More than human experience

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the October 1986 Conference.

More and more I feel like I could just manage to be worthy of the Holy Ghost all the time, everything else would fall into place. Some relevant doctrine from this Conference:

God’s plan, however, is not something to be deduced by logic alone, nor is human experience deep enough or long enough to inform us adequately. It requires revelation from God.  (Elder Neal A. Maxwell)

The Holy Ghost is the Testifier of Truth, who can teach men things they cannot teach one another. (President Gordon B. Hinckley)

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Depths of commitment

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the October 1986 Conference.

In these old talks, President Benson often mentions the mission his father went on when President Benson was just a teenager. Clearly it was a formative experience for the children who watched their father go. But this talk gave more detail about the experience than I'd heard before:

When I think of how we show faith, I cannot help but think of the example of my own father. I recall vividly how the spirit of missionary work came into my life. I was about thirteen years of age when my father received a call to go on a mission. It was during an epidemic in our little community of Whitney, Idaho. Parents were encouraged to go to sacrament meeting, but the children were to remain home to avoid contracting the disease. 

Father and Mother went to sacrament meeting in a one-horse buggy. At the close of the meeting, the storekeeper opened the store just long enough for the farmers to get their mail, since the post office was in the store. There were no purchases, but in this way the farmers saved a trip to the post office on Monday. There was no rural postal delivery in those days. 

As Father drove the horse homeward, Mother opened the mail, and, to their surprise, there was a letter from Box B in Salt Lake City—a call to go on a mission. No one asked if one were ready, willing, or able. The bishop was supposed to know, and the bishop was Grandfather George T. Benson, my father’s father. 

As Father and Mother drove into the yard, they were both crying—something we had never seen in our family. We gathered around the buggy—there were seven of us then—and asked them what was the matter. 

They said, “Everything’s fine.” 

“Why are you crying then?” we asked. 

“Come into the living room and we’ll explain.” 

We gathered around the old sofa in the living room, and Father told us about his mission call. Then Mother said, “We’re proud to know that Father is considered worthy to go on a mission. We’re crying a bit because it means two years of separation. You know, your father and I have never been separated more than two nights at a time since our marriage—and that’s when Father was gone into the canyon to get logs, posts, and firewood.” 

And so Father went on his mission. Though at the time I did not fully comprehend the depths of my father’s commitment, I understand better now that his willing acceptance of this call was evidence of his great faith. Every holder of the priesthood, whether young or old, should strive to develop that kind of faith.

He highlights his father's commitment, which is, of course, significant—but when I read this, what I notice is his mother's commitment—staying home with their seven children (I think the eighth was born while his father was gone) and taking care of everything by herself. Lots of pioneer women did the same, and I guess I've kind of gotten used to the idea of it—"Oh, I'm sure that was hard, but they were remarkable women, after all." But I thought it was sweet to glimpse just a little of the struggle of it. It makes the sacrifice seem more real.

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Joyfully working toward a higher standard

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the October 1986 Conference.

I like President Oaks so much. I've been thinking a lot about one of his talks in the most recent Conference, where he talked about the difficulty of balancing the two great commandments, but then basically told us that we have to do it anyway, in spite of the difficulty. He said:

Meanwhile, we must try to keep both of the great commandments. To do so, we walk a fine line between law and love—keeping the commandments and walking the covenant path, while loving our neighbors along the way. This walk requires us to seek divine inspiration on what to support and what to oppose and how to love and listen respectfully and teach in the process. Our walk demands that we not compromise on commandments but show forth a full measure of understanding and love. 

I always appreciate how deeply he thinks about things, and how he doesn't give superficial answers to hard questions. I admit I was a little disappointed he didn't give us "easier" guidance about HOW to follow both commandments, but I realize that what he did give—reminders of doctrine and the scriptures, and encouragement that the spirit will help us—is probably all that really CAN be given in such complicated situations.

In the October 1986 General Conference, then-Elder Oaks gave a similarly nuanced talk, this time about honesty and integrity in the workplace. Again, I was impressed by how he covered all sides of the issue—showing the doctrine, but also the necessity to be careful and non-dogmatic about how to interpret what the doctrine means for us. He said:

Most of us can be relatively comfortable when a message on the Golden Rule in the workplace uses examples like illegal drugs and theft by deception. What follows is more challenging. And it should be. We cannot expect to be comfortable if we measure our conduct against the Savior’s command, “I would that ye should be perfect even as I”. To follow in the footsteps of the only perfect person who ever lived, we must expect to stretch our souls. 

Followers of Christ have the moral responsibility of earning their livings and conducting their financial transactions in ways that are consistent with the principles of the gospel and the teachings of the Savior. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints should not be involved in employment or other activities upon which they cannot conscientiously ask the blessings of the Lord.… 

An employee who receives the compensation agreed upon but does not perform the service agreed upon earns part of his living by injuring others. 

So does an employer who is unfair to his employees. An idealistic young professional wrote Church headquarters about the plight of migrant farm workers. He had observed treatment that was probably illegal and certainly unchristian. When I read his letter, I thought of the positive example of Jesse Knight, the great benefactor of Brigham Young Academy. At a time when most mine owners exploited their workers, this Christian employer paid his miners something extra so they could earn their living in six days’ labor and rest on the Sabbath. He did not require them to patronize a company store. He built his workers a building for recreation, worship, and schooling. And Brother Knight would not permit the superintendent to question his workers about their religion or politics. 

Of course, we understand that what an employer can pay his employees is limited by what his business can obtain for its products or services in a competitive marketplace. Contracts also impose limits on legitimate economic expectations. 

Christian standards should also apply to those who earn a living by selling or advertising products in the marketplace.…We are our brother’s keeper, even in the marketplace. 

I am aware that this is a high standard which cannot be met overnight. But it is important to recognize our responsibility and begin to work toward it. And we should do so joyfully.… 

We live in a complex society, where even the simplest principle can be exquisitely difficult to apply. I admire investors who are determined not to obtain income or investment profits from transactions that add to the sum total of sin and misery in the world. But they will have difficulty finding investments that meet this high standard. Good things are often packaged with bad, so decisions usually involve balancing. In a world of corporate diversification, we are likely to find that a business dealing in beverages sells milk in one division and alcohol in another. Just when we think that our investments are entirely unspotted from the world, we may find that our life insurance is partially funded by investments we wish to avoid. Or our savings may be deposited in a bank that is lending to ventures we could not approve. Such complexities make it difficult to prescribe firm rules. 

We must rely on teaching correct principles, which each member should personally apply to govern his or her own circumstances. To that end, each of us should give thoughtful and prayerful consideration to whether we are looking after the well-being of our neighbors in the way we earn our daily bread.

I like how unafraid President Oaks is about bringing up hard issues—and how unapologetically he encourages us to tackle those issues ourselves. Sometimes it seems so hard to figure out the balance between following God's laws and being kind and careful with others' feelings, it makes me want to disengage from the question altogether. But this is a good reminder to me that, as President Oaks says, as Christians we are required to seek inspiration on these issues; we are required to seek higher standards for ourselves. And we should do so JOYFULLY!

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Santa Lucia Day

I'd been (of course) tired through the beginning of December, but I woke up on Dec 13th feeling good and energetic enough to make our usual saffron buns with the kids. We even cleaned up the house while they were rising, which was lovely! (Oh how I love a clean house…and it feels like I have one so rarely!)

My dear midwife was coming for a prenatal visit later that day, and when she came she raised her eyebrows at this surge of energy resulting in baking and cleaning. "See you pretty soon," she said, when she went home. And indeed, I went into labor that night. For a few hours, anyway…but that's another story.

Teddy was helping us make the Lussekatter for most of the time, and a good help he was, too. But Sebastian had whisked him away to do something in his room by the time I got the camera out for some pictures.

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Power in the Book of Mormon

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the October 1986 Conference.

I've been trying to study Priesthood Power lately, as President Nelson invited us to, so I've been noticing the word "power" wherever I encounter it. When I came across this quote from President Benson, even though I've heard it a million times, it hit me a little differently than before:

There is a power in [the Book of Mormon] which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called “the words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.

Compare that to President Nelson's promise last October:

The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life. Sisters, you have the right to draw liberally upon the Savior’s power to help your family and others you love.

And then the similarities with Doctrine and Covenants 84 (which talks about the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood):

(v. 20-22) Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.

I can't really express yet all the connections I'm finding in these scriptures, but in my mind there is a thread of truth I feel like I'm just about to grasp—about power, and light, and the way it flows into us,(without compulsory means)—and then from us into others—to bring life and light wherever it goes. The power comes from obedience, and from the word of God, and from covenants, and from love.

President Benson also says this in his talk:

Every Latter-day Saint should make the study of this book a lifetime pursuit. Otherwise he is placing his soul in jeopardy and neglecting that which could give spiritual and intellectual unity to his whole life.

I feel like I've experienced this—like the more I read the Book of Mormon (and any of the scriptures, actually), the more I'm able to start seeing how truth can be unified or circumscribed into a great whole. I obviously can't complete the whole "circle" of truth yet, but I glimpse pieces of it, and feel it, and sense that it is there—and that happens more frequently and easily when I'm really studying the Book of Mormon and allowing my brain and spirit to absorb the connections I find between real, day-to-day life and the spiritual life I hope for. It's exciting to read and learn about (potentially) accessing God's power. But I keep praying that I'll be able to go beyond the theoretical, and actually HAVE that power in my life—allowing me to become more like Christ, and helping me influence those around me!


Other posts in this series:

"God's Beloved Little Children"—by Jan Tolman

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Ministering through the years

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Afternoon Session of the April 1986 Conference.

 Here's a quote from Elder James M. Paramore that sounds like it could have been given in this last year, with all the emphasis on ministering! I can see why the general authorities chose the word "ministering" to replace home and visiting teaching—it is so descriptive, and has such a great history of use in the scriptures and from the prophets! Like this:

The great promise to all of God’s children who truly minister, serve, love, and teach the gospel is that one day they may sit at the right hand of the Savior and be received into His presence. May the Lord make us “able ministers”, as were Ammon and my friend. This should be the end result of every principle and truth we learn in the gospel. This is truly the gospel in action. 

May we truly minister and teach all of our people, but especially reach out to those who plead in their hearts and through the long, lonely nights for help—our widows, our divorced, our nonmembers, our aged, our less active—to let them know of our concern, our love, and the love of God, until a happier people cannot be found upon the whole land, for “they taught and did minister one to another.”

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