Déjà Vu ~ Times II: “Countless seeds of good and ill”

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

“Countless seeds of good and ill”

Background 2012

▪ March 20-27: Reading Steven Pressfield’s: The War of Art and Do the Work¹
▪ March 25: Sang LDS hymn # 216: “We are Sowing” (“We are sowing, daily sowing Countless seeds of good and ill, …”)
▪ March 25: Taught RS sisters from Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s, October 2011 Conference address: “You Matter to Him”
▪ March 25-27: (1) Applied my mind to all the above; (2) Listened to the mind-chatter of a sower (me)

Thoughts

If “We Are Less Than We Suppose” (antidote to pride); and “Greater Than We Suppose” (antidote to cipher-syndrome); and if these are opposites, then humility is not the opposite of pride, but the way of balance between pride and cipher-syndrome.

Pride is to think that our talents, gifts, skills are ours by merit; that we have earned our money, fame, power; “that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; [that] every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime” (Book of Mormon | Alma 30:17); that every woman/man is entitled to be a law unto themselves.

Cipher-syndrome is to think we have no gifts or skills; that nothing we do is good enough; that God does not know or care who we are; that He has abandoned us; that we are so insignificant, so sinful, so flawed, so weak, so unforgiveable that the atonement can have no application in our life; that we are a nobody.

A Paradox of Man: If, as Elder Uchtdorf says: “This is a paradox of man: [in that] compared to God, man is nothing; yet we are everything to God… [and if] “The great deceiver knows that one of his most effective tools in leading the children of God astray is to appeal to the extremes of the paradox of man” (Nov. 2011 Ensign, p. 20) then wo/man is going to be a battle ground of whispers in the mind and heart² and whispers in the ears³.

Questions

So in coalescing all the above: what were the whispers I entertained since Sunday? What are the seeds I (allowed to be) sowed since Sunday? How does the song-parable apply to my unremitting mind-chatter?

AWARENESS is a grand key. Paying attention. Being present. Seeking help.

Thou who knowest all our weakness, Leave us not to sow alone!
Bid thine angels guard the furrows, Where the precious grain is sown.
Till the fields are crown’d with glory, Filled with mellow, ripened ears,
Filled with fruit of life eternal From the seed we sowed in tears.

(Verse 4: “We Are Sowing”, LDS Hymn #216

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1. Herein HIGHLY recommended; can be found in Kindle Books or perhaps your local library. (Thanks to my sister, BYS, who directed me to these Pressfield books.)

2. And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. … (Book of Mormon Words of Mormon 1:7) Yea, thus saith the still small voice, which whispereth through and pierceth all things, … (Doctrine and Covenants Section 85:6) And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—(Book of Mormon Helaman 5:30) And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying: Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world. (Book of Mormon Helaman 5:46 - 47) Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God? (Doctrine and Covenants Section 6:23) Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 8:2) … I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy; (Doctrine and Covenants Section 11:13; bold emphasis added)

3. And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 28:22; bold emphasis added)

Revolving Accounts

"The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us." (Old Testament Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)

"Dwell in the past and you'll lose an eye. Forget the past and you'll lose both eyes." (Old Russian Proverb)

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This Déjà Vu ~ Times II blog is devoted to my religious / spiritual musings (sometimes political), mainly concerning the recycling of our follies since the world began.

Over time, it will contain:
thoughts
observations
poems
quotes

Déjà Vu ~ Times II blog © 2009 - 2020 by SMSmith (unless otherwise noted). Some Rights Reserved. See Creative Commons License at the end of this column/page.

Déjà Vu ~ Times II blog was established August 17, 2009 while the author was living in Canada helping caregive an aged mother.

“No Comments” Rationale

1) Time & more needful priorities;
2) Problems observed with many open-comment blogs as so bluntly expressed at http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/comment-policy/
3) People are free to post divergent or convergent views on their own blogs;
4) Learning from comments here would be preferable, but— (see 1, 2, & 3).

Brief note to the OFFENDED: Just because allowing "comments" is a blogger's option, it does not mean every blogger must conform to the "expectations" of others. Every soul can consult the Spirit and decide what is best and right in their circumstance. And if one has a blanket policy not to read another's work because there is no opportunity to comment, it seems one has closed oneself off to potential guidance of the Spirit. Besides, in this world of "overwhelm," the guidance of the Spirit is the best resource we have to lead us to things of importance in our unique life. So, if you have found your way here, perhaps there are a few things of import for you here. I try to trust the Spirit to lead me likewise to things of import within my purpose and priorities.

My World / TransWorld View

▪ Truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come; (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:24)
▪ If we have the truth, it cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed. (J. Reuben Clark)

▪ Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (New Testament 1 Thessalonians 5:21)

▪ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.(New Testament Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13; 3 Nephi 13:24)
▪ See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.(New Testament 1 Thessalonians 5:15)
▪ For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; ... (Book of Mormon Alma 41:15)
▪ Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. (Book of Mormon Mosiah 4:9, emphasis added)
▪ ... the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (New Testament 1 Corinthians 1:25)
▪ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Old Testament Isaiah 55:8 - 9)
▪ ... the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true. (Book of Mormon Alma 29:8)
▪ The Bible is true, as far as it is translated correctly. Some things are to be understood literally; others metaphorically or symbolically.
▪ God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat; a Liberal nor a Conservative, just as Christ was neither a Pharisee or Sadducee. [For God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said, therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round.(Doctrine and Covenants Section 3:2)]
▪ Life is an escalating series of tests.
▪ “...we will be asked again and again to release the parts of our lives that mean the most to us.” (Caroline Myss, Sacred Contracts, p. 76; also preview lives of the prophets and saints.)