truth. While I still claim that some of the book does not align with my religious beliefs, and that being because the book does not have ALL the truth, as I do, as a Latter-day Saint with modern scripture and revelation, still, the book's truths ARE based on God's laws. They are based on all that is good. All that God would want for His children. Truths, that if His children lived by, would bring more love, peace and joy to this world.
Early this morning, I had a personal revelation on the subject as I was pondering it. The truths in the book are based on simple facts. Pray. Ask for that which ye need. Have faith you will receive it. Love others. Have gratitude. Be giving. Be kind. Stay positive. Avoid the negative. It reminded me of the brass serpent that Moses was commanded to put on his staff. He was told to tell the Israelites to look upon the serpent after being bit by the poisonous serpent, and that they would live. Many would not, and died instead. Why? Because of the simpleness of the way.
Many today are deceived, as Satan is making good look evil, and evil look good. I feel sorry for those people who could not see the truth in Rhonda's book. Because I felt the book was placed in my hands to help me understand something that I so desperately needed, I was thankful to Rhonda for sharing what she discovered in that book--something that would HELP others. I never once thought of it as a scam for her and others to make money. I felt that they were sharing something that was precious to them, and that had helped them to live life more fully and more joyfully. Surely that is something that we should share with the world.
Satan does not want me to share what I am learning with you. It is time consuming to post, and yet I am so compelled to do it. It is my testimony. I want to help, lift and inspire others. This is a way to reach out, as I cannot come in personal contact with you each day. If something I say could help lift even one person at one moment, then it would be worth all the effort I am making to share it. I feel it is a gift God has given me, to be able to have this spiritual understanding and to be able to write it out and share it with others.
So, Satan, get out of my way! I am pulling out all the negative weeds if it takes me my whole life long, and I will just keep pulling, pulling, pulling. And in it's place cultivating as many positive flowers as I can!
It always amazes me how He helps us "find" when we are "seeking." I've been really working so hard on the words I speak....wanting so bad to replace all negative comments (and thoughts) with positive ones. Wanting so bad to learn not to fly off the handle when I get upset. I'd listened to Elder Holland's talk, "The Tongue of Angels" on my MP3 player a couple of times recently, and so while I was in my study room I decided to flip through my conference editions of the Ensign so I could study that talk a little more. Sure, I could have come to the computer and looked it up quickly, but for some reason, I felt impressed to flip through all my GC Ensigns. While I was at it, I decided to highlight, in the table of contents, all the talks that I especially love, and then I got the idea to write them down in a notebook, so next time I want to find them quickly I could do that...well, in doing this, I had to look through the less recent magazines at each talk to remember which ones I especially liked...I have been making a note next to the title of each talk as to how it affected me. There were two that I came across that I felt a strong impression to leave open and read later. Today, the first thing I picked up was one of those articles---I was highly compelled to read it this morning. I was totally amazed at how closely it fits with Brother Goddard's article I read yesterday, and how closely related some of it is to all this "negative/positive" stuff I have been learning. God is the perfect tutor--that's all I know!
This article is in the May 2004 Ensign by Elder Bruce C. Hafen entitled, "The Atonement: All for All"
It had previous highlights, and I had rated the talk "wonderful!!" with hearts and squigglies. The first highlighted quote I noticed that caused me to set it aside was this statement,
"We grow in two ways—removing negative weeds and cultivating positive flowers".
Wow! I thought. God has been leading me to this all along.
Previous to this Elder Hafen said, "One early Australian convert said: “My past life [was] a wilderness of weeds, with hardly a flower strewed among them. [But] now the weeds have vanished, and flowers spring up in their place.”
I used a different color highlighter as I read this talk, and well, I ended up highlighting at least half of his talk, and it was already half highlighted...so what can I say? Read the whole talk!! But I'll just share a few of the most prominent things that fit in with what Brother Goddard said in his article, those things that gave me God's tender mercy in letting me understand that He accepts my willingness to put my weaknesses upon His alter and work to change them, which change I know only comes as He makes me able to change---and if He is willing to allow those changes in this lifetime. Like Brother Goddard said, we may struggle with some weaknesses our whole life through just to "energize our humility."
This comment by Elder Hafen was especially tender to me:
"Without tasting the bitter, we actually cannot understand the sweet. (D&C 29:39) We require mortality’s discipline and refinement as the “next step in [our] development” toward becoming like our Father. But growth means growing pains. It also means learning from our mistakes in a continual process made possible by the Savior’s grace, which He extends both during and “after all we can do....because of the Atonement, they could learn from their experience without being condemned by it....So if you have problems in your life, don’t assume there is something wrong with you. Struggling with those problems is at the very core of life’s purpose. As we draw close to God, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser, stronger. If you’re seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you’re moving nearer to God, not farther away."
"So once we’ve cleared our heartland, we must continually plant, weed, and nourish the seeds of divine qualities. And then as our sweat and discipline stretch us to meet His gifts, “the flow’rs of grace appear,” like hope and meekness. Even a tree of life can take root in this heart-garden, bearing fruit so sweet that it lightens all our burdens “through the joy of his Son.” And when the flower of charity blooms here, we will love others with the power of Christ’s own love."
It brought to my realization (an "ahha!" moment, as Martha would say) that what appeared to be "cursings" given to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden were really great blessings. That flowers and fruits would not appear spontaneously without effort, and that weeds would choke the earth, and that Eve would bear children in sorrow...all these things were given us so that we could "taste the bitter, in order to fully understand the sweet" and to truly understand what true joy is. It was to help us acquire the "knowledge" that God has. The knowledge that would make us a God like Him. So, it's OK to have these struggles and trials and battle fields...even the same ole' same ole' battles! It's part of the perfect plan. We should have faith and trust in our own weaknesses!
Furthermore, Elder Hafen said,
"This earth is not our home. We are away at school, trying to master the lessons of “the great plan of happiness” so we can return home and know what it means to be there. Over and over the Lord tells us why the plan is worth our sacrifice—and His. Eve called it “the joy of our redemption.” Jacob called it “that happiness which is prepared for the saints.” Of necessity, the plan is full of thorns and tears—His and ours. But because He and we are so totally in this together, our being “at one” with Him in overcoming all opposition will itself bring us “incomprehensible joy.”
"Christ’s Atonement is at the very core of this plan. Without His dear, dear sacrifice, there would be no way home, no way to be together, no way to be like Him. He gave us all He had. Therefore, “how great is his joy,” when even one of us “gets it”—when we look up from the weed patch and turn our face to the Son."
"We can have eternal life if we want it, but only if there is nothing else we want more."
"Yet even when we utterly spend ourselves, we lack the power to create the perfection only God can complete. Our all by itself is still only almost enough—until it is finished by the all of Him who is the “finisher of our faith.” At that point, our imperfect but consecrated almost is enough....Almost is especially enough when our own sacrifices somehow echo the Savior’s sacrifice, however imperfect we are. We cannot really feel charity—Christ’s love for others—without at least tasting His suffering for others, because the love and the suffering are but two sides of a single reality. When we really are afflicted in the afflictions of other people, we may enter “the fellowship of his sufferings” enough to become joint-heirs with Him."
And now a confession. I had between 8-10 of you on the email list to get notification of my postings for this blog. One day, a week or so ago, I was on Good Reads and read a few of the comments made about Rhonda Byrne's book, "The Secret." There were some pretty nasty remarks made. One guys said he literally threw the book across the room at the absurdity of it. I was taken aback. I wondered for a while if I had been deceived by the books concepts. After all, it's not church doctrine. And maybe I was wrong for sharing my views about it online and with friends. So, with the exception of 2 people, I took names off the mailing list. I have pondered it for a time. But I could not deny the unmistakable spirit I felt while reading the book. By now I know the difference between having the spirit and not having the spirit...especially the spirit of truth. While I still claim that some of the book does not align with my religious beliefs, and that being because the book does not have ALL the truth, as I do, as a Latter-day Saint with modern scripture and revelation, still, the book's truths ARE based on God's laws. They are based on all that is good. All that God would want for His children. Truths, that if His children lived by, would bring more love, peace and joy to this world.
Early this morning, I had a personal revelation on the subject as I was pondering it. The truths in the book are based on simple facts. Pray. Ask for that which ye need. Have faith you will receive it. Love others. Have gratitude. Be giving. Be kind. Stay positive. Avoid the negative. It reminded me of the brass serpent that Moses was commanded to put on his staff. He was told to tell the Israelites to look upon the serpent after being bit by the poisonous serpent, and that they would live. Many would not, and died instead. Why? Because of the simpleness of the way.
Many today are deceived, as Satan is making good look evil, and evil look good. I feel sorry for those people who could not see the truth in Rhonda's book. Because I felt the book was placed in my hands to help me understand something that I so desperately needed, I was thankful to Rhonda for sharing what she discovered in that book--something that would HELP others. I never once thought of it as a scam for her and others to make money. I felt that they were sharing something that was precious to them, and that had helped them to live life more fully and more joyfully. Surely that is something that we should share with the world.
Satan does not want me to share what I am learning with you. It is time consuming to post, and yet I am so compelled to do it. It is my testimony. I want to help, lift and inspire others. This is a way to reach out, as I cannot come in personal contact with you each day. If something I say could help lift even one person at one moment, then it would be worth all the effort I am making to share it. I feel it is a gift God has given me, to be able to have this spiritual understanding and to be able to write it out and share it with others.
So, Satan, get out of my way! I am pulling out all the negative weeds if it takes me my whole life long, and I will just keep pulling, pulling, pulling. And in it's place cultivating as many positive flowers as I can!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A Tender Mercy From The Lord
I love it, L.O.V.E. it...when God gives me a tender mercy. They so often come unexpectedly. I got one yesterday. This was after a few days of discouragement in battling after a weakness that I cannot seem to divest myself of! Does that happen to you? The same sin/weakness just keeps coming back to haunt you. Something that you think you surely should have conquered by now--but haven't? And how does God just go on forgiving us time after time? I know Satan wants us to get discouraged and give up, thinking we will never measure up. I also know God wants us to keep trying and never ever give up.
As you know I love Meridian Magazine. I have received so much aid through their articles. Yesterday, a tender loving message came in one of their articles. One I could have easily missed, but God made sure I saw it. It wasn't even in their regular newsletter, but instead was attached to the end of a long ad. It is an article by H. Wallace Goddard entitled, "Endure To the End of Garbage."
My tender message was this:
As you know I love Meridian Magazine. I have received so much aid through their articles. Yesterday, a tender loving message came in one of their articles. One I could have easily missed, but God made sure I saw it. It wasn't even in their regular newsletter, but instead was attached to the end of a long ad. It is an article by H. Wallace Goddard entitled, "Endure To the End of Garbage."
My tender message was this:
In spite of our most determined efforts to root them out, some thorns in the flesh may last a long time---maybe a lifetime. That failure to conquer may not be a failure at all. Maybe resisting evil, without fully overcoming it, is a part of what enduring to the end is about.
Many of us who hope for steady improvement in ourselves get discouraged, self-blaming, and despairing as a result of our lack of progress....Yet maybe enduring to the end does not mean that the last vestige of fallenness will be removed in mortality. Maybe it means that we continue to resist evil. If that is true, those who have ever felt discouraged by the tenacious hold of a bad habit or weakness can take hope.
Surely it is true that we should draw on good sense, determination, faith, and priesthood power. But some of us may have thorns in the flesh that persist despite our spiritual exertions. Paul grieved: "For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." (2 Corinthians 12:8). Yet the trouble persisted. But wise Paul turned it to his spiritual benefit. He transformed his dismay with his own limitations into rejoicing in the Lord's power.
"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9)
But I believe that the God who gives us weakness in order to make us humble (Ether 12:27), may continue to administer His unique humility-medicine for a lifetime. Our persistent weaknesses and failings can be a continuing reminder of our dependence upon God. They can energize our humility.
I believe that I may too often take overt behavior as the primary indicator of spiritual progress when the activity of the Spirit may be a surer indicator. Stephen Robinson observes that "if we experience the gifts of the Spirit or the influence of the Holy Ghost, we can know that we are in the covenant relationship, for the gifts and companionship of the Holy Ghost are given to none else" (Robinson, 1992, p. 94).
President David O. McKay observed that "not a few of us have a thorn in the flesh as did Paul. Perhaps to some of us a dead leaf of some past act is clinging. It may be that there is a little dirt in our character, but each one has also a rose in his life, a hawthorn twig, or a lily. And it is a glorious lesson for us to learn: to see the rose and be blind to the thorn; to see the hawthorn twig and he blind to the dead leaf; to see the lily and not the dirt in our fellow's character." (Conference Report, October 1967, p.8).
Down in the dumps
To use a metaphor rather more vulgar than President McKay's, mortality is somewhat like a lifespan at the garbage dump. Disorder and stench are everywhere. We are wise not to believe that the odors are the indicators of character; those foul smells remind us that we inhabit a place where we are all bedeviled by our weakness and burdened by fetid shortcomings. The smell around mortals is not a measure of character but a reminder that this world is not our true Home. Maybe it is a person's noblest moments, those times when character shines through all that garbage, which gives us the truest measure of character.
Let us not be discouraged by the persistent and bothersome odor of mortality. As Harry Emerson Fosdick reminds us, "What a King stoops to pick up from the mire cannot be a brass farthing, but must be a pearl of great price."
He has stooped down to this mortal garbage dump for you and me. He intends to rescue and cleanse us if we will keep reaching for Him to the end.
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