I once heard about a special meeting held for ordinance workers in the Provo Temple. The President of the Church was there to address them, and when he became aware that some hadn't shown up for the meeting, he made this statement: “When you are where you ought to be, you will hear what the Lord wants you to hear.”
The purpose of our Sunday meetings is that we “hear what the Lord wants us to hear”—not so that we can simply look at each other at the end of the three hours and proclaim, "A good time was had by all.”
As Sunday School president, I've noted that Handbook 2 contains this statement: “All Church members ages 12 and older are members of Sunday School.” After searching the entire Handbook I was unable to find any footnote after that statement that says
". . . unless of course you are in one of the following categories:
1. "Members who prefer to hang out with friends in the chapel, the hall, or the library, or who're conducting more 'important' Church business.
2. "Young Women leaders who are convinced that they need 40 minutes to 'prepare their room' but spend most of that time visiting."
When I think about those who do not attend Sunday School I can't help wondering how many of them are the same ones who long to feel more “spiritual,” who pray every day for greater spiritual guidance, who long to find solutions to challenges they've been struggling with week after week (year after year?) --all of whom feeling that the heavens are sealed and the Lord has "forgotten" them. Are these the same ones who anguish over addictions they wish they could overcome but never seem to find the necessary willpower? Are these the fathers and mothers who continually agonize over how to get along better with their children? The husbands and wives who cannot seem to resolve their differences?
And then I wonder: How many times has the Lord heard the prayers and longings of His children and said, “I will provide the answers, solutions, uplift, and encouragement they seek by inspiring their Sunday School instructors to make a special comment, read a particular quote, tell a story, or bear testimony in such a way that they receive the answers they seek. But there's a catch: The members must be in class. If they will only be where they ought to be, they will hear and feel the answers they’ve been seeking.”
Just wondering.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
Reaching Out
Experts caution hikers and campers to avoid making eye contact if confronted by a bear because bears perceive this as a threat. Even among humans, eye contact between strangers is a source of discomfort and anxiety. Just watch people's eyes as they move past one another in stores and on the street.
While this is understandable among total strangers in a public setting, I've never understood why there's so much of this avoidance of eye contact at church. Many of us act as if our baptismal covenant contains the following fine print: "I know we're all brothers and sisters, that we've agreed to bear one another's burdens, etc. etc., but when I'm at church, I'm only going to speak to those I already know. I will not make eye contact with or speak to those I don't."
Sound farfetched? Then consider this true story of a general authority as related by Elder M. Russell Ballard:
Elder Devere Harris of the First Quorum of the Seventy told me of a recent visit he made to a long-established ward in Utah. He said, "I entered there as a stranger and tried every way that I knew to strike up a conversation, or to say hello, or to be kind, or to be greeted, or to be known. Everyone ignored me; nobody would speak to me -- no one!"
"Finally, a man recognized me. He said, 'Oh, Elder Harris!' The bishop turned around and said, 'What did you say?' The brother said, 'This is Elder Harris of the First Quorum of the Seventy.'
"Well, things changed. It wasn't long before I was asked to sit on the stand; they wondered if i wouldn't like to bear my testimony. After the meeting, many people shook my hand. As I left, I thought, 'What a tragedy! A gray-haired man who was unknown walks into a meeting. Nobody recognizes him, nobody says hello, nobody is kind. Then, because of his Church position, everybody changes and wants to be friendly'" ("The Hand of Fellowship, Ensign, Nov. 1988).
I know from personal experience -- both as a giver and a receiver -- how much it can brighten the day of someone you don't know by making eye contact, reaching out, saying hello, and introducing yourself. [But please don't be like a certain man I know. He does all of these things, but only so he can launch into a discussion about himself.]
The streets of this world are full of people who eyes are either looking straight ahead or are cast down. I cannot visualize the same thing on celestial streets. Can you?
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The Eyewitness
The following incident is true. It happened to a woman I once met. As you read it, imagine yourself in her place, trying to feel what she may have felt.
You are alone in your faded, yellow station wagon on a dark street. It is winter. You are waiting at a red light. Another car pulls up behind you, but you probably don't notice. It's driven by a young man, a 17-year-old high school senior on his way to a friend's house where a school choral group is practicing for the upcoming Christmas program. In a few moments your lives will become intertwined.
Traffic is light. No cars are coming from the opposite direction. To your left is a Shell station. Across the street on your left is a vacant lot. The light turns green. You accelerate. Halfway through the intersection there's an earth-shattering crash causing you to lose control of the car. You veer to the left, drive over the sidewalk and bounce through the vacant lot, slowly coming to a stop. You're very shaken up, crying and scared, but uninjured. A fellow from the Shell station runs across the street to see if you're alright. Through your tears you ask him what happened, and he tells you that another car crashed into yours, causing you to veer off into the vacant lot. You never saw it coming.
The car that hit you sits in the middle of the intersection. The driver, a man, remains at the wheel. Sitting in the passenger seat is a woman, his wife. They just sit there and do not appear to be injured.
A few motorists stop to see if they can be of assistance. One of them is the high school student who was waiting behind you at the light. He tells you he saw what happened, gives you his name and phone number, and leaves. Only later do you learn that he was the only eyewitness.
A day or two later you meet with an insurance adjuster. During the conversation you give him the name of the eyewitness. Within a few days, the insurance investigator goes to the high school. There, with permission of the school authorities, he interviews the young man who confirms that the traffic light was definitely green when you entered the intersection.
It appears to be an open-and-shut case. Your statement and that of the eyewitness affirm that the other driver was at fault. But many months later you are stunned to learn that the other driver is suing you. He claims that it was he, not you, who had the green light. You feel like the wind has been knocked out of you. You wonder, "How can this be? It was so obvious that he was the one at fault!"
Your world has now turned upside down. Your nights are worry-filled and sleepless. You hire an attorney. A court date is set. The attorney contacts the parents of the high school student, only to learn that he's now in college out of state. The parents contact their son, and arrangements are made to fly him home to testify at the trial.
When the day arrives, you scan the almost empty courtroom. Very few spectators are there. Then you see them -- the driver of the other car and his wife. They stare at you in anger. You look away. Then you see a young man -- the student -- and you realize how much you depend on his testimony today.
He is called to the stand and sworn in. His voice is very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that the judge twice interrupts, asking him to speak louder so the jury can hear him. The other driver and his wife are looking daggers at the young man. He tries not to return their gaze.
You are surprised by how few questions he is asked -- seems like only two or three --then he's excused. Though brief, his testimony was exactly what you'd hoped for.
The witness leaves the courtroom with an older man, probably his father. He doesn't have time to wait around for the verdict because he has a plane to catch. After a gut-wrenching wait, the verdict is in. The jury believes you and your witness. You have won! The ordeal that has tormented you for the better part of a year is over.
Later, after things have settled down, you write a letter to the young man. You tell him the good news. It's not just a hurried note saying "thanks a lot." Yours are words of heartfelt gratitude, written with great emotion because, quite literally, his actions freed you from fear and despair.
Now, reader, consider how you'd feel to be in that woman's shoes. How important to you was that young man's testimony? Oh, sure, you could have taken the stand and testified on your own behalf. But then, so would the other driver, followed by his wife. And we know whose side she would take. Without your eyewitness it would have come down to "she said vs. he said."
Can you feel, even slightly, how important it would be to have someone on your side -- someone who could testify on your behalf? What a comfort to know that someone would be there to back you up -- to speak out for you.
That incident came to my mind early this morning while I was pondering two verses of scripture. They refer to a future scene when we will stand before God to be judged. There He will measure us against the standards we've been taught by His Son and our prophet leaders. The only way to measure up and to qualify for eternal life is to be found without sin. But here's the problem: Nobody is without sin. Nobody on this earth can ever make himself clean enough on his or her own. .
So does nobody enter God's presence? Are we all to be cast out? Actually, if it were not for Christ, that would be the case. If left to our own feeble efforts to cleanse ourselves and rid ourselves of the ungodly choices we've made in this life -- then yes, we would all be cast out, because nobody can make himself clean again. There is only one way to accomplish this -- with the Savior's help.
To those who hope to be clean again, the Savior tells us how: "Sanctify yourselves . . . purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean." You will note that he does not say, "Make yourselves clean," because that is impossible. He is the One -- the only One -- who can ultimately cleanse us, not we ourselves. He is the "cleaning Solution" that washes away darkness, uncleanness, addiction, ungodliness, wickedness, and disobedience. The cleansing process can only happen when we sincerely repent and allow His Atonement to take our sins away.
And if we take advantage of His selfless offer to cleanse us, the next verse makes the most important point of all. In it He tells us what He will do in the courtroom scene when we stand before the Father. Instead of being totally alone, He will be there with us -- as our Eyewitness-- and here is what He promises to do: "That I may testify unto your Father, and your God and my God, that you are clean . . ." (See Doctrine and Covenants 88:74-75.) And because Christ can only speak the truth, the Father will believe Him, and we will be allowed entrance to God's kingdom. Our sins will have been forgotten -- remitted -- and the penalty for having committed them will have been paid for by Jesus Christ.
The message of Christ's Atonement is that even when we stumble spiritually, no matter how far we fall, as long as we get back up and sincerely and contritely call upon His name, with a resolve to never repeat the sin, He will make us clean again -- not partially clean -- not almost clean -- not close enough clean -- but totally without sin. And in that final judgment scene He will be there at our side as our eyewitness, bearing testimony to the Father that we are spotless, because He has made us so.
As President Boyd K. Packer promised only 48 hours ago in a CES devotional at BYU -- and he said it twice for emphasis -- "You and He will remember your sins no more." I assure you this is a true doctrine. I could not live with any measure of hope for my future if I did not know this for myself.
PS: I was the eyewitness to the accident..
You are alone in your faded, yellow station wagon on a dark street. It is winter. You are waiting at a red light. Another car pulls up behind you, but you probably don't notice. It's driven by a young man, a 17-year-old high school senior on his way to a friend's house where a school choral group is practicing for the upcoming Christmas program. In a few moments your lives will become intertwined.
Traffic is light. No cars are coming from the opposite direction. To your left is a Shell station. Across the street on your left is a vacant lot. The light turns green. You accelerate. Halfway through the intersection there's an earth-shattering crash causing you to lose control of the car. You veer to the left, drive over the sidewalk and bounce through the vacant lot, slowly coming to a stop. You're very shaken up, crying and scared, but uninjured. A fellow from the Shell station runs across the street to see if you're alright. Through your tears you ask him what happened, and he tells you that another car crashed into yours, causing you to veer off into the vacant lot. You never saw it coming.
The car that hit you sits in the middle of the intersection. The driver, a man, remains at the wheel. Sitting in the passenger seat is a woman, his wife. They just sit there and do not appear to be injured.
A few motorists stop to see if they can be of assistance. One of them is the high school student who was waiting behind you at the light. He tells you he saw what happened, gives you his name and phone number, and leaves. Only later do you learn that he was the only eyewitness.
A day or two later you meet with an insurance adjuster. During the conversation you give him the name of the eyewitness. Within a few days, the insurance investigator goes to the high school. There, with permission of the school authorities, he interviews the young man who confirms that the traffic light was definitely green when you entered the intersection.
It appears to be an open-and-shut case. Your statement and that of the eyewitness affirm that the other driver was at fault. But many months later you are stunned to learn that the other driver is suing you. He claims that it was he, not you, who had the green light. You feel like the wind has been knocked out of you. You wonder, "How can this be? It was so obvious that he was the one at fault!"
Your world has now turned upside down. Your nights are worry-filled and sleepless. You hire an attorney. A court date is set. The attorney contacts the parents of the high school student, only to learn that he's now in college out of state. The parents contact their son, and arrangements are made to fly him home to testify at the trial.
When the day arrives, you scan the almost empty courtroom. Very few spectators are there. Then you see them -- the driver of the other car and his wife. They stare at you in anger. You look away. Then you see a young man -- the student -- and you realize how much you depend on his testimony today.
He is called to the stand and sworn in. His voice is very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that the judge twice interrupts, asking him to speak louder so the jury can hear him. The other driver and his wife are looking daggers at the young man. He tries not to return their gaze.
You are surprised by how few questions he is asked -- seems like only two or three --then he's excused. Though brief, his testimony was exactly what you'd hoped for.
The witness leaves the courtroom with an older man, probably his father. He doesn't have time to wait around for the verdict because he has a plane to catch. After a gut-wrenching wait, the verdict is in. The jury believes you and your witness. You have won! The ordeal that has tormented you for the better part of a year is over.
Later, after things have settled down, you write a letter to the young man. You tell him the good news. It's not just a hurried note saying "thanks a lot." Yours are words of heartfelt gratitude, written with great emotion because, quite literally, his actions freed you from fear and despair.
Now, reader, consider how you'd feel to be in that woman's shoes. How important to you was that young man's testimony? Oh, sure, you could have taken the stand and testified on your own behalf. But then, so would the other driver, followed by his wife. And we know whose side she would take. Without your eyewitness it would have come down to "she said vs. he said."
Can you feel, even slightly, how important it would be to have someone on your side -- someone who could testify on your behalf? What a comfort to know that someone would be there to back you up -- to speak out for you.
That incident came to my mind early this morning while I was pondering two verses of scripture. They refer to a future scene when we will stand before God to be judged. There He will measure us against the standards we've been taught by His Son and our prophet leaders. The only way to measure up and to qualify for eternal life is to be found without sin. But here's the problem: Nobody is without sin. Nobody on this earth can ever make himself clean enough on his or her own. .
So does nobody enter God's presence? Are we all to be cast out? Actually, if it were not for Christ, that would be the case. If left to our own feeble efforts to cleanse ourselves and rid ourselves of the ungodly choices we've made in this life -- then yes, we would all be cast out, because nobody can make himself clean again. There is only one way to accomplish this -- with the Savior's help.
To those who hope to be clean again, the Savior tells us how: "Sanctify yourselves . . . purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean." You will note that he does not say, "Make yourselves clean," because that is impossible. He is the One -- the only One -- who can ultimately cleanse us, not we ourselves. He is the "cleaning Solution" that washes away darkness, uncleanness, addiction, ungodliness, wickedness, and disobedience. The cleansing process can only happen when we sincerely repent and allow His Atonement to take our sins away.
And if we take advantage of His selfless offer to cleanse us, the next verse makes the most important point of all. In it He tells us what He will do in the courtroom scene when we stand before the Father. Instead of being totally alone, He will be there with us -- as our Eyewitness-- and here is what He promises to do: "That I may testify unto your Father, and your God and my God, that you are clean . . ." (See Doctrine and Covenants 88:74-75.) And because Christ can only speak the truth, the Father will believe Him, and we will be allowed entrance to God's kingdom. Our sins will have been forgotten -- remitted -- and the penalty for having committed them will have been paid for by Jesus Christ.
The message of Christ's Atonement is that even when we stumble spiritually, no matter how far we fall, as long as we get back up and sincerely and contritely call upon His name, with a resolve to never repeat the sin, He will make us clean again -- not partially clean -- not almost clean -- not close enough clean -- but totally without sin. And in that final judgment scene He will be there at our side as our eyewitness, bearing testimony to the Father that we are spotless, because He has made us so.
As President Boyd K. Packer promised only 48 hours ago in a CES devotional at BYU -- and he said it twice for emphasis -- "You and He will remember your sins no more." I assure you this is a true doctrine. I could not live with any measure of hope for my future if I did not know this for myself.
PS: I was the eyewitness to the accident..
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
A Great Treasure
I finished reading the Book of Mormon this morning. Have lost track of how many times I've read it. All I know is it's not as many as I'd like. This time around was easier, though, because I'd set aside a specific time to read every day -- early morning. It simply became part of my regular schedule, and I strongly recommend it, even if it means getting up a little earlier.
Seminary students may be prone to ask, "How much do I have to read to make it count?" It doesn't matter. I always avoid those reading programs that tell you how many chapters a day you need to read in order to get through the scriptures in a certain amount of time. Seems to me that those who get caught up in that end up more concerned about the destination than the journey. Read a little or a lot -- but do it every day.
Why every day? I will answer by asking you how important the following personal attributes are to you:
1) Discernment -- the ability to comprehend what might be hidden or obscured. Those who have this attribute or gift are able to observe things in others that reveal their true motives or warn them of potential problems in relationships. They are also more likely to make correct decisions. Is this something you desire?
2) Insight -- the ability to see beneath what lies on the surface; to understand doctrine more clearly; to have a clearer view of the spiritual and see things from an eternal perspective.
3) Conviction -- another word for testimony. Strong, not wavering. Built on a firm, not shaky foundation. Able to avoid temptation; to do the right thing even when nobody's watching.
4) Spirituality -- to be able, in spite of the noises of this world, to sense the quiet impressions that come from the Holy Ghost.
So what do these four attributes have to do with reading the Book of Mormon? Consider this statement by President Ezra Taft Benson: "I have noted within the Church a difference in discernment, insight, conviction, and spirit between those who know and love [not just read] the Book of Mormon and those who do not. That book is a great sifter" (Christmas fireside, 7 Dec. 1986).
Every day that sifting process is going on. Some seek the guidance of the voice of the Good Shepherd. Others go their own way, confident in their own ability to make it through life, or only turning to the Lord when everything around them is falling apart.
I have the conviction that we may find daily spiritual uplift, discover the miracle of forgiveness, and literally receive the assurance of how near the Lord really is to us if we will read from the Book of Mormon.
Seminary students may be prone to ask, "How much do I have to read to make it count?" It doesn't matter. I always avoid those reading programs that tell you how many chapters a day you need to read in order to get through the scriptures in a certain amount of time. Seems to me that those who get caught up in that end up more concerned about the destination than the journey. Read a little or a lot -- but do it every day.
Why every day? I will answer by asking you how important the following personal attributes are to you:
1) Discernment -- the ability to comprehend what might be hidden or obscured. Those who have this attribute or gift are able to observe things in others that reveal their true motives or warn them of potential problems in relationships. They are also more likely to make correct decisions. Is this something you desire?
2) Insight -- the ability to see beneath what lies on the surface; to understand doctrine more clearly; to have a clearer view of the spiritual and see things from an eternal perspective.
3) Conviction -- another word for testimony. Strong, not wavering. Built on a firm, not shaky foundation. Able to avoid temptation; to do the right thing even when nobody's watching.
4) Spirituality -- to be able, in spite of the noises of this world, to sense the quiet impressions that come from the Holy Ghost.
So what do these four attributes have to do with reading the Book of Mormon? Consider this statement by President Ezra Taft Benson: "I have noted within the Church a difference in discernment, insight, conviction, and spirit between those who know and love [not just read] the Book of Mormon and those who do not. That book is a great sifter" (Christmas fireside, 7 Dec. 1986).
Every day that sifting process is going on. Some seek the guidance of the voice of the Good Shepherd. Others go their own way, confident in their own ability to make it through life, or only turning to the Lord when everything around them is falling apart.
I have the conviction that we may find daily spiritual uplift, discover the miracle of forgiveness, and literally receive the assurance of how near the Lord really is to us if we will read from the Book of Mormon.
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