Doctrine and Covenants 7:7-8

Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

But behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

These are wise words for our day and age where there is so much information to sort through. We can't assume God will tell us everything we need to know.

However, if you remember Paul's words in 2nd Timothy 3:7, he says we will be "ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

We all know what that feels like. I fear too many of us have stopped the "study" part and are just relying on our feelings which are not necessarily the Spirit talking to us.

In today's world we may use Moroni 10:5 "And by the power of the holy ghost he may know the truth of all things" as a guide in spiritual matters but not in matters of secular knowledge. The great division among American LDS members in political matters is evidence of that.

Perhaps we neglect the simple fact that our past experiences have conditioned us to respond to new information in ways we often don't even recognize. Because we usually respond first on a feeling level, we can confuse our feelings with the Spirit.  A gut level response is not the same as the Spirit speaking.

And so the quest for truth is difficult and what the Lord says here in this section is important.

"Don't come asking me until you've done your homework. Study, research, look for original trusted sources, find out everything you can. Then I will confirm or discount your answer. But you need to be an educated person who does the work. How else will you become like me?"

Doctrine and Covenants 6:23

Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?

I am particularly fond of this verse because it talks about the mind. sometimes we feel peace in our hearts because it is our feelings that are hurting.

But for me, I have lived with conflicts in my mind and I have struggled to find peace.

I used to say that the problem was that I have an analytical mind. But that is not a problem. it's good to hear information and have a mind that like a computer sorts through that information and tells me when the pieces don't fit together

I have come to realize that I am inspired; that is, I feel the spirit through my intellect. My patriarchal blessing is a great encouragement to me.

• The Lord has blessed you with a good mind and body and it is expected that you will use your faculties and abilities to the furthering of His work.

• You have a desire to help your fellow men in intellectual ways

• I commend you for your studies. . . and pray that our Father in heaven will bless and sustain you in these; that they might be productive, that they might give satisfaction to you, and that you might be an instrument in the hands of our heavenly father in doing much good through these intellectual matters.

• I encourage you in your studies. You will be able to pursue them in a more fruitful and encouraging atmosphere and under more ideal conditions.

• You will excel in your teaching qualities. You Will be an effective teacher and an instrument in the hands of the Lord in bringing a knowledge of the Gospel to many.

• There will be other ways in which you will be able to promote the principles of peace and love which are found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's me. That's how the spirit talks to me. I can jump into reading materials - be it scripture or commentary - and I will be conflicted if the material is not true to my inner knowing that God loves us and is 100% on our side, wanting us to be successful.  To me, that is what the principles and peace and love represent.

I am grateful for Terryl and Fiona Givens whose writings have given me the inspiration to trust and follow my own feelings and to believe that I can have an impact in teaching Gospel truths. And that means that it's okay to call out anything I see as untruth - especially regarding the nature of God and our purpose here on the earth as His children.

It's funny that I used to feel like an oddball for challenging the thinking and ideas of others. It's hard to go against the crowd - especially when that crowd is your "LDS family".  But I'm okay seeing things differently because I know in my heart that I love the Lord and that my search for answers has always come from an honest heart. I love the Gospel as I have come to understand it. I sometimes wish I could have a forum to speak because I have so much to say about this wonderful story of who God is and who we who inhabit this earth truly are.

Doctrine and Covenants 6:20

Therefore, treasure up these things words in thy heart be faithful and diligent in keeping the commandments and I will encircle the in the arms of my love.

A small simple word here - AND - is so important.

This scripture doesn't say IF or WHEN  or AFTER you do such and such,  THEN I will show you my love.

What I believe it does say is this: The moment you begin to take this journey - remember I will not (nor can I) force you - but in that moment you begin and you make that choice I am with you. You do not have to do this alone.

I personally know this to be true because He encircled me in those loving arms once when I needed the assurance that He was with me.

However -  and I like to always add this little addendum - God is always there. He is with us always. If He were not always available, why would anyone pray?  Whether we can feel His presence is just a matter or not of where we are in our spiritual life.  Are we open so that we can feel His presence and receive His help?  

Doctrine and Covenants 6:7

Seek not for riches but for wisdom and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich, behold he that has eternal life is rich.

This verse is a reminder to not spend your energy and your time on things that don't matter. 

However - wisdom is the sum of the experiences we have had plus what we learned from them. And much of what we learn in life is learned from mistakes. We don't usually attribute wisdom to to a young person. Rather, we think of the elderly and look to them for that wisdom that comes from a lifetime of experience and learning and from the perspective of age.

I also have wondered about phrases like the "mysteries of God".  It hints of some secret society and only the insiders get to know the "mysteries".  

I like to look up words in an app that's called Etymonline. It looks at the etymology of a word - it's origins.  When I looked up the word "mystery",  it says mystery or "misterie" was used early in the theological sense to just mean a religious truth via divine revelation.

That makes sense, doesn't it? And it is consonant with the idea of gaining wisdom.  If life is really designed as an education that is preparing us to be more like our Heavenly Parents, then you would expect that the lessons we learn along the way will be "truths" that will help us to grow wiser and to be more like Them.

Truth is not a mystery as in either incomprehensible or mysterious. Truth comes when we become seekers of it and we value those things we learn because they bring such peace to our lives. We feel whole or complete and that is what this verse describes as "rich".

Once again, definitions mean everything.

We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for 

ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. 

Marcel Proust

Good judgment comes from experience, 

and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. 

Will Rogers

Doctrine and Covenants 3:7-8 & 4

For, behold, you should not have feared man more than god. although men sat at knot the councils of God and despise his words -yeah you should have been faithful and he would have extended his arm and supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary;  and he would have been with you in every time of trouble.

Aren't we all caught in that dilemma of a living with the messages of the world so often end of direct opposition to what the Lord wants us to know?

This is most directly seen in our understanding of who we are. The "world" if I may use that term (and I am speaking as a woman) has told me that my worth depends on:

• Physical appearance
• Academic Degrees
• The size of my home
• Where I live
• Where I shop
• The brands I wear

The "world" would have me believe that resources here on earth are limited and we must compete for them. There are so many messages that limit me - make me feel less than others - shrink me, contain me, hold me back.

But my loving Heavenly Parents sent me here to grow, to have experiences that would expand me, open up vistas for growth, understanding, progression.

They not only believe I can be anything I want to be, they believe I can become like Them.

That correct understanding of who God my Heavenly parents are and who I am as their literal child with divine nature and potential must be the basis for what I understand about myself.

I like how this ties into the next section where I am reminded that to 'be called to the work" means that I must have a life filled with 

My life is not defined by what the world says. I am an eternal being in the process of becoming - becoming like God.

Doctrine and Covenants 2

Definitions once again mean everything!

Behold, I will reveal unto you the priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet [the Sealing Power!]

Before the coming of the great and [awesome] day of the Lord.

[I want to set into place my temples and the work of binding the human family now. . .]

And he [Elijah] shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

If it were not so, the whole Earth would have [its purposes and frustrated, the time of mortality unprofitable] at his coming.

Relationships are at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Heaven can only be heavenly if I am with these people. Part of life on Earth and our purpose here is to become the kind of person who becomes like the Savior and with that kind of love forms relationships that want to be eternal.

I love that here in section two of the doctrine and Covenants that the Lord is reminding us that relationships - family - are central to our understanding of God's plan.

My family means everything to me. There is nothing that makes me happier than a phone call, tax, email, video call etc. with my kids. They are and ever will be my "favorite five". For 50 years they have played a dominant role in my life. I watch what they are doing with their lives and love them more and more. We learn and grow together. The fact that Elijah brought back the sealing power says to me that this is what eternity is all about. Eternal relationships growing together to become more and more Christ-like, discovering the principles that create happiness, always learning and growing, becoming --- eternally progressing.

Doctrine and Covenants 1

D&C Section 1 has some language that really triggers some of my issues. My concern is that this language perpetuates the description of the angry god. The Doctrine and Covenants was given to us in the language of religions from the time period when it was given.

Oh, how I wish the prophets and our scriptures could be free of the cultures of their times.

The context here is of an angry God who has come to warn the inhabitants of the earth.

• There is none to escape
• The rebellious will be pierced with sorrow
• The people shall fear and tremble
• The wrath of God shall be poured out
• The anger of the Lord is kindled
• His sword is bathed in heaven
• Those who don't hear will be cut off

I would venture to guess that what the Lord was trying to say in verses 1 through 16 would more aptly be put like this: 

"I am grieved as I look down upon all the suffering of man. I anguish as I see how you treat each other. And I am saddened by how the truths of my gospel have been corrupted over these many years. I can only see more suffering if there is not a change."

1:17 says, "Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamities which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith Jr. and spoke to him from heaven, and gave him commandments."

The year is 1831 - November.  The church is in its infancy. The restoration has begun but it will come precept by precept, step by step.

However, the Lord continues to explain why he is restoring his church.

1. A new day is ushered in when personal revelation - God speaking to each person - will replace the idea that he speaks only through the powerful church leaders of the day. There is no intermediary necessary.

2. Faith will increase as individuals have their own revelatory experiences,

3. God's covenant with man is being revealed. That renewal is the restoration and it brings:

• Truth about who God, our Heavenly parents are
• Truth about who man is
• The purpose of mortality
• The sealing power

The Lord says then that he has given this to his servants "in their weakness after the manner of their language"

These verses are important for us. God calls servants but they are humans - imperfect humans. In verse 25 he says, "And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known. 

Verse 26 "And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed. 

Verse 27 "And inasmuch as they sin they might be chastened that they might repent."

Finally in verse 28 it says, "And receive knowledge from time to time."

This is the process we have. We have seen it over and over since that spring day when Joseph went to pray. Truth has been restored little by little. 

Even some things that were common in the early church have been discontinued.  Polygamy turned out to be not so good. Some made it work but for the most part there were unhappy marriages. It ended because of outside pressures.  The process was painful and caused lasting damage to many families. A revelation was necessary to make it in final. It is a complicated piece of LDS history but it ended.

Racism was an unfortunate piece of cultural baggage that persisted in the church and lasted much longer. Many early saints were slave owners. Joseph was able to see past racial barriers but Brigham wasn't. The lasting effects of his policy to exclude blacks from holding the priesthood damaged our relationship with the black community in the United States. That persisted long after the priesthood revelation in 1978. Why else in 2020 would we have church leaders in 2020 telling us that there is no excuse for any feelings of prejudice towards another group or race?

The church is changing the language that defines god. God is now commonly referred to as "our Heavenly Parents". Mother is being included as her daughters are taking their rightful place in the world.

Slowly but surely we are separating out gospel truths from cultural baggage. Unfortunately God has only humans to work with and we are a mixture of both good and bad and are hesitant to change what we have perceived as Gospel truth.  But the change IS taking place.

I watched an episode of Come Follow Me Insights with Tyler Griffin and Taylor Halverson. Both are BYU professors. Tyler is an ancient scripture is in the ancient scripture department with a doctorate in instructional technology. Taylor is a professor of entrepreneurship with the Marriott School of business. He has degrees in ancient near studies, biblical studies, Judaism and Christianity in antiquity along with instructional systems technology.

All that just to say that I was impressed by their insights. They are able to read the scriptures with so much positivity where my triggers cause me to get negative.

So if you look at verses 2 and 3 without the lens of the angry God what you see is God predicting what is going to happen if the people of the earth do not change.

God is not doing things to the people of the earth. They are doing these things to themselves and so in verse 4 the Lord says he wants to help us see the consequences of our folly by choosing disciples for these latter days.

He gives those disciples authority and is sending them forth. What if we choose to interpret verse 9 not as God's punishment but as the consequences for bad choices which eventually do come. As he says in verse 10 every man receives as he has given.

Brother Griffin speaking suggests that we see ourselves in these scriptures. The world is in chaos and we have been given the gospel. We are the Lord's disciples today. He drew a picture of the earth and said it is the Lord's work to save the entire world. then using a Covey principle he suggests we have our own little spot, our own little circle of influence where we can do good. That is the job of each disciple.

Brother Halverson then points out that the word authority has as at its root the word "author". Moroni 6:4 says that the people of his church are "relying alone upon the merits of Christ who was the author and finisher of their faith.". He is "authoring the words of life" so that he can "finish" us - or bring us back into his presence. Better yet,  He would like to make us whole, to be like him as we accept authority - think not so much that God gives us power or even worse exclusive ness in administering his church - think rather he is asking us to join him in being the author of good works here upon the earth. 

Verse 7 since God does not want us to be afraid of him - I would rather read this verse in this way: Be amazed! Be astounded! I hope this blows your mind away because this is going to happen! This shall be fulfilled.

I also was impressed that these two men redefined the word commandments. They called them "covenantal instructions for faithfulness". Perhaps I am not the only person who sees the need to redefine some of our language.  By using this particular redefinition, the word commandment changes from meaning "do as I say or else" to "let me give you some help so you will find happiness in life."

That is a big change! And it is a necessary change that portrays the true character of our Heavenly Parents.