Sacrament

I noticed today something about the way the sacrament is prepared and administered. 

It has always seemed very pragmatic that the bread is passed first, since the priests have time to break the bread while the congregation sings. 

But thinking about it today I remembered helping set up the sacrament, and the water actually takes a lot more effort to prepare but it is all done in advance. 

In my mind, I tend to think about the bread as the physical and the water as the spiritual. So playing on that metaphor, it seems that spiritual preparation takes more time and work than physical preparation. The physical demands we have, with a minimum of advance planning, can largely be dealt with in the moment. (Singing a hymn might help) However, once those efforts are exhausted, you can 'uncover' what appears to be a backup supply of spiritual strength. But only if you have put in sufficient effort in beforehand. 

-Update April 2022-

I forgot I had written that (not surprising, it was 2014).  My recent 'epiphany' about the sacrament was different.

I was thinking about it in a more Jordan Peterson-esque way.  We don't believe that the bread and water are literally the body of Christ, so what is it that we are doing?    

Maybe we are ritualistically trying to take a piece of God into us.  That seems to make sense.  

So what about the bread and water.  The bread.. we have to chew on it a little.  We need to do some work to digest it and to extract the nutrients or value from it.  That's the body.  His body. That's the things he did as recorded in the scriptures and the things we should do to try to be like Him.

The water, on the other hand, flows into us.  Nature itself (via osmosis) will help to fill and rejuvenate us and to quench our thirst.  That's the spirit.  There isn't specific work, we just have to be open to it and allow it to flow into us.

What kind of a prophet

  I think the details of the restoration would have been significantly different if Joseph Smith had been born in a different place (and/or time).  Joseph Smith was primed to believe in seer stones, divining rods, ancient buried treasure, and dramatic manifestations of the spirit.  That was how he recognized the supernatural and the divine, and that’s (largely) the way the restoration unfolded.  

But I don’t think that’s how the restoration had to unfold.  I think God met him where he was, instead of bringing him to some universal, proper way to find God.  

Moses found God in … unnatural nature?  Burning bushes, pillars of clouds and fire, plagues and manna and parting the Red Sea.  Lamoni and his people found God in communal fainting.  Lehi and Nephi had elaborate visions, but Samuel heard an audible voice that woke him from sleep.  If Joseph Smith was born somewhere else, could the restoration have involved sweat huts and psychedelics?  

That takes my mind to two different places.  First of all, I wonder if we aren’t too homogenous in what the culture of the church recognizes (expects?) as manifestations of the Spirit or ways to find God.  Even things like speaking in tongues, which was a big part of early church history, isn’t really a part of the currently culturally accepted forms of spirituality.  And in a way, that makes sense to me.  I’ve lived essentially my whole life in the cultural headquarters of the church, so I tend to naturally agree with the more subdued, introspective, personal manifestations of the spirit.  Even if I find more dramatic things–like stories of healings– compelling, if I saw someone speaking in tongues, casting out devils, or describing their visions, it would at least give me pause.  

I think that’s probably wrong.  

Especially with the diversity of the current church, I think it is likely that God speaks to his children, and specifically members of the church, in lots of ways that look unfamiliar to me, but very familiar to them.  

The second thing I think about, is the kinds of prophets God puts in charge of his church.  I’ve always sort of thought that prophets are prophets, but now I wonder if there isn’t significantly more to their specific differences.  Elijah seems to have been something like a warrior-prophet.  After calling down fire to prove the superiority of Jehovah versus Ba’al, he killed 450 priests of Ba’al.  That’s not something we’d expect from modern prophets, but maybe that was necessary there and then.  Joseph (of Egypt) and Moses could maybe be described as administrator-prophets, and that was important for God’s people they were called to lead.  Brigham Young was sort of an industrialist-prophet.  We have several examples of king-prophets, and maybe Lehi could be described as a navigator-prophet (which makes the Liahona very apropos).  I’m going to have to think about how to hyphenate all the other prophets as I study about them.  

Which brings me to current church leadership.  Recently we’ve had some diplomat-prophets, and publisher-prophets.  That seems right for growing a global church.  Our current prophet was trained as a doctor, and given the current state of pandemics and opioids and mental health issues we have, a physician-prophet seems…  inspired.  

So then, in the future… Of the longest serving members in the Quorum of the Twelve, we have several doctors and educators, but of course, next up… is the judge.

I believe in angels

I believe in three kinds of angels.  There are the messenger angels like Gabriel and Moroni that appear to select people.  Joseph and Mary, Joseph Smith, even Alma and Saul received visits from celestial beings who show unequivocally that God loves us.

The second kind of angels are the ones we don't see.  They are our guardian angels.  They are around and among us, unseen and unappreciated.  The Doctrine and Covenants confirms it, and Elija's servant was given a glimpse.  God sends them to us when we need them for support, for aid, for help and for protection. I'm certain that they carry me--more than I want to admit.

But the angels I've been thinking of lately are the kind that live in my neighborhood.  The angels who leave gifts on the doorstep or in the mail.  The angels who help watch our children and help take care of our home.  even though they are just regular people, I believe that they are angels in the truest sense of the word.  As they serve, they put off the natural man. What is left is a celestial beings doing the work of God.  They also support, aid, help and protect.  They are, at least to me, the personification of God's love.

I don't know what we would do without them, and I am grateful for them.

Cobwebs in the corners

So I know that I haven't posted consistently, and I realized that I have a lot of mostly finished posts saved as drafts... I have been using the drafts as sort of sounding boards, but I haven't ever polished them up. I think I'll just go ahead and post them anyway.

Stand still, that I may reason with you

Now therefore stand still, that I may ^areason with you before the Lord 1 Samuel 12:7

That is interesting. It isn't often that the prophets come to us with an appeal to logos. don't know that I have really paid attention to recent times when leaders try to teach us with logic, well, I guess there are commandments that seem obvious when you think about them like not killing or stealing, self reliance, food storage etc. but in this case he does try to reason with them. Samuel reminds Israel of their history, the times and ways that God has preserved and blessed them, then he calls down a miracle to prove how displeased God is with their current decision (to demand a king).

Why didn't Samuel use a more 'spiritual' approach? More--ethos and pathos? I wonder if it isn't because the people were beyond that. They had been prospered, and they had forgotten God. I don't think they had turned away necessarily, but they didn't feel that they needed him. They were still asking the prophet to give them a king, but Samuel said, "The Lord your God was your king" and he should have been. As I look through recent instruction, I'm going to try to pay attention to if, when and how current prophets use reasoning to teach.

"Stand still" For some reason, that strikes me as powerful. "Be still and know that I am God." How often do we stand still? I personally find it uncomfortable, and I start reaching for my phone, computer, TV remote, book, radio... anything.

Every once in a while I get ambitious and I write a "Still List." I take a piece of paper (lately digital paper) and I write at the top "I still..." And I just wait for the flood. I still need to register for classes, I still havn't returned that movie. I still haven't ordered that part. I still need to do my home teaching. I still need to call my old friend. It is scary how quickly my list grows. (when I get really ambitious, I try to start crossing things off that list :))

Now I know that the scripture doesn't actually mean my kind of still, but maybe that is why it impresses me so strongly. In that context, being still also means taking time to evaluate my priorities, to be on top of things, and to make a sort of self accounting for my responsibilities. I don't think any of those are a bad thing.

the whole armor

I know it has been done a lot, but we talked this Sunday about putting on the armor of God.

I still feel that the most touching, the most heart-wrenching part of the scripture is that we put on the armor that we can "withstand the evil day, having done all, that [we] may be able to stand." I know that there are a lot of important times in our lives when we stand, and I believe that there is probably a deeper meaning in that. But I think of it quite literally and recall times in my life when it was all I could do--in fact it was more than I alone could do and I needed God's help--just to stand. I think that for some of us, and maybe for all of us, when all said and done, the best we can hope for is 'to stand,' and we will know that it is with His help only.

When I think of armor, I actually first imagine medieval armor, and I have to try to force myself to think of period armor... I guess like Roman soldiers

"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,"

Truth. Loins. Girt? The imagery I get from that is a belt. I think that girding your loins has a direct connection to the law of chastity, but I think that it also key that your belt surrounds the core of your body, and it holds your weapons and provisions. I think that we need to surround ourselves with truth. It should surround the core of who we are, and we shouldn't ever side-step or back pedal from the truth. If we do so, it will hold things together and support us in our lives.

"Having on the breastplate of righteousness"

Your breastplate protects all of your vital organs, it is the most prominent piece of armor and can be used to distinguish you from your enemies, and even show information about your rank and position. I have heard that in Jesus' day they believed that your thoughts came from your heart, and your emotions came from your bowels, so that would encompass all you think and feel. Righteousness will keep your thoughts and your emotions from becoming tainted. In the most heated of battles you may still be bruised and wounded, but your lifeforce is protected by your righteousness.

"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace"

I think that this is one of my favorite images. Preparation equals shoes. Your feet are the obvious from of transportation, they are the means of progression. Think of trying to walk through your own backyard barefoot. Can you imagine a battle? When we are barefoot our progress is ginger, cautious, we may take large detours to avoid uncertain terrain and much slower than our potential. When we are unprepared we don't know how to proceed. We test our footing, second guess our approach, and move as on eggshells.

"Above all, taking the shield of faith"

Faith is our protection. When "fiery darts" come at us, whether they be doubts, fears, trials, sins or whatever we can use our faith do deflect them. If we have faith in prayer, we can deal with some times when our prayers appear to have gone unanswered. If we have faith in our leaders, we can just faithfully fulfill assignments as Adam did when he offered sacrifices. Now those darts could also be absorbed by our breastplate, helmet and shoes (and sometimes they will have to be) but faith is our first line of defense and can take the brunt of an attack, while leaving our righteousness, preparation, and understanding of truth remain relatively unhindered. And pure faith can make up for the weaknesses we have or gain.

"And take the helmet of salvation"

As noted above, they didn't really believe that they needed their heads for thinking. Of course they knew that it was vital, but I think that they saw it more in terms of the eyes and the ears, the mouth. Through your eyes and ears you find out about all of your surroundings and identify goals. Your head also directs the rest of your body. So protecting your head with salvation means that you will always have that as your goal. If your head is turned towards salvation, the rest of the body will follow.

"And the sword of the Spirit"

This is when you take the offensive. Actually swords can be used defensively too, but the Spirit is what will make changes in the lives of others. We shouldn't try to overcome people with our righteousness, with our salvation, or with our truth. We should let the Spirit touch the hearts of others. It can and will protect us from the most immediate blows of adversity, but it will be key in making changes with anyone else.

The end from the beginning

It is easy to know the beginning from the end, we can almost always (whether we like it or not) see the progression that brought us to the point where we are, however it is a much different thing to know the end from the beginning.

I thought of an analogy--I had a roommate once who was doing some handyman work and asked me to help him replace some shingles on a small roof over an entryway. He was already on the roof when I got there, and I had to climb a sloped sidewalk to the front entryway. As I started up the slope, I could see him on the roof, and I knew that was the direction I was heading, but I couldn't see the path that would take me there, except for a few steps in front of me.

Once I arrived at the door, I could clearly see the sidewalk, extending all the way to the front of the property. What I think is interesting is that my roommate, from his vantage point could see the whole yard, from his elevated position, he could see the end from the beginning.

Obviously walking up someone's front lawn is trivial, but as we journey through life, we probably won't be able to see our ends from our beginnings. However, we can follow those who have gone before, we can see at least a bit of the path that lies before us, and if we focus on and listen to Those who sit on high, They will direct us to Them.

8 ¶ For my ^athoughts are not ^byour thoughts, neither are your ^cways my ^dways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ^aways ^bhigher than your ways, and my ^cthoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:8,9