feasting on the Sabbath...

This weekend was Stake Conference... I love SC... For years I have really appreciated the Saturday evening session that is for the adults best... usually I get the most out of this session, but that is possibly because I prepare for it...

I am learning through this exercise of "feasting on the Sabbath", I started at the beginning of the year, that when it comes to a LOT of experiences in life, many are made better by preparing for them... Not just anticipating, but actually preparing to focus on that experience and nothing else... Living in the moment as it were...

This SC was no different... I prepared for the experience and I can say that it was one of the best conferences I have ever attended... even though physically I was as uncomfortable, if not MORE uncomfortable trying to sit through it, as I ever have been... I was REALLY hurting, cause my pain meds wore off and I forgot to take any with me... but I couldn't leave... I was learning SO much, I experienced a feeling of thirst for the words being given that was really exciting... I gained some very important renewals into my own personal faith and spiritual needs in life... but I will just share one "woven concept" here:

True JOY comes from following council to be spiritually and temporally prepared within my own self... when I am properly doing what I can to fill my own well, and find joy and contentment with the life I have... I can love and care for others around me better... I know I can be doing a lot more... but I was also reminded that I don't need to do for other what they are able do for themselves, any more than others should do for me that which I can and should be doing for myself... This is a careful but joyful dance that we best perform through the spirit of Christlike charity and love... Those that follow council best are the best able to give of surplus joy which they will often own, because they HAVE internal contentment and peace. Also I was reminded that charity doesn't necessarily mean money... it often means giving of one's TIME and talents...

Some of these renewed ideas that I learned this weekend are related to a theme I had already latched on to for this month... and I find that really interesting.

feasting on the Sabbath...

This last week has brought me through a few lows... and I have been profoundly grateful for the gospel while I have been living through them...

My understanding is not perfect, but it is solid... I am grateful for the Savior's Atonement... I know that He loves me... imperfect and weak as I am... and even when I feel unworthy of that love, I DO know that He loves me... and I know that I can show my love for Him by loving others as He loves me...

I publicly express my love for my family... I have been very grateful for their support and love of me.

I share this with them and anyone else that cares to view it as wise counsel from the Lord, through one of His servants:



This second video touched me deeply and I wanted to remind those that I love to reach outside themselves to lift each others burdens... and then maybe reach outside that place and touch those who they do not even know perhaps... this is the way that we find the greatest joy and happiness in our own lives... it's not the things we give to others that are of greatest worth... the simple kindnesses we show are of the greatest value... when we listen for help from the Lord, we will know the kind of gifts to give... I really need to remember this lesson...



*As a side note, I have decided that March is going to be a whole month of finding JOY!

feasting on the Sabbath...

This week as I was preparing to help teach the temple prep class again, I was re-reading a few dedicatory prayers from some of the temples that I have been to or would very much like to go to... I found the Dedicatory Prayer from the Nauvoo Temple to be so poignant, and thought I would share with anyone that was unaware that these prayers are available for study.

Prayers that are given at temple dedications are revelatory in nature... I need to remember that...
Photo: © 2005, Scott Cannon./link
(...written in advance of posting)

feasting on the Sabbath...

My feast this week comes from studying two peripheral topics I was lead to, which are related to my lesson for Sunday... I have to share, that while I usually feel inadequate as a teacher... teaching is often a vehicle for which the Lord uses to teach many of us the most... Preparing a lesson is a great study tool...

This quote is not something that I will use in class (mostly because we always run out of time just covering the lesson material, so there isn't time to introduce much extra material, and I don't want to confuse or sidetrack our discussion...) But I will possibly include it at the end of the handout I make to send home after class each week for personal study. I like to send home the list of scriptures from the manual, because sometimes we can't get to all of them in class... I encourage class members to re-read through them again during the week, as a follow through in preparation for the next week...

Also, I want to note this quote in my journal... and I want share it with family and friends... I consistently find, that the more I study... the more I trust in the Lord, the more I remember that the gospel is a safety net for my heart and mind... The more I understand that the subjects I study dovetail one another, to help me gain understanding...

True Faith

“The just shall live by faith,” we are told in holy writ. I ask again, What is faith?

Faith exists when absolute confidence in that which we cannot see combines with action that is in absolute conformity to the will of our Heavenly Father. Without all three—first, absolute confidence; second, action; and third, absolute conformity—without these three all we have is a counterfeit, a weak and watered-down faith. Let me discuss each of these three imperatives of faith.

First, we must have confidence in that which we cannot see. When Thomas finally felt the prints of the nails and thrust his hand into the side of the resurrected Savior, he confessed that he, at last, believed.

“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Peter echoed those words when he praised early followers for their faith in Jesus the Christ. He said:

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

“Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

Second, for our faith to make a difference, we must act. We must do all that is in our power to change passive belief into active faith, for truly, “faith, if it hath not works, is dead.”

In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley raised a voice of warning to the Saints of this Church as well as to the world at large. He uttered that same warning last night at priesthood meeting. He said: “I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. So many people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings. … I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people.”

Brothers and sisters, when these prophetic words were uttered, some faithful members of the Church mustered their faith and heeded the counsel of the prophet. They are profoundly grateful today that they did. Others perhaps believed that what the prophet said was true but lacked faith, even as small as a grain of mustard seed. Consequently, some have suffered financial, personal, and family distress.

Third, one’s faith should be consistent with the will of our Heavenly Father, including His laws of nature. The sparrow flying into a hurricane may believe that he can successfully navigate the storm, but the unforgiving natural law will convince him otherwise in the end.

Are we wiser than the sparrow? Often what passes for faith in this world is little more than gullibility. It is distressing to see how eager some people are to embrace fads and theories while rejecting or giving less credence and attention to the everlasting principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is distressing how eagerly some rush into foolish or unethical behavior, believing that God will somehow deliver them from the inevitable tragic consequences of their actions. They even go so far as to ask for the blessings of heaven, knowing in their hearts that what they do is contrary to the will of our Father in Heaven.

How do we know when our faith conforms to the will of our Heavenly Father and He approves of that which we seek? We must know the word of God. One of the reasons we immerse ourselves in the scriptures is to know of Heavenly Father’s dealings with man from the beginning. If the desires of our heart are contrary to scripture, then we should not pursue them further.

Next, we must heed the counsel of latter-day prophets as they give inspired instruction.

Additionally, we must ponder and pray and seek the guidance of the Spirit. If we do so, the Lord has promised, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”

Only when our faith is aligned with the will of our Heavenly Father will we be empowered to receive the blessings we seek. (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Shall He Find Faith on the Earth?,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 82)

(...written in advance of posting)

feasting on the Sabbath...

Hubby and I are teaching the temple preparation classes in our ward currently... As I have been preparing this week's lesson several quotes touched me very much and I looked up the references for the original text... The following words from a First Presidency Ensign message printed in 1994 are ideas I want to give much more thought to, in my own life...

Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve said:

“Temple work … gives a wonderful opportunity for keeping alive our spiritual knowledge and strength. … The mighty perspective of eternity is unraveled before us in the holy temples; we see time from its infinite beginning to its endless end; and the drama of eternal life is unfolded before us. Then I see more clearly my place amidst the things of the universe, my place among the purposes of God; I am better able to place myself where I belong, and I am better able to value and to weigh, to separate and to organize the common, ordinary duties of my life, so that the little things shall not oppress me or take away my vision of the greater things that God has given us” (Conference Report, Apr. 1922, pp. 97–98).

***

President Howard W. Hunter continued:

"Truly, the Lord desires that His people be a temple-motivated people. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.

Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us.....

But to have the temple indeed be a symbol unto us, we must desire it to be so. We must live worthy to enter the temple. We must keep the commandments of our Lord. If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take His teaching and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be temple worthy, to be consistent and loyal in every walk of life, for we will be committed to a single, sacred standard of conduct and belief. Whether at home or in the marketplace, whether at school or long after school is behind us, whether we are acting totally alone or in concert with a host of other people, our course will be clear and our standards will be obvious.

The ability to stand by one’s principles, to live with integrity and faith according to one’s belief—that is what matters. That devotion to true principle—in our individual lives, in our homes and families, and in all places that we meet and influence other people—that devotion is what God is ultimately requesting of us. It requires commitment—whole-souled, deeply held, eternally cherished commitment to the principles we know to be true in the commandments God has given. If we will be true and faithful to the Lord’s principles, then we will always be temple worthy, and the Lord and His holy temples will be the great symbols of our discipleship with Him." (The Great Symbol of Our Membership, Ensign, Oct 1994, 2)

(...written in advance of posting on Sunday)

feasting on the Sabbath...

This morning during my own personal study time I came across the following quote, I submit it here for consideration and remind myself to pay closer attention to this counsel.

"Closely related to our own obligation to repent is the generosity of letting others do the same...In this we participate in the very essence of the Atonement of Jesus Christ...We don't want God to remember our sins, so there is something fundamentally wrong in our relentlessly trying to remember others' sins...It is one of those ironies of godhood that in order to find peace, the offended as well as the offender must engage the principle of forgiveness."

--Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom", Ensign, Nov. 1996, 82

feasting on the Sabbath...

I will not be making it to church this morning... I am too unsteady. Just making it to the bathroom is enough challenge... today... The anemia is back into the "cautious" ranges... so, I will follow my doctor's orders... stay down... drink my allotted fluids... take my medications like a good little invalid... [insert chuckling] and work on reading the SS/RS lessons for my own edification...

The really good new is that I will still get seriously fed by the spirit today even though I have to miss sacrament meeting... I am planning on watching the CES fireside with President Thomas S. Monson, live, right from the comfort of my bed... (and I can rewatch it on demand as many times as I need to in order to compensate for falling asleep at the drop of hat...) Isn't technology wonderful?

feasting on the Sabbath...

Today is "Fast Sunday" all over the world, and a day of great spiritual feasting and in turn blessings for believing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wherever they congregate.

As a life long member I grew up understanding the general idea of fasting but it wasn't actually until severe health issues interfered with my ability to physically fast in a normal way that I really started to appreciate the "Law of the Fast"... Fasting for me today is very different physically than when I was younger and healthy. I am happy to say that fasting is different for me spiritually too... it is much more of a feast because I put so much more of myself into the process.

Beyond fasting, weekly feasting on the Sabbath takes personal effort on the individual's part. Rarely can someone walk into a chapel and passively receive this gift. I know it is possible to feel the spirit passively, for I have had that experience too... but to "feast", one must be an active partaker of that spirit.

I share this Ensign article by Elder C. Elmer Black, “Messages from the Doctrine and Covenants: The Holy Sabbath,” Ensign, Apr 2005, 66–67; as a text to help those that might be looking for such experiences in their lives... Since we will be studying the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History this year I think the article is especially pertinent... As an active member that wants a stronger connection to my Heavenly Father and the Savior I am personally planning to put more effort into my individual study and worship so that the Sabbath becomes a regular feasting day for me, and I can experience a greater personal influence of the Spirit in my life... not the semi-effortless stab at spiritual strength I have sometimes settled for...

A new year is never the only time to make changes... but it can be a time in which we are yearly reminded of new focus, because lesson manuals change nearly every year... At the start of this new year have set a goal to take a greater responsibility for my own spirituality and desire to be fed by the spirit. This year I am not just going to simply put my plate on the table and hope a few crumb fall on it... I am going to ladle on to my plate the gospel courses that we have been given... I am remembering that the number of courses the spirit will fill is only limited by my willingness to dip into each one that is available to me.

The Father and Savior are offering a feast... the question has always been, how much I am willing to eat.