Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
May 25 - December 12, 2016
I PRELIMINARIES
CHAPTER 1 OUR PROSPECTS
They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory; … Wherefore as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God. (D&C 76:56, 58)
in due time receive of his fulness. For if you keep my commandments … you shall receive grace for grace. (D&C 93:19–20)
the path to Godhood is not linear. Growth is not predictable, nor is Grace.
steering toward the Light, not having to know exactly where we are going, but trusting that there is Someone who does know.
awareness, consciousness, mindfulness, and meditation.
go forward in the Lord Jesus Christ, not out in the lone wilderness of unaided self-effort.
(John 16:13). It seems He is saying that the Spirit is a connecting agent between the Lord and a person, and that the experience with the Spirit is, in fact, an experience with the Lord Himself.
This kind of awareness that Monet brought to Nature and reflected in his art illustrates a way of paying attention that we too can do to enrich our life’s spiritual experience.
CHAPTER 2 STAYING OPEN
There is a vast store of information that exists for the faithful Saints. It cannot be understandingly exhibited by any individual, even by an angel, to the people any further than they are able to receive and comprehend it…. This principle is inherent in the organization of all intelligent beings, so that we are capable of receiving and receiving and receiving from the inexhaustible fountain of knowledge and truth. (Brigham Young)1
Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. (D&C 50:40)
Aquinas said, “I can write no more. I have seen things that make my writings like straw.”3
There is nothing the mind believes that is not erroneous at a higher level of awareness.
prerequisite for spiritual growth is that we accept that we do not know everything about anything:
consider themselves fools before God and come down in the depths of humility,
prophet Joseph lamented that it was often difficult to teach the Saints more revelation.
make the Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind.
There has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation.
for the work of God, will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions:
Some people say I am a fallen Prophet, because I do not bring forth more of the word of the Lord. Why do I not do it? Are we able to receive it? No! Not one in this room.5
Would we indeed have accepted all that he could have told us? Or would we have set up “stakes” [limits]?
Men will set up stakes and say thus far will we go and no farther.6
let us practice openness to more Truth even if it seems to contradict what we have held as settled and makes us feel a little uneasy and disoriented.
as we work away at our religious to-do lists, our spirit may be asking for more.
Simply performing and dutifully checking off all of the things on our lengthy gospel “to do” list does not necessarily enable us to receive His image in our countenance or bring about the mighty change of heart. (See Alma 5:14)7
Moses was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ (Gal. 3:24–25), perhaps we could say today that the Gospel with all its laws, ordinances, and commandments is still a schoolmaster, means to an end, to bring us to the nature and bosom of Christ.
in our development, we may come to a point where we weary of dependence on others’ answers, their visions, their insights, their commentaries; we may seek more direct answers for ourselves (as in 1 Nephi 10:17—“I Nephi was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know”).
the best of religion deals not so much with esoteric doctrines, but with what can happen spiritually to enrich this moment now. As we deal well with now, the future takes care of itself.
The Church may seem like a small box, but it is good to persist in staying open, to be exploratory, with a response something like Peter’s when the Lord asks him: “Will ye also go away?” Peter, who has not seen the depth in the discourse the Savior has just given, nevertheless, feeling the pull of divinity in the Lord Himself, answers, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:67–68). His comprehension was soon to be dramatically expanded. We can trust that the walls of the “box” are imaginary.
there is more vitality and richness in the Restored Gospel than has yet been mined. These seekers set out to excavate for the treasure of more direct experience with scripture and prayer; they investigate writings and practices on awareness, consciousness, and contemplation (for which we find ample precedents in the scriptures—such words as “ponder,” “cast eyes,” “eye of faith,” “look unto me,” “all thy thoughts be directed to the Lord,” and “meditation”).
direct experience I refer to that place in us where we know things directly by the power of the Spirit of Truth, going beyond theory and belief:
different from our everyday thinking mind, but always accessible.
In the depth of such a prayer, we may finally be led to that lonesome place where we suddenly see ourselves naked in all soberness. Gone are all the little lies of self-defense. We see ourselves in our vanities and false hopes for carnal security. We are shocked to see our many deficiencies, our lack of gratitude for the smallest things. We are now at that sacred place that seemingly only a few have courage to enter, because this is that horrible place of unquenchable pain in fire and burning. This is that place where true repentance is born. This is that place where the conversion and the
...more
This highlight has been truncated due to consecutive passage length restrictions.
opposition to self-honesty
numbed by our society’s addiction to fear and anger and unbelief,
most adults do not realize that they could develop to a level higher than where they currently find themselves.
create a new culture, one that attracts others to higher ways of being, “that thereby the people might look forward on the Son of God…being a type of his order” (Alma 13:2).
However, it’s not far down the path of Light that we also find that we need courage, trust, and a beginner’s mind.
if one’s approach to life is largely ego based, that is, anxious for oneself, stressed, despairing, material-success oriented, achievement oriented, controlling, and so on, spiritual insights may remain veiled.
If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal. (D&C 42:61)
who we are and Whose we are,
"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few" (Shunryu
CHAPTER 3 “WHERE IT GLITTERING LIES”
Yes, say, what is truth? ‘Tis the brightest prize to which mortals or Gods can aspire. Go search in the depths where it glittering lies, or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies: ‘Tis an aim for the noblest desire. (LDS Hymns, #272)
lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.
Mormonism is to receive truth—let it come from where it may.”
Precious morsels of truth had lain scattered throughout time, place, religion, and culture, and Joseph saw his mission as that of bringing it all into one coherent whole, not reintroducing the gospel ex nihilo….Clearly Mormons don’t have a monopoly on righteousness, truth, or God’s approbation.
Many present truths are hidden from us partly to protect the purposes of the mortal probation, but also because our consciousness is not developed enough to perceive and accept them.
