Reflections on Alma 2

At a surface level, Alma 2 is a chapter about a sizeable military conflict, effectively a civil war where Amlici and his followers, who want Amlici as king, anoint Amlici as the king and then go to war against the Nephites, who just recently had done away with the kingship and had a chief judge instead.

Both the Nephites and Amlicites have a organizational structure (captains and chief captains), and a variety of weapons.

At their first engagement, the Amlicites fought "with great strength", resulting in many Nephite casualties.

But the Lord strengthened the Nephites and they began to gain the upper hand, making the Amlicites flee.

That night, Nephite spies found that the Amlicites were teaming up with the Lamanites, greatly increasing the risks and costs of a military conflict.

The words of the Nephite spies were, "They are upon our brethren in that land; and they are fleeing....towards our city; and except we make haste they obtain possession of our city, and our fathers, and our wives, and our children be slain."

The next day, the Nephites were strengthened by the Lord after praying mightily to be delivered from the hands of their enemies.

Alma fought Amlici, the leader of the Amlicites and killed him.

Alma chased down the king of the Lamanites, who fled, though Alma and his guards fought with the king's guard.

Let me stop here and go back and revisit some aspects of this tale and suggest applications that may apply to us today.

1. Note that both the Nephites and the Amlicites had an organizational structure. Both had the same sorts of weapons. And both were fighting for causes they thought were just. What was the main difference that we read in this account? It was that God strengthened the Nephites. Consider yourself: how much different would my marriage be, would my family life be, would my profession or church service be, if God never strengthened me?  How would I struggle? What would I lack? In other words, I would like all of us to consider how God strengthens us today in each of those venues, and I'd encourage you ask yourself if there is something you can do today which will unlock greater spiritual power, a greater dose of God's help for you? Maybe there's a family member to forgive. Member there's a sin to be repented of. Maybe there's a sacrifice that needs to be made, or some time that we need to spend with our wives, or our kids, or with the Lord in prayer. Whatever it is, I'd encourage you to think about God's strengthening, how that has blessed you, how it blesses you today, and how it can bless you in the future.
2. This story records that the Nephites needed to pray mightily, powerfully in order to receive this strength from the Lord. Again, it wasn't enough that they were organized, or that they thought they were in the right, or that they had done their homework. They needed to pour out their hearts to God, to pray mightily. In the scriptures, wonderful miracles and visions and blessings are often preceded by someone pouring out their heart to God. When was the last time that you poured out your heart to God? When was the last time that one of your prayers could be considered mighty or powerful? When was the last time that, as the Primary song says, you felt heaven close around you as you prayed? If it has been a long time, consider this a suggestion, even an invitation, to make the time and the effort necessary to pray mightily, to pray powerfully to God. We all have the energy and the capacity to serve God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength, and one way we show this is through fervent prayer.
3. Once Alma and the Nephites were strengthened, their troubles did not immediately stop. God did not magically transport the Lamanites and Amlicites back to their lands, nor did he make the weapons disappear. A war still had to be fought. Lives still had to be lost. A titanic struggle still ensued. Sometimes in the middle of a struggle we may not realize that God has strengthened us, but that does not mean that trials and difficulties go away. God's grace strengthens us to face them. Consider Nephi's account of their wanderings in the wilderness, when he recounts the great blessings that God has given them, "[T]hat while we did live upon raw ceat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings." The blessings that Nephi saw as miraculous was not that they had plenty of delicious food to eat. It was that their wives could provide plenty of milk for nursing infants. It was not that the women had no burdens, it was that they were strong. It wasn't even that they weren't complaining, it was that they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings. In other words, they murmured less. A cynic or skeptic could look at any one of these and discount that God had anything to do with it. Sometimes we can be a little skeptical or maybe even unbelieving about God working in our life. If you can't see God in your life, I'd invite you to step back and try to see things as Nephi did. Prayerfully and honestly look at how God is strengthening you or someone close to you. If we pray to ask God to show us His hand in our life, it is my conviction that God answers those prayers by opening eyes to see the blessings He gives us. Seeing a blessing like that is a great reason to be grateful and to rejoice.
4. Alma's struggle has effectively two parts: in one, he kills Amlici. In the other, he chases away the Lamanite king. The Lamanite king may return, and in fact did with a large army shortly after the Nephite victory. We can see that the problems we face are a little like Nephi's problems: some of them may go away, effectively be destroyed. When we have a difficulty or a challenge, this is how we want it to end. And some do end this way. Others, however, may only be able to be pushed away or fought away for a time, but they come again. So don't be discouraged if you find yourself struggling with something again and again. Sometimes the struggle that we live in requires fighting the same sorts of battles repeatedly, as the Nephites did. This is not a clear and obvious sign of failure. People doing everything that they can do may still struggle with something over and over again, perhaps throughout their entire life.

As we struggle, may we see that God is on our right hand and on our left, and that He has powers and resources and abilities that can strengthen and bless us as we fight our own battles, whether against physical health, mental illness, family challenges, employment difficulties, personal weaknesses, or many other obstacles or problems that get in the way, that act effectively as enemies to our progress, to our happiness, to our potential. God's grace is sufficient, meaning that He has enough. He doesn't run out!

Lynn G. Robbins on Mistakes

One way of understanding Mormonism is that it pertains to eternal progression: growth that is on-going and everlasting and never stopping. It is difficult to conceive of this idea of eternal progression that pertains to us mortals that does not involve lots of mistakes. How do we deal with these? How should we feel about mistakes?

Elder Robbins helpful talk can present a useful paradigm towards those that believe in a Gospel of perfectionism, the idea that God expects me today to be completely perfect (as I understand it) in every area of my life. There is no room for mistakes, for slip-ups, for sins, for weakness. I need to be perfect. That's what God expects of me.

The ideas in this talk, however, while not downplaying the great expectations and long-term perspective of our eternal growth and exaltation, point to the not just inevitability of mistakes, but the idea that this is part of God's plan.

One implication is that these ideas, if embraced, help to remove shame and guilt associated with mistakes, with slip-ups. It helps put our weaknesses and short-comings in the proper perspective, and realize that God does not expect us to avoid all mistakes from this time henceforth and forever.

Reflections on President Ballard Talk, April 2018: Gifts God Gives to Me

The title of the talk was "Precious Gifts from God"

What gifts has God given me? What gifts mean the most to me?

How do I consider the Atonement a great (the greatest) gift?

The Atonement is what gives me hope. I can get into problems, difficulties, and troubles in many areas of my life, but the Atonement always give me reason for hope. Any broken window can be repaired just as if it had never broken.

Jesus Christ, through His Atonement, brings joy and peace and hope back when I drive it away. Those gifts that unlock spiritual power, or that are associated with spiritual power, are for me some of the greatest personal gifts.

Scripture is a great gift, and time to slowly consider the scriptures is a great gift.

Times when I am aligned with God so that I feel the Spirit strongly and unmistakeably are great gifts.

Times when I strive to be guided by the Spirit, and feel nudged to do so, are great gifts.

Times when I feel revelation, or promptings, or impressions, and strive to act on them, are great gifts.

Feeling inspired by beautiful music or art or experiences or uplifted by family time are great gifts.

For me, the greatest gifts involve my engaging with or experiencing the divine as an active participant, and not just a silent observer.

Reflections on Solemn Assembly April 2018

In response to President Ballard's invitation to record thoughts or feelings during the April 2018 Solemn Assembly where Russell M. Nelson was sustained as the President of the Church, with Gerrit Gong and Ulysses Soares as newly called Apostles, I have written the following:

While I tend to think of the word "solemn" meaning "really serious" or something like that, the spirit or feeling associated with the "solemn" assembly seemed to reflect a different understanding of "solemn" than that.

The assembly was significant, it was formal, and it was serious, but I think "important" or "meaningful" would be a better way to describe the feeling for me. It wasn't overly burdensome or formalized. There was a pattern followed, and of course it was orderly.

There was a sense of anticipation, and of spiritual power, but not necessarily spiritual power that was present more than the sense that it was imminent for me, pointing to the ministry of President Russell M. Nelson.

There was a sense of great joy at the callings of Elders Gong and Soares.

There was a sense of great joy and unity as the Saints rose and individually committed, promised, or covenanted to sustain the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12. There is something wonderful in a joint commitment, made willingly, that unlocks spiritual power.

I could certainly have been better prepared to be receptive to the Spirit. But it was a wonderful experience for me, and I'd like to think that my kids will also remember it. It helped me feel connected with the Church, and with the traditions of the Church.

God Doesn't Always Meet our Expectations

One of the challenges of discipleship is that God doesn't meet our expectations.

Perhaps there are unanswered prayers, or unforeseen trials that God appears to give no warning nor preparation for.  Perhaps something happens in our life that seems cruel.

However, if God always meets our expectations, what kind of a God is He?

If God doesn’t challenge us or act differently than we would expect, what kind of a God is He?  Why would we need Him?  In short, why would God be anything other than a psychological construct?

We believe in a God that is transcendent and superior, possesing a greater power, awareness, and perspective than we possess. If his awareness and perspective are greater than ours, it stands to reason that there will be times when our perspective and awareness are different from God's; if they are not different, what type of a God is He? In a sense, then, having unmet expectations, or unexpected surprises in our lives, or counsel and teachings and principles and ideas and framework that challenge us is an evidence that God's awareness and perspective is greater than ours. Thus, we may reasonably expect His counsel to at least periodically push back or challenge us.

This is not to say that God is some trickster or charlatan, some unconcerned, arbitrary, or unknowable being, or that God lives in the realms of malice or random decision-making. He is neither a computer program nor a roulette wheel. This is to suggest that God's plans and designs may not always agree with us, and in a sense, that is a witness or evidence of God's divinity, of His greatness, and of His divine perspective and superior knowledge.

Elder Renlund, "That I Might Draw All Men unto Me"

In April 2016, Elder Dale Renlund gave a talk entitled, "That I Might Draw All Men unto Me".  He starts by talking on entitlement, teaching that the farther apart we are from the source that provides a gift, the more entitled we feel and the less appreciative we are.  This lesson is quickly focused on God:

"Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are the ultimate Givers.  The more we distance ourselves from Them, the more entitled we feel.  We begin to think that we deserve grace and are owed blessings....When we are distant from God, even small inequities loom large.  We feel that God has an obligation to fix things--and fix them right now!"

Elder Renlund uses the term, "The ultimate Givers" to describe Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in this context.

Perhaps sometimes we do not see God in that way.  We may see God primarily as one demanding or requiring, or perhaps, watching our stumblings with some sort of an amused aloofness, chuckling softly at himself as we bumble our way through life but taking no active role in it.

But Elder Renlund cuts right across this false doctrine that some may believe by calling Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ "The ultimate Givers".  The implication is that is there are none that give as generously or richly as God.  That God's giving is, by it's nature, a whole other category of giving, or perhaps the type of giving by which all other gifts are compared.

Prayer can serve to help us see how God is the ultimate Giver; it can help us brush away the cobwebs to better see how much we receive from divine hands.

Prayer also helps us grow closer to God, improving not just clarity of vision but proximity both to the light source by which we see and the ultimate end of all seeing.

Elder Renlund sees in this closeness an increasing willingness to embrace a countercultural idea:

"The closer we are to Jesus Christ in the thoughts and intents of our hearts, the more we appreciate His innocent suffering, the more grateful we are for grace and forgiveness, and the more we want to repent and become like Him."

The countercultural idea is that by increasing our closeness to God, rather than an increase in appreciation for strength or courage or power or wealth, we become more appreciative of weakness, of sorrow, of grace, of mercy.  At the same time we cultivate our desire for these attributes. God can then work with us through our weakness and His grace and mercy.