An expression of our faith

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the April 2007 Conference.

This session was the re-dedication of the remodeled Salt Lake Tabernacle. President Hinckley gave a brief dedicatory prayer at the end, and several of the speakers shared memories about things that had happened in the building, so that was interesting and different. But my favorite talk was Sister Bonnie D. Parkin's, about gratitude. She started with this quote from Eliza R. Snow:

From this pulpit in 1870, Eliza R. Snow asked thousands of women a question that I’d like to repeat today: “Do you know of any place on the face of the earth, where [a] woman has more liberty, and where she enjoys such high and glorious privileges as she does here, as a Latter-day Saint?”

That struck me because Sister Annette Dennis said something similar recently and a whole bunch of people got all up in arms about it. So silly. In my opinion there's absolutely no other possible answer to Eliza R. Snow's question than, "No. Nowhere." The gospel of Jesus Christ is the thing that gives women the most hope, the most power, the most purpose, and the most knowledge of our divine potential—even when the people trying to live that gospel are clumsy and imperfect. That seems so clear to me!

In Sister Parkin's talk, I liked her emphasis on expressing gratitude. She said:

Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God’s love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord.

I know feeling grateful is important, but I've noticed when I talk about my gratitude (or write about it), I feel it even more strongly. Sometimes in my thoughts I'm too strongly inclined to rush past gratitude like "yeah yeah, I know I should be grateful for everything, but this specific thing is super hard!" Or "of course I'm grateful for what I have, but what I wish I had is ______!" Expressing gratitude in words forces me to slow down and live within it a little more. I've often noticed that even when I'm talking only to Sam (to whom I can complain about things I wouldn't complain about to anyone else, and he listens and I'm grateful)—but even with him, when I focus on blessings and gratitude—about our children, about our home, about our families—I end the conversation feeling more uplifted and hopeful than the times when I just relieve my complaining feelings by giving voice to them.

I also liked this thought:

Luke chapter 17 records the experience of the Savior when He healed ten lepers. As you recall, only one of the cleansed lepers returned to express his appreciation. Isn’t it interesting that the Lord did not say, “Your gratitude has made you whole”? Instead, He said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.”

The leper’s expression of gratitude was recognized by the Savior as an expression of his faith. As we pray and express gratitude to a loving but unseen Heavenly Father, we are also expressing our faith in Him. Gratitude is our sweet acknowledgment of the Lord’s hand in our lives; it is an expression of our faith. 

I like thinking that gratitude is not just acknowledging what I've been given, but also having faith that all the things I've been given are good. Since this talk by President Nelson, I'm always looking for faith-filled actions I can take to "move mountains" in my life, and if gratitude really is a demonstration of faith, it seems like an obvious choice. When I'm feeling bad about something sad or hard in my life, maybe trying to speak or write or think gratefully about it—even when I can't quite feel grateful for it—will be the faith-filled action needed to unlock God's power and help me move forward to the next step.

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As if our faith were already deep

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the October 2006 Conference.

A couple sentences in Elder David S. Baxter's talk this week caught my attention:

Faith is then nurtured as we allow ourselves to believe. Like all other virtues, faith is strengthened as we practice it, as we live and act as if our faith were already deep.

Something about "live and act as if our faith were already deep" appeals to me. It just seems like something that wouldn't be too hard to implement. It is a constant battle to fight off the voices saying, "This isn't real revelation; God wouldn't really speak to you; you aren't doing enough of your part to be worthy of His guidance." I am too intimately acquainted with my own faults and blindnesses not to, as a rational person, admit the possibility that they are blinding me about spiritual things too. But I think I could say, "Well, what would I think here if I were a woman of deep faith? How would a woman of deep faith respond to a prompting like this? What would a woman of deep faith assume in this situation?" 

I have already seen to some extent how saying, "I'll write this experience down and consider it as a prompting even if I'm not sure" has increased the frequency of my communication with God. This seems like an enlargement of that principle—deliberately letting deep faith color more of my actions, attitudes, and convictions even when my first reactions aren't as faithful as I'd like them to be!

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Only faith

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the October 2004 Conference.

Elder Robert D. Hales said,

When the challenges of mortality come, and they come for all of us, it may seem hard to have faith and hard to believe. At these times only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement can bring us peace, hope, and understanding. Only faith that He suffered for our sakes will give us the strength to endure to the end.

I just think it's interesting that when we find it hard to have faith, that's when we most need faith. At first glance that seems a little unfair (why would Heavenly Father make it even harder for us to have more faith by giving us challenges in which he seems not to be responding to our current faith?)—but that view has things reversed, I think. (And it doesn't take into account the role of Satan, either.) Maybe it's when Heavenly Father is most pleased with our current efforts that he gives us the next opportunity to grow in faith—because he sees our desires for good, and he knows how much stronger and more capable we will become with Jesus Christ's help as we stretch our faith in each next challenge. 

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Never let the power lie dormant

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the April 1997 Conference.

I've been watching our lawn the last several weeks as it comes out of dormancy. It's so interesting as it changes—first it is SO brown and dead it looks like it will never come back! And then little patches become greenish, and then larger patches—and finally it's all green and growing like crazy, so fast you can hardly keep it mowed! (And then the summer heat comes and sometimes some of it dies again. But we won't talk about that.)

I thought about that when I read President Faust's talk. He says, "Brethren, we must never let the great powers of the holy priesthood of God lie dormant in us."

I think it applies to women too, as we exercise the power of the priesthood that comes through our covenants, and the power of faith that President Nelson has been trying to teach us about. And I like that way of saying it, because it implies that it's already there, waiting and ready to be accessed! We just have to activate the power by keeping our covenants and being willing to act.

I recently got a new calling in my ward (Primary President), so I've been thinking about how often that faith-based action is something we have to pretty much initiate ourselves. Heavenly Father doesn't seem to want us to wait to act until we know what to do! Ha. It seems backwards, and I guess sometimes we do get instructions, but many times we have to get the ideas for our initial fumbling steps just in the midst of our own uncertainty. Every day I think, "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing next! But…I guess I could try making a list of the children…" or whatever comes to mind as I'm casting confusedly about. And then as I act on that, I start to feel more confident, and I begin to get inspiration on the next thing to do. 

Did I already talk here about the "ready, go, set" mentality Sam teaches his students about in Animation? He teaches them that you can't get everything in place, perfectly lined up and conceived and planned, before you start working on a project. You can do some planning, but after that, the only way to progress is to just START! You can't actually be successful until you start, falter, fail, make course corrections, improve, and keep moving forward toward your goal.

Heavenly Father seems to have something similar in mind for us by having us do SO many things before we feel ready. Baptism, temple covenants, marriage, parenthood, and callings all come before we're fully "prepared." We have to start trying to figure things out, start having experiences, before we can really learn anything useful! It goes against my nature—I would really rather wait to be Primary President, or any other thing, until I knew how to do it well! But that's not how it works, apparently.

President Faust brings up this same idea when he says:

Many years ago we were taught by President Harold B. Lee a fuller meaning of the direction from the Lord: “Let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling.” He said: “It becomes the responsibility of those of us who lead to let, to permit, to give opportunity for every man to learn his duty. …Help is not helpful if we assume the prerogatives that belong to that individual.” This fuller understanding also means that presiding officers of the Church should be careful not to usurp the responsibilities and duties of those they are called to direct.

And why shouldn't we "usurp" the responsibilities of those we lead? I think it's because they, too, won't learn until they act! I've been thinking about this with myself and my primary presidency, and it makes me want to think about how I can "give opportunity" for my own children to do more in their "own offices," too. It wouldn't be good for them if I allowed the power of their faith "go dormant" by denying them the chance to act for themselves!

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Three talks on Faith

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Young Women's Session of the April 1994 Conference.

I would certainly have watched the original broadcast of this Young Women's session as a 14-year-old, though I don't remember anything specific from it. It is such a good session, all focused on the topic of faith. I think focus on the basics sometimes annoyed me back when I was a young woman ("Ugh, faith again?")—but now I love it! Ha!

I'll just highlight a few of the insights I liked from the various talks. First, I loved the simple definition Sister Virginia H. Pearce gave of faith:

When we bring that definition into everyday language, faith means that I really believe that:

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, and they are in charge of this world.

They know me.

They love me.

They have a plan for my future.

I will obey the commandments, work hard, and trust in their plan. Sooner or later, everything will be okay.

She tells three stories in her talk and shows how this definition relates to each one, and I just love it. It sounds so comforting and fundamental, like something anyone could believe! Then I really liked this conclusion, too:

Now, I have told you these stories tonight for a very important reason. Each of them belongs to you—the Israelites of ancient times are your people. The miracles God provided them are part of your spiritual heritage. The pioneers are your people. It makes no difference whether their names appear on your pedigree chart. The miracles God provided them are a part of your personal spiritual heritage.…

Remember, remember, remember how God has worked in these lives. Remember how he has worked in your life. Write in your journal about the times when you have felt his love for you. Write about the times when he has intervened in subtle or obvious ways, to make everything work out okay for you. And when you feel abandoned and desperate, those memories will renew your faith and keep you trusting until you understand better.

I've been noticing how much faith depends on remembering God's goodness. I've always liked that idea, of making an effort to notice God's hand in our lives and remember the good things He's done for us, but I don't know if I directly connected that effort to faith! 

I also loved this description from Sister Janette C. Hales of the work children do in the teenage years. I feel like if I could see and remember this purpose for my own children, it would help me teach them, but also help me be patient, knowing that it really does take a tremendous amount of effort for them during those years, trying to become the people they want to be:

My hope for you during these important years between the ages of twelve and eighteen is that you are going from being a dependent child to becoming a righteous, problem-solving woman of faith. It is a mighty work you do during these years, and when you do your work well, you will build a foundation for a responsible and righteous life.…

Growing up spiritually requires us to see beyond our own desires and to enlarge our way of seeing things. We not only have to let go of our selfishness but sometimes let go of things we want very badly to come to understand our Heavenly Father’s point of view.

The work of "growing up spiritually" is something I'm still trying to accomplish, and I like the thought that my children and I are working at that together, even when we're at different stages along that path.

Then, I liked what Elder Oaks said about remembering whom our faith should be directed toward. I obviously have heard this before, but as I've been studying faith I think I've been guilty sometimes of falling back into thinking of it as "an abstract principle of power":

If we think we have faith, we should ask, faith in whom or faith in what? For some, faith is nothing more than faith in themselves. That is only self-confidence or self-centeredness. Others have faith in faith, which is something like relying on the power of positive thinking or betting on the proposition that we can get what we want by manipulating the powers within us.

The first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.…Founded on our knowledge of [Jesus and Heavenly Father], faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is a conviction and trust that God knows us and loves us and will hear our prayers and answer them with what is best for us.…

When we try to develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ rather than merely cultivating faith as an abstract principle of power, we understand the meaning of the Savior’s words: “If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me.”

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More snippets on faith

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the April 1993 Conference.

Ever since President Nelson's talk in Conference a few months ago, I've been noticing mentions of faith and power everywhere! This whole talk by Elder John K. Carmack is about faith. I still feel like I'm not quite putting together all the pieces of faith in order to understand exactly how to use it to draw down the power of the Savior into my life! But at least I am gathering some of those pieces and getting glimpses of understanding about how it might work. This talk had a few parts I liked. Elder Carmack says:

Rather than relying on faith, we are tempted to stay with the comfortable and tangible tools of our temporal lives to accomplish priesthood callings…These tools are useful…They include our natural intelligence; education and training; preparation, with manuals, handbooks, agendas, and budgets.…

Add faith, however, and priesthood service becomes magnificent. Two candles suddenly burst into four hundred watts of light. More to the point, we tap into the Lord’s power source, and our actions move in rhythm with His. The Lord compensates for our deficiencies. Vast, unseen reservoirs of dynamic power supply our needs.

He tells the story of Nephi and his brothers getting the brass plates:

They tried wisdom, charm, persuasion—tools they were comfortable using. They even offered to trade precious things from their family, from their treasure, in exchange for the plates. Nothing worked. In fact, they fled for their lives, accused of robbery.

Only then did Nephi turn to pure faith. Here’s how it worked. He convinced himself that the Lord had assigned him to get the plates. Next he conceived the mental energy and trust to try again. “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.” (1 Ne. 3:7.) Without knowing what he would do, Nephi began moving forward while his brothers skulked outside the city walls. “I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.” (1 Ne. 4:6.) Now he was moving by faith—confidence in the unknown, hope in things unseen. You know the rest.

Notice that faith and trust in the Lord came first. Then came action. He had no plan except confidence in the Lord. It was really a “ready, fire, aim” approach, the opposite of conventional wisdom. Laman and Lemuel thought it foolhardy. Then the Lord’s plan unfolded with Nephi being guided by unseen hands.

I also liked this part:

A brief but profound phrase in the book of Abraham describes the complete power of God’s faith. “There is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it.” (Abr. 3:17.) With faith we can get the right things to do into our hearts and the words and mental exertion to do them. It may require leaving unstructured time in our planning and on our agenda. Then faith would have some air to breathe.

Although faith often includes positive thinking, it is much, much more than that. Faith taps into divine sources and is a manifestation of unity and partnership with the Lord. Even the ideas and words formulated by faith come by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the power to accomplish the words formed by faith comes from God.

Lots of interesting things to think about in those words!

If you're just going to read one talk from this Conference session, though, might I suggest President Hinckley's talk "Some Lessons I Learned as a Boy"? It's SO good. It's just a bunch of reminiscences (for which, characteristically, he asks us to "forgive him") about his life, but it's so touching and so personal that you feel like you're hearing from your own grandpa. I just love President Hinckley. I put that in present tense because although I loved him when he was alive, I feel like I love him even more now as I revisit his old talks. There is always such power and depth in his words, and even when it seems like he's simply telling a story, you can feel—even through just reading it all these years later—the truths behind what he chooses to say.

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Developing faith

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the April 1981 Conference.

I was talking to a friend recently who said, "I don't think I'm very good at walking by faith. But I'm good at being obedient. Once I know what the Lord wants me to do, I'm willing to do it."

I thought that was a good way to express what I feel too. It's the uncertainty that's hardest for me. And yet I know that sometimes the uncertainty is exactly what I need most for my own growth. So I've been trying to learn more about faith, and how to develop a trust in God that will carry me through the times when I'm not really sure what God wants me to do!

In Elder Loren C. Dunn's talk, "Building Bridges to Faith," he gives six steps to develop the gift and power of faith. Many of them were things I hadn't really connected with faith before. I'll list some of them here in my own words, with my own interpretations, but you should read the actual talk too! These are just the things that stuck out to me as some practical steps I could implement right now, as I work on nurturing my faith.

1. Recognize that God can help you with any aspect of your life.

I have learned this repeatedly in the past, but somehow it still surprises me to hear stories of Heavenly Father helping people in highly specific situations or with specialized fields of knowledge. I wrote about my experience with piano practicing here, and I know there are lots more areas where I could show faith by asking for God's help on things I don't usually ask for His help with.

2. Do the things that come into your mind, promptly—and even if they don't seem related to anything important.

Elder Dunn tells a story about praying for help with some problems as a mission president, and feeling prompted instead to give a blessing to his son. The inspiration that came through the blessing was really important, but, he says, "this would have been lost had I stopped to question why the Lord was turning me to…my family, when I was seeking a blessing for the mission." I want to get better at acting on the principle that God has many purposes in mind when He gives us direction. Maybe the random-seeming thing I'm prompted to do will be just what I need to help with other problems that seem unrelated!

3. Believe in goodness and don't be cynical.

Elder Dunn says, "Faith cannot be nourished in a heart that has been made hard by continued cynicism, skepticism, and unforgiveness." My natural instinct is to be very rational and methodical about problems (maybe that comes from being born into a family of physicists). There are good things about that. But I am also trying to learn to do things that don't make perfect sense, as in the paragraph above. I'm trying to be whole-hearted and unguarded in my responses to God's direction, rather than always holding something back "just in case" I've understood wrong. I want to work on listening to other people without cynicism, too. I've realized recently that saying, "Eh, that experience was probably just coincidence or an overactive imagination"—even to myself—inhibits my ability to receive more blessings from God.

Other posts in this series:

• Why You Can't Nurture Both Faith and Cynicism by Nathaniel Givens
• We Have Nothing to Fear by Jan Tolman

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