Dan Brooks's Blog, page 16
October 16, 2014
The Spiritual Journey
In Hinduism there is the concept of Atman which is the true inner self or the soul and in order to attain liberation one must realize the true nature of ones true self is identical with the transcendent self or God/Brahman.
This idea also reminds me of this scriptural quote from Jesus: "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3
I think getting back to the pure essence of oneself is how we progress in our spiritual journey and I think that may be part of what Jesus was saying about becoming as little children.
All of our bad habits, addictions and things that help us cope are unnessasary and they are all things we learned to do we were not born into them. We were not born biased or prejudiced, we learned those things too. Those are often harder to remove than addictions because we are not always aware we even have prejudices.
These things must be shed so as to become like little children.
When we do cross over to the otherside, what of our Earthly life will follow us there? I think all we will have is our relationships with one another.
My near death experience and that of many others leads me to believe the most important and valuable things in all eternity is our relationship with God and all His children.
We must unlearn the ways of man and relearn the ways of The Lord. Once we are free of that we are free to become the people we were always meant to be.
October 12, 2014
The Absence Of Judgement
Which turned out to be a big mistake, having an original thought based on the digital temper tantrums so many people had. These people were spiteful, snarky, and above all super judgmental. Wasn't it Dalhin H Oaks who said "Contention is not the spirit of The Lord but of the Devil?"
So how can we act in the spirit of The Lord of we are giving ourselves over to the contentious spirit of the Devil?
People are fond of saying "every member a missionary." And this is true because everyone who isn't Mormon will judge us based on how they see us live our lives, and how they see us treat others lds or not.
That includes the vindictive, spiteful, snarky and degrading comments made to those who differ from us in life or in opinion. And how does that treatment of others reflect the love of Christ which every genuine disciple by definition should have?
Here's some examples of Christlike behavior Jesus Himself taught:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:32-46
These behaviors and the spirit behind them are indicative of the love that Christ preached and lived.
But it's not just how we treat others that demonstrates this love, it's how we talk to and about others that also showcases that love or lack thereof.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:37
Jesus is saying here that we will either be justified or condemned before God based on our speech. Jesus also had this to say: He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. Mark 7:18-23
It is not what goes in our mouths that defiles us, it's what comes out. It is the contents of our hearts that either justifies us before God or condemns us.
And what we say to or about others is indicative of the contents of our hearts.
Jesus gave us only one new commandment; 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35
It is by our love that we will be known by Christ and all Gods children as Christs disciples. That is what matters. Thinking that going to church is what makes you truly Christian is like thinking that standing in a garage makes you a car.
You can love others by your actions and speech or you can judge them harshly but you can only ever do one. Because I agree that love is amongst other things is the absence of judgement.
It is also an act of love to judge favorably which is what righteous judgement means in scripture. So rather than jumping to conclusions and condemning others we ought to judge favorably.
How can we lift up God when we put His children down?
October 8, 2014
Disrespecting Christ
With the news of women attending the priesthood sessions of general conference and the news of gay marriage being legal in Utah there was much outrage. I think it's misplaced rage and I'll explain why later in this post but first here are some examples:
"O.w. say that attending was an act of faith. Really? So when the general authorities ask you to not attend a priesthood only meeting, and you show up anyways, that's an act of faith? More like disrespect." 59 likes on that comment btw.
"I would rather go out to dinner with my girls than go to the priesthood meeting. They missed the talk today about apostasy? I believe they are on that road."
"Haha, sorry but the part where they say they just want to be with there husbands makes them sound clingy, and suffocating. Maybe the husbands just was a break from the clingy wives??"
"Why would anyone who supposedly has a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ make demands of The Lord? Can't quite wrap my head around that at all." 167 likes on that.
The only demand made is to petitionThe Lord for an answer not to dictate their wishes but to know that would require fact checking the ordain women site.
And here are the reactions of non Mormons;
"If I were LDS, I would be embarrassed from reading the comments here. Snarky, insulting, and depreciating of your fellow church members despite the fact that the leaders of your church decided to allow them to attend. It smacks of an attitude that says, "I'm such a better Christian than they are and I'm so proud of it." Perhaps you should phone the presidency and tell them that you know better than they, and that they are to have those awful women removed immediately..."
"I am not LDS and every comment on here only makes me more certain that I've made the right decision. I have missionaries coming to my house preaching the Mormon religion is accepting, compassionate, forgiving and most of all NON-JUDGMENTAL.Yet all I have seen on here is Mormons bashing each other and being extremely disrespectful to those who supposedly hold the same values. This is proof that there is a major difference between spirituality and religion and the God I believe in would never want anyone to treat others this horribly, especially in his name."
"Non Mormon here. I'm reading these comments and I have to say that you all seem like a really spiteful and nasty group. I can't see myself ever wanting to be part of this."
I am fond of saying the Gospel spreads best through fascination rather than coercion or force. What we as members say and do and the way we treat others is not just what Christ will judge us by but it's the way the rest of the world judges us.
If we are truly charitable, non judgmental, and loving then others are more likely to want to be a part of our church. But when so many members show their true colors when lambasting those whom they disagree with then we push others away rather than bringing them in with our supirior doctrine.
And those who support same sex marriage face similar snarky, hateful, spiteful and denigrating comments as well as people refusing them service over it due to "religious freedom."
How does mistreating others because you believe their marriage, their politics or their lives are sinful and inferior have anything to do with your freedoms? The right to mistreat people is not based on the teachings of Christ.
President Uchtdorf said that Mormonism is big enough to house members of every stripe. Doubts or not we are all welcomed.
This is something Christ said that is relevant here:
Matthew 25 King James Version (KJV)
Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
So think of it this way; when we mistreat and condemn others that is how we are treating Christ, disrespecting others is to disrespect Christ. How can we genuinely claim discipleship with that sort of behavior?
The vitriol in our culture that I've seen in the last week reminds me of Catholics and Protestants or Sunnis and Shias. Hatred, putting others down, snarky and spiteful behavior and comments are not Christlike.
Dr. Martin Luther King said that love is the only force capable of turning an enemy into a friend.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Dr.King
We win hearts and minds when we act as Christ did. Doctrine and scripture are important but I think how we treat ourselves, how we speak to and about ourselves and others matters more. How much love and compassion we share with others is how we live out Christs commandment to love others as He loved us.
And when we encounter this behavior it's not enough to call out how wrong it is but we must extend love as well. Often those who hurt come from hurt. Often those who are so hateful have not known love themselves.
As Dalin H. Oaks said last weekend:
"When our positions do not prevail, we should accept unfavorable results graciously and practice civility with our adversaries. In any event, we should be persons of goodwill toward all, rejecting persecution of any kind, including persecution based on race, ethnicity, religious belief or nonbelief, and differences in sexual orientation."
October 6, 2014
Stay On The Boat Or a Walk On Water?
We have been counseled by our church leaders to "Stay in the boat" no matter how rough the seas may be. Meaning we should stay in the comfort of the church regardless of the tumultuous times.
But being fond of the four Gospels my first thought is that it was Jesus who reached out His hand and beckoned to Peter to leave the boat and come to Him.
Sometimes like Peter we must leave the comfort in the company of the children of men to find the comfort that can only be found in the Son of God. We must not be like the rich man who was asked to sell all he owned and give it to the poor to follow Christ, that man chose his wealth over discipleship. There is much comfort that must be jettisoned in order to truly follow Christ.
The boat is a instrument of transport it is not the destination. The church is the delivery system of the Gospel not the Gospel itself.
We used to be taught that one must always pray for confirmation and personal revelation when processing the words of anyone, church leader or not. And now it seems as if you find an answer different than others it means something is wrong with you.
But I disagree. I think that each of us is on our own personal journey and our personal revelations reflect different trajectories of our very different and always deeply personal paths. So our answers will naturally be different. Because our courses are different.
But when we find and develop a personal relationship with Christ we must find the faith to leave the comfort of the boat and walk on water as Peter did.
We may find ourselves sinking in doubt but we can always rise to the surface when we find the faith to master the waters. Jesus will be there to reach out and pull us up in the end.
To be His disciple means to walk as He walked, to talk as He talked, to treat and love others as He did, and thinking as He did. That is what is known as Christ-consciousness and that is what makes us truly Christian.
Sometimes one must leave the comfort of the boat to walk on water with Christ.
October 5, 2014
My Conference Take Away
Dalin H. Oaks gave a talk where he stated that Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves and that that is the 2nd great commandment according to Jesus.
He also said Christ taught us to love our enemies. He further stated that contention is not of The Lord but of the Devil.
What I took from his talk is that we can disagree with the words or actions of others but we mustn't ever be disagreeable.
We can be as The Savior was toward the adulteress caught in the act who was about to be stoned to death until the mob asked what Jesus had to say. When He said "He who is without sin may cast the first stone" the crowd was humbled into submission and let their stones fall as they walked away.
Jesus asked her "Where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?" She said " No man, Lord" and Jesus said "Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more."
Jesus was compassionate yet firm in His position. And we can take His example and try to lead our lives by it.
President Monson gave my favorite talk about the importance of being Christlike.He told a story about a woman who travelled to the Holy Land to walk where Jesus walked but he said walking where Jesus walked is not as important as walking as Jesus walked. Being Christlike brings you closer to Jesus than any tour of the Holy Land.
But what keeps us from accepting the offer to follow Christ or walking as He walked?
Jesus told a rich man he should sell all he has and give it to the poor upon being asked by this man what it was he lacked. The rich man walked away sorely grieved because his wealth meant more to him than the chance to take part in Christs' ministry.
But sometimes it's not a lack of giving up our stuff or even skipping meals that stops us its holding onto assumptions of others and prejudices that harden our hearts against our brothers and sisters.
There was a talk where the speaker said something like "we ought not to judge according to appearances." We ought to consider more than what we might assume at a glance or with limited knowledge.
Sometimes we are quick to convict others in the court room of our mind. We ought to weigh the scales of judgement towards innocence rather than guilt in order to judge righteously. And only The Lord knows their story and the content of their hearts which is why judgement is His alone. As for us we are commanded to forgive.
I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men. D&C 64:10
And it is an example in one of Christs personal prayers "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:10-15
Being Christlike involves much work, it involves loving every one of God's children as Jesus loved all He met. It involves sacrifice and being of service to those in need. It involves doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do and not because we seek to avoid punishment or to earn a blessing. Righteousness is its own reward.
When we are in a moment where we are truly Christlike we will feel a great sense of contentment and peace. But peace exists within us regardless of any external influences. We can be the calm of the storm. We can be right in the epicenter of the storm and be at total peace.
Christ has that effect on each of us but we can share that effect as well. Sharing the light of Christ by example is to me what it means to be a disciple it is what being a true Christian really means.
September 30, 2014
Charity
"I consider charity—or “the pure love of Christ”—to be the opposite of criticism and judging. In speaking of charity, I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance. That, of course, is necessary and proper. Tonight, however, I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient.
I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others.
There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere.
Needed is the charity which refuses to find satisfaction in hearing or in repeating the reports of misfortunes that come to others, unless by so doing, the unfortunate one may be benefited. The American educator and politician Horace Mann once said, “To pity distress is but human; to relieve it is godlike.”11
One of the greatest features of Christ's life and ministry was just how charitable Christ was. He healed many relieving their illness and pain. He feed the starving multitudes. He did not tell the starving multitudes that effort equals income for if He did then all those people would have been millionaires.
Charity takes more than hard work to accomplish, it takes a kind and large loving heart.
Love is the key to being truly charitable. One cannot begrudge those they serve and still be truly charitable.
Here is a take on charity and penance from the Bagavad Gita:
BG 17.14: Austerity of the body consists in worship of the Supreme Lord, the brāhmaṇas, the spiritual master, and superiors like the father and mother, and in cleanliness, simplicity, celibacy and nonviolence.
BG 17.15: Austerity of speech consists in speaking words that are truthful, pleasing, beneficial, and not agitating to others, and also in regularly reciting Vedic literature.
BG 17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one's existence are the austerities of the mind.
BG 17.17: This threefold austerity, performed with transcendental faith by men not expecting material benefits but engaged only for the sake of the Supreme, is called austerity in goodness.
BG 17.18: Penance performed out of pride and for the sake of gaining respect, honor and worship is said to be in the mode of passion. It is neither stable nor permanent.
BG 17.19: Penance performed out of foolishness, with self-torture or to destroy or injure others, is said to be in the mode of ignorance.
BG 17.20: Charity given out of duty, without expectation of return, at the proper time and place, and to a worthy person is considered to be in the mode of goodness.
BG 17.21: But charity performed with the expectation of some return, or with a desire for fruitive results, or in a grudging mood, is said to be charity in the mode of passion.
Many consider most beggars on the street to be unworthy but this is not backed up by Christian scripture.
"For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?" Mosiah 4:19
I think it's important when offering charity and service that we are all children of God and that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and so we are not better than those we serve.
Jesus was our servant king. He did not rule over us He instead served and ministered to us. He was our steward.
Charity is a corner stone of His ministry and it was as much about a charitable heart as it is about charitable actions.
September 29, 2014
You Can't Always Get a What You Want
But even after Jacob married Rachel she was barren and it took many years for her to conceive.
Jacob had a plan that would make him happy but The Lord had other plans for Jacob.
Jacob had 12 sons and they would each found one tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob would also wrestle with an Angel through the night until he was renamed Israel by The Lord Himself.
Israel means "strives with God" I've also heard it to mean "wrestles with God."
Jacob didn't get what he wanted but The Lord saw fit to give him what he needed.
I wanted kids most of my life. But I was in no mood to settle down until I met my wife who has four children from her previous marriage.
My wife and I planned on having children of our own but it never happened and the for medical reasons my wife had to have a hysterectomy.
So our plans were shot but we did grow stronger as a couple because my wife knew I had given up my dreams of being a biological father in lieu of being a stepdad and her husband. She saw for as much as I wanted children of my own I wanted her more. I wanted to be a part of this family more than I wanted anything else.
I have never been in a healthier or more fufilling relationship. I did not get much of what I wanted, I got more than that, I got what I needed. I got a wife who loves me and I got to raise children who I see various traits of my wife in. And who love me because I stepped up when I didn't have to.
But I knew that a woman and her children are a package deal so it's all or nothing take it or leave it if you can't accept that you must put these children above yourself.
Stepping up to being a husband and stepdad was a choice but loving these kids or my wife never was.
Gods plan for Jacob was better than what Jacob had in mind for himself. And Gods plan for me was infinitely better than what I had in mind as well.
You can't always get what you want but you might find that with a little help of a The Lord, you will get what you need. And what you need is often times better than getting what you want. Sometimes God has a better plan.
September 28, 2014
Love Your Enemies
Keshia Thomas 18 years old in 1996 when she attended a KKK protest in Ann Arbor Michigan. The clan was holding a rally only to be met with a protest. One clan member made it into the midst of the protest group and the mob mentality took over and he was beaten.
Knowing that for all this mans wrongs he did not deserve that, he deserved better from a group that's supposedly so different and more open minded. The protesters that thought themselves so much better than the clan seemed to be acting just like them.
So Keshia protected him with her own body and risked bodily harm and quite possibly her own life as well.
Some time after the event she was thanked for saving that mans life by his son. Most people who hurt come from hurt, the victim often becomes the victimizer. It is a learned and therefore in some ways an unnatural act, in that it goes against our better natures, to be full of hate and vengeance.
Racism, sexism and all round bigotry can be found in every nation, group, gender, faith and in every demographic.
In Man's Search For Meaning Viktor Frankl writes this:
It is apparent that the mere knowledge that a man was either a camp guard or a prisoner tells us almost nothing. Human kindness can be found in all groups, even those which as a whole it would be easy to condemn. The boundaries between groups overlapped and we must not try to simplify matters by saying that these men were angels and those were devils. Certainly, it was a considerable achievement for a guard or foreman to be kind to the prisoners in spite of all the camp’s influences, and, on the other hand, the baseness of a prisoner who treated his own companions badly was exceptionally contemptible. Obviously the prisoners found the lack of character in such men especially upsetting, while they were profoundly moved by the smallest kindness received from any of the guards. [p93]
Schindler was a Nazi and yet he saved so many lives. Viktor Frankl survived Auschwitz in part because of the kindness that a few of his prison gaurds showed him.
The point is that even in groups, nations, states, certain faiths, may be deserving of condemnation not every last member of those groups are evil.
And likewise not every member of groups deserving praise can be considered good people. Every group is prone to having sinners and saints.
And every group must be measured by every member rather than condemning or praising them as a whole. When judgement comes it will come in a case by case basis not as a blanket judgement of what groups one has aligned with.
I support any group protesting the KKK until that group gives into the mob mentality and tries to start killing those who they disagree with.
We are called to love our enemies. How can we murder those we are called to love? How can we hate those Jesus teaches us to love? Hate is like drinking poison and expecting the one we hate to die. Hate is toxic and we ought not expose ourselves or our loved ones or even our enemies to it.
We are all children of God and we all are deserving of dignity, respect and love because of that fact.
We don't have to agree with or even like everything a person says or does to love them but we cannot hate or kill God's children without bearing the burden of our hate and iniquity.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." Dr. Martin Luther King
The better option, the one Christ taught, is to meet hate with love because love is the only antidote to hate. That is why He taught to love our enemies, and to forgive infinitely. We cannot over come in this life or the next if we give into becoming the bad guys and taking on evil behaviors and speech. If we are truly righteous we will be better than that.
If we are to truly love someone we must first accept them because if we only love the good in them then we merely love the reflection of ourselves in others. If we only love those who are good to us what reward is there in that?
Don't thieves, charlatans and the like do the same? To me, righteousness involves being the better person in horrible situations. Righteousness is it's own reward and that is a spectacular and an inspiring life lived.
We need to accept others as they are warts and all. Then, and only then can we truly love others.
September 26, 2014
Biblical Lessons Of Sin
One who fulfills their agreements is righteous or in the Hebrew Zaddiq. One who fails in their agreement has offended or sinned. Another way of looking at it is to say that the one who meets their agreement is innocent and the one who does not is guilty.
The word Pesh occurs 136 times in the Old Testament. Its basic meaning is "breach of a covenant." This type of sin is akin to breaching the stipulations of international treaties.
In scripture when God forgives sin he "Remembers it no more" or He bears it upon himself, He forgets it.
In the Greek of the New Testament there is a similar definition of sin being "to miss the mark" and the word was often used to describe archers who missed their targets. I have this definition from Strongs concordance:
Strong's Concordancehamartanó: to miss the mark, do wrong, sinOriginal Word: ἁμαρτάνω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: hamartanó
Phonetic Spelling: (ham-ar-tan'-o)
Short Definition: I sin
Definition: originally: I miss the mark, hence (a) I make a mistake, (b) I sin, commit a sin (against God); sometimes the idea of sinning against a fellow-creature is present. Cognate: 264 hamartánō (from 1 /A "not" and 3313 /méros, "a part, share") – properly, having no share in; to sin, which always brings forfeiture – i.e. eternal loss due to missing God's mark. Like 266 /hamartía, 264 (hamartánō) is regularly used in ancient times of an archer missing the target (Homer, Aesch., etc). Every decision (action) done apart from faith (4102 /pístis) is sin (Ro 14:23; cf. Heb 11:6). See 266 (hamartia).
My view of sin has been altered by the Biblical definitions of the words used to denote sin the the Old and New Testaments. To me righteousness is what brings us closer to God while sin is something that pulls us further from God. There are things that may move us from side to side and be mostly benign, neither good nor really bad but what is and is not a sin is not always clear so one should not apply black and white definitions in any given situation.
For example I know a couple and the husband became addicted to porn and stopped having sex with his wife, being that he was totally preoccupied by his addiction. So his wife turned around in response to him and began an affair with a married man. Whose sin is greater? They have both sinned and I think one sin begat the other and the greater point is not who is worse but that they are both guilty of sinning against each other.
And as another example if any of us were to see a man badly beaten on the side of the road and did not help him we would by most standards have committed a sin of omission, that is to say we sinned by doing nothing.
But in the parable of the Good Samaritan two priests pass by the Jew badly beaten and almost dead lying by the roadside. Most consider their lack of help to be sinful and they are right but there is more to the story, in the Old Testament there are a set of laws against touching corpses they say that doing so makes one impure and so they could not do their Temple work if they stopped to help him so they chose instead to do nothing and not even check to see if he was still alive.
The moral of the story is that we are all neighbors and to a degree responsible for one another, the idea of loving others as Christ loved us is very present in this parable but also present is the idea that we should not allow the letter of the law interfere with living out the spirit of it.
Helping this man and saving his life is more important that Temple work, if we pass by rather than helping then there is little good to be done in the Temple if we violate the essence of the Gospel, which according to an April 2014 conference talk by President Monson, love is the essence of the Gospel, and there is nothing loving about refusing to help one another.
It is odd to me that so many people consider some sins to be not that bad yet other sins are deal breakers and can't be forgiven. This denies the power of the Atonement to me. According to the Apostle Paul, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So we all sin, just not in the same ways, we all need the Atonement but we also are all deserving of the Atonement.
I think that if we view sin as missing the mark we can simply readjust and try again to see if we can make the grade. Yet if we view sin as a crime against God we give into fear mongering about God's wrath and give into the idea that we may be unforgivable.
Elder Russel M. Nelson once said "We all need to remember: men are that they might have joy—not guilt trips!"
Jesus simply told the adulteress to "Go and sin no more." There was no condemnation, no punishment, no guilt trips because the crowd that gathered to stone her to death was humbled into submission by Christ when He said "He who is without sin may cast the first stone."
None but Christ could have cast a stone but even though He could cast a stone, He did not. That is a very important lesson to us all regarding sin.
September 23, 2014
Isaiah's Prophecy
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
And continuing the prophecy Isaiah says this in the King James Version:
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Several scholars feel that there is much lost in translation however. Check out how this line is translated in the Jewish Publication Society version (JPS):
Assuredly, I will give him the many as his portion,
He shall receive the multitude as his spoil.
The speaker here is God, and the Servant is more than just one who is among the great. His spoils are the people, not gold, not silver but people.
Christ's reward is in having saved souls and He is rewarded with the company of those souls.
To me this highlights the stakes in the Earthly continuation of the war in Heaven between God and Satan. It demonstrates that there is no greater prize or reward than a human soul.
I think people do better, act better and treat others better when they feel valued. I think when people sink into deep dispair they so often act out and treat others, treat themselves and act out with the same hate and torment they feel inside.
I think once people aren't just told they have value but truly feel it then they often treat others as being just as valued as they feel.
What I'm saying is sometimes the most awful people, the most hateful people are the ones who need to feel valued and loved the most. The people that are harshest in their dealings with others may have never really known true kindness and compassion and need that all the more to heal themselves.
Men fight for money and power, God fights for us. He fights for our souls. We are the ultimate prize in all of the infinite universe.
Dan Brooks's Blog
- Dan Brooks's profile
- 1 follower
