Live Today

We’ve talked a lot as we’ve discussed Living in Truth about living in the present moment—enjoying now—and how that means not worrying about tomorrow. But there are other things about the future that distract us from the present besides worry or fear and one of those is the goals we set. Now, let me say right up front, I have nothing against setting goals; goals are important. But sometimes we need to analyze our goals and ask ourselves if they are worth the effort and the time or if we are spending our todays preparing for a tomorrow that we could have had today. This story illustrates what I mean.

The King of Epirus once recounted to a favorite and wise servant all the conquests which he proposed to make in order to expand the borders of his country. The list was long and when he finally ended the account, the servant asked, “And what will your Majesty do after all those battles?”

“I will enjoy myself with my friends.” answered the king, “sharing their good company over a meal of fine food with wonderful musicians playing while we dine.”

“And why can’t your Majesty do that now?” asked the servant.

Is It Good or Is It Bad?

Shakespeare’s Hamlet had his problems, but he said some very profound things that have impacted my life. One of my favorites, because of what it teaches me about Living in Truth, is: “For there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”

Put another way, if we think about it we discover that “There is a silver lining to every cloud.” When we find and dwell on (think about) the silver lining we realize that even the bad things that happen to us bring about some good. We have a choice then; we can think about the bad and make ourselves more miserable or we can think about the good and be happy.

In the gospel this principle is expanded upon when the Lord tells us that “All things shall work together for your good” (D&C 90:24; 100:15; and 105:40). Notice it says ALL things not just the good things. “All things” includes everything that happens to us whether we consider those things to be good or bad. So if the Lord is going to make all things good, we can take do the same. We can think until we find the silver lining and then let our thoughts rest there.

But we must also beware, as Hamlet warns, that we are also capable of making good things bad by the way we think about them. Good and bad is a choice and we are the only ones who can make that choice!

The Word Sacred

As you know, I love words and especially I love to learn the origin or history of words which is called etymology. To me words are music but when I know their history and meaning they do more than pass through my ears with their sound, or enter my mind with their meaning, they pass into my heart with their ardent intention.  Learning meanings and history has enhanced my knowledge of the gospel-the Good News! That's why I can say that examining words has taught me more about the gospel than any other thing.

I am amazed how many gospel words that we use all come back to one Latin root, sanctus  which means sacred. Sanctify, sanctification, consecrate, consecration, sacrament, saint, and sacrifice are all from that same Latin root word.  

Sanctify means to free from sin so that you are sacred. Sanctification means the action or process of being sanctified. Consecrate means dedicated to a sacred purpose and consecration means the process of dedicating to a sacred purpose. In sacrament we find the root meaning of sacred combined with the suffix –ment which means “the concrete action or process of.” In other words the sacrament is the concrete action that makes us sacred. Sacrifice also means to make sacred, and a saint is a person who has been made sacred.

It is interesting that the gospel is all about making us into saints and the words we use in the gospel all point us in that direction. We do well to stop and think about the words!

Easter is Coming!

Easter is coming! The celebration of the Good News! the best news that ever happened. And one of the things that has blessed my life and made that celebration more meaningful and exciting is that every Easter I give myself a present; I read the Four Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I look forward to this and since Easter is four weeks from yesterday, it is time to begin, and I’m inviting you to join me in reading this year. It doesn't take long, but is worth every minute it takes.

The Four Gospels are the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and reading about His life before Easter is an amazing way to celebrate Easter. It helps me remember, as I’m coloring eggs, that eggs are a symbol of the new life Jesus Christ made possible. It helps me remember, as I see the cute little Easter bunnies in stores, that rabbits are a symbol of prolific life and re-creation—again things that Jesus Christ made possible for me. But what I love most is that reading the Four Gospels helps me to feel the events that are Easter.

So join me in celebrating Easter by reading Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and making Easter last for weeks instead of days.

Sabbath Scripture - Give!

The liberal soul shall be made fat:

and he that watereth

shall be watered also himself.

Proverbs 11:25

Coming Back

A wonderful part of the Good News! is that change is possible, coming back to the gospel is possible, being gathered in the arms of the Good Shepherd and carried back to the fold is possible. But more than possible, it is wonderful.

Those who have tasted of this mercy know of its joy and are eager to help others find their way back. With this in mind, the Savior gave three parables to help us know not only how to help others come back but when to do it. In Luke 15 Jesus first tells us of the shepherd of a hundred sheep who loses one. When the 99 are safely in the fold, the shepherd goes out to seek the lost one. We don’t know how the sheep was lost. Perhaps he wandered off intentionally or perhaps he just got distracted and before he realized it, everyone else was gone and he didn’t know where they were. Despite how it happened the shepherd, knowing he had stewardship for the flock, found the sheep and brought him back.

The second parable is about a woman who lost a coin. Now a coin has no volition and so in this case it is the caretaker’s fault that the coin is lost. So the woman, knowing she is at fault, works hard to reclaim the lost coin.

When we compare these parables to our own lives we see that sometimes a sheep in our flock is lost not for anything we have done but we have a responsibility to go out and bring them back. In the case of the coin sometimes we drive someone away by offending or perhaps a misunderstanding has taken place and again we have a responsibility to do all we can to mend the breach that has caused the person to be lost.

But in the last parable of the prodigal son, the father does not go after the son. In this case it is willful disobedience on the part of the lost son, and the father knows he can do nothing but wait and pray and hope for a change of heart that will bring his son home. But notice that instead of going into depression, or thinking himself deplorable, or becoming defensive by blaming others for the loss of his son, he waits hopefully and is watching for the return of the son so that when the son does return the father sees him a long way off and welcomes him. In other words, sometimes there is nothing we can do but pray and wait.

Coming to Know

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to two people on the road to Emmaus. They walked and talked with him as the traveled, but didn’t recognize Him. Mostly they talked about the miraculous things that had happened—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is a profound irony here that while speaking of Him, they didn’t know Him.

Sometimes we as mortals have this same experience. We speak of the Savior, marvel at His goodness and miracles, yet we don’t know Him. In other words, we know about Him without knowing Him. But as Jesus taught, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

So how did the people of the road to Emmaus finally come to know Jesus? It didn’t happen until they sat down to eat with Him. At that point Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them to eat. Obviously there this is symbolic of the sacrament and as the two people ate we are told, “Their eyes were opened, and they knew him” (Luke 24:30).

There is a great lesson in this story for us. Yes, we need to study His words and learn all we can about Jesus, but one of the ways we will really come to know Him is through the sacrament. If partaken of with real intent and feeling, the sacrament will open our eyes, also.