GO TO NINEVEH, JONAH

It's been more than a week since I've felt well enough to blog. I doubt I'll be able to regularly post in my blog until after my upcoming surgery.  It makes my head spin.

When Jonah was called to preach repentance in Nineveh, he attempted to run away from God.  Preaching among the Lamanites would be akin to preaching to the Assyrians.  They were a warlike and blood-thirsty people.  Violence was in the warp and woof of their culture, along with a rabid and irrational hatred for Nephites.  Think of how much love it must have taken for those four young men to walk into the lion's den.

When the boys separated in the wilderness by the borders of Lamanite lands, Ammon chose to go to the land of Ishmael. Anyone who has read that part of the Book of Mormon knows of his amazing story.  Ammon served the king with unconditional love unfeigned.  His love was real.  It was the transcendent love of the Savior manifest through Ammon.  It is the greatest healing power on earth.

Lamoni and his people needed to learn the gospel, the fall, and the atonement, but they also needed to be healed.  Violence and bloodshed were a way of life.  They didn't just do it, they delighted in doing it. It might be said that they were addicted to it.  Addicts, no matter how disturbing their behavior, don't need punishment; they need healing.  Only then can they become holy. Only then, through Jesus Christ, can they become new people.  That is what happened to Lamoni and many of his people. Nephi said that We talk of Christ. . . so that our children will know where to turn for a remission of their sin. Ammon talked of Christ.

Lamoni also went forth and talked of Christ; Blessed be the name of God. . . for as sure as thou livest, behold, I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth. . .  and he shall redeem all mankind who believe on his name.  (Alma 19: 12, 13) The Queen also talked of Christ: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed God, have mercy on this people! (Alma 19: 29) 

Ammon's brother, Aaron also preached Christ to Lamoni's father.  He also had a great conversion experience.  He prayed: O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee (Alma 22: 18)

And he did. . . 

These experiences were life changing. These Lamanites, once converted, had no more desire to do evil.  Like many addicts, they knew what hell was, for they had lived in it.  For Christ to redeem them from hell, knowing all the evil they had done, was nothing short of a miracle to them.  Their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil. (Alma 19: 33)

In the addiction recovery process of today, once the addict has acknowledged God and reached out to him, he must abstain from the behaviors that kept him chained to sin.  That is what the converted Lamanites did.  Fearful lest they be tempted to lift the sword against another and risk losing their salvation, they buried them deep in the earth. They had apparently cleaned their swords because they were bright. They were a token of their covenant with the Savior, therefore, they were not presented soiled with blood.  In this way, they put a key trigger to violent behavior out of their own sight, buried so deep in the earth that they could never again use them as instruments of death.

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When we repent of our sins, we must also put away those things that trigger the sinful behavior.  We must repent of the sin, but also of the act of sinning.  We must look deep into out own hearts for any flaws in our character that lead us to sinful behavior.  This is painful, as anyone who has ever done it will tell you, but it is necessary.  Surgery to remove a cancer is painful, but the alternative is worse.  I doubt any of us has committed the sins of these Lamanites, but that doesn't matter.  God cannot look upon any sin with allowance, despite the degree of sin involved. There is a great line in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis where one of the characters refers to a white lie. The wise housekeeper answered A lie is a lie and dressing it in white won't change that.

I don't want to dress any of my sins in white. Only the atonement of Jesus christ can turn my sins to white.  I have been humbled these past few years and stripped of pride.  I don't ever want to go back. Like the Lamanites, I have buried my metaphorical sword and received a new heart.  I praise and thank my Savior, Jesus Christ, every day of my life.  I don't want to return to the behaviors that chained me to hell.  Like Alma and the sons of Mosiah, I know what hell is like for I have lived it. Never again.

©Dr, Kathleen Rawlings Buntin Danielson, July 2020