Book of Mormon stuff

First off, it is becoming more and more obvious throughout history that man is very Brutal and bloodthirsty. Why, then, would a father want us to have this sort of nature... Ah hah, this is not our nature, it is his plan, no doubt, that we subdue this "natural man" hence we fast and seek to avoid other pleasures. A large number of intelligences actually doubted the possibility of success. And, as I eat more but try to eat less that I think of a random comment a friend said about abstaining from a thing he had grown to love, he explained that it is not so much a religious conviction as just a thing not available. Ok, what does this have to do with the Book of Mormon?

Well, I have often speculated the why's, like why have this book to why did Mormon/Moroni include this part and what should I be learning from it? One major why started flickering and  earned my attention.

As I read Alma 23 about a people left to themselves, I started asking my Why's again. Why did The LORD pick Lehi's family to come settle the promised land. Surely, there were other prophets with righteous children, who would not rebell or be so bloodthirsty. BINGO! It is often said that the Lamanites are only wicked because they do not realize it is wicked, but they naturally have the ability to overcome their natural inclinations in way that the Nephites do not. It is much like a marriage how each has different strengths and weaknesses and they balance each other out.

Lehi's family was chosen because they could show through history what can be accomplished and further how God's plan might seem daunting, but it is possible. The Antinephilehis are an example of this. 

I likewise remember in a book by CSLewis how when people visited Heaven they were outraged by those who were seemingly rewarded. In life, many who seem righteous may only be so because they are not tempted or as my friend said they just do not have that available. 

I may not be remembering correctly, but it seems like in the end, it is the Lamanites who get the promised land.

The other great truth I got though I do not remember how it happened, but when I was very upset about my husband trying to divorce me and getting so incapacitated that I could barely sit up, and was prognosed to never walk again... I was comforted by the story of Alma and Amulek watching innocent women and children being burned to death because their husbands believed a thing taught. Alma was asked to use the power he no doubt had to save them! His response helped me accept things that happened that I felt were undeserved. And I accepted that was like accepting Heavenly Father's plan in the first place. People needed to be tested, and given freedom to make their own choice, and just as important is the ability to learn from and correct mistakes.

Battery is dying or I would say more!

Ammon

Ok, I had a new insight this morning as I prepared yet another lesson this week regarding Ammon the son of King Mosiah Ended up not giving that lesson, and merely showing another video cause It was Friday afterall, and I have a habit of allowing the kids to merely recap what we read about all week in a video. We already watched the living Scriptures cartoon, so I played the newly created video from the Church Library. But, I have not this, been able to share my insight, so I will do so now.

I always think most about the King Lamoni of the Lamanites thinking that Ammon was a great spirit, nay, THE great spirit and that he mentioned that Ammon perceived his thoughts. This is a strange thing to dwell on, no? but, I have for many years. And this time as I read the Book of Mormon I was impressed....hey wait, see that question mark on the previous line? Thanks Charlemagne! (thinking of the Carolingians, I had go adjust my choice of capitalization to be more precise). ok, so this time I noted how many times people "perceive the thoughts" of another. It is not that hard to pick up on contextual cues others give when not "Saying" verbally as much, thereby seeming to know wat you are actually thinking. I need to branch off in t wo directions here 1) why Ammon is different and 2) abilities to speak without words.

First, Ammon stands out because he obviously has the power of God, tough falsely assumed at first to be God. at one point he says that his brethren are being held captive in a neighboring land, and the king asks him, how he came to this knowledge, Ammon tells him, the spirit told him. This is surely the all-knowing spirit of the Godhead, else how could he possibly KNOW such a thing? So, Ammon was different than just being good at knowing his audience. He perceived things that are not typical to a son of man.

Second, I used to be very upset by the notion that someone/anyone could know your thoughts. it makes fascinating art in terms of songs, movies and such. But, after a whole lot of considering things, it does not seem that out of the range of possibility that man could communicate without speaking, or even sensing visual cues. Yeah, it sounds like the subject for one of those radio broadcasts that happen after hours. can men unleash an additional sense and use a portion of their unused brain to communicate in a new telepathic way? but,  think about after the Tower of Babble or even when the Frankish tribes separated enough ethnically to evolve a once common language. I do not know if men would perceive thoughts as audible words, as if all communication needed to evolve from spoken words, sort of how babies evolve babbling and cooing into a language. But, I do not think that Telepathic communication is out of the realm of possibility. think of mobile/cellular communication.

I have already touched on the point that occurred to me anew this morning. It is that King Lamoni was gaining a testimony of the priesthood power being the same power used by God or in other words the power of God. Ammon could do thing which could, so Lamoni thought, only be done by God because he did not know that man has been given the very same power. Aman who does such things is not God. So often Jesus himself spoke about that.

Just Gratitude

I was so incredibly foolish. I suffered, or so I thought. I was miserable, but not dead. I was denied many things, but none of them essential and I scoffed at the notion that being grateful was a solution.

Shortly after I endured the destruction of my family in the form of an unexplained divorce, And I could barely walk,but was able to sit upright and moved from a wheelchair to a walker, I was totally depressed. I could no longer play the piano, which was nearly everything to me, I loved to run, and had been a competitive distance runner. I still found myself going for long runs for no apparent reason sometimes, only now I could not run at all. I knew full well that the depression medication I was prescribed had no effect and I looked elsewhere for my solution. A hymn stated that wen trials seem hard to bear we should "count our blessings." so, accordingly, I started a gratitude journal. I struggled with it. but, it became something to devote time to and while I thought thus, I was not thinking of myself, I failed to grasp the greatness of the idea I had been given. I was still made to feel worse because I thought of thing I was thankful for but they were taken from me. It made me bitter.
Eventually, I stopped dwelling on the past and instead focused on what I wanted in the future, and I set out to make it happen (never stopping to be grateful that I could decide to do that!)

In my religious upbringing I learned of a communication we each could personally receive from our father in Heaven, God, Creator. It is called a Patriarchal blessing. I got mine as soon as possible. I have almost memorized it and have no doubt it came from God. There are things told me that no one else could know, certainly not the guy who was a stranger who pronounced the blessing. Ok, so, in that blessing it is stated that it is of importance that I be born to my family, yeah, yeah, but it continues that it is significant that I be reserved to live in a time where I would be free to live and learn, etc. and a time where women had the right to do these things. Now, I have NEVER been concerned with Woman's rights, Quite the opposite, infact. In a Shakespeare class a teacher told me that it was people like me who made her desire to become a teacher because I spoke about how it was good that the Shrew learned her place in a play we were reading. My professor wanted to rid the world of such incorrect ideas of women being property, etc. Um, I was not property and I used and took my freedoms for granted, until at that low time of my life that many freedoms were stripped from me.

It was the cumulation of many things, but ultimately, as I was watching a documentary about Huguenots (because many ancestors are recorded as being Huguenots and I didn't know what that was) where people had to dare to worship as they desired, and it was then that I felt a flood of thankfulness when I realized how much I have been blessed in merely not being killed for believing what I did.

 Often I hear stories about the pioneers and early members of my own faith, and how they struggled. I thought how similar it was to an account of Alma and Amulek having to watch people be killed for believing a thing, then they were imprisoned, but this seems, in history to be the norm more than the exception. My ancestors as practically every person who lives in America came here to escape religious persecution. Like Lehi even, huh?

Anyhow, I am extremely thankful right now, and wish I had been all along. It would have no doubt made me feel thankful for the life I had instead dwelling on the life I could've had.