The fulness of the earth

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the October 1991 Conference.
Remember when President Nelson gave his talk on the Sabbath Day? It was even before he became the President of the Church, but I remember it seemed like such an important talk at the time, maybe because my ward and stake really emphasized it and made goals and themes based on it. It seemed like the whole church was focused on improving Sabbath Day worship that year. (I've probably even written about it. Yes, I have, here among other places.)

I remember thinking, after that talk, that of all the things he could have chosen to focus on (gay marriage had just been legalized in the U.S., if I recall correctly, and there were also many other current issues I felt we needed prophetic guidance about)—why would he choose the Sabbath Day? Looking back, it seems to fit perfectly in the long line of guidance given to prepare us for upcoming changes—and obviously we've all reflected on how all of THAT prepared us for life during the pandemic—and is probably also preparing us for things we still have yet to face! But even already knowing some of what we were being prepared for, I'm still intrigued by these blessings tied to the Sabbath Day, and feel like I have more to learn about them. 

President Faust's talk from this October 1991 Conference was on the Sabbath Day as well, and I see the seeds in it of that all the same things President Nelson was still talking about in 2015. President Faust begins:
My brothers and sisters and friends, for some time I have pondered what I might speak about today. I seem to have been led in my thinking by a concern that so many in our generation are missing great blessings by not honoring the Lord’s day.

I confess that as a young boy, Sunday was not my favorite day. Grandfather shut down the action. We didn’t have any transportation. We couldn’t drive the car. He wouldn’t even let us start the motor. We couldn’t ride the horses, or the steers, or the sheep. It was the Sabbath, and by commandment, the animals also needed rest. We walked to Church and everywhere else we wanted to go. I can honestly say that we observed both the spirit and the letter of Sabbath worship.

By today’s standards, perhaps Grandfather’s interpretation of Sabbath day activities seems extreme, but something wonderful has been lost in our lives. To this day, I have been pondering to try to understand fully what has slipped away. Part of it was knowing that I was well on the Lord’s side of the line. Another part was the feeling that Satan’s influence was farther away. Mostly it was the reinforcement received by the spiritual power which was generated. We had the rich feeling that the spiritual “fulness of the earth” was ours, as promised by the Lord in section 59 of the Doctrine and Covenants.

That language is so forceful—"something wonderful has been lost." And then his reasoning is fascinating to me: "Satan's influence was farther away…spiritual power was generated…the spiritual fullness of the earth was ours."

I've put consistent effort into improving our Sabbath Days for years now, and I think I'm getting better at it for myself. (As for helping my kids do better…I don't know.) But President Faust's words have me pondering if there's even more we can do. There's a certain feeling I'm reaching for, which this talk stirred in me. I don't know quite how to describe it, except I feel it every now and then when I'm up early running and praying, and I've poured out my whole soul until I feel completely empty, and then a sort of stillness comes in and fills me back up. Or sometimes when I'm going to sleep, and I can feel my muscles all tense with worry, so I go through from head to toe and consciously relax my jaw and my shoulders and my legs and my toes…and then I relax them even more…and then I relax them even more. And the flowing out of that tension I didn't even know I was carrying almost feels the same as energy flowing in.

Anyway, that's how the Sabbath feels to me…or how it seems like it should feel, and how it does feel when I do it right. It's a day full of stress and busy-ness and chaos in some ways; we're all home together, I'm trying to feed myself spiritually while still making sure the kids are being taught what they need to be taught—but the change from our "usual things" to our "Sunday things" CAN feel like a release, when I make it different enough. President Faust's description of "spiritual power" and the "richness" of feeling that earth is full and there's enough for youI've felt that. On the best of my Sabbath Days, I feel renewed in an almost mystical way, like being emptied to be filled, or finding direction out of stillness. It's not what you'd expect. What I always wish for is quiet, unbroken stretches of time to reflect and read and study; I wish for all the interruptions to go away; I wish for time "for myself." That's what SEEMS like it would renew me. But it turns out it usually works better to just give myself over to the Sabbath—the demands and the obligations—and just do those things in a spirit of giving to God, a "sign between God and me"—and when I do, the renewal somehow rushes in.

President Faust says:
God knows that, left completely to our own devices without regular reminders of our spiritual needs, many would degenerate into the preoccupation of satisfying earthly desires and appetites. This need for physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration is met in large measure by faithful observance of the Sabbath day.…

In this day of increasing access to and preoccupation with materialism, there is a sure protection for ourselves and our children against the plagues of our day. The key to that sure protection surprisingly can be found in Sabbath observance: “And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day.”
It doesn't really make sense to my earthly reasoning. But I have glimpsed it, and I want to find ways to experience it more reliably—that fulness that comes from joyfully observing the Sabbath Day.
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Avoiding the spirit of rebellion

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the October 1991 Conference.
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin gave an interesting promise in his talk, The Fruits of the Restored Gospel. It's not a blessing I would have thought to ask for, but it's one I would actually really like to have! Here it is:
In conclusion, let me offer this advice and promise. Never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Partake of the sacrament worthily. Always remember our Lord and Savior. Never defame his sacred name. Do not ridicule the sacredness of the holy priesthood and the ordinances of the gospel. If you honor this counsel, the spirit of rebellion will never come into your hearts. 

 

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Pre-Christmas, Christmas, Post-Christmas

December was surprisingly sunny and even warmish. (And we haven't had snow or rain, to speak of, for…ages it seems like. All year! No thunderstorms. No snowstorms. Nothing.) Our Benge cousins came to visit one morning, so everyone could remind each other who we were. It was nice to see them after a long year of not seeing anybody!
The kids and I made a bunch of owl and penguin hand warmers for a school activity one day (we were learning about birds). We delivered a bunch of them to my hypothetical Primary Class. Sam and I were called to teach the 9-year-olds, but since the church isn't having Primary right now, we are trying to get to know the kids somehow in other ways!
Bubble wrap from some package or other. Always a treat to get this instead of the plastic air bags they usually use nowadays!
This was a card Teddy made for my mom and I loved it so much. It's a picture of a stripy cat! I love how each stripe has a leg.
   
   
Gus has the peculiar habit of crawling to whatever box he can find and then stuffing himself into it. I've seen videos of cats who do the same thing. 

We've been excited all year to watch the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on the Winter Solstice. There was a festive little crowd of neighbors gathered on the hill with telescopes. It actually was more impressive to see Jupiter and Saturn without the telescope (they looked closer together that way!), but it's always great to look at the moon, if all else fails! (Speaking of which, have you seen this video? There's some swearing in it so watch out, but it's cool to see people's reactions.)
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To go to Him

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Afternoon Session of the April 1991 Conference.
Two sections from Elder Neal A. Maxwell's talk caught my attention:
…One’s small data base of personal experience permits so few useful generalizations! But by searching the holy scriptures, we access a vast, divine data bank, a reservoir of remembrance. In this way, the scriptures can, as the Book of Mormon says, enlarge the memory.
I have often thought about how difficult it is to generalize from my own experiences! What is the difference between the times I get revelation easily and the times it is difficult? What is the difference between quick answers and slow answers? There are too many variables—my own faith, my own desires and agency, the agency of others, God's timing, my ability to interpret what I'm being told…sometimes an "experiment upon the word" feels like a much more complicated matter than Alma makes it out to be! But I like this idea that the scriptures give us more data points and can help us get more meaning from our own experiences.

Second, there was this:
Do we naively expect Christ to come to us—instead of our going to Him? Truly He waits “all the day long” with open arms to receive the repentant. There are no restrictive “office hours.” But it is we who must arise and go to Him!
This was just interesting to me because I've run into the idea repeatedly lately that Jesus "meets us where we are." And I really like that view! In fact, I just read an article that talks about how the whole essence of the gospel is Jesus coming down to us so that He can then lift us up to be like Him! I really like the idea that He will come to us and help lift us, no matter where we are on our journeys. And I'm sure there is a way to harmonize Elder Maxwell's words here with that teaching—maybe it's in your definition of what it means to "come to us" or to "go to Him"! 

Still, the two ways of seeing it seem pretty contradictory on the face of things. I'm going to have to think about what they both mean, and what Elder Maxwell might have been trying to teach through these words. Maybe it has something to do with our agency and choosing to invite Jesus into our lives.
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A year of Gus-Gus

I don't know what happened during this Gus-year. It's a blur to me now, looking back, and I can't remember if I decided NOT to take monthly pictures of Gus…or if I did take them and lost them…or if I meant to take them but didn't. Anyway, it's too bad, because Gussie was one of the babies that changed MOST during his first year! He went from a scrawny little elf to a…well…a chubby little Gus! So I went back and hunted down some somewhat similar pictures from each month to compare. And here they are! Sweet little Gussykins.
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The way to draw closer

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the April 1991 Conference.
President Eyring's talks always speak to me, and this one was on a topic I can't hear enough of: growing closer to God. I loved so many parts. Here are some:
God is our ancestor, not distant but close. He is the Father of our spirits; we are his children. But…we all at times feel far removed from him. …If we are to have the words of the gospel of Jesus Christ touch us, then we must believe in God. We must want to be with him. And we must sense our need to be purified to be with him again.


We need to feel now that God knows us and loves us as individuals. There are times you have felt the closeness of God, your Father, and that you are his child. Those times can come more often. There is a simple way to think about it:

If you want to stay close to someone who has been dear to you, but from whom you are separated, you know how to do it. You would find a way to speak to them, you would listen to them, and you would discover ways to do things for each other. The more often that happened, the longer it went on, the deeper would be the bond of affection. If much time passed without the speaking, the listening, and the doing, the bond would weaken.

God is perfect and omnipotent, and you and I are mortal. But he is our Father, he loves us, and he offers the same opportunity to draw closer to him as would a loving friend. And you will do it in much the same way: speaking, listening, and doing.


It is clear how often we should speak to God: regularly in words, continually in feelings. 


As you have listened to God’s servants here, you have felt pricked in your heart to do something. You could react with a hard heart: “Why is an imperfect man telling me to repent?” Or you could hear instead the loving invitation of your Heavenly Father, who delighted in you when you were with him, and delights in the prospect that you will accept his loving correction.

You will find something else in the pattern of correction you have felt. Do you notice how much of it is an urging to do something for someone else? That is no surprise. God loves his children. They have great needs. Everything belongs to God, so there is not much you can give him, after you have given him a repentant heart. But you can give kindness to his children. If you were my earthly friend, you would win my heart by being kind to my children. God loves his children more than any earthly parent, so think what your kindness to his children means to him.


Now, even the Savior of the world, when he was on the cross, felt his Father far from him. You will have moments, perhaps long moments, of feelings of separation. …You will still be startled, as President Benson said you would be, to realize how familiar the face of our Heavenly Father is. But when you see him, you will know his voice, because you will have prayed, listened, obeyed, and come to share the thoughts and intents of his heart. You will have drawn nearer to him.


Other posts in this series:



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Baby Santa

It was time to again put a baby in a Baby Santa suit. Luckily, it was not as traumatic for Gus to wear the hat as it has been for certain other babies. And the suit was at least roughly the right size for him. So that was something, at least. 
He even tolerated sitting for his picture to be taken…as long as he had his taggie. But if we took that away…
He was NOT HAPPY.
So we stopped taking it away! We know how to pick our battles around here.
Sweet little baby Santa!

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