Seeing God in the Mirror

Our spirits do us no good if they are isolated from the Holy Ghost. Without that connection, we are nothing more than "natural (wo)men" - just smart animals.

We are taught that the Holy Ghost is a cleanser (e.g., Moroni 6:4) - a purifier. It appears that we cannot purify ourselves - that we must be purified by regular exposure to the Holy Ghost. Also, it is when our hearts are connected to the true vine that they are able to bring forth fruit meet for repentance (John 14:1-5; Alma 13:13) - which leads to baptism, which leads to receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, which leads to the companionship of the Holy Ghost, which leads to an infusion of the Spirit of God, which leads to an enlivening connection to God, which leads to "doing the will of God", which leads to becoming like God, which leads to seeing God - not only eventually in the next life, but fundamentally in each other as we become more like Him.

In the end, as I John 3:2 states:

"Beloved, now are we the sons [and daughters] of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

Being connected to God through the Holy Ghost will allow us to do more than see Him "in all that is around us;" it literally will allow us to see Him "as He is".

In summary, becoming pure in heart means being connected to the cleansing power of the Holy Ghost - and the result of that purity is the ability to see God's will for us and literally, in one way or another and in this life or another, see God as He is. The key, as stated at the beginning of this post, is to pray diligently to be cleansed and hearken (hear and follow) unto the promptings of the Holy Ghost at all times - to repent by becoming more and more like Him as we go through life - to become as He is.

The Jews rejected Jesus' statement that those who had seen Him had seen His Father as the height of blasphemy, and modern Christianity still rejects Mormonism's claim that "as God is, man may become" - but that is the principle taught in the Beatitudes. Truly, the greatest paradigm-shattering aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that we can become joint-heirs with Christ - that we may press forward with faith in the hope that we shall see Him as He is for we shall be like Him - that, someday, we will see God in the mirror.

Righteous Rocking Required

I had an interesting experience at a stake priesthood leadership meeting last year. I was asked to play the piano, and the hymn was "Ye Elders of Israel". It is supposed to be sung "boldly" and at a pace that, quite frankly, rocks - so I played it at the top speed and with gusto, while singing the words exuberantly myself. The priesthood leadership responded with a rousing rendition.

After the meeting, our Stake President came up to me and said, with a smile, "I have never heard that song played in quite that way before." He then added something that warmed my heart - "Thanks."

I am nowhere close to a professional pianist, but I love to rock when rocking is required - and that can be in church meetings (even Sacrament Meeting) more than we might think. "Make a joyful noise" does include "joyful" - but it also includes "noise". Our music is one area where I wish we would open our mouths and let them be filled.

Grace: Soap for the Unclean

You must be a very good and sensitive person to suffer so much for (your own private sin). I am absolutely certain that the Lord loves you, empathizes with your situation, understands your disappointments and pain, is not shocked or surprised by you, and wants to help you. I want to tell you with total confidence, knowing what I know from my own experience and watching others, that you can go to Him even with this sin again and again and again. You must never feel that you cannot go to Him. The point for Him will be that you are trying.

Let Him in, and don’t be fooled into thinking that what you do puts you beyond His reach. We do not have to be perfect to receive His Spirit. We are cleansed by the Spirit but, think of this, "how could we be cleansed by the Spirit if we had to already be perfectly clean before receiving the Spirit." It’s like saying I can’t touch soap until my body is clean.

The desire and the striving is all. Every day turn to God, plead with Him, let His light in, and slowly this will become a strength to you - even if you never defeat it 100% in this life, you will begin to feel it is strength to you - never give up.

Remember Paul’s thorn in the flesh - he says that it kept him humble even though he received many revelations. Think of that; he received many revelations even though his thorn in the flesh never went entirely away. Perhaps we might think, well, Paul’s thorn must not have been so egregious as mine. But we don’t know what it was, only that he had it, it caused him disappointment, and that he never gave up or let it stop him from going boldly before the Throne of Grace.

Comment #59 by Thomas Parkin - Auld Lang Sin (By Common Consent)

The Unexamined Foundation of Salvation

In our eternal view, nearly all who have been born into mortality have “confessed the name of Christ and been saved” (into *some* degree of glory in the presence of a member of the Godhead) by the grace of God - based on their acceptance of the Father’s Plan in the pre-existence. The only exception to that rule is the Sons of Perdition - an incredibly small percentage of God’s children, according to every statement we have. Therefore, in a very real way, we view this life very differently than other denominations. Essentially, the mainstream Christian “goal” (progress-less existence in the presence of God) is what we claim has been rewarded already in either the Telestial or Terrestrial kingdom. Iow, grace gets us a degree of glory in a kingdom of God, but our acceptance of what God asks us to do (our “fruits” - which I prefer over “works”) qualifies us for a higher degree of glory in a different kingdom of God.

Given that position, when we talk of “salvation” we generally mean “exaltation” - since within Mormon theology “salvation” as the rest of Christianity defines it essentially is a given. We have "been saved" - but we want the other blessings offered by Jesus in His great biblical vision. Our “problem” in articulating how we view grace is that the very concept of “going beyond grace” is anathema to other Christians, even though it is a central tenet of the Gospels, especially.

A Good Argument for Gun Control

Please forgive me for moving away from the religious focus of this blog, but this link is to a picture that defies common sense.

Compassion vs. Judgment

It's a fine line between enabling someone to use their personal accountability in destructive ways by giving them assistance that might prolong their bad habits, and emulating how Jesus served and helped and lifted the "kingdom of nobodies" that filled his ministry - a line I struggle to define continually. Personally, I would rather help ten in order to be a "savior" to the one who truly will appreciate that help and use it wisely than to help none and miss that one. Having said that, I also want to find a way to enable as many people as possible to accept their own responsibilities and reach a point where assistance no longer is necessary.

As I said, it's a fine line - but if I can't walk it perfectly, I'd rather err on the side of compassion than judgment. I've been on the receiving end of both, and compassion was better every time.

When the Universe Itself Seems Shattered

The following is something I posted in April. I was struck as I reviewed the Beatitudes by the relevance of enduring to the end in the pursuit of internalizing Christ-like attributes, so I decided to re-post this and pray it inspires someone to hold on and continue to press forward through the long struggles, believing that rest will come.

--------------------------------------------------

Elder Wirthlin's analogy of God's orchestra needing more than just the piccolos to express the full beauty of His creation became an instant favorite of mine the moment he uttered it. I just came across another talk he gave (in the October 2006 General Conference) that touched me just as deeply and brought tears to my eyes as I read it again - and immediately reminded me of all those who struggle in any way, inside or outside the Church.

I hope it touches you as it touched me on this Easter weekend - especially coming from a truly gentle, beautiful apostle of the Master. I miss Elder Wirthlin, and I am confident, for him, Sunday has come.

"Each of us will have our own Fridays--those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

"But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death--Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

"No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or in the next, Sunday will come."

Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Sunday Will Come," Ensign, Nov. 2006, page 30

If anyone wants to watch the entire talk, the video can be accessed at:

Sunday Will Come (Video)

Father, God, Lord: Who is Whom?

"Terms like Father, God or Lord have wide and variable application. (In our viewpoint), a variety of divine beings are referred to by these various terms.”

I have always viewed this as the primary reason we have no systematic, simple theology of God. Christianity in general views Father, God and Lord as distinguishing titles for one “entity”; Mormonism views them as descriptive conditions with limitless application. Also, the concept of divine investiture of authority (allowing someone to speak for God) is rooted in our practical church experience, as counselors in presidencies, apostles, High Councilors, etc. are understood often to be representing and "speaking for" their direct Priesthood authority. The complexity of such a construct makes it impossible to know with absolute certainty exactly who is speaking in each and every instance of divine visitation - and, more specifically, whose words are being spoken. Add “as far as it is translated correctly” and the complexity gets even more difficult to unravel.

At various times, HTs can represent the quorum/group leadership, the Bishop, the Stake President and/or the 1st Pres. - depending on what message they are providing. High Councilors represent the SP, but they can speak by assignment of the Bishop - thus representing the Bishop AND the SP at that time.

It can be hard enough in the mortal church to figure out whose words are being spoken, especially if the speaker doesn't give explicit attribution. Figuring it out in the scriptures is almost pointless, imo. "God" is good enough for me, in nearly all cases.

A Truly Fascinating Post About Gender

Gender: A State of Mind - The Faithful Dissident (Feminist Mormon Housewives)

My Testimony of the Book of Mormon

I have read the Book of Mormon and pondered it and prayed over it (just like the Bible) and have felt a confirmation of the Spirit. I have compared it to the word of God in the Bible and have had my witness of the Bible strengthened as a result. One of the stated purposes of the Book of Mormon is to convince the world of the truthfulness of the Bible (Mormon 7:9), and it has done so for me.

Intellectually, I also can accept it as canonized scripture for four primary reasons:

1) God spoke to many inside the Bible where His words are not recorded in the Bible. There literally are dozens of texts mentioned therein that are not included therein. In other words, there are multiple examples of sacred, inspired texts and revelation cited in the Bible that, if found, would be accepted (I hope) by every Christian. "Canonization" was accomplished by those who understood that they were NOT defining the totality of God's words to His children; rather, they were reviewing what records were available to them and making decisions about validity AND importance. "Canonization" has come to mean FAR more than it did originally - and I can't accept those later, artificial constraints.

2) The Biblical pattern appears clear to me: God spoke through prophets PRIOR to the birth of Jesus - including to those outside of the House of Israel (Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, is a wonderful example); He spoke THROUGH Jesus; He spoke through prophets AFTER the death of Jesus (including new visions and visitations - like Paul's); the resurrection didn't stop revelation through prophets and He never said He would stop speaking through prophets. That claim was a retroactive one made LONG after the records were first recorded - and it is EXACTLY like the claim used by the Jews to reject the New Testament after nearly 400 years of official silence after Malachi. If new records are found claiming to be God's words to ancient Polynesian prophets or Asian prophets or Icelandic prophets or African prophets - and if those records inspire people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and allow Him and the Holy Ghost to bring forth good fruit unto Him and live humble lives of dedication as disciples - and in every way produce "Christians" and "good fruit of the true Vine" - then I will accept the possibility that they are, in fact, true scriptural words of God to that people. I won't accept them automatically, but I won't reject them automatically either.

3) I also have been fascinated to see what I believe are the misconceptions about the Book of Mormon (both by non-Mormons AND Mormons alike) fade away one by one as new information and evidence arises. For example, from the time I first read it so many years ago, I have thought it was a record of a very small minority of people in a very small geographic area (with the exception of the Jaredites, who appear to have been nomadic roamers of the classic Asian steppe model) - full of the same hyperbolic language that runs throughout the Bible and is a characteristic of many ancient records. I am not bothered by former beliefs of members and leaders that appear now to have been wrong, since those teachings aren't teachings OF or IN the Book of Mormon but rather beliefs ABOUT the Book of Mormon - and that is an important distinction that very few people make. (Again, it is interesting to me that so many Biblical scholars understand the nature of interpretive disagreement when it comes to Biblical scholarship but are unable to grant that same flexibility to Book of Mormon scholarship - again establishing a standard for Mormons to which other Christians aren't held.)

4) Finally, I have been struck as I have studied what the book actually says in both 1 Nephi and Ether by how incredibly different and spot-on those two books are. I don't have time or space in this post to explain that statement in detail, so I simply will leave it at that.

I have heard multiple reasons why people reject the possibility that the Book of Mormon might be the word of God and a real prophetic record, but I have not heard one in all my years that is more convincing than my personal witnesses.