Things to Act

Well, ready or not, my new semester is now in full gear, with the second week of classes come and gone.  It is one of the most bizarre and multicultural semesters of my life.  I have seminars on the American Civil War, Modern Chinese History, and Afro-Latin American History, none of which seem to overlap in the least degree.  And since they are all readings seminars, it appears that my semester will be comprised of somewhere around 900 to 1000 pages of reading per week, with 6-9 pages of writing to accompany 9 hours worth of class time in which to be grilled over the content, meaning, and inherent flaws within those 900 pages.  At moments like this, it's hard not to take a step back and ask myself "What were you thinking?"  Following such moments of introspection, I can't help but remember the line spoken by the snake in an oft told story, "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

But I'm learning that these moments of introspection can take two very different paths.  I can choose (as I often do) to lock up and give way to complete discouragement about the week at hand (and if it is a really bad day, about the whole semester), or I can choose to turn the page and keep reading.

All of this brings me to Lehi, and one of my favorite scriptures, which is found in Second Nephi.  Speaking to his young son Jacob about the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement (what Elder Bruce R. McConkie dubbed "The Three Pillars of Eternity"), Lehi said, "And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning, for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon" (2 Nephi 2:14).  He then went on to explain that "the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself" (2 Nephi 2:16), a condition made possible by the Savior's atonement (see 2 Nephi 2:26).

I think that all of us will agree that life holds more than its fair share of unfair moments, difficult challenges that are part of our mortal experience and which are beyond our control.  Classes require too much reading; work requires too many long hours and is handicapped by too many politics; we are asked to experience the challenges posed by sickness, fatigue, and occasionally even death; and through it all we are asked to put a smile on our face when we don't feel like smiling, to love, and serve, and uplift others who are experiencing challenges even more painful than we are experiencing.

In the process, I think that all of us reach points where we just want to throw our hands up into the air and surrender to the challenges that are perplexing us.  In such moments, I believe that we can take comfort in two eternal facts.  First, as sons and daughters of God, we have been endowed with the power to act.  Because of that relationship and that divine gift within us, we maintain the ultimate sovereignty over our attitudes and feelings, even though everything else in our lives seems to be beyond our control.  Second, I believe that in the end we will discover that it was these moments that ultimately defined our lives because they compelled us to seek for God's help. 

In July 1865, shortly after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Noah Brooks recalled an experience in which Lincoln told him the following: "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.  My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day." (Don E. Fehrenbacher and Virginia Fehrenbacher, Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln, 50).  While this statement may be apocryphal, the sentiment expressed by it is everlastingly true.  The Lord gives us challenging experiences and difficult circumstances to deal with, at least in part, because they serve to draw us to Him and help us to use this divine gift of agency to seek out His help, thus cementing our relationship to Him.

Brett

"To Fulfill All Righteousness"

This past week, I have been studying in 2 Nephi 31, the moving commencement of Nephi's valedictory sermon.  Once again, I was drawn to verses 4 through 7, verses which I have known and loved since before I was a missionary.  But this week I saw them a little differently and perhaps more profoundly than I had ever seen them before.

As you'll recall, Nephi calls upon us to "remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world."  Nephi then introduces us to what might be called "the paradox of Christ's baptism," stating, "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!  And now I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water?  Know ye not that he was holy?  But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments" (2 Nephi 31:4-7).

Clearly Nephi had done some thinking about the symbolism and meaning of baptism, the perfection of the Savior, and the interesting need for the Savior to be baptized.  As Primary children, we learn that baptism is an ordinance instituted for the remission of sins and that by receiving this ordinance, we enter into a covenant with God to take the Savior's name upon us, striving to keep His commandments and live as He lived, in exchange for which we are promised that we may "have his Spirit to be with [us]" (D&C 20:79), and ultimately "be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that [we] may have eternal life" (Mosiah 18:9).  Further, we are taught that Baptism is a symbolic representation of both the Savior's death, burial, and resurrection, as well as the death of the carnal and natural man within us, "that the body of sin might be destroyed, and that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:6) and our subsequent spiritual rebirth to a higher and more spiritual life.

But considering all of this carefully, we like Nephi are led to ask why the Savior, of all people would need to be baptized.  He lived a perfect life, and needed to enter into no covenants whereby another would promise to pay the price of His sins that He might receive eternal life.  Further, it was His very blood, His very suffering, His very death, His very burial, and His very Resurrection that this ordinance was symbolizing.  Now certainly this act prefigured and prophesied of His coming Atonement, but none of that answers why He needed to be baptized.  

So here is where Nephi helps us along the path to understanding.  Nephi explains that the Savior did so to show "unto the children of men, that according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments."  This simple, and even illogical act, was an act of submission to the will of the Father.  But it was not blind faith nor blind obedience any more than were the sacrifices offered by Adam and Eve, for which explanation Adam said simply "I know not, save the Lord commanded me" (Moses 5:6).  Adam, Eve, and the Savior all had at least one great thing in common:  they knew the Man who had given them the commandments they were asked to obey.  While the Savior undoubtedly had more understanding of what He was doing than Adam and Eve, His submission to the commandment to be baptized was not based upon an understanding of the logical reasoning that underlaid the commandment.  His submission was firmly grounded in His love for, and perfect understanding of, the Father.  He knew that the Father would never ask Him to do anything contrary to the plan of happiness and righteousness.  Therefore, even when the commandment seemed to defy logic, He could obey, because He knew the character of Him who had issued it.

But I came to another realization about this interesting act.  As I considered how illogical it all seemed to me, I realized that in this humble act of submission, the Savior was prefiguring in attitude, as well as in symbol,  what He would do some three years later.  In the thinking of our "me first" world, there is nothing logical about the Savior's willingness to "[descend] below all things"(D&C 88:6) and "to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit" (D&C 19:18) all that we who have "sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) might not be lost.  But love and mercy defy the logic of self-preservation and personal comfort.  By being baptized when He was without sin, the Savior was reminding all of us that in His infinite love, He would do all within His power, even defying logic and reason, to reach out to us and to return us to His Father's fold.  Because He loved us, He was and is willing to sacrifice personal comfort and ease to rescue us in our times of trouble and need.

Considering that kind of love and His perfect example, I indeed "stand all amazed" and "bow in humble adoration" of Him who did "fulfil all righteousness."

Brett

The Tricky Past

Hey all.  I owe you an apology.  I went on a long hiatus over Christmas break and haven't really touched my blog since December.  I'm sorry for anyone who went there looking for posts.  Anyhow, a lot has happened since I last wrote.  I had a wonderful Christmas with my family and was reminded just how amazing they really are.  There is nothing quite like coming home.  I don't enjoy leaving home and fighting through loneliness and homesickness, but there is always something so refreshing about coming home.  At least for me, I have a feeling that it is just that kind of reception that is awaiting us in our Father's Kingdom.

Now for the news that most--if not all--of you know about.  Over the break, I started dating the stunningly beautiful Julianne Gough and was privileged to spend a lot of time with her during the past month.  For those of you who don't know Julianne, she is simply amazing.  She's brilliant, beautiful, spiritual, and incredibly kind and caring.  She teaches Art History at LDS Business College and is constantly teaching me things that I didn't have the slightest clue about, not just in terms of art, but life and the gospel.  Simply put:  I love being with her.

On one of my dates with Julianne, she introduced me to a wonderful movie that has given me pause and made me do quite a bit of thinking over the last couple of weeks.  I'm not normally a fan of Woody Allen movies, but if you haven't seen Midnight in Paris, you should.  I don't want to give too much of the movie away, so here is a short and poorly worded synopsis.  It is about a movie writer named Gil Pender, who visits Paris with his fiance while he is in the process of writing a novel.  As a writer, Gil fantasizes about how good it would have been to be an author in Paris during the 1920s when notable writers like Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald (America's Lost Generation) were there writing their masterpieces.  At midnight in Paris, he is actually taken back to the 1920s where he meets several of these characters and interacts with them.

At first, Gil finds the experience scintillating and amazing, and even far superior to the world he is living in in 2010.  But at the end of the movie he comes to a realization that I think is quite valuable.  Gil realizes that as useful as it can be to visit the past, it is problematic to live there, because our views of the past are often based upon a fantasy that ignores certain aspects of reality.  As annoying and even troubling as we often find the present to be, it is the only real time that God has given us to live in and we must make the most of it.

The Book of Mormon contains a classic example of how we sometimes view history, written in the words of the Prophet Nephi, son of Helaman.  Living in one of the most troubling periods of Nephite history, Nephi bemoaned, "Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord--Yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren." (Helaman 7:7-8)

I've read those words over the years and wondered what Nephi's great ancestor Nephi, the son of Lehi, would have thought about them.  Perhaps I am wrong, but I have often felt that the original Nephi (at least the first person we know about named Nephi) would have assured his noble descendent that the past was not quite as good as he had made it out to be.  True, Nephi's society wasn't overrun by secret combinations and high level corruption, but Nephi had plenty of his own struggles to deal with: living in a desert, starving in the wilderness, deadly storms on the ocean, and his own brothers trying to kill him on numerous occasions.  True, Nephi later wrote that his people "lived after the manner of happiness" (2 Nephi 5:27), but Nephi's life had been anything but easy, a fact that his descendent would quickly have discovered had he been granted his wish to live in the days of Nephi, son of Lehi.

Yet here, in the midst of enjoying a glorified and sanitized view of the past, Nephi, son of Helaman, came to a realization that we must all come to sooner or later.  He wrote, "But behold, I am consigned that these are my days" (Helaman 7:9).  He realized that even if he did not necessarily enjoy every aspect of his own lifetime and the things that he was asked to endure, that was the period and those were the challenges (and blessings) that God had allotted unto him, and he must accept them.

As a historian, it is easy for me to live in the past.  At times I find myself struggling to remember that the current year is 2012, not 18--, when I am writing out checks.  Perhaps just as detrimental as living in a sanitized and unrealistic past, is an understanding of the pains of the past and an erroneous belief that they cannot be changed.  I have often found it difficult to let go of past events, past hurts, and past ways of thinking, even when I know in my heart and mind that the present is or at least can be so very different if I make it so.  The entire Gospel is a message about the possibility of change and the reality of newness and redemption.  We can and must learn from the past because the experiences and insights of ourselves and others can be valuable to us.  But even as we make occasional excursions to the past, we must be careful not to keep living there.  While the Atonement will heal us and help us learn from the experiences of the past, it can only be applied in the present, creating in turn a brighter and more beautiful future.

Brett

Praise to the Men

I always love this time of year.  There is nothing quite like the Christmas season in terms of its ability to soften hearts and produce a sense of true joy.  As a student, it affords me an opportunity to come home for a few weeks, enjoying the company of family and friends.  I can truly say that there is nothing quite like the experience of coming home after being away for awhile.  There is just something special about being able to spend time with family and friends during the holidays.  This past week has only reaffirmed that feeling, as it has given me opportunities to see familiar faces and old friends.

As Latter-day Saints, this season is doubly important.  In addition to celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, we also get to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith on the 23rd.  Thus this season gives us a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the principles of the restored gospel and the plan of salvation.

Somewhere close to 2000 years ago, an angel informed a group of shepherds, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).  That announcement was the culmination of thousands of prophecies uttered between that day and the pre-mortal day when the Savior responded, "Here am I, send me" to the Father's question, "Whom shall I send?" (Abraham 3:27), promising to offer His life and blood as a ransom for the sins of all mankind.  While we tend to focus upon the Savior's birth at this happy season, Elder Holland has reminded us that we "can't separate Bethlehem from Gethsemane or the hasty flight into Egypt from the slow journey to the summit of Calvary....It is a single plan" that "considers 'the fall and rising again of many in Israel.'"  (Jeffrey R. Holland, Shepherds Why This Jubilee?, 68).  Indeed, "Lying among those gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were also a crown of thorns, a makeshift royal robe, and a Roman spear" (Holland, Shepherds Why This Jubilee?, 58).  It is the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Savior that give true meaning to this season, allowing us to rejoice at Christmas-time.

Equally important to our joy at this season is the message we proclaim that the gospel has been restored and that we once again have full access to the redemptive power of the Savior's atonement.  While "we do not worship the Prophet [Joseph Smith]....we acknowledge him, we proclaim him, we respect him, [and] we reverence him as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth the ancient truths of the divine gospel, together with the priesthood through which the authority of God is exercised in the affairs of his church and for the blessing of his people" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 1977, 55).  We proclaim with that Prophet that "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it" (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121).

At this glorious season, we testify that the Prophet Joseph Smith was indeed called of God to be that chosen vessel through whom the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored, once again making available unto all of the children of God, all of the rights, privileges, powers, and blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Thus at this season, we sing with fervor, "Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah," and "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation!"  Truly, this is a season to be merry, considering both our blessings and the accompanying responsibilities to proclaim these truths unto all men.

Brett

The Laborer in Zion

This past week I had a dream that caused me to think back to an experience I had when I was 11 or 12.  It was during the summer and my friend and I were discussing ideas about what we could do to make some money over the summer (which we probably intended to blow on some useless item).  Around that time two members of my ward, Charles and Helen Anderson, had a mission farewell.  They were going to serve in Chile for 18 months.  Because the Andersons had a very large lawn and yard that would need to be taken care of, I saw this as my golden opportunity.  So I brashly approached Brother Anderson and offered to take care of his lawn while they were gone (all without my parents knowledge or approval).  Later that night, Brother Anderson came over to the house and talked to my Dad about it and agreed to let our family take care of their yard while they were gone for $60 a month [read Dad doing the majority of the work; Rob doing quite a bit; and me tagging along], which we did for the next 18 months.

At the time, I remember being embarrassed when Brother Anderson came over to the house to talk with Dad.  That was the first moment when I realized that perhaps my 11 year old intellect had failed me in my rashness to pursue this money-making venture.  But in the intervening years I had largely forgotten about this even.  And so, unfortunately, it wasn't until I started to think back on things this week that I realized just exactly where I had gone wrong.

My parents had raised me to know that we should treat the servants of the Lord with a high level of respect, and that we should lighten their loads whenever possible.  I grew up with stories about how the Lord blesses those who serve them, whether it be through meals or other blessings.  Every time there was an opportunity to feed the missionaries, my Mom signed up.  And whenever there was a new missionary in the ward, my Mom and Dad found some money somewhere in there often-meager budgets to help send this new elder or sister on their way.  Indeed, when I served as a missionary, I was the beneficiary of countless sacrifices by both friends and family who understood this same principle.  But for some reason, when I was 11 I saw dollar signs where I should have seen an opportunity to bless the servants of the Lord the way that my parents had taught me.

Of course I was not very old, and hopefully have grown a lot wiser and more sensitive over the years.  But as I thought about this experience, I was reminded of my cousin Sherri's daughter, Ali.  For years, Ali has used babysitting as a means to generate some spending money, with one exception.  She has never accepted money when she was babysitting for a couple that was going to the Temple.  As a young teenager, Ali has understood something that apparently escaped my 11 year old brain:  that we have a duty and an obligation to ease the burdens upon the servants of the Lord as they do the work of the Lord.

Coincidentally, I read these words of Nephi in the morning after waking up from that dream:  "But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish" (2 Nephi 26:31).  While there was probably nothing wrong with my being compensated for helping to care for Brother and Sister Anderson's yard, there was a problem with the underlying reasons for my labor.  I had not been seeking to relieve a burden from Brother and Sister Anderson in an effort to serve them as they went out to serve the Lord.  Consequently, I had not been laboring for Zion.

I'm grateful for the experiences of the intervening years and the numerous examples of others who helped me to begin to learn how to labor for Zion.  May God bless all of us to learn how to more fully ease the burdens of the servants of the Lord, that Zion may "increase in beauty, and in holiness" with "her borders [being] enlarged" and "her stakes...strengthened" (D&C 82:14), and that we may prove fit inhabitants for her.

Brett

The Condescension of God

Arnold Frieberg painting of Nephi's Vision

Every year at Christmas time, I think about Nephi's vision in 1 Nephi 11.  As a part of that vision, Nephi was shown the beauty and purity of Mary, the mother of our Lord.  Wanting to ensure that Nephi understood the message of his vision, the Spirit asked him and important question:  "Knowest thou the condescension of God?" (1 Nephi 11:16)  The youthful Nephi responded the way that many of us respond when we are asked challenging questions as he attempted to answer the question without having a clue what the question had actually meant.  He responded, "I know that [God] loveth his children; nevertheless I do not know the meaning of all things" (1 Nephi 11:17).


Knowledgeable as he was, Nephi did not seem to have understood the meaning of the enigmatic phrase "the condescension of God."  Without really knowing it, however, Nephi provided the perfect answer to his teacher's question, an answer that turned out to be much more guided by inspiration than by desperation.


The condescension of God held a twofold meaning.  First, it was the glorious truth that our perfect Father came down to earth to beget His perfect Son, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  Nephi wrote, "And I looked and behind the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.  And the angel said unto me:  Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!" (1 Nephi 11:20-21) Second, the condescension of God was the merciful decision of our Savior to come to earth and to suffer, bleed, and die in our behalf so that He might know "how to succor [us] according to [our] infirmities" (Alma 7:12) and "draw all men unto [Him]" (3 Nephi 27:13).


Nephi's answer may not have been theologically complex, but it was everlastingly true.  In all of the perplexities and questions of life, we, like Nephi, can rest assured that God loveth His children.  All that the Father and the Son have done, They have done out of their great love and mercy toward us.  As Nephi would later state, "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his life that he may draw all men unto him" (2 Nephi 26:24).  The whole meaning of this Christmas season is that "[God] loveth his children."  It was that love that caused the Father to send His Son to Earth, and it was that love that prompted the Savior to pay the price of our redemption.


The Prophet Joseph Spoke a great truth when he declared, "Love is one of the chief characteristics of Deity, and ought to be manifested by those who aspire to be the sons [and daughters] of God" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 174).  At this Christmas season, may we contemplate and comprehend more fully the marvelous love of God as manifest in the gift and sacrifice of His Son.  And then, having come to know and experience "the pure love of Christ," may we "pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that we may be filled with this love...that when he shall appear we shall be like him" (Moroni 7:47-48).  And being filled with that love, may we then seek to bless all of our Father's children.


Brett

Georgia On My Mind

This past week, I had the amazing opportunity of spending Thanksgiving with my sister Stephanie and my brother-in-law John.  While I was there, they kindly showed me around Georgia.  I though I might depart from my usual fair, and just give a short synopsis of my trip and share a few pictures that Steph was kind enough to take.

On Wednesday I got into Atlanta where Steph came to pick me up.  It was so good to see her and John.  It was the first time that I had seen Steph since my brother Rob's wedding in June, and it was the first time I had seen John since he came to Dallas on a short business trip about a month ago.  There is always something unique that happens when you see a family member that you haven't seen for a long time.  It's a really special feeling.  Not to be morbid, but my guess is that it is similar to the feeling that our departed loved ones have when they step through the veil at the end of mortality and find family and friends there to greet them and welcome them back.  It is always a pain to be away from family and friends, but that time of separation makes those reunions so much more wonderful!  

On Thursday Steph and John showed me around some of the beautiful neighborhoods of Peachtree City, Georgia before we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner together.  The homes out there are incredibly beautiful and have a classic look to them that we don't always get elsewhere.  After dinner, we Skyped with the family in Utah, which was a lot of fun.  There was a little bit of a delay, but it was great to be able to see our family in Utah and to be connected for Thanksgiving.  I've often thought that miracles like Skype are part of what Moroni had in mind when he chastized us for believing that the day of miracles was past.  We are the beneficiaries of so many of God's miracles, but we often times foolishly think that we are solely responsible for them.  

On Friday Steph and I went drove up to the Chicamauga Battlefield, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, while John had to work.  It's a beautiful battlefield up in the hills and mountains of northern Georgia.  The area is so peaceful and quiet, that it is difficult to imagine such a horrific event having taken place there.  Sometimes it is easy for me to forget that the peace and comfort that I now enjoy came at a great personal cost to those who came before me.  Places like this serve as a good reminder.

Steph at Chicamauga Battlefield

Me at Chicamauga Battlefield

A view of part of the Chicamauga Battlefield

Another one of me at Chicamauga

A monument (probably for some division from Indiana) at Chicamauga

On Saturday, Steph and John and I went down to Fort Benning, Georgia, to visit the National Infantry Museum.  Much like the visit to Chicamauga, this was a sobering experience.  The museum is an impressive display of artifacts and other items detailing the role of the infantry in American history.  Having had a hand in a public history exhibit, I know a little about how much work goes into creating an exhibition.  So I was surprised when I saw just how large and extensive the exhibition at the museum was.  I would not be surprised if it had taken more than a decade to plan, research, and create this amazing exhibit.  It was a fitting and sobering tribute to those who have given their lives for the country.  I was particularly moved by a small exhibit in the middle of the museum with the names and pictures of the Medal of Honor recipients throughout American history.  With the exception of the Civil War, my history interests have generally led me to study other areas of American history, but I was moved with gratitude as I contemplated the sacrifices and efforts of our military in my behalf.  I was particularly grateful to be there with John, who as a major in the Army knew a lot more of the history about the country's wars than I could ever hope to know.  It was wonderful to have him there to explain things to me, as well as to be a living reminder of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who daily serve this country in the armed forces.

Me at the National Infantry Museum in Fort Benning, Georgia

"Follow Me" Statue outside the National Infantry Museum

And, as Friday marked the beginning of the Christmas season, I had a wonderful little chat with one of Santa's reindeer:

All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and reminded me of the many things I have to be grateful for.  First and foremost, I am thankful for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I cannot even contemplate life without it.  I am grateful for my family.  They are a constant source of strength and motivation in my life.  I am grateful for my friends.  Life in Texas has been made easier because of your many kindnesses and notes and texts of encouragement.  And I am grateful for this country.  It isn't perfect, and we have many areas where we can learn from others and improve, but I thank my Heavenly Father that I am from a land that has provided me with more freedoms and opportunities than I could possibly imagine.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Brett