Pandemics, Toilet Paper, and Earthquakes! Oh My!

Yesterday, while musing about the impending doom predicted by computer models, and plotted so graphically on the news and on the Internet, I came to an epiphany - a parallel from Isaiah that I feel strongly applies.  I had read the passage many times, but hadn't comprehended it - I had not the background information so crucial to understanding it.  However, I believe that the message contained therein, and the lesson it teaches so powerfully, are crucial for our day.  And I'm not alone - Nephi certainly felt that it was of sufficient importance to include in the Book of Mormon as well.

You've probably read it too, and glossed over it, in Isaiah 10 (or 2 Ne. 20):

9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages.
29 They are gone over the passage; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramath is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
30 Lift up the voice, O daughter of Gallim; cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day; he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

Yep, if you just read that, you glossed over it again, right?  A bunch of meaningless names.  The chapter heading wasn't particularly helpful, either.  I decided to look up these names, and was astounded at what I found.  This chapter details the path of the Assyrian army, as they invaded in 701 BC.

The Assyrians were particularly brutal through each of the towns and cities they conquered.  The destruction was complete - no man, woman or child was to survive, and everything was to be razed.  The list of cities in verse 9 are examples of this destruction (about which those at Jerusalem would have known).  To use modern metaphors: Is not Hiroshima as Nagasaki? (both destroyed by atomic bombs)  Is not Dresden as Tokyo? (both destroyed by fire bombing)  Those in Jersualem were terrified that the same fate awaited them.

To heighten their feeling of impending destruction, the Assyrian army starts marching.  You can plot each of these points on Google Maps, and see that the order of these names is important: Aiath (11.7 mi) -> Migron (9.1 mi) -> Michmash (8.2 mi) -> the passage (7.7 mi) -> Geba (6.8 mi) -> Ramath (5.8 mi) -> Gibeah (4.0 mi) -> Gallim -> Laish -> Anathoth -> Madmenah -> Gebim -> Nob.  It's the path the army is taking to get to Jerusalem, and it's getting ever closer.  And the overwhelming sense of dread is evident: Ramath is afraid, Gibeah is fled, Madmenah is removed, Gebim gathers to flee.  The army reaches Nob, which is right by the Mount of Olives, on the outskirts of Jersualem.

The army then proceeds to taunt the people of Jerusalem (see 2 Kings 18-19).  King Hezekiah went to the temple to pray, and sent his servants to find the prophet Isaiah, who gives this great promise:

32 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

And the fulfillment of that promise:

The angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

So, why is this report of an ancient invasion so relevant to us today?  Isaiah is replete with double-speak - he's talking about both his day AND ours.  Watching the neverending news cycle and maps today of the pandemic's clutches as it creeps ever closer, feels ever more real, and panic sets in, is definitely a type of imminent coming danger.  The resultant panic shopping and unrelated earthquake (with the heightened fear that has wrought) certainly have heightened our sense of alarm. 

As this danger nears our doorstep, is there a prophet today?  Yes!  Is there a promise?  Yes!

What are the promises, from both ancient and modern prophets?  "He will preserve the righteous by his power ... Wherefore, the righteous need not fear."  (1 Nephi 22:17)  "These unique challenges will pass in due time.  I remain optimistic for the future." - Russell M. Nelson, 14 March 2020

Let us trust that the Lord has purposes in these current challenges.  A shakeup (pardon the pun) of this magnitude (there I go again) to our lives can bring wonderful results, if we use it wisely.  Let us prepare ourselves better, both temporally and spiritually, for whatever challenges the future may bring.  Remember, the righteous need not fear.  Who are the righteous?  Those who take upon themselves the discipline of Christ, and follow His prophet.  If we don't feel like we're where we need to be, it's not too late.  Begin today!  The Lord is merciful unto all who come unto Him.

The Lord's power will be evident in the resolution of this global crisis, to those who watch carefully.  It may be through direct action (like against the ancient Assyrians), or through inspiration given to scientists, leaders, and medical professionals.  But it will pass.  Consider the effect this is having on the gathering of Israel, on both sides of the veil.  How long do you think the Lord will permit the temples to be closed and missionary work to be stopped?  My opinion is that it will only last long enough to accomplish the Lord's purposes.

So listen to the prophet.  Be wise.  Act in accordance to the principles of the gospel, and lose your life in His service.  As we do, the fear will disappear and we'll find in its place greater faith in Him, and love for God and man.  Camille reminded me that this whole message could be summed up as follows: "Be still, and know that I am God." (Ps. 46:10)  She's right.

Then therefore, let us go forward.  Gird up your loins, fresh courage take.  Our God will never us forsake; and soon we'll have this tale to tell - all is well, all is well!

Loss of a Spouse

I wrote this about two years ago, but I share it here because I feel that it might help someone.

My experience with Camille in the hospital has given me a glimpse into the life of one who has lost their spouse. It's more than just the major responsibilities one must pick up in family life.  It's more than loneliness.  It's more than missing a friend. 
 
Even after months of sleeping alone, each noise I hear during the night makes me think it's her.  Each time I turn over, I think to do it quietly so I won't wake her.  Each time I think of something to share, I can't.  Each time, I feel that disappointment, that pain that she's not there.  That feeling repeats over and over, many times each day.  It's death by a thousand cuts. Or it's Chinese water torture, repeatedly stung with the realization that she's not there. 
 
This is so even knowing that she's still here, that I'll see her later that day.  How does one cope when that period will be prolonged? When someone becomes so intertwined in your life, as with your true love, does that ever really fade? Do we really want it to? Or does pushing this away instead feel like losing them all over again?  I imagine it's easy to go crazy. Or numb. Turning off all emotion seems preferable. 
 
I've always been rather stoic at funerals, because of my trust in the Lord and in the resurrection. But D&C 42:45 says, "Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die...".  That weeping continues, I think, until the reunion we'll have when we die, when all the tears shall be wiped from our faces, and all the pain swallowed up in joy.

Forgiveness

On a cold night in November 2004 six teenagers in New York bought a 20 pound turkey with a stolen credit card. While driving on the Sunrise Highway, 18 year-old Ryan Cushing threw the frozen bird out the back window just for a thrill. The turkey hit Victoria Ruvolo’s car, shattering the windshield and smashed into her face. She was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. She awoke several weeks later with no knowledge of what had happened.

She wrote, "When I looked in the mirror, I could see it was me but my whole face was smashed in and every single bone in my face was broken. I had no idea I’d had ten hours of surgery and I was shocked when the doctors told me that from now on, for the rest of my life, I would always have three titanium plates in my left cheek, one in my right cheek, and I’d also have a wire mesh holding my left eye in place because my left eye socket was so badly shattered.

Once I got off the medication, I remember lying in the bedroom at my sister’s house and just crying myself to sleep and asking: Why me God? What did I ever do so wrong and so terrible in my life that I deserved all this to happen to me? And I’d cry myself to sleep. But then, gradually, it began to dawn on me that perhaps God had allowed me to live through this ordeal because I was in such great physical condition. The idea that it had happened for a reason – and that I had saved someone else who might not have been able to survive [had it hit them]– helped me get through rehabilitation.

Then the District Attorney informed me that the other teenagers who had been with Ryan had entered a plea bargain to testify against him. This, coupled with overwhelming evidence, was enough to put Ryan in jail for 25 years. It was at this point that I started asking questions about Ryan. I wanted to know what type of kid would do this? Had he always been a bully? Was he always hurting other people? What could possibly have built up inside him so bad that he had to throw something so hard? Because I’d experienced the death of two brothers when I was much younger, I felt strongly that I didn’t want be responsible for taking this young person’s life. I didn’t want Ryan to rot in jail.

That’s when I asked to meet with Ryan’s lawyer to be able to tell him that I wanted an amnesty for Ryan or at least a lesser sentence.

On the day we went to court, I saw this young man walk in wearing a suit which looked like it was three times too big for him; it made him seem so frail. He walked in with his head hung down and looked so upset with himself. When I saw him there, my heart went out to him. To me he looked like a lost soul.

Once the case was over and it was time for him to walk out, he started veering over towards where I was sitting and every court officer was ready to jump on him. They had no idea why he was coming towards me but as he walked over to where I was sitting and stood in front of me, I saw that all he was doing was crying, crying profusely. He looked at me and said, ‘I never meant this to happen to you, I prayed for you every day. I’m so glad you’re doing well.’ Then this motherly instinct just came over me and all I could do was take him and cuddle him like a child and tell him ‘just do something good with your life, take this experience and do something good with your life.’

Because I asked for amnesty for Ryan, he received a six-month prison sentence with five years probation of community service and psychiatric help. Some people couldn’t understand why I’d done this but I felt God had given me a second chance and I wanted to pass it on."

The Savior taught us the doctrine of forgiveness:

“Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.  “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:9–10).

This is hard doctrine.  How could it be that NOT forgiving someone who has hurt you so deeply could possibly be a greater sin than the original injury or injustice?  Is that not a great paradox?

Is it not extremely ironic that we will pray for mercy for ourselves, and justice against others, while others are praying for mercy for themselves, and justice against us?  God's specialty is mercy.  Shakespeare wrote that “earthly power doth then show likest God’s / When mercy seasons justice.” In His great plan, mercy seasons justice.  The Savior's specialty is mercy.  Mercy, not justice, is the ennobling attribute of the Savior that grants entry into the Kingdom of God. We all require mercy.  President Uchtdorf said that "heaven is filled with those who have this in common: They are forgiven. And they forgive.”

Paul wrote, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."  How can we boldly approach the altar of God seeking mercy, if we are stewing on those wrongs our brother has against us? Jesus said, "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."

Elder Marion D. Hanks said that it is not only our eternal salvation that depends upon our willingness and capacity to forgive wrongs committed against us.  Our joy and satisfaction in this life, and our true freedom, depend upon our doing so.  When Christ asked us to turn the other cheek, walk the second mile, give our cloak to him who takes our coat, was that request chiefly out of consideration for the bully, the brute, the thief?  Or was it to relieve the one aggrieved, of the destructive burden that resentment and anger lay upon us?”

The feelings that arise from injury (spiritual, emotional, physical) affect our own spirituality.  President Brigham Young once compared being offended to a poisonous snakebite. He said that “there are two courses of action to follow when one is bitten by a rattlesnake. One may, in anger, fear, or vengefulness, pursue the creature and kill it. Or he may make full haste to get the venom out of his system.” He said, “If we pursue the latter course we will likely survive, but if we attempt to follow the former, we may not be around long enough to finish it.”

Elder Scott said, "You cannot erase what has been done, but you can forgive. Forgiveness heals terrible, tragic wounds, for it allows the love of God to purge your heart and mind of the poison of hate.  It cleanses your consciousness of the desire for revenge.  It makes place for the purifying, healing, restoring love of the Lord."

Shakespeare wrote that mercy is “twice blest; / It bless[es] him that gives and him that takes.”  We need that blessing that comes from forgiveness.

"Forgiveness means that problems of the past no longer dictate our destinies, and we can focus on the future with God’s love in our hearts."

Forgiveness is a personal attribute, not just a decision we make from time to time when we feel we should.  To have a forgiving heart is to see the world in a different light.  It is to forsake the tendency to judge, condemn, exclude, or hate any human soul.  A forgiving heart seeks to love and to be patient with imperfection.  The forgiving heart understands that we are all in need of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  A forgiving heart is one of the most Christlike virtues we can possess.  If we have a forgiving heart, our very nature will be kind, patient, long-suffering, and charitable.  Forgiveness plants and nourishes the seeds of Christlike love in both the giver and the receiver.  Indeed, forgiveness, in its fullest expression, is synonymous with charity, the pure love of Christ. — Roderick J. Linton, Ensign, April 1993, p. 15

To me, this is the answer to the paradox: "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." - Lewis Smedes

President Uchtdorf said, "When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving the one, who, of all the people in the world, may be the hardest to forgive, and who is perhaps most in need of our forgiveness, the person looking back at us in the mirror."  When we have repented of our sins, we must forgive ourselves.  C. S. Lewis said, "If we fail to forgive ourselves when God has done so, we make ourselves a higher judge than Him."

It is the Atonement of Christ that numbs and replaces bitterness of soul with joy in the one who has been injured, and replaces guilt and anguish of soul with joy in the one who has sinned.  Thus both are healed, both find peace. But only through the Savior.

And it is we, through the Savior, who need the mercy for our sins.  We can boldly come to that throne of grace, and be assured of his great mercy.  President Packer assured us that "save for the exception of the very few who defect to perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ."

The following story illustrates the love and the forgiveness the Lord has for us:

"Prison warden Kenyon Scudder related this experience: A friend of his happened to be sitting in a railroad coach next to a young man who was obviously depressed. Finally the man revealed that he was a paroled convict returning from a distant prison. His imprisonment had brought shame to his family, and they had neither visited him nor written often. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too uneducated to write. He hoped, despite the evidence, that they had forgiven him.

To make it easy for them, however, he had written them to put up a signal for him when the train passed their little farm on the outskirts of town. If his family had forgiven him, they were to put a white ribbon in the big apple tree which stood near the tracks. If they didn’t want him to return, they were to do nothing, and he would remain on the train as it traveled west.

As the train neared his home town, the suspense became so great he couldn’t bear to look out of his window. He exclaimed, 'In just five minutes the engineer will sound the whistle, indicating our approach to the long bend which opens into the valley I know as home. Will you watch for the apple tree at the side of the track?' His companion changed places with him and said he would. The minutes seemed like hours, but then there came the shrill sound of the train whistle. The young man asked, 'Can you see the tree? Is there a white ribbon?'

Came the reply: 'I see the tree. I see not one white ribbon, but many. There must be a white ribbon on every branch. Son, someone surely does love you.'

In that instant he stood cleansed by Christ.  His friend said, 'I felt as if I had witnessed a miracle.'"

That miracle is readily available for us today.  The Lord is ready to receive us, ready to run out to us as the father of the prodigal son.  We, as the body of the Church of Christ, must be ready to receive others, to tie those ribbons on the branches of the tree, ready to accept others and love them as Christ loves them.

Opposition in All Things

When Lehi preached to his sons that there must be opposition in all things, he was really on to something. This principle is not limited to theological discussions.  In the physical world, there are more examples than I could possibly enumerate, but here's a few:

• Gravity:  That which keeps us from flying off this planet is also that which causes us to fall down.
• Air Pressure:  Without it, many things wouldn't function properly (not to mention we wouldn't be able to breathe) but when we go biking our running, we don't like it and try to minimize it.
• Food Chain:  Without the perfect balance of predator vs prey, the prey is completely wiped out (and the predator soon follows).  Or we see invasive species which quickly move through an environment, to the detriment of everything around it.
• Muscles:  Muscles only atrophy with disuse, when they have none (or little) resistance.  Conversely, they only get stronger with increased resistance.

In physics, friction is a force that limits our inertia.  Friction slows us down, is the counter force to our applied force, and generally just makes things hard for us.  But if there was no friction, no movement occurs.  (You can see this principle in action if you try to walk after there has been freezing rain.)  Friction both slows your car down, and allows it to function as you apply a greater opposite force. Simple things like nails, screws, and bolts would not stay in place; a cork would not stay in a bottle; a light globe would drop from its socket; a lid would not stay on a jar.

It is the same with us spiritually.  Without any friction, we stagnate.  Our spiritual "muscles" atrophy, and we neither move forward nor progress.  But when we have friction, we groan and curse at our lot in life, pondering on the unfairness of it all.  We ask, "Why me?  Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

This will sound trite, but here goes: it's all part of the plan.  The plan was explained to us beforehand, and we agreed.  We might not have understood completely what we were in for.  "So, there is to be torture? I can cope with torture."

So why does it always appear so unfair from our perspective?  Because of our inability to see the whole scope and grandeur of the plan.  Life is fair...  Just not this segment of it.  This segment is filled with "individualized injections of irony", as Elder Maxwell put it, sore trials or temptations carefully crafted for us and expertly executed such as to give us maximum growth.  It is often the righteous who are called upon to shoulder the most difficult trials.

Remember, we are to cheerfully submit to all things that the Lord sees fit to inflict upon us.  Cheerfully.... right.....   How do we do that?  This implies that it is not merely enough to bear them or to simply endure.  We must overcome, be changed by, be refined by our trials and weaknesses. We must do the best we can with what we have.

It's also about attitude - not just the mental state (although that is helpful at times).  In aeronautics, the word attitude is used in airplanes to determine not only its direction, but its angle of attack into the wind and its stability against rolls.  Your direction might be right, but without watching your altitude, and without keeping the craft stable, you won't make it where you want to go.  We must be actively engaged in pursuit of our eternal goals.

Consider a sailboat.  A sailboat can maneuver its way to any direction, even somewhat paradoxically toward the source of the wind (a feat it accomplishes by tacking, travelling in a somewhat sinusoidal motion toward the wind).  It takes real effort, but it is possible.

It reminds me of a favorite poem:

One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow.
'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate,
As we voyage along through life:
'Tis the set of a soul
That decides its goal,
And not the calm or the strife.

-Ella Wheeler Wilcox

There are three things a sailboat needs for forward progress: a keel (which uses friction against the water to provide a counter force to the wind), a sail pointed in the right direction, and the wind itself, without which no movement is possible.

Our covenants are much like a keel.  They provide friction against the sea of false ideas and give us leverage to cut through.  If we have not made our covenants, or if their effectiveness has been ruined by breaking them, the effect is the same: we are blown about, unable to make forward progress, even if we hold our sail in the right direction.

Our sail is like our will.  When we are careful and meticulously give attention to its position, making subtle course corrections as necessary and trimming our sails appropriately (yielding our desire to his), we will make forward progress.  He has instructed us and continues to instruct us on how to match our will to the will of the Master, who has successfully made it through.  We can choose to go against or to ignore His guidance, kicking against the pricks, in which case we will go off course.  He doesn't give up on us, though, but will continue to try to influence us to come back on course.  If we cut off communication (which only occurs from our end), we will find ourselves adrift, subject to every wind of doctrine or current of temptation.

The wind is like our trials and temptations.  Paradoxically without them, we are stuck, trapped in a state where we cannot move forward.  In the midst of the storm, we long for respite, and petition God for reprieve.  We find it hard to fathom the reason or the utility of this strife.  We may not know in this life (and almost certainly not at the time) what the Lord has in store for us, the purpose for this trial or that.  Like in the poem, "Mine is not to reason why, mine is but to do ... ", but unlike the poem, and live.

President Kimball (no stranger to trial) said, “Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1972, p. 98).

God has prepared a way for us to pass through our trials and temptations.  The way is not obvious.  He will open the way as we have faith, and as we are faithful, and a the right time.

Though trials seem vast as the sea,
He surely will comfort thee.
He opens a way to walk through on dry land
As we put our trust in His hand.

- Come to the Mercy Seat

So, therefore, we are to go forth through our trials or our temptations, with cheerful heart because of our hope in Christ, casting upon Him our every care.  We will, like Paul, glory in our infirmities, as we know that they make us strong, stretch us, and can filter out our impurities.  We will keep careful watch on our attitude, set our controls the way He has instructed us, and monitor the radio for needed course corrections.

He will open the path for us.  But if not: happy day, all is well!  We will walk the path that He set for us.  And when the storm is past, if we have been faithful, we will know that He has carried us through, and that His ways are the right ways.  We will say, as Job:

He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.  My foot hath held His steps, His way have I kept, and not declined.

Our Own Strength

In the third and fourth chapter of First Nephi, there is an interesting account of the return of the brothers to Jerusalem and their acquisition of the brass plates. Yes, this is a familiar story, but I think that some of the details in it warrant further discussion.

Background

In the first part of the Book of Mormon, Lehi, a prophet in Jerusalem at the time of Jeremiah, is commanded to leave the city. The Lord knew that the time prophesied by Jeremiah (and Isaiah, and others...) was about to enfold. Lehi, having seen in vision the destruction of Jerusalem, gathers his partially-willing family and supplies, and heads out of town into the wilderness bordering the Red Sea.

Let's assume for a minute that "the borders near the shore of the Red Sea" simply refers to the Gulf of Aqaba, a jut of the Red Sea on the east side of the Sinai peninsula. This is a distance of almost 180 miles. When Laban and Lemuel complain that it is hard, they have a point -- it's a significant journey each way! Lehi reminds his sons that the Lord commanded it. This great distance also gives some insight into Sariah's fears in chapter 6.


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Nephi accepts the assignment on simple faith, believing that the Lord will make it possible for them to accomplish the task.

The Interesting Question

Now comes the real question.  The Lord knew that they would need the plates as they were leaving Jerusalem.  Why then did he not have them get the plates while still there, or while they were closer to the city?

Here's my speculation on this:

• We read of Laban's character - he was a thief, and an attempted murderer.  It may have been out of safety that the family should be established out in the wilderness before the attempt could be made.
• The family's mindset needed to be sufficiently separated from their life at Jerusalem.
• And my favorite answer: Nephi needed to learn how to rely on the Lord, how to receive spiritual guidance, and needed to learn something about himself.

Attempt 1 - All we have to do is ask....

When they thought it would be hard, they were probably only thinking of the journey, and not considering that getting the plates might be the hard part.   "Oh, so we have to do a long, grueling journey, to pick up the plates from someone."

It seems that they gave very little thought to their first attempt to get the plates, relying on chance alone to determine the unlucky one.  Even Nephi, it seems, doesn't put any spiritual energy at all into it.

Of course, Laban doesn't go for it, and sends his guards to kill Laman, who high-tails it out of there.

This makes me think of the First Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War.  The common belief was that the battle was going to be easy (a laugh even), and that the Confederate Army wouldn't put up much resistance.  Some of the wealthy Washington elites, including some congressmen and their families, came to picnic and watch the battle!



The Union Army was defeated soundly, and had to retreat quickly (and were blocked by the panicked civilians in their carriages).  They were green, they were raw, they didn't consider the rebels to be much of a challenge.  They tuck their tail between their legs and head back to Washington in disgrace.

Laban turned out to be far more reluctant to give them the plates, and far more dangerous than they had ever imagined.  The sons lick their wounds, they are depressed and about to return in shame, when Nephi comes up with a plan.

Attempt 2 - My Way (good, my way... which way's my way??)

It seems like a reasonable plan, a good old-fashioned swap.  Nephi knows he's on the Lord's errand, and uses this fact to make the case for his plan.  It takes some convincing, but Laman and Lemuel (surprisingly!) come on board.  However, even though they're on the Lord's errand, they still only rely on their own strength.  When it doesn't work (not surprisingly, considering Laban's character), Laman and Lemuel go ballistic.

Perhaps up until this point, the idea of going back to Jerusalem must have seemed like a real possibility to Laman and Lemuel.  Now their family property is gone, and the avenue of return is truly closed.  (It's brought up periodically later until they actually board the boat, but after this they know there's nothing left to which they can return.)  They take out their grief and anger and fear on Sam and Nephi, and act in disbelief to the message of the heavenly messenger.  They honestly believe now that there is no way to succeed.

Attempt 3 - The Lord's Way

Nephi goes this time, with no specific plan other than to follow the Spirit.  His temporal avenues gone, knowing no way he could accomplish the task using his strength, he must rely completely on the Lord.  The Lord prepares the way, and he succeeds.

Nephi previously had prayed and received an answer about leaving Jerusalem.  The Lord had softened his heart.  Here he learns to rely on, and to listen to, the Lord's direction as he is proceeding forth in faith.

He also learns about the imperative nature of the scriptures, how necessary they are for our (and our posterity's) spiritual survival.  Interestingly enough, even Laman and Lemuel attach value to them - one of the laundry list of complaints the Lamanites held for centuries against the Nephites was that the plates were stolen from them.

His will to follow the Lord deepens, and is tested.  It becomes far more than the journey to pick up some plates; it is the making of a man of God, willing to submit to the Lord's will and able to walk into the unknown.

Lesson From This

I think the first lesson from this is: seek the Lord first.  When I get complacent about receiving direction, or act faithlessly or pridefully, I set myself up for failure.

A wise man does not willingly walk blindly into a minefield, after seeing the danger signs.  He reads the signs carefully, learns where the clear path is, makes a detailed map of it, and follows it carefully.  A foolish man walks out without careful consideration and acts surprised when he is caught.

I live in a world with spiritual mines all around me.  Complacency and pride are foolish.  I have seen the danger signs.  I have a map presented for me.  I can choose to ignore it, or to make blind assumptions, or to consult it infrequently.  I can see others proclaiming a shorter, easier path, and follow them instead of the map of safety.

Another lesson is this: the Lord has a plan for me.  My trials, my weaknesses, my talents, my strengths are given to me for a reason.  That reason is not obvious.  That reason is obscured from my limited view, as those challenges are what builds me, what helps me to move forward.  Some situations I may have will seem redundant, or unnecessary, or overly difficult, or overwhelmingly painful, but the Lord can and will see me through, but only as I submit to His will.

Modern Tools For Understanding Isaiah: Wikipedia and Google Maps!

I was reading through Second Nephi again (the Isaiah chapters), and found that my mind was glossing over it.  I wasn't getting anything out of it.  We know that Isaiah's words are important:

And there are many things which have been spoken by Isaiah which may be likened unto you, because ye are of the house of Israel.

The Lord Himself asked us to study Isaiah:

And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.

I find, however, that my mind wanders and I tend to just push through it.  And yet we're supposed to rejoice over them:

And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men.

How can we rejoice over something we do not understand?  Nephi said that even those one generation removed from living at Jerusalem had trouble understanding his words:

For behold, Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people to understand

They had Nephi there to give them a frame of reference!  What hope do we have?

I was musing on this problem while reading the 20th chapter of 2 Nephi (Isaiah 10).  The chapter heading says, "The destruction of Assyria is a type of the destruction of the wicked at the Second Coming".  While that is interesting, it doesn't help with verses such as:

9 Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?

The problem with this verse is context.  With no context, it's akin to taking one of those word-game tests in school (apple is to helicopter as golf club is to ....?).  Meaningless.

It occurred to me that I could look these things up in Wikipedia.  They are names of cities in Syria that were destroyed by the Assyrian army.  I suppose you could use a World War II analogy:  "Isn't Amsterdam as Warsaw?"  (both taken over by the German army)  Or: "Isn't Hiroshima as Nagasaki?", "Is not Dresden as Tokyo?" - far away cities completely decimated by the incoming forces.  The news of the destruction of these cities and the ruthlessness of the Assyrian invaders was spread far and wide, causing a panic.

The same context problem shows up later in the chapter, starting in verse 28:

28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages.
29 They are gone over the passage; they have taken up their lodging at Geba; Ramath is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
30 Lift up the voice, O daughter of Gallim; cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee.
32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day; he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

I looked up these name in Wikipedia - I wasn't familiar with any of them.  They are names of towns along the invasion route from Assyria to Jerusalem, each closer than the last.  I tagged each of them in my scriptures with the relative distance from Jerusalem.  I then had the idea to plot these places on Google Maps.



View Isaiah in a larger map

There you have it!  The Assyrian army is invading, the people are scared, and these "lines in the sand" are falling, one by one before the conquerors.

"The passage" is a crossable point over the ravine just south of Michmash.  The ravine's walls look pretty difficult for an army to cross anywhere but over "the passage".

Nob is right by the Mount of Olives, adjacent to the city.  Can you imagine the panic of the inhabitants of Jerusalem?  Here they've swept across vast portions of the country, and have reached the outskirts of the capital city.  Assyria's army is figuratively "shaking its hand" or "waving its raised fist" at the city.

The army taunts the people (who are under the rule of a good king, Hezekiah), as it says in 2 Kings 18:

28 Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
29 Thus saith the king, Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand:
30 Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.
33 Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
34 Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah? have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?
35 Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?
36 But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

Hezekiah goes into the temple, and seeks the Lord's help (chapter 19):

1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
4 It may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh (he's the general of the Assyrian army sent to intimidate them), whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Isaiah's response from the Lord:

6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria.

Hezekiah prayed again:

14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.
15 And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth.
19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.

Isaiah's response from the Lord, a great promise:

20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
32 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it.
33 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.
34 For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

The Lord fights the battle, and the army retreats and goes home:

35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

Wow, after all that, and as the Lord said, not a shot was fired into the city!

So what's the point for us?  We live in an age where there are wars, and rumors of wars, and where men's hearts shall fail them out of fear.  We live in an age where there is ruthless mocking of those who have faith, and there is an incoming tide of filth.  It's scary!  We've seen what has happened to other people distant to us, and now we're seeing it approaching our doors.

The Lord will fight our battles, if we put our trust in Him, and if we live as He would have us live.  Satan's bounds are set.  We can take courage - we know that God will protect us.

Wow, what was once a mind-numbingly painful chapter to read has become a powerful chapter for me! Thank you, Wikipedia and Google Maps!

Repentance

In the state of Pennsylvania there lies a small town called Centralia. It was a quiet, peaceful town, and had been blessed with tremendous potential: a large anthracite coal seam ran for miles underneath its borders. It had everything it needed to be successful, and the townsfolk had begun to tap into this vast economic treasure. 

One day, however, with an excess of town garbage, a determination was made to clean up the landfill by dumping the garbage into an abandoned open pit mine and setting it alight. This was done with the approval of the town council in spite of the dangers they knew it could pose.

The main part of the fire took days to extinguish, but the town failed to put out a part of the fire that had spread down into the coal seam. Although there were some signs of the fire burning beneath the town (carbon monoxide, smoke in random places, periodic stench of fire), and there were some futile attempts to deal with the problem, no one really thought much of it, and the effects were largely ignored.

Nearly fifteen years later, the gas station owner lowered his dipstick down into the underground gas tank, and thought that it felt hot. He lowered a thermometer, and was surprised when he saw its temperature: 175 degrees! The matter became even more of a concern a year later, when a giant sinkhole collapsed under the feet of a young boy, who was fortunately rescued.

With the danger now everywhere around them, smoke and carbon monoxide pouring out of cracks in the pavement, the town was laid waste and its residents all were compelled to leave. Its potential had been destroyed by first carelessness and then by complacency - ignoring the problem until it had grown far too late.

Some of us have started, through our carelessness, or even through explicit defiance of the principles which we know are right, a blaze within us that burns our soul, a little each day. Some days we do our best to ignore its effects and the pain it causes.  We see its effects spilling out of us, its toxic fumes being seen as anger and impatience with others. This turns into unrighteous judgment and hypocrisy, and eventually to complete disavowal of the principles that we ignored to get us in this mess.

We may realize the problem and make token efforts to quench the flames. While these efforts may help and seem like they have solved the problem for a time, the signs of the unresolved issue keep returning.

The only hope to resolve this problem is a price of unfathomable cost. The entirety of the problem must be excavated, just be laid open, so that the quenching balm may be administered. Concealment only continues the spread of the fire.  Our only hope is the healing balm of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He has paid the terrible cost, he provides the tools.

Our limited view sees the outside layer - "Do you mean we'll have to raze all of the buildings in town to open up our path to the coal seam?" - our own embarrassment at the situation, and the humiliation we may endure as the problem is out in the open. Yes, the only solution is His solution. No half measure will suffice. True repentance requires complete honesty, and complete abandonment of the practices that caused the problem in the first place.

The length of the repentance process depends on the size of the problem, but we must accept His timetable. We must acknowledge that His ways are the right ways, and seek no more to rebel against those principles we know are right.

I know this is true. I know that the Lord heals us, and helps us rebuild after the repentance is complete. He will remake us into something beautiful, something we cannot yet imagine. Trust Him!