Cleave

From Elder Maxwell in this month's Ensign:

"God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go."

I read that yesterday, and I can't get it out of my head, so I figure I should post it for other people to read as well.  In fact, you should read the entire article here.  It really is great.

I just want to say that sometimes I get caught up in regret and wishing that I was a different person, that I was my absolute best already.  But this article, this quote, has helped me feel peace about the things in my past that I have repented of and instilled a deeper understanding that right now, I'm the best that I can be at this moment, and with God's help, my best can improve.  I realized that I will never be perfect in this life, so I will most likely never feel as if I measure up to who I want to be, because I will always want to be better. And then I remembered what my mom said to me growing up: "He only expects your best, and your best changes from day to day."  I just hope that my best increases day to day.

It's strange. Whenever I focus on this principle, it seems that I find more and more ways to make little changes without much effort.  I discover ways of viewing the world that helps me make good choices, and my eyes are carefully and kindly opened as to ways I can refine myself. It's like my cup (in this case figurative of my potential) is half-full, and I'm getting a little more every day, and if I look hard enough, I can see that each drop is making my cup fuller.

Choose to Cleave.
*Read my first post, "Preface," for more information about Cleaving
*Photo: reference

"The beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that it pours knowledge into our souls and shows things in their true light. With that enhanced perspective, we can discern more clearly the choices before us and their consequences. We can, therefore, make more intelligent use of our agency. Many of God’s children fall into unanticipated traps and unhappiness because they either lack or ignore gospel light. They are unaware of their options or are confused about the outcomes of their choices. Ignorance effectively limits their agency"(D. Todd Christofferson, "Moral Agency," Ensign, Jun 2009).

I know that most of my problems in life are my fault--I've been ignorant of something the gospel teaches, or I've ignored what I've learned.  Strange how ignorance and ignore use the same root, isn't it?  Just like the saying money is the root of all evil, maybe ignor is the root of all problems.  I've been looking up what ignor or ig might mean in Latin, but that is my assumption that the Latin language holds the answers.  I couldn't find this word, but the word ignorance is based on the word ignore, so I know the history of this word will be interesting if I can figure it out.  I will have to ask my linguistics professor from last year if he knows anything about it.

The point is, though, that I think ignor is the root of our problems, and the simple answer to fighting ignor is to become educated, to study the gospel and be educated in the world.  But that isn't simple.  You can't just expose yourself to the answers.  You have to study them out in your mind and think about how to apply them.   If you don't apply them, you'll forget, and that's just as bad as being ignorant or ignoring what you know.  If you can't read the stop sign, that doesn't mean you'll be safe not obeying it.

Choose to Cleave.
*Read my first post, "Preface," for more information about Cleaving

"In most of the world, we have been experiencing an extended and devastating economic recession.  It was brought on by multiple causes, but one of the major causes was widespread dishonest and unethical conduct, particularly in the U.S. housing and financial markets.  Reactions have focused on enacting more and stronger regulation.  Perhaps that may dissuade some from unprincipled conduct, but others will simply get more creative in their circumvention.  There could never be enough rules so finely crafted as to anticipate and cover every situation, and even if there were, enforcement would be impossibly expensive and burdensome.  This approach leads to diminished freedom for everyone.  In the memorable phrase of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, We would not accept the yoke of Christ; so now we must tremble at the yoke of Caesar.

"Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we've become" (D. Todd Christofferson, "Moral Discipline," Ensign, Nov 2009, 105-8).

I think that just about says it.

Choose to Cleave.
*Read my first post, "Preface," for more information about Cleaving

"...the uninvited enemy called death enters the stage of our mortal existence and snatches from our grasp a loving husband or precious wife and frequently, in the young exuberance of life, our children and grandchildren.  Death shows no mercy.  Death is no respecter of persons, but in its insidious way, it visits all.  At times, it is after long-suffering and is a blessing while in other instances, those int he prime of life are taken by its grasp" (Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, Nov 1994, 68).

This quote stood out while I was reading this talk because my great-grandmother recently passed on, and it was really a blessing because she was suffering for a while.  I've been focusing on the blessing part of it, but death is still death, so it's not an entirely happy blessing, if that even makes sense.

For now, I am very thankful that I am not a parent and I have not had the terrible experience of a child dying.  I am also so thankful that I have not lost any of my sisters or precious friends to the grave.  I'm grateful that my parents are all living and well.  I've seen people lose people they love, and I am not looking forward to the grief of losing any more of my loved ones.

I cannot imagine dealing with death if I didn't have the comfort of the gospel.  I cannot imagine how different I would be without knowing the plan of salvation.  What would I think the purpose of life is?  Would I be afraid of my own death?  How would I live and treat people if I didn't think there was something after this?  Would I still feel so strongly about family?  I'm not sure.  Just some questions that came up during my study.

Choose to Cleave.
*Read my first post, "Preface," for more information about Cleaving

"Daily simple, sincere, and mighty prayers lift our lives to a higher spiritual altitude.  In our prayers we praise God, give thanks to Him, confess weaknesses, petition needs, and express deep devotion to our Heavenly Father.  As we make this spiritual effort in the name of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, we are endowed with increased inspiration, revelation, and righteousness, which bring the brightness of heaven into our lives"(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Prayer and the Blue Horizon," Ensign, Jun 2009, 4-7).

I think this quote is a good reminder of everything we should be doing while praying.  Also, if you consider that you should be praying always, maybe you don't have to be literally praying, but you could be looking for things to pray about throughout the day.  You can look for things praiseworthy, things you are thankful for, your weaknesses you'd like to overcome, the needs you have, and why you love Heavenly father.  I think that this will help us say prayers daily because we will realize just how much we have to pray about, and it will help our prayers be "sincere and mighty" because we will have been dwelling on our prayers long before we say them.

Choose to Cleave.
*Read my first post, "Preface," for more information about Cleaving

"During a difficult time while serving as a missionary, I started to believe that despite my obedience to mission rules and hard work, I was a constant disappointment to God because of my weaknesses.  In dark moments when I was viewing God as a harsh judge, I would think about my earthly father and how deeply he loves me.  I knew that I could always turn to him for love and comfort.  But then I realized that it is impossible for my mortal father to love me more than my Heavenly Father does...

"...When we feel ourselves slipping into the "despair, discouragement, despondency, and depression" that President Benson described, we can ask ourselves if we may be holding onto a lie about ourselves or about God.  We can seek out the truth in the words of the scriptures and the living prophets.  We can pray for the ability to discern between truth and error.  Empowered by the truth, we will find the strength to keep Satan at bay and experience the joy of having "the truth of all things" abide in us (Moses 6:61)," (Jennifer Nuckols, "Truths and Lies," Ensign, Oct 2009, 62-65).

I am thankful for my mother and the love she has offered me no matter what I did wrong.  I am thankful that she showed me that love, because it helped me better understand that God loves me no matter what I do.  She has repeatedly told me, "I cannot even imagine what it is like to be God, because I think about how much I love you, and I can't imagine how anyone could love you anymore than that, but I know that he does."

This has been one of the most important lessons in my life, because I realize that I am not disappointing to Heavenly Father because of my weaknesses.  He knows the truth about me and who I am, and even if I'm not a great person all of the time, he knows that I am an overall great person.

It might seem like a silly example, but I sometimes I think of kittens when I need to convince myself that God isn't disappointed in me. Kittens love to play and cuddle and they're just the cutest things little creatures you could have wandering around your home.  But sometimes, especially when they are sleepy, they'll dig their claws into you while they purr.  It's not like they want to hurt you, and they don't know that it hurts you.  It's just something cats do.  I've been clawed plenty of times, and even though I don't like the pain, I still can't help loving the kitten.  So I figure that God knows that sinning is something people do, and it's not like most of us wake up thinking, "How can I sin today?"  It just happens as a result of living and being mortal.  But He still loves us.  So there's my silly example for the day.

Choose to Cleave
*Read my first post, "Preface," for more information about Cleaving

I know this post is late in the day (or early in the morning), but at least I'm doing it.  I really thought about just going to bed, but I'm keeping this promise to myself tonight.  I'm posting every day that I possibly can (and I count a day as a measure of the time period that I am awake).

But I'm still keeping this short, because I really am tired.

Today I read a scripture that reminded me of a random Liahona article I read on Sunday.  Doctrine & Covenants 59:6--"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it."

The article was on abortion, how even if a mother doesn't perceive that she is actually killing the baby, abortion is like unto killing, which we have been commanded not to do.  The article was by Elder Russell M. Nelson, and he explained some rare cases when abortion could be acceptable, such as when the mother's health is threatened, physically or mentally (mentally as in she was a victim of rape/incest and she would not be able to mentally cope, and this must be verified by a proper professional).  Click here if you would like to read it (in English).  It's called "Abortion: An Assault on the Defenseless."  I know several people who wouldn't agree with this article, but I agree with it.  I don't know what more to say than Elder Nelson said in this article.  It touches all of the reasons that I cannot support abortion.

Choose to Cleave
*Read my first post, "Preface," for more information about Cleaving