A Coming Déjà Vu ?

I read about the calamities of former days, (as in these brief examples):

Would that I had raised my voice at that moment, that it might have saved me from the pain in which I am. … Woe is me because of the misery of this time! (Papyrus Ipuwer VI; Ancient Egypt) http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/texts/ipuwer.htm

A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. (Old Testament Jeremiah 3:21)

… there was great mourning and howling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them. And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been burned in that great city Zarahemla. And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out; then would our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city Moronihah. And thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible. (Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 8:23-25)

I look around and listen to the news and views of today, and I cannot help but wonder if we are in for a latter déjà vu of the headline that might have graced every historical “Extra, Extra” had there been any capacity to print it:

Earth, wind/fire, water clipart from office.microsoft.com

Are we any different than former days? Why have we been asked to study Isaiah¹? To read the Book of Mormon? To apply those ancient texts to our day and lives²?

Is it because we, too, have:

▪ fallen in lust with the terrestrial?
▪ been seduced by The Three Temptations?
▪ been distracted by markets, commerce, and careerism?
▪ placed our faith in the visible in place of the invisible?
▪ been seduced by our senses and the sensible?
▪ lost consciousness of the esoteric, symbolic, and mysteries?
▪ followed “idols” (even spiritual ones), instead of the Spirit?
▪ lost our ability to distinguish true from false?
▪ treated traditions as if they were dogmatic truths?
▪ thought outward appearance was sufficient?
▪ acted as if service (of whatever kind³) was always superior to stillness? [Be still, and know that I am God: (Old Testament Psalms 46:10)]
▪ created God in our image?
▪ forgotten why we are here?

Brigham Young said all truth belongs to the gospel wherever it is found. Alma said God grants to all nations to teach His word⁴; so perhaps we should also be learning from additional prophetic voices outside the confines of our culture, traditions, and norms.

Let us not be afraid of honest, critical, and healing reflection. Let us not be afraid of following the Spirit if it says “No” to the expectations of others and their time-consuming agendas. Let us not be so conforming to the things of mere habit and custom. Let us not fall into the condemnation given to the Church at Ephesus.⁵

------------------/
1. Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 23:1 ~ AND now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.
2. Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 11:8 ~ And now I write some of the words of Isaiah, that whoso of my people shall see these words may lift up their hearts and rejoice for all men. Now these are the words, and ye may liken them unto you and unto all men. Also 1 Nephi 19:24 ~ Wherefore I spake unto them, saying: Hear ye the words of the prophet [Isaiah], ye who are a remnant of the house of Israel, a branch who have been broken off; hear ye the words of the prophet, which were written unto all the house of Israel, and liken them unto yourselves, that ye may have hope as well as your brethren from whom ye have been broken off; for after this manner has the prophet written.
3. Including, all too frequently, the enormous time and energy sacrifices demanded of members for super-activities, cultural fêtes at temple dedications, camps, jamborees, galas, grand meals, elaborate ward/stake events/activities, extra meetings, fund-raisers, etc., etc., which take

▪ farmers from their fields during critical weather windows;
▪ parents from their children for days-on-end;
▪ everyone from scarce time for contemplation, pondering, meditation, reflection, study, and other forms of important or critical service;
▪ many from the real mission and purpose of their time and lives.

4. Book of Mormon, Alma 29:8 ~ For behold, 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.
5. New Testament Revelation 2:1-5 ~ UNTO the angel of the church of Ephesus write; … I know thy works, and thy labour [service?], and thy patience, … and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. [Personal relationship with ME? Inner work?] Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (See “Which Church” post in labels below for greater explanation.)

In Good Company

Recently I have listened to the interviews of John Dehlin at Mormon Stories.¹ There he speaks of the pain that has been his companion for many years—the pain of witnessing a world in pain.

This is what I would say to the John (and Jane) Dehlins of this world. Pain and confusion are déjà vu nigh every prophet of old, plus a thousand, thousand other seekers of truth. Why so much sorrow in this world? Why so much pain in seeking to know God? in trying to reconcile His character, plan, and promises with this mortal life? in trying to endure His ways?

From my observations, it seems we have two extremes in believers: those who are perpetually of “good cheer”; and those who cannot shake the sorrows of a broken world. I have a sister on the perpetual cheer side. I have struggled for decades on the grief side. We each think the other is too extreme, which is undoubtedly true, but I take consolation in the counterweight we are to each other.

Those who manage to do as the Savior directed:

... In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (New Testament John 16:33);

are probably the more healthy and balanced as they grieve the tribulation, yet remain of good cheer—like the people of Mosiah:

“Now this account did cause the people of Mosiah to mourn exceedingly, yea, they were filled with sorrow; nevertheless it gave them much knowledge, in the which they did rejoice” (Book of Mormon Mosiah 28:18).

But nonetheless, many of us struggle with the discord between a God who self-describes as a Being of lovingkindness and the state of His creation.

These are some of the things that have, at times, given comfort:

▪ the Savior being described as “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:” (Old Testament Isaiah 53:3);
▪ the poignant verse, “Jesus wept.” (New Testament John 11:35); and though he undoubtedly laughed and smiled at times, the descriptions of Him seem to confine themselves to the sorrow side;
▪ the honesty of Biblical Job² in crying out his despair and confusions; and then, of God’s preference² for Job’s integrity over that of God’s own defenders, Job’s friends;
▪ the lamentations of Old Testament Jeremiah, e.g., “OH that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” (Old Testament Jeremiah 9:1);
▪ the cries of Ezra who, like Jeremiah, sorely lamented before God about the fate of the mass of humanity; and God’s reply: “For you come far short of being able to love my creation more than I love it.”³
▪ that God and the Heavens should weep for suffering mankind (Pearl of Great Price Moses 7:28, 31, 37, 40);
▪ that Enoch had bitterness of soul and wept, and wept, and wept, and wept (Pearl of Great Price Moses 7:41, 44, 49, 58);
▪ the description of the only designated survivors from a sword of justice as: “the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof” (Old Testament Ezekiel 9:4);
▪ the lamentations of Nephi, Jacob, Limhi, Alma, etc.: “... why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?” (Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 4:26); “... I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be”(Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 32:7); “... wherefore, we did mourn out our days” (Book of Mormon Jacob 7:26); “... great are the reasons which we have to mourn;” (Book of Mormon Mosiah 7:24); Alma’s prayer (Alma 31:26-35);
▪ the baptismal covenant that we are “willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort,” (Book of Mormon Mosiah 18:9);
▪ the beatitude: “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (New Testament Matthew 5:4);
▪ the words of Joseph Smith expressing his “painful anxiety” about the world and Zion: “I am led to exclaim, "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night"; and “... if the fountain of our tears be not dried up, we will still weep for Zion. This from your brother who trembles for Zion, and for the wrath of heaven, which awaits her if she repents not.” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 13, 19; see also Doctrine & Covenants 21:8.)
▪ the forewarning: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. ... And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (New Testament John 16:20, 22); “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you [and almost every mortal soul], as though some strange thing happened unto you” (New Testament 1 Peter 4:12);
▪ the scripture that I turn to perhaps more than any other: “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).

And though many of us yet lack the balance of Jesus’ admonition, yet I take consolation that we are not alone in struggling to comprehend the contraries of life and a loving God; and that sorrow and grief are acceptable before God as we mourn with those that mourn, and strive to trust in a Being greater than ourselves.

THE Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. (Old Testament Isaiah 61:1-3)

--------------------/
1. http://mormonstories.org/john-dehlin-and-faith-reconstruction/
2. http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2010/01/finding-god.html . See also: “Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? ... My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep” (Old Testament Job 30:25, 31).
3. (The Fourth Book of Ezra, The Old Testament Pseudephigrapha: Vol. 1, Apocalyptic Literatures & Testaments, ed. by James H. Charlesworth, pp. 543-544, bold emphasis mine)

Tones & Pitches

You are a parent:

▪ your child is snuggled in your arms while you are reading The Velveteen Rabbit.
▪ your child is standing beside a precious heirloom that lies in pieces at her feet—an heirloom you had lectured her, more than once, about not touching.
▪ your child has just spontaneously shared his only cupcake with a friend.
▪ your child is still lingering before a TV cartoon after three supper calls while the rest of the family waits at the table for grace.
▪ your child has just witnessed the death of a beloved pet.
▪ your child is innocently venturing into a swift-moving stream.
▪ your child is lying in a hospital bed awaiting another painful surgery.

Does the tone of your voice vary?

Does the tone of God’s voice vary?

Often we hear about the vengeful tone of the Old Testament God. Can we discover the reason in the text? What about the opposite tone? Have we ever looked for it?

Man vs. God

The discussions concerning Church history and Joseph Smith seem to have heated up in recent years with the ease of publishing and sharing of opinions. Clearly, for many seekers, God has not made faith easy to maintain. Some can’t even get to faith, because God Himself has become such an obstacle. And from a strictly human, rational, moral, and legal POV, one can hardly fault them. Many times, God manifests as an incomprehensible stumbling block.

On a diet of milk (or skimmed milk¹), God seems easy enough to accept, but when one attempts to eat meat in His house, one is almost guaranteed to experience bouts of choking because, at some point, He quits mincing it for us. Just ask Adam & Eve, Noah & Naamah, Abraham & Sarah, Moses, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nephi, Peter, Joseph & Emma Smith, and tens-of-thousands of others.

He has forewarned us about the meat in His house.

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. (New Testament 1 Corinthians 3:2)

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (New Testament Hebrews 5:12-14)

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: (Old Testament Isaiah 28:9-10)

For they cannot bear meat now, but milk they must receive; wherefore, they must not know these things, lest they perish. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 19:22)

Many of us study the history of God’s dealings with mankind, and know of His dealings with us and our loved ones, and when we get to the meat of life, we, like Job, often cry out:

... I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; For it increaseth. ... (Old Testament Job 10:15-16)

God’s meat (will) is full of contradictions and contraries despite what we would prefer (and often preach). Consider:

▪ the command for Abraham to perform human sacrifice;
▪ the unmerited sufferings of “perfect” Job;
▪ the command for Isaiah² to go naked and barefoot like a slave;
▪ the command for Hosea ² to marry an infamous  “wife of whoredoms”;
▪ the counsel of an old prophet³ to a young prophet to disobey personal revelation (and the fatal consequences, I Kings 13, JST);
▪ the command for Nephi to kill Laban;
▪ Peter’s denying the Christ (as a command???⁴);
▪ the command for Joseph Smith to practice polygamy; (???)
▪ the horrible suffering and death of hundreds of prophets, saints, sages, and defenders of truth as they sealed their testimonies with their blood.

What do these few examples say about our belief in: “Thou shalt not kill”; justice and lovingkindness; the dignity of prophets; following the prophet; “Thou shalt not bear false witness”; “Thou shalt not commit adultery”; God protects and blesses His faithful; and so on?

At times, the meat of contrarieties⁵ becomes too dissonant, agonizing, overwhelming, nonsensical, shocking, irreconcilable, and on and on. For many of us, the point comes where belief runs up against information, documentation, allegation, assumption, disappointment, etc., etc., and we cry: “I know too much (to remain faithful).”

BUT WHAT IF, in the end, the final, simple question is: “Did you know enough? (—to judge Me or My thoughts and ways?")?

We already have the short answer:

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)

which is perhaps the one scripture that should be written on the forehead of every seeking soul. Or perhaps:

... he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: (Old Testament Isaiah 11:3)

If we demand a rational, reasonable, logical, common sense God, then we won’t get the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; of Moses, Joshua, Hosea, Gideon, Joseph Smith, or of any of the old prophets. We seem, in this latter day, to want a telestial/terrestrial God who conforms and confines Himself to the enlightenment paradigm.

But no! we have been told time and again:

He is beyond us:

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. (New Testament Romans 11:33-36)

He has a purpose:

For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Pearl of Great Price Moses 1:39)

He is going to try us:

... that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. (Old Testament Exodus 16:4)

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; (Pearl of Great Price Abraham 3:25; bold emphasis added.)

But, O LORD of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, ... (Old Testament Jeremiah 11:20)

My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 136:31; bold emphasis added.)

And HOW is He going to test/prove/try us? by NOT offending our sense of logic and reason? by always confirming our faith-based, telestial/terrestrial biases? by offering up physical evidence? by preventing contradictory, confusing evidence? by making it easy to believe?

So if God commands Abraham or Nephi or Joseph Smith (or others) do we ever know enough to cry foul? And if the civil authorities do, then is it not up to God to provide a way for their escape, or not, as He sees fit?

Each of their acts offends our sense of what is rational, logical, reasonable, legal, moral, etc. And worse yet, how are we supposed to reconcile any of this with civil law and order? How, if confronted with civil or criminal law, could any of these have justified themselves? The contraries cannot be anything but agonizing and incomprehensible.

God’s will is often like a harpoon to the heart (or the imaginations of the heart, or mind, as the case may be). Again, just ask Abraham.

And maybe, in this twenty-first century, our harpoon to the heart is to let God be transrational⁶; to let Joseph Smith be His prophet of the Restoration (or as I first mistyped it, Testoration) even when he fails our “enlightenment,” evidentiary tests. What better way to push us toward “the evidence of things not seen”⁷ than to hopelessly confound the “evidence of things seen.”

In light of Abraham 3:15, the question we will surely face regarding Joseph Smith will be: Despite all you knew or thought you knew, did you ever know enough to judge him righteously?

-------------------------/

The following links are expansions of several of my thoughts expressed above:
1. Skimmed milk: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2010/10/skimmed-milk.html
2. Isaiah/Hosea: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2010/11/shock-of-contrast.html
3. Old Prophet: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/search/label/Old%20Prophet ; Ask yourself: How correlation-rational is this story?
4. Peter: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2011/12/in-defense-of-peter.html
5. Contradictions: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2009/09/agony-of-contradictions.html
6. Transrational: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2012/11/transrational.html
7. Faith: Hebrews 11:1

Drops of God?

Recently I was introduced to a blog post entitled “Drops of Awesome.”¹ As usual, this new information triggered an avalanche of thoughts and questions.

Undoubtedly many of us need to give more recognition to the positive aspects of our lives and endeavors, instead of dwelling so much on the negative aspects of life, but (yes, here comes that ubiquitous but)—here is my question. In this world of opposites and opposition, and with our predilection toward imbalance, might these “drops of awesome” carry the substantial risk of mis-focusing us, IF we don’t maintain awareness and vigilance?

What do I mean?

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? (Old Testament Proverbs 20:6)

It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory. (Old Testament Proverbs 25:27)

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. (Old Testament Proverbs 27:2)

He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. (New Testament John 7:18)

For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. (New Testament 2 Corinthians 10:18)

I had been mulling this “Drops of Awesome” idea for about a week, when our Sunday School teacher requested that in the next seven days, we raise our awareness of the oft unrecognized, small graces and manifestations of God in our everyday lives. And BOING, the enlightenment intensified. If, as I have written elsewhere that “Praise is best deflected toward God,” then perhaps “Drops of God” might be the safer focus.

Now this Awesome blogger clearly gives God the overflowing credit for making-up our deficiencies with the symbolism of a pitcher of water labeled “ATONEMENT,” but (there it is again), I have been wondering if “Drops of [Our] Awesome” might be more safely phrased in terms of “Drops of [God’s] Awesome,” as in His Spirit encouraging/moving us into greater awareness, motivation, sensitivity, compassion, empathy, faith, hope, charity, growth, progression, and so forth. Yes, it is our agency that makes the choice to listen and to act, but(!) what else do the scriptures say?

Then said Jesus unto them, ... I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me (New Testament John 8:28)

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. (New Testament Corinthians 3:9)

And so, I wonder if it might not be possible to refocus all our deeds of awesome into expressions of gratitude and praise?

NOT unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. (Old Testament Psalms 115:1)

PRAISE ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. (Old Testament Psalms 150:1-6)

----------------------/

1. http://www.daringyoungmom.com/2012/12/19/drops-of-awesome/

Finding God!

In a recent magazine article,^[1] the concluding sentence read: “In a world where trouble and temptations seem to find us so easily, it is reassuring to know that our greatest source of strength [our Heavenly Father] is so easy to find.”

This may be true—sometimes. And maybe, dear reader, your experience (or unwavering belief) is that He is always so. But from my experience, from my study and witness (and the déjà vu) of the lives and writings of many, God has NOT been so easy to find—or perhaps more accurately, to re-find.^[2]

In the trenches of life, countless striving people endure an excruciating path of seeking to find God in the midst of His extended silences; His apparent contradictions; His seeming abandonments; His apparent deafness to fervent prayers and priesthood promises; His tendency to inflict^[3] Job-like challenges upon His children.

Why does He NOT, in this “game of life,” always manifest the easy-to-find presence idealized in the article? Is it to prove us—to see if we will choose good and God in the midst of inexplicable pain, confusion, and “every excuse and temptation” to do otherwise?^[4] Is it to test our endurance in seeking Him with all our heart, might, mind, and strength? Is it to bring us to wisdom and divine priorities through suffering?

Of course, God wants us to find Him. But if finding Him were so easy, where would be the trial—the proving—that is integral to the Plan; each according to need? Yes, sometimes, God will pursue us and be amazingly easy to find. But MORE times, I believe, He will require us to pursue Him through mists of darkness till we are exhausted and sometimes, almost hopeless, like Job.^[5]

I believe God works along a continuum of possibilities—again, each according to need. God said we should expect opposition in all things,^[6] so why not opposition to the way we perceive Him and the ways we expect Him to be and to bless?

What I find painful about latter-day variations of the comfort Job had to endure from his friends—is how alienating such “comfort” remains. Already, many of us feel too frequently estranged from our oft-silent God and confused by contraries and unfulfilled promises and expectations. Then, as we seek for understanding and peace, we encounter voices that seem to say, “You do not rightly feel what you feel. You do not truthfully experience what you experience, because that is not how God is.” Job’s friends were confident in their fervent defense of the character and ways of God, but surprisingly, God did not come to their defense. Rather, Job’s passionate swings between testimony, railings, questions, and accusations proved more acceptable.^[7]

If only we could get to the point of pondering the ENTIRE book of Job and acknowledging not just his enduring testimony,^[8] but also his heartbreaking questions, struggles, terrors, and confusions!^[9] And admitting as well, our own unfortunate tendencies to recycle as “gospel truths” the unhelpful convictions of Job’s friends. How much comfort, understanding, and compassion do we forfeit for ourselves and deny to others when we reference only a minutia of Job’s story and acknowledge only a fraction of God’s ways and means?

------------
[1] “I Will Be Found of You” by Aaron L. West, Ensign, January 2010:80
[2] In some instances, finding God may indeed come in easy, transcendent ways, such as for many new seekers in search of His path; or when He goes in search of lost lambs (those who have left the fold). But for those who have made commitment to His path, the finding and re-finding of God in daily struggles and longings is seldom an exercise in ease. I also know that for me, seeing God is not the same as finding God. I can see God in nature, in the faces of children, in the compassion of good people, even in the survival of so many sinners who seem sustained for the chance that they might repent (which includes most of us); but many times, I cannot seem to find God in the translations and explanations of men. I wonder if God tires of us always trying to translate Him and our lives into tidy explanations when what He really wants is not our translations, but our transformation.
[3] Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father (emphasis added).
[4] Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:24-25 ... We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; (emphasis added); Doctrine and Covenants, Section 98:12, 14 … I will try you and prove you herewith. … for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy (emphasis added).
[5] Old Testament, Job 19:10 He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.
[6] Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, ..., righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; …
[7] Old Testament, Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
[8] For example, see magazine notes to “Judgments of Job” by Joseph Brickey on the inside front cover, Ensign, January 2010
[9] “I will complain in the bitterness of my soul” (Old Testament, Job 7:11); “I am full of confusion” (10:15); accused God of breaking him with a tempest and multiplying his wounds without cause (9:17), of being cruel to him (30:21); charged God with removing his hope like a tree [tearing it up by the roots?] (19:10); stood up to God and demanded to be judged in truth and justice (chp. 31); suffered immense despair (6:2-4) and terrifying dreams (7:14) and railed against his own birth (3:11).

Suppositions from a Sunday Afternoon

(Thoughts sparked by reports of some who seem to lose a sense of self when experiencing deep meditation.)
◊ if undifferentiated oneness is the original state of all things, living and non-living;
◊ if life is a three-act developmental opportunity with pre-mortal, mortal, and post-mortal stages;^[1]
◊ if greater degrees of differentiation and wholeness come by progressively abiding the law (greater light) of higher states and stages;
◊ if the light of lower states and stages is included in higher ones (transcend & include);^[2]
◊ if a higher state/stage is obtained only after sustained inner and outer submission to its revealed laws (greater light);
THEN
—◊ maybe those meditative practices that "offline" the frontal cortex^[3] are really regressions into pre-mortal oneness and not practices of transcendence;
—◊ maybe the sustained practice of emptying oneself into pre-mortal oneness is so stressful on the mortal state that it can lead to mental and physical disintegration;
—◊ maybe the light of higher stages (realms or dimensions) comes only as a gift from that higher place, revealing itself in its own time and way to those who seek, ask, and demonstrate a capacity to receive—and is generally unresponsive to demand, insincerity, misdirected practice, or chemical experimentation;
—◊ maybe transcendence is best served by pondering specific questions and by seeking to abide, through transrational submission, the light and differentiated oneness^[4] (unity) that seem descriptive of advancement and enlightenment.
---------------------------------
[1] Does this three-act progression require an "invitation" (intercession) from more advanced beings: e.g., parents to birth one from pre-mortal to mortal; and a resurrected Christ to raise one from death to immortality?
[2] Could sleep be the "included" pre-mortal dimension which is mostly veiled to mortals in order, perhaps, to dispense equitable justice following a probationary mortal experience to ascertain the degree of light each will choose to abide?
[3] See Time magazine (Cdn edition) August 4, 2003, p. 43: "Inside the Meditating Brain: Frontal Lobe: This is the most highly evolved part of the brain, responsible for reasoning, planning, emotions, and self-conscious awareness. During meditation, the frontal cortex tends to go offline."
[4] New Testament, KJV: John 10:16, 30; 17:11, 21-23; Acts 4:32; Romans 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 10:17; 12:11-27; 2 Cor. 13:11; Eph. 2:14-22; 1 John 5:7-8; Matthew 19:5 (a transcendence of opposites?). And does Christ's atonement / at-one-ment—an utterly transrational submission (KJV, Matt. 26:39, 42, 44; Mark 14:36, 39; Luke 12:42, 44, John 4:34)—open the way for those who seek greater post-mortal advancement by their willingness to abide the greater light?

(First written in January 2007 and posted to another forum on January 7, 2007)