FLAXEN CORDS

Before the Creation of the World, a great council was held in Heaven.  Our Heavenly Father presented His plan for the Salvation and Exaltation of His children.  The plan called for the creation of mortal bodies so that God's spirit children could eventually progress and become as He is - a physical being.  However, our Father was a perfected and resurrected physical being.  In our birth, we would gain physical bodies, but imperfect, corruptable, mortal bodies. In our bodies, we would be tried and tested and taught until the time came for us to lay aside our mortal bodies in death.  Ultimately we our spirits, which are eternal, would be reunited with our bodies which would then be incorruptible as our Father's.  This part of the Plan was based on agency - the right to choose for oneself.  If we made choices that led us toward God through our Savior, Jesus Christ, we could be resurrected as celestial, perfected beings who could return to live with our Father in Heaven.

Agency was already the rule of Heaven, even in our pre-earth life.  when God presented to us the need for a  Savior and asked, Whom shall I send, two of His spirit sons responded.  The first was Jehovah, the pre-mortal Jesus Christ.  He promised to follow the Father's plan as prepared and would give all glory to the Father.

The second to come forward was Lucifer, the rebellious usurper.  He wanted the Father's power and His glory.  He promised to save everyone, but at what cost? The loss of agency. He and his followers were cast out, never to have bodies, never to progress, never to return to the Father.  Lucifer became Satan, the Adversary. He was furious at being thwarted thus.  Angry and alienated, he vowed that he would steal away the agency and eternal progression of as many of the Father's children as would follow him.  He new he couldn't force or coerce them, so he would need to tempt them.  Just as Jesus teaches a little here and a little there, so, too, does Satan tempt us.

Isaiah and Nephi compared this process to a single, thin cord, no heaver than a strand of a spider's web.  But because it is not heavy, we often don't realize it is there.  If we continue in a direction away from Jesus who advocates and Satan who opposed, the devil can add more strands upon strands upon strands. 

Spiders' webs are incredibly light weight, but they are also incredibly strong.  If they are allowed to accumulate, they can bind and capture more surely than the heaviest chains.  Many an insect has learned this to its sorrow.  While this is fairly graphic, it is a good analogy.  We should learn from this example.

Satan doesn't tempt us with the big things in the beginning.  We have the Light of Christ.  We innately know right from wrong.  We would recognize the wrong immediately and break the single-strand cord.  However, if we allow the cord to stay and continue to pursue the wrong course, we are soon unable to break away. 

How does that happen?  In many ways.  Satan tempts us with the promise of wealth, power, pleasure, and appetite.  He can make that this strand look like a string of gold.  By the time we realize what it really is, we are caught.  

Nephi warns us of the affect others might have upon us.  His people had lived among groups of evil men and women who call good evil and evil good.  In the Book of Mormon, these are called Secret Combinations.  

And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combination of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and the work and the works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever. (2 Nephi 26:22)  

In this month's Meridian Magazine, there is an article about flax and why the use of a flaxen cord is great imagery. I would invite you to read the entire article.  However, I would like to quote just one section as it holds true to the qualities of a spider's web. This section quotes Isaiah and points out that in Ancient Israel, a strand flax is called a tow.  

Flax Fibers

A single strand or thread of tow is a very weak cord. Hence Isaiah prophesied that the "strong shall be as tow" (Isaiah 1: 31), creating in the words of one translator, an "antithesis between strength and flimsy tow . . .  By progressively twisting or braiding multiple strands together, thin and flimsy threads of flax could be made into a thick, durable rope. . . If there are any knots in the robe before it soaks, however, then those knots may become impossible to untie.  

The words of the antithesis between strength and flimsy is a good definitions of a spider's web. If the strong shall be as tow, none of us can rest on our laurels and think we are immune to Satan's snares, even if we feel we are strong.

Meridian Magazine

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

LINE UPON LINE

In the 29th chapter of 2 Nephi, the Lord has a warning for people who don't accept the Book of Mormon saying, A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be anymore Bible!

How do we, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, answer such questions?  Why do we need the Book of Mormon? Joseph Smith said that the Book of Mormon contains the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we will get closer to God by observing its teaching than any other book.  It is not the "Mormon Bible" as some people think.  It is a companion scripture, written by descendants of Joseph from the House of Israel to read along side the Bible, as written by descendants of Judah.  It is Another Witness of Jesus Christ.  The Book of 3rd Nephi also could be called the 5th Gospel.  

When people say, We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough, (28:29) what they are in reality doing is limiting Heavenly Father's work of educating His children. 

As both a parent and a professional educator, I know that when children are learning, they rarely, if ever grasp a new concept the first time they hear it. Children learning to read need to encounter a new word anywhere from 20 to 100 times depending on the child.  And when it comes to learning a concept, that is impacted by many factors such as the child's age and stage of cognitive development. No effective teacher expects that a child will grasp a new idea immediately

We are no different.  We are all at different levels of mental, emotional, and spiritual developmental stages. What I thought I knew and understood when I was 25 seems so limited and even naïve now that I am 3 times that age.  I have studied the Book of Mormon since I was 18 and I still glean something new every time I revisit a section.

The Lord knows how we learn for He created us.  He teaches to that leaning modality, which requires repetition, restatement, and clarification.  We have to live with a concept and internalize it before we can claim even knowledge, much less wisdom.  Nephi tells us: For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear to my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth will I give more. (2 Nephi 28:30)  We need to not only hear His words, we need to do them.  If we do not: if we, in our pride say, "I am smart enough to know it on my own," then we risk losing what we already have.  

Why is it that some people who have had the light and have had a testimony born of the Spirit can later turn away and lose both light and testimony?  That is a topic for another discussion.  I mention it here just to point out that we are never to old or smart that we don't need constant refreshment from the Lord.  It's as if my spiritual bucket is, in reality, more like a sieve.  I fill it up on Sunday, but if I don't pray or read my scriptures or live as God has asked, everything will have leaked out and my bucket will never be filled. I also have no water to share with others who may be spiritually thirsty.

I love the Book of Mormon. It clarifies topics often obscure in the Bible.  Nephi's commentaries on Isaiah are perfect examples.  It describes the function of priesthood and the necessity of ordinances.  It binds together the fate of the House of Israel and the importance of the gathering prior to Christ's Second Coming.  It fills in the blanks between the Law of Moses and the Higher Law of Jesus Christ.  It connects sacrifice to sacrament. It answers questions such as why does Paul mention baptism for the dead? Who was Melchizadek? Who was Enoch? Why did a loving God ask Abraham to sacrifice his own son?  Those are just a few of the mysteries.  I firmly believe that if every Bible reader would read the Book of Mormon, they would appreciate the Bible more - line upon line.

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

A MARVELOUS WORK AND A WONDER

I haven't written in my blog since Monday and it is now Friday. The Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi and Nephi and Jacob's commentaries give a lot of information about the last days.  With the parallels I see in my own world today, it is easy to get bogged down in the negative and I did.  Consequently, I had to back away for awhile to clear my head and get some perspective.  While the Book of Mormon is, in many ways, a cautionary tale for us and our doings do parallel what happened to the Nephites, it is primarily a book about Jesus Christ. It answers questions, fills in where plain and precious truths have been lost, and quiets contentions regarding doctrine. The very title page states the book's purpose as to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD. 

In the midst of all the gloom and doom, there are glorious promises made to those who hold fast to the Iron Rod, who seek to serve God and His children with unconditional, Christ-like love. This morning as I pondered, it came to me that I need to focus more on those passages. I see the awful things that are happening in the world and in my beloved nation - things which I thought I would never live to see - but anything I might do to help the situation will be done much closer to home - in my home and in my heart.

Today, I am reading from chapter 27 of 2 Nephi. While there will be darkness, there will also be great Light - the Light that John said shone in the darkness and the darkness perceived it not. I am, of course, talking about the Light of the World, even Jesus Christ, and the light of His gospel. The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is a sign of the gathering of Israel and the Second Coming of our Savior.  It contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel. 


Nephi (and Isaiah) present it this way:  And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered.  And behold the book shall be sealed and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.

Christians refer to the Intertestamental gap as the "Time of Darkness"

Such a time doesn't exist in the Book of Mormon

One of the things that I most appreciate about the Book of Mormon, there is no intertestamental gap between the Law of Moses in the Old Testament and the Higher Law of Christ in the New.  One can see in great clarity the ancient Law being fulfilled in Christ as well as Christ Himself appearing to declare His gospel. One of the huge problems the early Apostles faced in the Old  World was the tendency of new Christians, particularly Jewish Christians, to revert to the old prescriptive ritual of the old Law to the detriment of the Savior.  Nothing like that happens in the Book of Mormon accounts. There is no "time of darkness" in the Book of Mormon.

Nephi wrote that he glories in plainness and he sought to deliver God's word to his people with clarity.  He and the prophets who follow him, speak directly of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the World. Their is no confusion as to whom Isaiah refers when he writes For unto us a son is born; Behold, a virgin shall conceive; He gave his back to the smiters; with His stripes we are healed.  

One of the complaints people frequently make about the Book of Mormon is that, in the words of one Protestant minister, "There is too much Jesus before Jesus."  Such is the narrow perspective of those who see Jesus' life and mission beginning in that stable in Bethlehem.  

Why do the Book of Mormon prophets refer directly to the name Jesus Christ instead of the vaguer references in the Old Testament.  LDS scholar, John Welch explained that the word mashiach in Hebrew means "anointed one." There are many references to someone being anointed in the Bible.  He sons of Aaron were anointed.  The high priests were anointed. . . Messiah was a word that was used in more than one way, but Nephi wanted us to know that there is only one true Messiah - He who would perform the atonement . . . the one we could worship through His holy name. (taken from John Welsh notes found on www.scriptureplus.org and  www.bookofmormoncentral.com.)

When Mormon was abridging the Nephite records, Jesus Christ had already come in the flesh. Both he and his son Moroni were witnesses.  Like Nephi, I'm sure that Mormon wanted to make sure that whenever a reference was made to the Holy Messiah, that his readers would know that meant only one Messiah - Jesus Christ.  BTW, in Greek the word mashiach or anointed one translates as Christ. Therefore there is no "Jesus before Jesus." He is, was, and always has been the one anointed from before the beginning of the world to save his people. Knowing that through the Book of Mormon is truly a marvelous work and a wonder. 

Jesus Christ brought us His light.  It behooves us to share it, not so that people can see our light, but that through our light, they can see the Source of All Light.

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

I PROPHECY UNTO YOU CONCERNING THE LAST DAYS

As we draw near to the end of the two books written by Nephi, I note his great love for his people and, indeed, for all of Israel. As a seer, he has seen the destruction of his people due to wickedness and it must have broken his heart.  But even though the consequences of sin are harsh and painful to watch, Nephi still praises the Lord as being just. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been for Nephi to write those things which he had seen and heard from the Lord.  Living in a modern world filled with just such sins, it is difficult for me to even read the things Nephi wrote. His words tell a cautionary tale for us today.  President Benson said we must flood the world with the Book of Mormon.  I didn't fully appreciate what he said at the time, but I certainly understand much better now.  If people would prayerfully read the Book, they might self-identify and repent. Then again, they might not.  

The consequences of turning away from the Lord and, even worse, persecuting those who hold to the rod and walk the path of a disciple of Christ, are stark.  Here are some of those consequences found in 2 Nephi 26: 

Great and terrible shall that day be unto the wicked, for they shall perish; and they perish because the cast out the prophets and the saints, and stone them, and slay them; wherefore the cry of the blood of the saints shall ascend up to God from the ground against them. (3)

How do people cast out prophets and saints today? Just turn on the news. Persecution of Christians is rampant in the Middle East. They are often killed for their testimonies.   Even in our country, people of faith are mocked and shamed by those in the great and spacious building.  When a former president of this nation, in his first speech to the nation, says, "America is no longer a Christian nation," he was not simply acknowledging the presence of other faiths in the country, he was stating something right out of the radical agenda. 

Wherefore, all those who are proud, and that do wickedly, that day that cometh shall burn shall burn them up. . . for they shall be as stubble. (4)

Pride is often linked with wickedness because wickedness couldn't occur without pride. We can find this theme throughout scripture as a description of the last days. 

Earthquakes, volcanoes, tidal waves:  destruction

In verses 5 and 6, Nephi describes what he sees will happen after the Savior's crucifixion to the wicked in the destructions that will come.  Nephi mourns for them, even though that destruction had not yet happened. It broke his heart and filled him with grief .  He wrote about his feelings over the coming fall and destruction of his people.

O, the pain and the anguish of my soul for the loss of the slain of my people! For I, Nephi, have seen it, and it well nigh consumeth me before the presence of the Lord; but I must cry unto my God: Thy ways are just. (7)

I feel that way every time I allow myself to take in the things happening in my beloved country today.  I often look at some of the things that are said and done that are utterly beyond belief and I find myself saying: "What on earth are they thinking?" What I need to ask is: "What am I thinking?" If my thinking is full of rationalization, I am on a dangerous course.  Holding to the rod begins first in my thoughts, then my words, and actions.  Sins don't happen that weren't first considered in the heart and mind of a person.

I cannot control anyone else.  I can only live according to the light I have been given. I can share my testimony.  I can speak out against the tyranny of sin.  If we, who are Covenant keepers don't speak for Christ, who will?  People who think it can't happen here are as blind as those in Lehi's day who felt that Jerusalem would never fall.  I pray that those who worship and serve the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ, can balance the scale enough that it won't happen here.

GOD FORBID!

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

WHY ISAIAH, NEPHI?

Nephi, Isaiah, Jacob - The Law of Witnesses

Many readers of the Book of Mormon skip over the Isaiah passages in 2 Nephi. That's a shame because Nephi put those passages in his record for very good reasons. The number one reason is that of the 425 Isaiah verses Nephi quoted, 391 of them are about the Savior.* Nephi had seen Christ.  His brother, Jacob, had seen Christ.  Isaiah had seen Christ.  These 3 powerful witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ come together in 2 Nephi. As disciples of that same Jesus Christ, we should not be avoiding these chapters, but flocking to them to gain a greater understanding of our Savior and Redeemer from three men who all knew Him well.

Like Nephi, we should be drawing on all our available resources to more fully understand the Lord and His mission. With the advances in communication and electronics, we have many such resources at our fingertips.  Anyone old enough to have struggled through doing research in a library card catalogue with notecards will appreciate this flood of information.

As any researcher knows, the best resources are primary, such as the Books of Isaiah and 2 Nephi themselves.  Those, along with the Spirit, are the best teachers.  However, secondary sources can help broaden our understanding.  They won't give us a testimony - only the Holy Ghost can do that - but it can help strengthen that testimony if we are prayerful about our research.

The Church's website is an amazing source of information: Scriptures, Lesson Manuals, Conference talks, and so much more.  Most of the new additions, such as the manual, have links within the program to talks, videos, and scriptural references. You can spend hours doing research and finding enlightenment and joy, just within the website.
Link to the website of the Church of Jesus Christ

There is an amazing app for your phone called Scripture Plus.  It is linked to the 2020 study, Come Unto Me.  With one click, you can access everything related to that course of study.  I have been thrilled and enlightened by this app.
Link to Scripture Plus

Another resource is done by a group called Book of Mormon Central. It is funded by donations and is a great source of deep information about all things Book of Mormon.  It is linked to the 2020 curriculum, so if you go to this page today, you will find ways to attack the Isaiah chapters in 2 Nephi. Renowned Book of Mormon scholars contribute to the site.  (The first name I recognized on the site was John Welch, a well-know BofM Scholar and the man who first identified the Hebrew poetic form of chiasmus in the Book of Mormon while serving a mission in 1962.) You can even subscribe to their mailing list and get daily updates of a part of the program called Now You Know, aligned with the reading for the day.
Link to Book of Mormon Central

Inside Solomon's Temple

Before I close and go dress for Church, I want to share one insight into the ancient Temple of Solomon and the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.  The outer court represented the world or the Telestial Kingdom.  As one progresses through the outer court, one enters the Holy Place, which represents a higher spiritual level, what I would compare to the Terrestrial Kingdom.  Finally, one comes to the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwells. I immediately equated that sacred space with the Celestial Kingdom.  In Solomon's day, only the priests could enter the Holy Place and only to perform sacred rituals. (John's father, Zacharias, was serving at the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place when the Angel announced that he and Elizabeth would have a son, whom they should name John.) The Holy of Holies as so sacred, it was entered only one day a year and only by the high priest. The day was Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  These priests represented all of Israel before the Lord.

Inside the Salt Lake Temple

In our temples today, we still progress from Telestial, through Terrestrial, and finally, to the Celestial. The difference today is that we no longer offer blood sacrifices and burning incense, but the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.  Each member of Christ's Church who is worthy to enter the temple makes his or her own covenants personally with God. As I understand the connections between ancient and modern temples and temple worship, I appreciate more fully the Prophet Joseph Smith and the great work he performed in this, the Last Dispensation, of the Fullness of time.

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

 * Institutes student manual

Assignment from our 2020 lesson for this week:

2 Nephi 12:1–3 If you have been to the temple—“the mountain of the Lord’s house”—you might share with your family how temple covenants are helping you “walk in [the Lord’s] paths .” 

THE PROMISED GATHERING: HOW CAN I HELP?

One theme that is part of the warp and woof of the scriptures is that of the gathering of Israel. Like a golden thread through the tapestry of the world, this theme is yet another pattern of God's plan for His children.  As I have read 2 Nephi, I've seen many references to Israel, its scattering and its gathering.  Nephi and his people were participants in the scattering in that God had led them to a new land to set up an inheritance to the tribes of Joseph. Nephi had lived in Jerusalem and he knew through vision of it's destruction and the deportation of the Jews to Babylon.  He had also read in the Brass Plates about the complete disbursement of the ten tribes of Northern Israel. It is likely that his own ancestors fled the Northern Kingdom of Israel for safety in Judah just as his nuclear family had fled Judah.  Now he found himself in a new land, governing a people, most of whom had never know a life in Jerusalem. He wanted to teach them, not only the gospel, but their own history as a part of Israel, along with the covenants and promises to which they were entitled.

Isaiah spoke of the sins of the people in the old world and of the consequences of their turning away from God, Who had always been their protector.  Nephi understood Isaiah and related to these scriptures because he had lived many of them.  How it must have filled his breast with joy to read about the gathering of Israel in the last days.  He wanted his people to know that the Lord would never forget them. It saddened him that they might forget God, but God would never forget them. He has graven them on the palms of His hands. (Isaiah 49:1)

The coming forth of the Book of Mormon is one of the signs of the last days and a key tool in facilitating the Gathering of Israel.  On March 27, 1836, the first temple of this dispensation was dedicated in Kirtland, OH.  Christ appeared to accept His temple.  Following His appearance, other resurrected beings appeared, restoring priesthood keys upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Moses restored the keys of the gathering of Israel.  Elijah restored the keys of the sealing powers of heaven, so that as Israel is gathered, families in Israel can be sealed in Holy Temples for time and eternity. Elias restored the keys to the gospel dispensation of Abraham, including the Abrahamic Covenant. All three keys were necessary for the final gathering of God's people.

We are in the midst of this gathering today.  As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a responsibility to participate as we gather God's people, first to the gospel and then to the lands of their inheritance. In our lesson manual for this week, we read the following: As Latter-day Saints, we have been called to help gather God's people in the latter days in preparation for Christ's millennial reign. As you read [2 Nephi 20-25] ponder how you are helping fulfill the prophecies they describe.  What do you feel inspired to do to help gather God's people?

Missionaries in Ghana

What are some specific things we can do to help fill the earth with “the knowledge of the Lord”? The first thing that comes to mind is full-time missionary service. My grandson served a mission in Ghana. When missionaries first went to Africa, they were met with entire congregations of people who had been studying the Book of Mormon and holding Church services under the Church's name.

But full-time missionary work is not something we do every day. I spent 18 months on a full-time mission, and that is out of the almost 1,000 months of my life.  If that were to be all I ever did, I would be a slothful servant. Thankfully, doing the work of the gathering is far more than that.

My personal missionary mantra

I have chosen to write.  I have four books published, three of them on gospel topics, and a fifth in draft form.  On my mission to Church Headquarters, I was the Communications Manager for the Church Service Missionary Office.  Most of my job was writing, teaching, and training. I have also served two Church Service Missions. Now that my physical abilities are slower than they used to be, I focus almost all of my ministering on my writing. 

I also have been blessed with Solomon's understanding heart. I am compassionate and comforting to those who are discouraged; encouraging and affirming to those who struggle.  I believe all of this is part of my mission.

I invite all of you to ponder upon those things you have done and yet can do to spread the gospel message to the world. What are your gifts and blessings? Once you have identified your gifts, think of way you can use them to further the work.  I promise you that we are God's hands in this work, no matter what our gifts and skills.  If we use them in His service, He will guide us every step of the way.

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

PATTERNS

Patterns in Nature: the Spiral

Just as there are identifiable patterns in nature, so, too, are their patterns in the scriptures.  Recognizing them helps us connect gospel themes through patterns.

Our  lesson this week challenges us to look for patterns in the scriptures that teach us how the Lord works.  I suggested one, yesterday: the Pride Cycle. Anther is the Plan of Salvation and agency.  Yet another are types and shadows of the Savior.

The Plan of Salvation: God gave man his agency in the Garden of Eden by allowing Adam and Eve to choose for themselves as to eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  It was part of the plan from before the beginning of the earth. God knew what Adam and Eve would have to do in order to bring mortality into this world.  I believe Eve knew what she had to do and that, ultimately, so did Adam.  They transgressed the law and fell and the world became a mortal domain wherein God's children could gain bodies and experience, tests and trials, a time of probation where they could learn by experience to know between good and evil.

Christ's Role in the Plan: Part of God's knowing was that because this is a fallen world that we would become a fallen people: every one of us would make mistakes: every one of us would sin. Heavenly Father gave us His Son to make propitiation for our sins.  Because of the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can live with our Heavenly Father again.

The Pattern We Call the Pride Cycle

The Pride Cycle: What we learn from the Pride Cycle is this: that God cannot support and bless His children in wickedness. Every time anyone chooses to put the Lord aside and do what they want instead of what He wants, they tie his hands as to blessings. The Lord taught the Prophet Joseph Smith: I the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise. (Doctrine and Covenants 82:10)

This one is so plainly visible in our modern world. Here is an example of the economic impact of the Pride Cycle:

Warning for Today: The Pride Cycle destroyed the Nephites as a people. The potential for it to do so in Modern-day America is frightening. As I follow the news with it's hatred, violence, and lies, I shudder because I know I am watching a scenario that occurred twice in the Book of Mormon.  Unfortunately, not everyone in America has read the Book of Mormon and, therefore, they don't recognize the pattern.  It is not partisan politics: it is survival.

Types for Christ: The Book of Mormon also points out the pattern of prophets and patriarchs typifying Jesus.  Chapter 11 of 2 Nephi tells us that Moses typifies Christ, as does the Law of Moses as His schoolmaster.  The Brazen Serpent in the wilderness is a type for Christ. The fall of Israel and Judah are types for the condition of the world prior to Christ's Second Coming.

2020 Academy Awards "gown"

Billy Porter wins Red Carpet? Ridiculous?!

There are other patterns, such as Isaiah's description of the Daughters of Israel in 2 Nephi 13 and a symptom of pride in 4 Nephi: 24.  I can see the pattern today just by watching any awards show out of Hollywood - even to the point of ridiculous! 

Now it is your turn: what patterns do you see being repeated today? They are easy to find because they are as predictable as those in the Chambered Nautilus (which is actually a reverse spiral pattern.)

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson

PRIDE GOETH . . . BEFORE THE FALL

How many times have you heard that pride goeth before the fall? This saying is actually a contraction of Proverbs 16:18.  The original quote also refers to a haughty spirit. Seems pretty clear, doesn't it?  Unfortunately, pride can masquerade in may different costumes.  We can actually be burdened with pride and not know it.  When the Lord intervenes and shows us our pride, it can be very painful indeed!

C. S. Lewis once referred to pride as the father of all sins.  He was right. If you look at any other sin, you can find pride right beside it.

This week's reading in 2 Nephi invite us to look at pride.  The Nephites should have been very familiar with what we now call the Pride Cycle, but they could not see it, even when they were in the midst of it.  We, looking back, can see the cycle clearly.  It is also there in the Old and New Testaments, but it is more difficult to see. We identify those things leading to destruction and fall as we read the scriptures, but to we ever look at our own blind spots?

                    ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the main characteristics of pride is enmity - enmity between men and enmity with God. C. S. Lewis also wrote that pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. (Mere Christianity, 1952, p 109.)

President Ezra Taft Benson said the same thing. He wrote: Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, of haughtiness.  All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is still missing.  The central feature of pride is enmity - toward God and toward our fellow men. Enmity means "hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition." It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

The central feature of pride is enmity—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen. Enmity means “hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition.” It is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us.

This is a link to lesson 18 of The Teachings of the Prophets of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson. It is a great reminder about the danger of pride.

President Benson on Pride

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Our lesson invites us to read 2 Nephi 15: 20-23 and to look for modern examples of these traits of pride.  It didn't take me long to come with a lengthy list!

Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil . . . darkness for light and light for darkness . . . bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 

This blog would go on for a hundred pages were I to list everyone I thought of.  Much of it can be summed up in the term Political Correctness. People in the spotlight have proposed ideas that are so ludicrous that I am stunned that people believe them, much less pass them off as truth! PC has all but destroyed this country.  When people rose up in anger over our President authorizing the execution of a known terrorist leader with more blood on his hands than Noah's flood, and painted that man as worthy of emulation, and defiled our President for doing what he had to do in the face of clear and present danger, they took verse 20 to its limits. The same could be said for portraying the outright slaughter of innocent unborn in the name of "women's health" and condemn anyone who has the moral courage to say "This is infanticide as surely as if we were feeding out little ones to the fires of the pagan god, Moloch!"

Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight.

Hollywood and DC: both are filled with these sophomoric (wise fools) people who feel their power and celebrity automatically makes them correct.  A current presidential candidate recently belittled the American farmer as ignorant and one whose opinions don't matter.  This man has never plowed anything but an adding machine and a pencil.  How is he vital to our survival? So many of these loud voices shame themselves, yet those who don't know their own history listen to them as to wise gurus. They are wise only in their own eyes, not mine!

Wo unto the mighty who drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink.

To which statement we might add other addictive substances and behavior such as drugs (both legal and illegal), gambling, pornography, and all manner of licentiousness.  We are a nation run by our own selfish desires and lack of self-control or responsibility. Someone once said that since we have a statue of liberty on the east coast, we should have a statue of responsibility on the west.

Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

I have no problem with a billionaire who ran for public office because he loves this country a gave up much to do so.  I do, however, have a HUGE problem with men and women who come to public office with no more than the rest of us and exit as billionaires. I'm going to name names and these are, by no means, the only ones:  the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation; Nancy Pelosi (who is worth, according to online search, $120 billion), Bernie Sanders (who campaigns as a socialist, but who is in the top 1% of the richest people in America!) In the Book of Mormon, these folks would be called Gadiantons.

As for me, I will continue to put my trust in the Lord. I will study His word.  I will attempt to follow His example and, even though I am human and I fall, I will pick myself up and start anew.  I believe that God knows my heart and that He knows it is His.

© February 2020 Dr. Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson