Showing posts with label Light. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Light. Show all posts
Monday, October 1, 2012
Be Ok
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Our Eternal Treasure Map
The other day I helped make a treasure map, and it sparked some thought and discovery surrounding our own Eternal Treasure Maps.
I've been thinking a lot lately about light, direction, and confusion.
So, what does this have to do with treasure maps? Well, we're here on this mortal existence, trying to make sense of what we've been given in comparison to what we can see around us. One of the things we can see around us is where we want to go. Another is how we think we can get there. Finally, is others around us.
We are given a series of clues (as shown in the middle of the map), which are usually cryptic, and we are given images of surrounding areas corresponding with the clues and general direction.
Then, we are left to choose. We get to fully decide who we are, where we are going, and if we will strive to follow the directions given to us.
Now, you can't tell from the picture, but by the trees, it gives the warning "Here there be monsters" to explain to the holder of the map why they can't just cut from the start to the finish. So, we can choose if we want to face the monsters and hope to find a path through, or we can go around as the map directs.
We may not even know where exactly the path is ending, or what the clues truly mean until we get there. Once we do, it may become clear that "Joseph's Grave" is not actually a grave site, but a granite sign with the name Joseph on it.
Others around us may look like they are following the same map and should be at the same place you are. We are all given the clues, we are all given help along the way, and we don't know where they are on the map, or what detours they've taken compared to us.
We can only follow the clues we've been given, the hints of inspiration and the moments of clarity.
Keep walking towards the light, towards heaven. Please remember that you may think you understand the clues up ahead, but don't skip past them anyway. Take that one step in front of you now and continue in faith. You'll get to your destination, you can see some things ahead now, keep going and learning along the way.
Learn the lesson that is in front of you, and keep searching for understanding. Follow the True Light, and you'll come out alright.
So, what does this have to do with treasure maps? Well, we're here on this mortal existence, trying to make sense of what we've been given in comparison to what we can see around us. One of the things we can see around us is where we want to go. Another is how we think we can get there. Finally, is others around us.
We are given a series of clues (as shown in the middle of the map), which are usually cryptic, and we are given images of surrounding areas corresponding with the clues and general direction.
Then, we are left to choose. We get to fully decide who we are, where we are going, and if we will strive to follow the directions given to us.
Now, you can't tell from the picture, but by the trees, it gives the warning "Here there be monsters" to explain to the holder of the map why they can't just cut from the start to the finish. So, we can choose if we want to face the monsters and hope to find a path through, or we can go around as the map directs.
We may not even know where exactly the path is ending, or what the clues truly mean until we get there. Once we do, it may become clear that "Joseph's Grave" is not actually a grave site, but a granite sign with the name Joseph on it.
Others around us may look like they are following the same map and should be at the same place you are. We are all given the clues, we are all given help along the way, and we don't know where they are on the map, or what detours they've taken compared to us.
We can only follow the clues we've been given, the hints of inspiration and the moments of clarity.
Keep walking towards the light, towards heaven. Please remember that you may think you understand the clues up ahead, but don't skip past them anyway. Take that one step in front of you now and continue in faith. You'll get to your destination, you can see some things ahead now, keep going and learning along the way.
Learn the lesson that is in front of you, and keep searching for understanding. Follow the True Light, and you'll come out alright.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Reality Check
Ok.
First. I bet, about 1/2 of you, or more (I haven't done the stats) will read this and think something like, "this doesn't apply to me." That's great! Except that it does. Just change out the specifics, go to the general principles.
We have all grown up with the idea that that "perfect person" that is "meant to be" will just waltz in to your life (though we keep in mind, they may samba, jive, or otherwise foxtrot into your life- we leave it up to their personality on that one). We have also heard for years that there is not just one "perfect person" that alone is "meant to be," so how do we combine those ideas, because, if you ask any person in a truly committed and happy relationship, that person is their soul mate.
Naturally, many of you already know. We also hear that God waits for the perfect time for everything in our lives.
So, how does this all fit, and where is our responsibility?
See, God has a perfect timetable for your life. It even fits perfectly with your choices, and yes, I can argue that philosophically, but I don't want to right now, so just remember what you already know about that, and if nothing else, just believe me on this one.
But, He doesn't just decide haphazardly when the "right time" is, the perfect person is right for a reason. You have to actively choose and be that kind of person, for light attracts light (D&C 88:40). Now, there is another balance that we need to remember, and that is "pray as if all depends on God, act as if it all depends on you" and that applies here too. Do not despair, trust in His timing above all things, JUST please don't let it be an excuse to sit back and think He will do everything. Yes. This is a note to myself more than anything else.
You can't just sit back and wait for God to do all the work finding your soul mate. This extends beyond just dating a lot. You have to be in the right place: in your development, and that takes effort my friend.
Now, don't get all mad and say I'm not credible because I am very single and so therefore have no legitimacy. Truth is still true. Your choices matter. They shape your eternal character, which makes you the perfect fit for "that person" it's not some crazy, unknowable, mystical force, it is a perfectly wise God who waits for you to be ready. I don't know what I need to change, what I need to improve so that I can be ready. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I am definitely a work in progress. And, I am doing what I can to make sure I change deliberately. Yet, in the meantime, I can be content, I can be faithful, and I can definitely be happy along the way.
Remember the principles of work and faith, and you got it. Reality check. Life is definitely a balance, and it's definitely not consistent. Things keep changing and growing, and subtracting, and multiplying. Life changes. You get the idea. Just keep the faith. Miracles can happen, but they are often disguised through hard work and a long time period, and come in ways you didn't expect. Isn't life great? I think so.
I am sure I didn't capture everything that I will wish I had, so I reserve the right to edit my posts later, adding and subtracting as I deem necessary. Especially because I keep learning and remembering along the way, so it's very likely to change, and to seek to find, balance, and live what is true.
First. I bet, about 1/2 of you, or more (I haven't done the stats) will read this and think something like, "this doesn't apply to me." That's great! Except that it does. Just change out the specifics, go to the general principles.
We have all grown up with the idea that that "perfect person" that is "meant to be" will just waltz in to your life (though we keep in mind, they may samba, jive, or otherwise foxtrot into your life- we leave it up to their personality on that one). We have also heard for years that there is not just one "perfect person" that alone is "meant to be," so how do we combine those ideas, because, if you ask any person in a truly committed and happy relationship, that person is their soul mate.
Naturally, many of you already know. We also hear that God waits for the perfect time for everything in our lives.
See, God has a perfect timetable for your life. It even fits perfectly with your choices, and yes, I can argue that philosophically, but I don't want to right now, so just remember what you already know about that, and if nothing else, just believe me on this one.
But, He doesn't just decide haphazardly when the "right time" is, the perfect person is right for a reason. You have to actively choose and be that kind of person, for light attracts light (D&C 88:40). Now, there is another balance that we need to remember, and that is "pray as if all depends on God, act as if it all depends on you" and that applies here too. Do not despair, trust in His timing above all things, JUST please don't let it be an excuse to sit back and think He will do everything. Yes. This is a note to myself more than anything else.
You can't just sit back and wait for God to do all the work finding your soul mate. This extends beyond just dating a lot. You have to be in the right place: in your development, and that takes effort my friend.
Now, don't get all mad and say I'm not credible because I am very single and so therefore have no legitimacy. Truth is still true. Your choices matter. They shape your eternal character, which makes you the perfect fit for "that person" it's not some crazy, unknowable, mystical force, it is a perfectly wise God who waits for you to be ready. I don't know what I need to change, what I need to improve so that I can be ready. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I am definitely a work in progress. And, I am doing what I can to make sure I change deliberately. Yet, in the meantime, I can be content, I can be faithful, and I can definitely be happy along the way.
Remember the principles of work and faith, and you got it. Reality check. Life is definitely a balance, and it's definitely not consistent. Things keep changing and growing, and subtracting, and multiplying. Life changes. You get the idea. Just keep the faith. Miracles can happen, but they are often disguised through hard work and a long time period, and come in ways you didn't expect. Isn't life great? I think so.
I am sure I didn't capture everything that I will wish I had, so I reserve the right to edit my posts later, adding and subtracting as I deem necessary. Especially because I keep learning and remembering along the way, so it's very likely to change, and to seek to find, balance, and live what is true.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Learn to Live
In the space of an hour, I have truly felt healed. Many may say that that's impossible. But, I testify to all that the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, can cause miracles of healing in our hearts.
I have been struggling for awhile, unhappy with the inability to plan my life, feeling like I was doing everything wrong. But then, I read this talk, and after a lot of prayer, I truly feel peace.
Yes, I am still mostly in the dark, with no major, lasting specifics to guide my way. Yet, something has changed. I have learned it is so necessary to LIVE. Sometimes, living requires hurt, it requires an almost complete shut-down, while things struggle to make sense; Christ is always there. He will always reach our reaching. This implies that we reach. We try. We live. We find purpose. We find our foundation and are not scared to build upon it.
His Grace is sufficient to heal any wound. His Grace is sufficient to heal a stubborn heart and give peace to the torn soul.
We can move forward, even in the darkest of surroundings, and still feel His Eternal, Perfect, Healing Peace. Love. Guidance. That is, if we keep asking and trusting His plan, walking in His ways, not after the desires of our own hearts, even when they are not "bad things" He truly has the Best things for us. Through trusting His plan, asking for help each day, we can truly feel peace. We may be weak. We need His grace. It is there. Reach for Him. Ask Him for help. Then, remember to Listen, because He so desperately wants to heal you, turn to Him, tell Him of your struggles, your fears, maybe write a blog post or two ;)
Know that you are so loved. You can find peace too. You can learn how to live. It takes work, especially when nothing seems to be going right. But I truly know that it will, the pain will cease, and you can find joy when you turn to the Source, even Jesus Christ.
"His Grace is Sufficient"
I recently read a speech/article by Brad Wilcox, about the saving grace that Christ gives to us. I'm going to put a few quotes on here, instead of my usual interpretation because I feel like he says it much better than I can, so I posted the above link for the entire article and below are some of my favorite passages.
The child must practice the piano, but this practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its
purpose is change. I have born-again Christian friends who say to me, “You Mormons are trying to earn your way to heaven.” I say, “No, we are not earning heaven. We are learning heaven. We are preparing for it (see D &C 78:7). We are practicing for it.” They ask me, “Have you been saved by grace?”
I answer, “Yes. Absolutely, totally, completely, thankfully—yes!” Then I ask them a question that perhaps
they have not fully considered: “Have you been changed by grace?” They are so excited about being saved that maybe they are not thinking enough about what comes next. They are so happy the debt is paid that they may not have considered why the debt existed in the first place.
In the past I had a picture in my mind of what the final judgment would be like, and it went something like this: Jesus standing there with a clipboard and Brad standing on the other side of the room nervously looking at Jesus. Jesus checks His clipboard and says, “Oh, shoot, Brad. You missed it by two points.” Brad begs Jesus, “Please, check the essay question one more time! There have to be two points you can squeeze out of that essay.”
That’s how I always saw it. But the older I get, and the more I understand this wonderful plan of redemption, the more I realize that in the final judgment it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, “Let me stay.” No, he will probably be saying, “Get me out of here!” Knowing Christ’s character, I believe that if anyone is going to be begging on that occasion, it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, “Please, choose to stay. Please, use my Atonement—not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay.”
The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can go home but that—miraculously—we can feel at home there. If Christ did not require faith and repentance, then there would be no desire to change.
Christ’s Grace Is Sufficient to Help Us
“But Brother Wilcox, don’t you realize how hard it is to practice? I’m just not very good at the piano. I hit a lot of wrong notes. It takes me forever to get it right.” Now wait. Isn't that all part of the learning process? When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?
The grace of Christ is sufficient—sufficient to cover our debt, sufficient to transform us, and sufficient to help us as long as that transformation process takes. The Book of Mormon teaches us to rely solely on “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). As we do, we do not discover—as some
Christians believe—that Christ requires nothing of us. Rather, we discover the reason He requires so much and the strength to do all He asks (see Philippians 4:13). Grace is not the absence of God’s high expectations. Grace is the presence of God’s power (see Luke 1:37).
Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said the following:
Now may I speak . . . to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the
Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short. . . .
. . . This feeling of inadequacy is . . . normal. There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance. . . . . . . This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us.
With Elder Maxwell, I testify that God’s grace is sufficient. Jesus’ grace is sufficient. It is enough. It is all we need. Oh, young people, don’t quit. Keep trying. Don’t look for escapes and excuses. Look for the Lord and His perfect strength. Don’t search for someone to blame. Search for someone to help you. Seek Christ,
and, as you do, I promise you will feel the enabling power we call His amazing grace. I leave this testimony and all of my love—for I do love you. As God is my witness, I love the youth of this church. I believe in you. I’m pulling for you. And I’m not the only one. Parents are pulling for you, leaders are pulling for you, and prophets are pulling for you. And Jesus is pulling with you.
Christ’s Grace Is Sufficient to Transform Us
Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.
If the child sees Mom’s requirement of practice as being too overbearing (“Gosh, Mom, why do I need to practice? None of the other kids have to practice! I’m just going to be a professional baseball player anyway!”), perhaps it is because he doesn’t yet see with mom’s eyes. He doesn’t see how much better his life could be if he would choose to live on a higher plane.
In the same way, because Jesus has paid justice, He can now turn to us and say, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19), “Keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
purpose is change. I have born-again Christian friends who say to me, “You Mormons are trying to earn your way to heaven.” I say, “No, we are not earning heaven. We are learning heaven. We are preparing for it (see D &C 78:7). We are practicing for it.” They ask me, “Have you been saved by grace?”
I answer, “Yes. Absolutely, totally, completely, thankfully—yes!” Then I ask them a question that perhaps
they have not fully considered: “Have you been changed by grace?” They are so excited about being saved that maybe they are not thinking enough about what comes next. They are so happy the debt is paid that they may not have considered why the debt existed in the first place.
In the past I had a picture in my mind of what the final judgment would be like, and it went something like this: Jesus standing there with a clipboard and Brad standing on the other side of the room nervously looking at Jesus. Jesus checks His clipboard and says, “Oh, shoot, Brad. You missed it by two points.” Brad begs Jesus, “Please, check the essay question one more time! There have to be two points you can squeeze out of that essay.”
That’s how I always saw it. But the older I get, and the more I understand this wonderful plan of redemption, the more I realize that in the final judgment it will not be the unrepentant sinner begging Jesus, “Let me stay.” No, he will probably be saying, “Get me out of here!” Knowing Christ’s character, I believe that if anyone is going to be begging on that occasion, it would probably be Jesus begging the unrepentant sinner, “Please, choose to stay. Please, use my Atonement—not just to be cleansed but to be changed so that you want to stay.”
The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can go home but that—miraculously—we can feel at home there. If Christ did not require faith and repentance, then there would be no desire to change.
Christ’s Grace Is Sufficient to Help Us
“But Brother Wilcox, don’t you realize how hard it is to practice? I’m just not very good at the piano. I hit a lot of wrong notes. It takes me forever to get it right.” Now wait. Isn't that all part of the learning process? When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?
The grace of Christ is sufficient—sufficient to cover our debt, sufficient to transform us, and sufficient to help us as long as that transformation process takes. The Book of Mormon teaches us to rely solely on “the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8). As we do, we do not discover—as some
Christians believe—that Christ requires nothing of us. Rather, we discover the reason He requires so much and the strength to do all He asks (see Philippians 4:13). Grace is not the absence of God’s high expectations. Grace is the presence of God’s power (see Luke 1:37).
Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said the following:
Now may I speak . . . to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the
Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short. . . .
. . . This feeling of inadequacy is . . . normal. There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance. . . . . . . This is a gospel of grand expectations, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us.
With Elder Maxwell, I testify that God’s grace is sufficient. Jesus’ grace is sufficient. It is enough. It is all we need. Oh, young people, don’t quit. Keep trying. Don’t look for escapes and excuses. Look for the Lord and His perfect strength. Don’t search for someone to blame. Search for someone to help you. Seek Christ,
and, as you do, I promise you will feel the enabling power we call His amazing grace. I leave this testimony and all of my love—for I do love you. As God is my witness, I love the youth of this church. I believe in you. I’m pulling for you. And I’m not the only one. Parents are pulling for you, leaders are pulling for you, and prophets are pulling for you. And Jesus is pulling with you.
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