Book of Mormon Reading: Alma 48-51

This is the cause of Christians:

to support liberty

to support lands

to support wives and husbands

to support children

to support peace

to live unto our Lord and God

I am a Christian

The Spirit of God = The Spirit of Freedom

This month found our family scripture study smack dab in the Book of Mormon War Chapters - which has been so fitting as we celebrate the independence of our country.

I have been amazed that even before our Constitution was formed, righteous men - Moroni, Teancum, Helaman, Pahoran - also fought for those same things our Founding Fathers held most sacred and dear: God, religion, freedom, peace, family, liberty.

One phrase caught my attention.  If it were a mathematical formula it would look like this:

The Spirit of God = The Spirit of Freedom

And that's when I realized that when I make choices that limit my freedom, I lose the privilege of having God's Spirit with me.

Furthermore, when we as a nation give up our freedoms for social justice, for the greater good, or even for absolute security, we are undoubtedly giving up the very power and Spirit of God.

And when that happens, where does that place us?

Happy Independence Day!

And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man;

he was a man of a perfect understanding; 

yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; 

a man whose soul did joy in the liberty 

and the freedom of his country, 

and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

Yea, a man whose heart did swell with 

thanksgiving to his God, 

for the many privileges and blessings which 

He bestowed upon his people; 

a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.

Yea, and he was a man who was

firm in the faith of Christ, 

and he had sworn with an oath to 

defend his people, 

his rights, 

and his country, 

and his religion, 

even to the loss of his blood.

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, 

if all men had been, and were, and ever would 

be, like unto Moroni,

behold, the very powers of 

hell would have been shaken forever; 

yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

-Alma 48:11-13; 17

Absolute Security or Freedom?

In the war in heaven the devil advocated absolute eternal security at the sacrifice of our freedom. Although there is nothing more desirable to a Latter-day Saint than eternal security in God's presence, and although God knew, as did we, that some of us would not achieve this security if we were allowed our freedom - yet the very God of heaven, who has more mercy than us all, still decreed no guaranteed security except by man's own freedom of choice and individual initiative.

Today the devil as a wolf in a supposedly new suit of sheep's clothing is enticing some men, both in and out of the Church, to parrot his line by advocating planned government guaranteed security programs at the expense of our liberties. Latter-day Saints should be reminded how and why they voted as they did in heaven. If some have decided to change their vote they should repent - throw the support on the side of freedom - and cease promoting this subversion.

Ezra Taft Benson
General Conference, October 1961 (italics added)

Questions

I did it! I really, really did it!! I got my hair c-h-o-p-p-e-d off. It’s the shortest I’ve ever had it and well, I LOVE IT! I wonder why in the world I’ve waited this long . . . I’ll tell you why. Since childhood, I have had embedded in my brain (kind of like the stone in Goliath’s forehead) that long hair was the correct way for a girl to wear her hair. . . And while that was very nice for the pioneers, I’ve decided that I am very happy with this new look that only needs a blow dryer and some pomade! Which brings me to the first question of this post: What keeps women from getting the hair style they really, really love???

* * *

Thank heavens the weather here has favored the cooler temps because the A/C in our van isn’t working. And I have been putting off the expensive fix for a while now.  But with no A/C in a 15 passenger van, the   summer will be a Death Valley vacation on wheels. Sad thing is, I remember when A/C was a l-u-x-u-r-y.  It wasn't until I was in Junior High that our family vehicle had the exhilaration of cold air blowing through our hair when the window was closed.  Do luxuries always have to become necessities?

* * *

So I'm reading through my three junior high-ers' yearbooks and I see HAGS scrawled throughout the pages. "HAGS?"  I thought.  "My boys are NOT hags (and neither is their mother)."  Then I calmed down and thought, "Think code word.  Maybe HAGS is a code word for a Happy Associated Girls' Society?"  That didn't seem right either.  And then it clicked in my brain that if I had known 20+ years ago when I graduated from high school that Have A Great Summer could have been condensed in just four easy letters, I could have saved myself A LOT of time and started summer vacation a whole lot earlier.  BTW, what acronyms have you come across that took you while to figure out?

* * *

We have a white board in our kitchen area.  Up until this week it has been largely ignored.  But this week my boys have decided it is now a forum to write messages.  Here are some of the messages that have been written:

"If you don't have time to do it right, you must find time to do it over."

"All men are created equal."

"With God nothing is impossible."

"Life is not a game. Life is work."

"When something is hard it doesn't mean you shouldn't try.  It just means you should try harder"

"Rum Punch, quite satisfactory." - Mary Poppins

To tell you the truth I was surprised my boys had it in them to generate such enjoyable, thought-provoking messages.  And it's been such the craze that each boy has an assigned day when he can put his message on the board.  In what ways have your children surprised you?

* * *

I love the scriptures.  I mean, I LOVE the scriptures.  On Memorial Day we focused our family scripture study on those who men and women who fought and died for our liberties and freedom.  We learned that the fight for freedom for this Land of Liberty - even this land of America - extended far beyond the Revolutionary War.  That fight, and specifically the right to worship God, makes this land the greatest on earth!

We took our discussion from Alma 43:9-21.  And this time around I equated the armies of the Lamanites to the 1/3 of the hosts of heaven who were cast out of Father's presence and the Nephites to be all those spirits who chose Father's plan to come to earth.

And when the armies of the Lamanites [1/3 of the hosts of heaven] saw that the people of Nephi [spirits who chose to follow Father's plan], or that Moroni [Jesus Christ], had prepared his people with breastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing [think a physical body WITH the Armor of God] —

Now the army of Zerahemnah [Lucifer] was not prepared with any such thing; they had only their swords and their cimeters, their bows and their arrows, their stones and their slings [aka temptations of EVERY kind] ; and they were naked [they had no physical body], save it were a skin which was girded about their loins; yea, all were naked, save it were the Zoramites and the Amalekites [sons of perdition];

But they were not armed with breastplates, nor shields [they did not, no, they could not have the Armor of God]—therefore, they were exceedingly afraid of the armies of the Nephites [children of Christ] because of their armor, notwithstanding their number being so much greater than the Nephites [those of the Church of God].

What have the scriptures taught you this week?

Remembering 9/11

September 11, 2001 is not something any of my children remember at all.

So today we remembered 9/11.

It was a beautiful way to spend a Sabbath.

 

Stripling Warrior Mothers

“Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children” (The Family, A Proclamation to the World).

As I have been studying the principles of faith taught by the mothers of Helaman’s 2,060 (Alma 56:45-48; Alma 57:21), here are some of the teachings they taught their children (because, I am sure, there were plenty of daughters in the mix as well!):

1. Be strong and of a good courage
Here were these Lamanite women converts who had made a covenant, years earlier, NEVER to fight again, let alone pick up a weapon of war. Now, in the midst battles against the Lamanites, they willingly allowed their young (stripling) sons to enter into a covenant that required them to take up their weapons of war to defend their country. Strength and Courage were virtues demonstrated by both mothers and sons.

2. Show respect to men, fathers, priesthood leaders and priesthood authority
These young men called Helaman “Father.” Their mothers had taught them importance of respect for others, for men, for priesthood leadership. I am sure they saw that esteem exemplified within their homes, observing the relationships they had with their husbands as well as priesthood leadership. Sadly today, men are depicted in movies and commercials either as idiots or sexual hunters and gratifiers. Gratefully, at the helm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there are 15 men who represent what a man of God is. Men who respect women; men who honor covenants; men who love the Lord.

3. Cultivate a “go and do” attitude – with the Lord, you can do anything
How else could these young men, without reservation, know, with a certainty, that “our God is with us, and He will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth!” I believe that is what “raising the bar” is all about. It’s about sending 19 year-old young men out into the world with the attitude that that can do anything that is required of them, with God’s help!

4. Faith, not fear
Trying something new or getting out of our comfort-zone should be a time when faith is cultivated, rather than having fear overwhelm. I am sure for these Lamanite mothers moving from a land and a culture they had always known, to go to a land that was taught to be the land of your enemies, was not a very comfortable move. It required faith - for fear would have left them unconverted. But they did something HARD, something DIFFICULT, something that had never been done in their families before. And they took that newness, and turned it into an incredible legacy of faith, obedience and divine motherhood.

5. Demonstrate to others that your service is not about YOU, it is about others
Sometimes our service to others requires the most of us. Sometimes it’s not easy; at other times it’s highly inconvenient and there will be times that it will sacrifice us to the very edge. For these mothers and their sons, their service and their commitment may have lead to an untimely death! But because of their faith in God’s eternal plan, “they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their own lives.”

6. Liberty and Freedom are God-given rights that are to be protected and defended
Hand in hand with teaching their children the principles of faith in Jesus Christ, these mothers also impressed upon the minds and hearts of their children the price that comes to maintain the blessings of liberty and freedom. What a lesson for us in our day!

7. A family is unit of love, support and unity
I believe that these stripling warriors were strengthened even more knowing that their mothers and fathers believed in them. Sending children off to war wouldn’t be my first choice, either. But these young men were equipped with strength and courage and faith.

8. Obedience to every word - with exactness - brings down the blessings – and the miracles – from heaven.
I believe the mothers of Helaman’s 2,060 took this counsel: “Seek not to declare me word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea the power of God unto the convincing of [your children]” (Doctrine and Covenant 11:21). These mothers studied, feasted and then lived the word of God!  The word of God, coupled with the words of the prophet, enable them to have their tongues loosed to the convincing of their children that “obedience is the first law of heaven” and that ”sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.”

In studying about these mothers and their sons, I realize have a lot to put into practice as a mother of stripling warriors. But I am so aware of how blessed we are to have the fullness of the gospel place before us, around us and in us as can be strengthened as we “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:44).

I'd love to hear how you're raising your stripling warriors!

This Land

In this land,
On this soil,
A time before the birth of Christ,
An army of men and women and children –
Took upon themselves - gladly - the name of Christ.
Christians.
Their leader, a man named Moroni,
poured out his soul to God.
Naming all the land - both on the north and on the south -
a Chosen Land.
The Land of Liberty.
“In memory of our God,
our religion,
and freedom,
and our peace,
our wives
and our children.”
An archetype to One Nation Under God.
A Prologue to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Happy July 4th!

Memorial Day

Today as we visited two cemetaries and saw the beautiful and colorful display of flags and flowers, my heart overflowed with deep and sincere reverence for the millions who have fought for the cause of liberty and freedom and the millions more who received the news that their loved ones would never return home. Though a "thank you" may be trite, you have blessed the life of this one girl!