Chinese at my Apartment

This is something of a Bookslinger tribute...

I came home at the close of a long YSA fireside about going on a mission (check) and getting married (not-check). I met a man of Asian decent at my apartment, it turns out he lives there/here and has being doing so for the last few months. My flatmates come and go with such frequent regularity that I often lose track. By chance, or possibly uncommon foresight on my part, I happened to have a Chinese Book of Mormon in my room for just such an occasion as this. I casually approached the gentlemen, his name is Ricky, and offered him the book. He said "Thank you."

"I'd like to share a revelation..."

Revelation is an important part of LDS living. Although it cannot be reduced to anything close to being scientifically verifiable, it is nonetheless a part of our lived (yes, even my lived) Mormon experience and unfalsifiable on those grounds. This may seem a convenient claim, on our part, in the mind of the skeptic, but it remains an important part of religious life in the hearts of saints worldwide.

Revelation is often accompanied by the feelings described in the book of Galatians "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." Say what you will for qualia, or the correct neurons firing in my hypothalamus or wherever I'm not sure where or how it all operates, experiencing the sublime is sometimes vague and profound all at once, it's just another one of the infinite paradoxes of life (lets leave this aside for another time).

What I'm interested in is personal revelation. Dalin H. Oaks says there are two channels through which we receive communication from God. The hierarchical vehicle which accounts for many (some might say all) the churches policies and then there is the direct line wired into each of our souls. Now I am of the mind that when we touch or are touched by God -- according to Newton's third law you can't really have one without the other -- that we don't just instantly become puppets rattling off whatever is dictated to us. Fist of all, it rarely seems as if any particular words are being dictated to me at all. Secondly, my Patriarch speaks broken English and I unsurprisingly received a patriarchal blessing in broken English. Thirdly, this model of personal revelation equals us plus the promptings/sensations of the spirit, seems to make sense of why the Book of Mormon is written in the style that it is (i.e. King James English).

Well, as we start to recognise the Spirit what happens when revelations collide? When the Hierarchical and Personal disagree? That is for each of us to decide in our time and in our own way. We are instructed to follow the Brethren and we are also instructed to find out for ourselves. When facing this tension, it may be important to remember that personal revelation trumping all else is implicitly built into Mormonism. When we accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God, we also accept that we may one day be moved to decapitate another person and that if we follow through it will have been the right thing to do.

Perhaps I've gone too far...

Plan(s) of Salvation

Before the foundations of this world a plan was proposed and each of us who is born to the earth "shouted for joy". After the ancillary celebrations (and the notable expulsion of a farely large group of dissident party poopers), we left heaven with the promise that one day we could return if we were obedient to God's law. Sometimes I wonder what we were thinking.

In life we have many different challenges, this I suppose is built into our purpose for being here. Sometimes we even share the same challenges as others around us. Case in point: One day the Lamanites decided that they were going to wipe out the Nephites (again) and also the recently established People of Ammon, both of the non-aggressive groups had a different way of responding to the threat. The Nephites fought "for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their rites of worship and their church." The People of Ammon on the other hand buried their swords "deep in the earth" and refused to retaliate.

Which reaction was correct? They both were. "If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever;" Captain Moroni lead the Nephites in the defence of their nation. Consider the other side: "And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working miracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away." "And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace."

One problem, two very different solutions, now what's the point of all this? The Plan of Salvation is an all encompassing thing that effects each of us. In saying this, the Lord understands each of our unique situations; so there is the Plan of Salvation and then there are my acts of salvation (the actual salvation part being made possible through Jesus of course). We each come from different backgrounds and contexts just as the People of Ammon were different from Captain Moroni, so we will be schooled according what best serves our needs. The path is straight and narrow, but even on a finite straight line there are an infinite number of points. There are common points we all need to pass through (baptism's probably a good place to start), but in the end we need to choose our own way back to heaven. When we make peace with this fact, that's when the fun begins and maybe that's what we got so excited about in the first place.

Part-Time Missionary

I really enjoy what Bookslinger is doing over at Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon. So, much so that I'm "almost convinced" that I need to start my own version of his missionary minded efforts here in little old NZ. There's probably no reason to stop at an Agripa level of commitment though, not when all it takes is a few spare copies of the Good Book(s) and some concientious concern for the people around me. First recipient? I think my flatmate would be a good person to start with.

Another flashback

I've got to get my act together and do something current. In the meantime...


On this day the day of our Lord (being a Sunday), I was about trying to improve the righteousness of my Sabbath Day observance. In doing so I happily resolved to accept the invitation of the Elders to a teaching appointment that subsequently fell through. Left with an hour – a completely arbitrary amount of time, but agreed upon by all parties, at least implicitly – we resorted to the bane and blessing of all those who call themselves missionaries of the Lord. It was time to tract. I was with Elder Jones, we met many fine people. Matt was the stand out and he quite happily accepted a pamphlet which was rather nice of him. He seemed to posses a keen mind, and may have been the type who was always asking questions in the hope of proving his supreme intelligence by the impossibility of their being answered. In spite of this we all got along swimmingly. Now amidst our efforts, which were rewarded with no major manifestation of success to speak of, we still however managed to achieve something of merit. Resigned to the fact that we might as well converse rather than be swallowed up by the awkwardness and oblivion that the alternative, silence offered, we began to speak at length. Never being one for idle chatter I made a point to plunge us head first with milstone attached into the ocean of the deep and meaningfuls. As I have already hinted this strategy did not go unrewarded. We found our way eventually to the topic of balance (contrary to what certain motivational speakers may have you believe this is the true "secret" to the universe: to do what is needed, when it is needed, but I digress). He shared with me this wonderful advice from his mission president. A much younger and not yet President (of the Auckland mission), but 'merely' Brother Cook was faced with the considerable task of raising a family of two children, working two Jobs, studying, being a husband and also a full time member of the church. He and his wife decided to plan to do all the gospel things first, the prayers, the study the service and then plan everything else around those important activities. Simple, pure, brilliant.

Perfunctionary no more

Why do I take the sacrament?

To remember, but just what exactly it is that I'm trying to recall is something I often struggle with. And then I'm reminded and I start all over again... Do I need to remember my abstract formulations of who Jesus was and the mechanics of how the Atonement works insofar as I understand them? That's certainly part of it, but the knowledge needs to go deeper than that. There are other neural pathways (and spiritual ones) that need to be accessed. It is said "by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" and that "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." So, to entertain the truth of what I'm remembering on a purely intellectual level would leave my knowledge of the reality of the divinity of Christ on par with the rest of my memorized facts about the world. However, these scriptures offer a valuable insight: stating that there is a special (non-provisional) knowledge available through a witness given by the Holy Ghost. The question is have I experienced this? Yes. OK, back to the beginning again, that's why I take the sacrament to remember the Atonement based on my own actual spiritual experience of its reality.

A little old school

To get me started here's a flash back to an old journal entry, just to get me back into the right flow, please excuse the exaggerated verbose language...

13 November 2007
I was wandering our wondrous metropolis (Auckland) and by chance bumped into a former University acquaintance. Louie shared with me his concerns about studying a BA, I was reluctant to dissuade him from his position, having graduated a philosophy major I know all too well the merit of said degree. I became a little flustered and wanted to depart at the most socially acceptable convenience (I was hungry), but he was intent on sharing his story. A little nudge came from what may have been the Holy Ghost. I thought that this was a good a time as any to share the gospel since my long lost acquaintance was fixed on engaging me so. To make the transition from educational misgivings to spiritual rejoicings, I first asked for his contact details, he inexplicably didn't know his own cell number (He is probably over 40 and hence new to the technology game); I seized upon this opportunity offering my own details as consolation, written on a pass along card no less. I offhandedly offered the DVD which can be ordered for free via the number on the back of the card as an early Christmas present. He seemed quite happy to investigate. "Wise as serpents and harmless as doves" somebody smart said that one time.

Hello World!

"There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time." M. Russell Ballard

Disclaimer as Preamble: The views expressed in this blog are the author's and do not (necessarily) represent those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... Of course I'll do my best to get it right. In the spirit of Nephi's "small plates" I'll record spiritual experiences and gospel insights - which will hopefully be appropriate for Internet consumption. We can look through the glass darkly or in a less archaic form: watch static on TV, but either of these seem far less useful than seeking out the clarity that the truth brings and deny us the fun of virally infecting the entire Internet with it. I'm game, let's start talking, let me know what you think.