That Which Ye Send Out Shall Return Unto You Again

This post is more for me than anyone else.  I pose some questions for self-introspection:

- How do we treat others?

- How do we treat those who seemingly have nothing to offer us?

- Do we get upset at others' shortcomings?

- How do we treat the telemarketer, the person who cuts us off in traffic,  the person who's spoken unkindly about us when we weren't there, the person who in some way offended us, etc.?

The choice is ours and I believe this promise in Alma 41 will hold true in this life as well as in the life to come:

14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.

 15 For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.

I interpret this promise in two literal ways:

1. When we do good and are kind to others, good will be returned or restored unto us. Some call it Karma. We never know in what way it is returned unto us, but it is. Likewise, when we hurt, offend, or injure others emotionally, it will also be restored unto us in this life. Our actions towards others will catch up with us at some point, one way or the other.

2. When we pass through the veil, in a magnificent way our life will be opened up to us (and the Lord). We will see the consequence of our decisions and actions and how they affected others. If we were kind, we will see the ripple effect it caused in that individual's life - we will feel the emotional lift we helped cause. If we injured another through insult or rudeness, we will see and feel the ripples it caused - we will see and feel the emotional hurt it caused that individual and others. All our actions and the effects from those actions will be opened to our vision and we'll see them, both the good and the bad. In that day, the Lord will stand with love and mercy, however we will be our own judge as these events unfold before our senses.  The Lord won't have to "say" anything, it will be apparent to us as it unfolds, there will be no hiding from this panorama of our life.

I remember at Utah State when I pulled up to the parking attendant to pay the $4 I owed for parking. The attendant said, "No charge. The car in front of you paid for your parking." I was in awe! I did my best to try and catch the car, but to no avail. The rest of the day was spent trying to find ways to help others. I determined that day to try and do simple acts of kindness to lift others.  The simple act of a stranger helped change my life in a profound way.

I invite each of us to find something this week that will lift someone. Also, I invite us to temper our emotions and remember to let the small things go - only focus our time and energy on lifting others!

The Symbol of the Spoon

We sat in a marriage and family relations class today where the instructor used an analogy which might be a great reminder and visual illustration for adults as well as children. Every time we pick up a spoon we can hold it up and look at the reflection. This simple analogy is very symbolic of the realities of life.

When we hold up a spoon and turn it inward we see everything upside down.

When we hold up a spoon and turn it outward, we see our reflection as it really is.

Matthew 10:39:

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

Mosiah 2:17:

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

When we focus on satisfying our own needs and wants (the natural man) our perspective of life is upside down. We only begin to see clearly when we're filled with charity, the pure love of Christ, and seek the welfare of others. It's when we start emulating the Savior that our vision begins to open up and we start to see things as they really are. What a joyous awakening it is when this begins to happen! 

The Temple

My Wife and I had the opportunity to attend the Provo Temple last night. We chose to do sealings and we participated in a special experience. In the middle of our work, they escorted three sisters into the room. We assisted with the sealing ordinance of the parents of one of those sisters. Her parents died several years ago. Following the sealing of her parents, she was then sealed to her parents as a daughter. A special spirit was in the room.

The Sealer spoke with us for a few minutes and we had a good discussion. As a result, I walked out of the temple with two new thoughts:

1. The ordinances of the Gospel are chiasmic. Look carefully at the wording of the baptismal prayer and the sealing. There are several words shared in those two prayers which are ONLY used in those two prayers. It begins with the Father and culminates with the Father.

2. An approach I plan to use with the temple from this point forward is to ask myself this question every time, "What can I take away today that will help me improve my behavior or some part of my personality?"  Often I go looking for knowledge, knowledge without conversion is only condemning. It's when we allow that knowledge to mold our character that the temple unfolds a pathway to exaltation. If we're the same person after being in the temple that we were before, we're no closer to the Lord.

This was an interesting observation for me and I'm grateful to the Lord for that small revelation.

Emotions of the Lord

Sometimes we think the Lord is more like an object rather than a resurrected being and that he doesn't experience various emotions. His life, as given in the scriptures, would indicate otherwise. What's fascinating to me is that he does experience many emotions, but he has learned to master them and control them as an exalted God would control them.  

My questions are: 

Since he experiences emotions, how does he handle and control those emotions as an exalted being?

What lesson is there for each one of us if we ponder the answer(s) to the previous question?

If he continues to experience emotion, how important is it for each of us as mortals to learn, here and now, to control and master our emotions? How do we do it?

Without putting the actual verbiage of the scripture in this post, I've simply put a reference to each verse that details an example of when Christ exhibited a particular emotion. It's actually quite interesting to read each verse, but I'll leave that to the individual.

Wrath:  D&C 76:33, Ether2:8&9, 1 Nephi 13:11, 1 Nephi 22:16, 3 Nephi 22:8, Alma 13:30

Anger:  Helaman 11:12, Helaman 13:30, 2 Nephi 15:25, 2 Nephi 23:13, Alma 8:29, D&C 61:20, D&C 61:5, D&C 84:24,

Mercy:  3 Nephi 22:7&8, Ether 11:8, Alma 5:4, Alma 5:33,Alma 9:26, D&C 99:3, D&C 88:40, D&C 101:9, Romans 9:15

Compassion:  D&C 101:9, 3 Nephi 17:6, 1 Nephi 21:15,  Luke 7:13, Mark 1:41, D&C 64:2, Matthew 20:34, Matthew 14:14

Joy:  3 Nephi 17:20, 3 Nephi 27:30, D&C 88:53, 2 Corinthians 2:3, 3 John 1:4, John 3:29, Alma 27:18

Why Do We Justify Sin?

This is short and I simply want to pose a thought and a few questions.

Yesterday, we visited someone who had previously been sealed in the Temple. She hasn't been "active" in the church for years and she's since removed her garments. According to her she still believes it's true, but she feels like people are judging her because she likes to drink wine. She's passed judgement on the organization and the imperfect members and has therefore withdrawn herself from the blessings associated with it. What we listened to were her "justifications" for being where she currently is and why she's happy with that. This is the same conversation I've had with countless people across the world. I was truly saddened as we listened. The adversary uses this same tactic over and over and he's become quite successful.

A truth rang true in my mind as we sat there and this goes along with my previous post. D&C 130 mentions that the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there. We judge ourselves! When someone has justified an action or behavior, they will see what they want to see and find what they want to find. If they want to find that small group who "judges them", they'll find it. I grant there are some close-minded and rude people within the church, but that is the exception - just like any organization. More often than not, if someone comes back after a period of absence, they are welcomed with open arms by a host of different people. At least that has been my observation.  But, someone tends to judge themselves when they're in that environment and obviously doesn't want to be there because they feel uncomfortable. How will that person feel when they're not sitting in front of a group of people, but the Lord himself who reveals all truth? We invited, loved, and tried to convey a humble testimony that the Savior loves and extends mercy and compassion, regardless of who the person is - we'll see if it makes a difference. But now, I want to turn this to ourselves.

How have we allowed the adversary to become so successful in our lives?

In Helaman, chapter 8, I read this in verses 24 and 25, "And now, seeing ye know these things and cannot deny them except ye shall lie, therefore in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received; yea, even ye have received ball things, both things in heaven, and all things which are in the earth, as a witness that they are true. But behold, ye have rejected the truth, and rebelled against your holy God; and even at this time, instead of laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt, and where nothing can come which is unclean, ye are heaping up for yourselves wrath against the day of judgment."


- Is there any thing in our life which we currently justify?
- Are we lying to ourselves about any particular area of our life?
- What are we specifically doing to lay up treasures in heaven?