The Power of "I AM" - and "We Are"

I simply love the Lord’s answer to Moses when he asked about when Israel would ask who sent Moses to them. There is great power in the idea of “I AM”. 

It’s interesting to me that I have been called apostate-liberal by some people and ultra-traditional-conservative by others – and everything in between by still others. Those claims have said much more about the perspectives of the people making them than they have about me.  The truth is, my views are all over the spectrum, depending on the exact topic in question – and they have changed in many cases over the years. I’m not trying to be any classification in particular; I’m just trying to be my own “I am” the best way I know how at the moment – with the hope that eternity will last long enough for me eventually to become my own “I AM”.

I know I’ve said this previously, and cited it more than once here and there, but I absolutely love Elder Wirthlin’s analogy in “Concern for the One” of God’s orchestra. Zion won’t exist until all instruments are allowed and desire to play together, creating a complex and beautiful symphony that just isn’t the same without each instrument, harmony and counter-melody.

I’m a bit torn between the individual ideal of being able to color with every imaginable crayon and the same collective ideal (that all of us will use a particular color or two and the whole community will include every color imaginable), since I like aspects of both ideals – so I tend toward a unity of the two (the communal being my immediate objective and the individual coming much, much later as I learn and acquire new abilities and like more things).

In the end, it doesn’t really matter to me if I can play every instrument beautifully or if my own saxophone contributes to a whole, complete, fully developed orchestral performance. If the picture or score created includes my offering, I will be happy – whether it is mine or ours or both.