Showing posts with label Isaiah. Show all posts

My scripture study has been lacking a little as of late. My goal was to be through Isaiah by today, but I still have 7 chapters left, which was the same as I had a week ago...

I'm almost there though, considering there are 63 chapters and I am on 56. I can pat myself on the back can't I???

But still, I need to finish my goal.

So I was thinking that maybe if I posted something from Isaiah, it might get me motivated to start moving along again. I browsed through my notes and found this scripture:

"Then said I: Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5).

These are the little ponderings I wrote about it:

What kind of example am I and what company do I keep and what kind of encouragement or discouragement do I give? How are my “lips”? Do I speak kindly? How are the “lips” of my children? What can I do to improve our “lips”?

Then I thought "Well that's kind of boring to post about, my readers need something more profound than that". So I started of thinking of lips and songs and naturally this came to mind:



You know, Larry can be very profound sometimes...

I’m not a mall shopper. In my younger days I was, but now I avoid it (except when I am craving See’s candy). However, I do have a few department and specialty stores that I particularly like. The other day I was driving home from an appointment and my route took me past my favorite shopping center. Some of the stores include Marshalls, Michaels, Old Navy, Bath and Body Works, and Barnes & Noble. As I passed by them I felt the familiar giddy excitement welling up in me and I fought the desire to turn in and shop. I love browsing through Marshalls housewares department looking for the latest kitchen gadget or fun decorative items to display around my house. A new set of dishes makes me very happy. I also love to ramble through Barnes & Noble; I usually find three or four books to add to my ever expanding book collection. My husband is into political books, but I like anything Jane Austenish. I also love reading young adult literature. Oh yes, books make me happy. And then there’s Michaels…now there’s a store I can spend a lot of time in. They have oh so many things to help feed the creative genius within me; scrapbooking, jewelry crafting, yarn, silk flowers, etc. The only thing they lack is a fabric center. I have to go to JoAnn’s for that. Yep, sewing and crafting makes me happy. Oh, yes and Old Navy where you can come out with two huge shopping bags for under $100.00. They have such good deals at Old Navy. Seeing my kids dressed in the latest fashion at such a good bargain makes me happy. And let us not neglect Bath & Body Works. The smell alone pulls you into that store. I love their body wash, lotion and bath splash. Goodness, you can get them in so many different fragrances. I especially love the Sweetpea fragrance. Taking a nice hot shower and then pampering myself with their lotion makes me happy.

Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages were heavy loaden; they are a burden to the weary beast. They stoop, they bow down together, they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.*

Oh, I know that scripture. I just studied it. Bel and Nebo are some idols of the Israelites. I think they were made of metal or something very heavy. I think it slowed the Israelites down when they were carrying them and they were taken into captivity…but wait, what does that have to do with what makes me happy? I don’t have any idols. Well anyway, where was I…oh yes…

...I was good however and resisted the urge to turn in. I drove home instead. When I got there my daughter reminded me that I needed to order a couple of books she needed for her Japanese class. I turned on my laptop and went to Amazon.com. I looked over the list of books in my shopping cart. Yep, there were her books…along with a few others that I had heard were must reads and a couple more that I found while browsing around their site, and did you know that you can buy so much more from Amazon.com than books? Yessiree Bob, I found a case for my Blackberry and a couple of games as well. I proceeded to the check out and with a few clicks of the mouse my order was complete. I would be getting some packages in the mail in just a few days, I love getting packages in the mail... it’s almost like Christmas!! Did I mention that books make me happy?

They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.*

What…huh?...what does money have to do with this? And what’s this about a god? Do you mean like a false god? Like idol worship? Oh, yeah, those Israelites, they paid a lot of money for their gods, they even made them out of gold. Can you imagine? I don’t get it. But wait, this is a post about what makes me happy, what does it have to do with idol worship? Try not to interrupt me again…

ANYWAY…So after I was done ordering the books I took a look around the house. It was a bit messy. Well maybe a little more than a bit. O.K., I tell you, I cannot get out from under the housework, it seems all I do is clean house. Dusting around all those knick knacks takes a lot of time! And laundry…hoo boy, I have laundry piles in every room, that’s a never ending task. And then there’s the constant shuffling of books; they are all over the place, in baskets on the floor, on the coffee tables, stacked in corners of the room. I need more bookshelves.

They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place… *

Oh that's the best part. Those foolish Israelites, they carried their god all over the place with them. That must have been a lot of fun, carting him all over the place when they moved, because you know, they moved a lot, but I digress, I was talking about what makes me happy…

After looking about a bit, I decided I needed a little pick me up before I got started picking up so I headed to my sewing/craft room. I moved a couple of projects off the desk so I could have some space to sew. I opened the closet door so that I could get the quilt I started a couple of years ago. After moving a stack of material and some crafting supplies I finally located it, however by the time I got done rearranging things I noticed the clock said 5:00…oops, time to start dinner. I went to the kitchen and started looking for the sauce pan I needed to fry up the hamburger. After moving several pots and pans out of my way I finally found the one I like to use best. Then I had to find a spatula to stir the meat with. I tried to open the utensil drawer, but it was stuck, I guess it was a little to full….dang it, I broke a nail trying to get the drawer open and I had just painted my nails too. Oh, why does life have to be so hard? Sometimes I get so depressed and weary trying to keep up with my life. I feel like a slave in my own home constantly moving the clutter around. If I could just get my home organized I would be happy.

...wait a minute. Did I just insinuate that I am not happy? Because this is a post about what makes me happy.

and he standeth… yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. *

...yeah I know, when the Israelites were unhappy they cried to their god, but it couldn't answer, because it was just metal after all, just another thing sitting around cluttering up their...ummm...cluttering up their, uh...space.

I think I’m getting the hint...

but you know what would really make me happy right now? A nice hot shower and then some soothing lotion...

*Isaiah 46

One of my favorite ways to study the scriptures is to choose a word and look up all the references listed in the Topical Guide. I did this with the word “order” once and wow, did I ever learn about order. But that’s for another post. This time as I was reading Isaiah 5 I came upon this scripture, “Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…” (Isaiah 5:13). This is the chapter that relates the parable of the vineyard, and some of the sins that Israel were committing are listed: oppressing the poor, engaging in revelry—drinking and making merry and forgetting the Lord, rebelling against Him; and their sins were leading them into captivity. The reference for “captivity” tells us to look in the Topical Guide under “Bondage, Spiritual”. So wanting to understand more about what spiritual bondage is I looked up several scriptures that were referenced and was led down an interesting journey of what I would call line up line, precept upon precept. And rather than telling you what I learned at the end I’m going to list the scriptures with my thoughts and impressions so that you can see the connecting threads as well.

John 8:32—“and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” This leads to a reference in D&C 50:25 –“you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you”. So the more truth we know, through our study and meditations, the freer we are. If truth leads to freedom and light, therefore lack of knowledge leads to spiritual bondage or darkness.

Mosiah 5:7-8 tells us that because we are spiritually begotten, through our covenants, we are made free. Through faith on his name, our hearts are changed.

Galations 5:1 references the Law of Moses with spiritual bondage—possibly meaning no saving ordinances?

2 Nephi 1:13 describes spiritual bondage as being in a deep sleep, the “sleep of hell”. Our worst nightmares come true?! It also describes bondage as “the eternal gulf of misery and woe.”

Mosiah 16:5—a person who is sinning and rebelling remains in the fallen state and the devil hath power over him. “Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made.” The atonement is null and void for that person.

Alma 5:7-13—Seeking knowledge brings illumination. Light allows us to “see” and to “chase darkness away”. Spiritual bondage is darkness. Verse 9 describes how “their souls did expand”. Darkness is the absence of light and the expansion of light dispels the darkness. A person who does not study the word of God has a narrow focus, only what the adversary wishes him to see. The word of God expands that focus.

Alma 12:11 gives more meaning—those who “harden their hearts are given the lesser portion of the word” (a narrowing of light), “until they know nothing” (are in darkness) and “then they are taken captive by the devil “(spiritual bondage). Remember the change of heart talked about in Mosiah 5:7-8, what is in our heart is directly related to our state of bondage.

Alma 41:11—spiritual bondage is to be without God “contrary to the nature of God…a state contrary to the nature of happiness” Spiritual bondage is unhappiness (misery and woe).

If we look at the sequence here we see that knowledge is the first step in being free. Knowledge is brought about by a study of the word of God. That knowledge illuminates our path; it changes our hearts and increases our faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement. It draws us into His light.
I have generally thought of spiritual bondage as being a state for really wicked people, but now I realize there are different stages of spiritual bondage and yesterday I realized that I was in one.

Darkness is the absence of light. Darkness ensues when we withdraw ourselves out of the light, for that is how it happens. It’s like being in the light of a lamp; the lamp doesn’t move, it’s a steady, continual light. I am the one who moves away from it. By my neglecting the Word, I put myself in darkness. I haven’t been studying my scriptures very regularly lately, and when I have studied, I haven’t really applied myself, it’s been more of reading to say I read rather than reading to increase my knowledge.

I don’t think of myself as really wicked, but just really slothful. When I move away from the light I find that my sense of order seems to diminish. I forget my priorities and I become very unproductive. My housework suffers, my children’s education suffers, and dinners don’t get made. I also find myself becoming more impatient. My heart hardens and I am not very sympathetic to my family’s needs, I become selfish. I am not happy because I am “contrary to the nature of God”.

Fortunately God can reach out into the darkness and find me. “For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” I can catch hold of his hand and he can guide me back into the light. A couple of days ago he did just that. I had been watching a movie and fell asleep on the couch. I had a really weird, evil feeling dream and woke up to darkness (everyone had gone to bed and the TV had been turned off). I was stumbling around trying to find my way upstairs when I had a thought I should read my scriptures to try and erase the feeling from the dream. It was about 1:00 am, but I decided that I should listen, so I got my scriptures and proceeded to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. I read from 1 Nephi 15 and here are a few phrases that popped out at me:

“Have ye inquired of the Lord?”

“If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.”

“Wherefore if they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved.”

“Whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish.”

“Give heed unto the word of the Lord.”

Notice how all these phrases have something to do with what I learned about spiritual bondage? Do you think He was trying to tell me something?

“Hey you, little girl out there stumbling around in the dark, get over here and study your scriptures!”

I gave heed and the last couple of days I have studied my scriptures with a little bit more intensity. Now if you will excuse me, I have some housework to attend to.

“Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

And he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein and he looked that it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I look that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down." (Isaiah 5:1-5)

My husband and I have spent countless hours driving around the countryside looking for the perfect place in which to build a house. Not any place would do, we had our criteria. We wanted a place with enough room for the kids to play, a place for a garden and fruit trees, and lots of privacy. After many days, weeks and months, even years of searching, we finally found the perfect spot.

In the parable of the vineyard the first verse says, “My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill”, meaning the master of the vineyard chose carefully where he was going to plant his vineyard. It had to be the perfect spot, a place where the ground was fertile and would bring forth the best fruit of the vine. I imagine he spent a lot of time searching before finding the perfect spot for his vineyard.

After picking out the perfect location for the vineyard, the master shows his great diligence in what it takes to prepare for his precious fruit. First he puts up a fence to keep out predators, protecting the vineyard from outside influence. Then he combs the ground for stones, anything that might hinder the growth of the tender young vines. He picks the choicest vines, the very best he can afford to plant in his vineyard. He builds a tower so that he can watch over the fence for anything that might bring harm to his precious vineyard. He bought a wine press so he would be prepared, because he expected the vines to bring forth good fruit. He was a caring, dedicated master expecting nothing but the best by all his preparations in his vineyard. Imagine his immense disappointment when his vines bring forth bad grapes, after all his care and diligent sacrifice.

Matthew 21:33-44 gives a more complete picture of the parable. After the master carefully prepared the vineyard he let it out to husbandmen, people he trusted to the stewardship of his vines while he was away. After awhile he sent servants to the husbandmen to receive the fruits, but they beat and stoned them. Finally he sent his son saying “they will reverence my son”. “But when the husbandman saw the son they said among themselves, this is the heir; come let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.”

Because of the wickedness of the vineyard wherein they would kill the masters son, in his anger the master takes down the hedge and breaks down the wall, which wasn’t in good shape anyway according to Proverbs 24:30-31: it“was grown all over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof and the stone wall thereof was broken down”, probably because of neglect of the husbandman.

I love parables. I love finding the unseen little gems that a careful study will produce. The Bible Dictionary defines a parable as being “Greek in origin, and means a setting side by side, a comparison…In parables divine truth is presented by comparison with material things. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds."

Isaiah uses the parable of the vineyard to symbolically tell the tale of Israel’s destruction and scattering and as I pondered upon it I considered how to apply it to me personally. My thoughts were led to the idea of comparing the vineyard as being my home, and my husband and I, the husbandmen. How is the soil in our vineyard? Is it fertile? Are we constantly nourishing it to keep it thriving and strong? Are we teaching gospel precepts that will help our family grow in truth and righteousness? Are we having personal and family scripture study? How is the ground? Do we allow stones that are thrown in to clutter up and hinder our growth? And what are the stones? How many activities are taking up valuable family time? What weaknesses are we stumbling over? What are we doing with those stones? Are we using them to build the wall, or carrying them around in our backpacks? How about the tower? Are ever watchful for enemies? What or who are those enemies? Are we aware of who our children’s friends are and who our friends are? What TV programs and movies are we watching? What magazines are we reading? What content is coming in to our homes from the Internet? How is our wall? Are we constantly keeping back the thorns and nettles? Are we preparing for the return of the master? What fruits will we be able to present to him?

When my husband and I found the perfect spot for our home, there were many obstacles to overcome. We had to split the property in three parcels and sell two of them before we could begin construction on the third. We have sold one and are still waiting on the other to sell. The economy has taken a downturn, and it’s anyone’s guess as to when it will sell. When we bought the property we began going to church in the ward whose boundaries our property was in rather than where we were renting our house. But after being there a couple of months I began feeling like we needed to go to the other ward. My husband hates change and didn’t want to, and I loved the ward as well. It was a difficult decision. One day after listening to a particularly uplifting lesson in Relief Society I thought in my mind how much I loved this ward and wanted to stay here. Immediately another thought followed, “You’re needed elsewhere.” I knew then that we needed to change wards and so after some prayer and deliberation we did. Our children have thrived in the new ward. And I know that things have not progressed on our house because our children needed to be here for whatever reason. My dream of living in the perfect house on acreage has had to take a back seat for awhile.

Right after I finished my ponderings of Isaiah 5, I picked up a sheet of paper that I had tucked into my scriptures. It had this quote from President Howard W. Hunter, “If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take his teachings and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be consistent and loyal in every walk of life, for we will be committed to a single sacred standard of conduct and belief.”

I want to choose where my vineyard is, but I realize that I am not the master of the vineyard, I am the steward, and it is the Lord who chooses the place. It has taken me awhile to learn that it doesn’t matter where we are or what kind of home we are in, whatever area the Lord has chosen for us is the place that will be of the most value in our progress and it is the place that I am to nourish. The pattern he has given us in this simple parable has relevance in every aspect of our lives. How we choose to conduct ourselves in the vineyards we have stewardship over are intrinsically related to the happiness and wellbeing of our families. The consequences of our conduct have eternal significance, and that eternal significance will be very clear when the Master comes to gather the fruit of his vineyard. I think the final question is: When the Master comes, how will I greet him and how worthy will be the fruit in my vineyard?

One of my goals this year is to finish up my first run through of Isaiah. I’m currently on chapter 41, so I only have 15 more chapters to go. Sounds simple enough, but when you consider that sometimes Isaiah can only be digested a verse at a time, it might just take me the rest of the year to finish! Maybe not though, I started my study in September, so I’m averaging about 10 chapters per month which would put me finishing near the end of February. Maybe I’ll make it a goal to finish by my birthday.

I remember when I started my study. I was at a spiritual low and was casting about in my mind what I should study. Should I read the Book of Mormon again? Should I try to catch up on the Sunday school study (being in Primary I never was very good at keeping up when I’m not there to discuss)? Maybe I’d go with the Old Testament, since that would be the Seminary course of study. As I sat there trying to decide, the thought came, “study Isaiah”. Hmmm, I’d tried that before, in fact I had even gotten as far as chapter 2…

I started my study, or rather; I resumed my study with chapter three. I stumbled through, getting my feet wet with the language, asking lots of questions, getting few answers, but a couple of gems came through. Then I came to chapter five. I read through it the first time…fuzz…I started in again, this time taking it slowly, picking it apart. And that’s when I had my Eureka moment; my whole attitude and understanding of how to study Isaiah changed. I was so excited about what I had learned that I wanted to share it with the whole world!

Isaiah saved me. I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I have been going through a mid-life crisis. Right around that time I was in the thick of it, (although I didn’t recognize that that was what I was going through) and Isaiah pulled me out of it. I have been given many answers through my study. I still don’t know anything about Isaiah really, but I know a heck of a lot more about me!

I got a book for Christmas that I’m very excited about. It’s called Verse by Verse, The Four Gospels. It’s a small, little book (only a measly 856 pages). It’s a commentary on the Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and gives an understanding of the history, geography, archeology and language of the New Testament era. In the beginning of the book the authors give suggestions for getting the most from your scripture study. They say, “It has been suggested that when we want to talk with God, we pray; when we want him to talk to us, we study the scriptures. Write down your impressions while studying his words. Occasionally when you are deeply involved in reading and pondering the scriptures, the Lord will reveal something to your mind, maybe even unrelated to what you are reading on the page, but something that will improve your life, enhance some relationship, or resolve some problem or conflict.”

A couple of years ago I had started writing down my thoughts while studying the scriptures and I can’t tell you how many times during my study sessions I have been given something unrelated to what I am reading. Of course, my mind tends to wander to a lot of unrelated things as I have studied Isaiah, because, well, Isaiah tends to wander himself. But it has been a beautiful way of learning how the Lord speaks to me.

Well, this post actually started out being an introduction to Isaiah 5 so that I could share it with you, but seeing as how this post has gone on too long, you will just have to come back tomorrow...or rather, when you see on your blog feed that I have posted something!

Also, since I did mention goals in the beginning of this post I might as well tell you that I plan on putting my goals out here for all the world to see, but I’m still working on them, trying to hone them down to something that I will actually do! One is to finish Isaiah, and another will be to get to bed at a decent time every night…oops, too late to start today!

Well, Good Night and Happy New Year!

I received an email from one of those watchdog groups today that I found to be somewhat entertaining and disturbing at the same time. It made me laugh, but not in a joyful way, rather it was a laugh of incredulity.

The email was about the silly controversy regarding Mike Huckabee and his TV ad where he wishes people a Merry Christmas. In the background is a bookshelf, which, because of the light, takes on the shape of a cross. Also displayed on the bookshelf are three ornaments, which critics deem to be representative of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. He is accused of sending an overt religious appeal to voters.

Oh please. So what if he was? He says the cross in the background was not intentional, but even if it was, so what? He was sending a religious message to voters; he was wishing them a Merry Christmas…which is a religious holiday… about Christ. He was interviewed on the Today Show by Meredith Vieira and I like how he defends himself, saying that some will probably think that through his blinking he was sending a Morse code message about religion.

But then it made me think of something Isaiah said:

“This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” (Isaiah 30: 9-11)

I think this is a prophecy that has come to pass.

A few years ago I did a small study of the properties of water. I learned that water in nature is actually ‘alive’. As a river or stream winds its way to the ocean, the water swirls and meanders from one side of the bank to the other. This meandering is actually a constant circular (vortex) motion that causes the molecules to cluster together keeping them tight and ordered. When water becomes stagnant or is forced to flow in a straight line it loses its vitality and the molecules become loose, thus allowing impurities to penetrate easily. When ‘living water’ is frozen it forms beautiful crystals but when it is ‘dead’, dirty or otherwise corrupted the crystals will either not form or they are mutated. The cells in our body have the same properties as living water, so it is easily absorbed into our system, cleansing our bodies and giving us vitality and energy. Impure water, on the other hand, can cause all kinds of disease and it actually ages us faster. (Maybe that’s why anciently people lived so long?)

At the time I studied this chapter we were going through a major transition in our home. I wrote about it here. Normally, under such stressful circumstances, my chest becomes all tight and constricted and I start to shut down. It’s kind of like walking through a quagmire. My steps become slower and slower as I sink deeper and deeper and soon I find myself on the couch or bed staring into space, unable to pull myself out and move forward. This time, however, none of that happened. I had energy and to spare. I wondered at it and came to recognize that I was being carried through it all. Why? What was I doing differently?

Well at that time I had been studying my scriptures consistently for about 2-3 months. It is what gave me the energy and vitality to keep moving and the ability to rise above the situation and set my sights on the finish line. I was drawing out of the well daily, receiving t he ‘living water’ that was so essential to my progress.

As I have studied Isaiah thus far I have been given many truths; beautiful principles and precepts that have lifted and sustained me. Sometimes the meaning has been hard to find, but as I persevered I have been able to find connections that have opened my eyes. Sometimes it’s the actual reading that gives me strength through just being obedient, and the Lord is blessing me with peace in my heart. But lately I have also had the words of scriptures that I read that day, or just recently, put into my mind at a time of great trial. It whispers to me that the Lord, my salvation, is near and giving me the living water I need to trust him and keep on going. This chapter is like a little breath of fresh air after all the work, a little burst of gratitude in the form of a song/psalm of praise.

I was going down wrong paths and the Lord chastised me several times, but now he comforts me with truth and light from the scriptures. He has lifted fear out of my heart and left me with peace. Yes, I want to “sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things…great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” (Isaiah 12:5-6)

Peace: a state of quiet or tranquility;

• Freedom from war
• Freedom from internal commotion or civil war.
• Freedom from private quarrels, suits or disturbances.
• Freedom from agitation or disturbance by the passions (fear, terror, anger, anxiety); quietness of mind; tranquility; calmness; quiet of conscience.
• Heavenly rest; the happiness of heaven.
• Harmony; concord; a state of reconciliation between parties at variance.
• Public tranquility; that quiet order and security which is guaranteed by the laws.
• Used in commanding silence or quiet.

What’s in a name, truly? Do not these definitions open your mind as to the personality, character and eminence of our Savior? Each definition is worthy of more contemplation, but that would make for a really long post, so I will focus on the last name, The Prince of Peace.

When I first read the definition for “peace”, just the act of writing down the words brought a sense of peace to my heart. This last year having been a turbulent one for me, I had often prayed for peace, but after reading these definitions, I realized that I need to be more specific in my prayers as to what kind of peace my heart needed. A couple of days after having done this chapter I had the opportunity of application to my life. I had been feeling very frustrated at my husband for something and also, my husband, my son and I had been at variance with one another. After a round of words I found myself in my closet in tears. As I knelt there asking for peace I reflected on the definitions I had learned and I contemplated what kind of peace I was seeking. I prayed for freedom from the internal commotion I felt because of the discord with my husband; I wanted it taken from my heart. I prayed for freedom from the private quarrel and disturbance that was between the three of us. I asked for harmony and a state of reconciliation so that we would not be at variance with each other and that tranquility would be restored to our home. Just the act of praying in such a specific way brought about a sense of peace, and then as I went about my day I began to see the Lord answering my prayer. At one time I spoke to my son with sharpness and as I did so a thought popped into my mind, “Is this how to establish peace?” It made me stop quickly and change my tone of voice and my attitude toward him and the situation. Later that evening my husband asked my son to go see a movie with him, thus helping to restore goodwill between the two of them. As for the internal commotion I felt toward my husband, I decided to try a different approach to this frustrating situation, one that I was not particularly comfortable with but one that I knew would make him happier. As the day progressed I noticed the internal commotion in my heart becoming less and less and by the end of the day I didn’t feel it at all.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

The Lord’s gospel is the “gospel of peace” which the Lord sent by angels to the world. (D&C 27:16) His gospel has everything required to bring about peace in this world, peace that begins within each one of us as we truly seek it. He is the Prince of Peace, and we can find that peace as we look to the “author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrew 12:2).

I’ve been lacking lately in motivation to write on my blog. I think I have lost my focus. Actually when I started my blog I wasn’t sure what my focus was, only that I felt compelled to start one so that I could have some sort of communication with my family who live in other areas of the U.S, far away from me. I wasn’t sure what to really write about and consequently I can’t say that my first posts were the most illustrious of posts, nor any since then except a couple that came from I don’t know where, because I’m certainly not a writer. I am, however, very philosophical by nature. I’m a dreamy truth-seeker who loves nothing better than to have an in-depth discussion about the meaning of life, but I tend to get somewhat sappy and sentimental, which when I’m having a face to face, heart to heart, isn’t so bad. But when I try to write about it, it just comes out all wrong. Most of my posts take forever to write because I have to revise them or even completely rewrite them after reviewing them the next day when my mood has changed enough to see the sappiness that I didn’t see the day before.

(In fact I almost got scared away from blogging altogether when I ventured out into the blogosphere and saw the many talented writers out there. I’d be better off at a quilting guild than the company I am endeavoring to keep here in blogland.) (And when I read what writers say about others grammatical errors, I cringe to even comment on their blog because I’m too embarrassed for them to come to my spot for fear they will be turned off by my poor use of the apostrophe and other punctuational (not a word, I know) errors.)

Well, I’m not sure where this post is going, except that I seem to have lost my focus again…which brings me back to the beginning…what was I going to tell you about?…oh yes…actually I did finally find something to focus on, and that is my Isaiah studies. I realized that blogging about the insights I have gained through my studies would perfect for my philosophical dreamy side. But in case you hadn’t noticed, I kind of stalled after chapter 2. Not that my studies have stalled, I am actually on chapter 30! It’s just the posting has stalled. I actually have 3 posts written for chapter 2, all from different angles, but none quite right! Meanwhile, I’ve been dying to tell you some of the things I’ve learned from other chapters, but have felt like I needed to stick to a chronological order and consequently, nothing has been posted!

So I’ve been rethinking things a bit. No, I’m not going to give up on writing about Isaiah, I’ve grown too fond of him to quit. But I think that I won’t try to go in chronological order anymore. Well, I say, if Isaiah can skip all over the place, so can I! I mean, for heaven’s sake he changes centuries in the middle of a verse! So I’m packin’ up and movin’ on…to another chapter that is. Hmmm, now to decide where to start.

I’ll get back to you!

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” Isaiah 2:2-3.

A couple of years ago a temple was built near us, a mere 35 minute drive across town. Previous to this we had to travel a whopping 2 hours to the nearest temple! I remember growing up in Oklahoma and my parents being excited that a temple was being built in Dallas, which was about 6 hours away. Before that the closest temple was in Salt Lake City. I just read an Ensign article of a family who had to save and then give all they had to go to the temple; they traveled several days and didn’t even know how they were going to return home.

Before the temple was dedicated I was able to take my children through it. My husband wasn’t able to be there which was disappointing because when we went into the sealing room I was overcome with the sight of my children and I standing there looking in the mirrors. We missed having him there because a piece of our family was missing, yet, never before had the reality of the sealing ordinance been so strongly made manifest to me. I can still see in my mind’s eye the sight of my children mirrored for eternity. It was breathtaking.

When our temple was finished I didn’t take immediate advantage of it. I’m ashamed of that; I just allowed the cares of the world to take up my time and kept neglecting to call and make the appointment. But when I finally did go, my excitement could hardly be contained. This temple was my temple, built for my use in my town! The emotions I felt as I went through the endowment were overwhelming. I have never had a temple experience quite like it. I especially needed it because that period of my life was such a trying time for me(it still is). The demands of motherhood and homeschooling were about to do me in (they still are). I just wanted to run away from my family and pretend they didn’t exist (I still do)! Motherhood is hard no matter what age your children are, and I was trying to be the sole educator on top of that. I remember finally getting into the Celestial room and I just sat there feeling the peace and drinking in the beauty that surrounded me. I prayed and pondered on some of my situations at home. I thought about the peace I felt there in the temple with the adversary and all the worldly frustrations locked outside. I told Heavenly Father that I just wanted to stay there forever. I didn’t want to go home. I sat there for awhile basking in the peace and serenity of my surroundings, and then the thought came to me, “You need to go home to your children now, but you can come back.”

My life is so busy right now with homeschool, church calling, homemaker, wife, chauffer, etc. etc. etc. I have so many demands that are either put upon me or that I put upon myself. I am also a person that has a hard time focusing on more than one or two things at a time. After awhile I find myself ‘fragmented’ so to speak. Lists are floating about in my head and on my counters. My brain has a hard time processing all the “to do’s” and after awhile my progress slows.

A few weeks ago my dad came to visit. My dad is a computer scientist and since I am pretty much illiterate when it comes to maintaining my computer I am always happy when he comes. He cleans it up, arranges files and puts it through a “defrag”. Now, being technologically limited, I can’t explain very well what a “defrag” is. It was simplified for me in this way: in the inner workings of the computer, files get moved around and this creates a lot of space in between each file. After awhile this inhibits the processes of the computer so that it begins to slow down. A defrag lines up the files and eliminates the spaces so that the computer then runs much more efficiently. (Clear as mud and probably not completely accurate, but for our purpose here we’ll go with it.)

People are like computers. They need to be maintained on a regular basis. Going to church every Sunday is like organizing the files we can see in our documents. It’s best to arrange, delete and make changes regularly in order to keep our desktop clean and in good working order. But we have callings to do and children to keep still. We are not always able to sit and nurture our souls. The temple is different. There we are free from distraction. Going to the temple is like the big defrag. It cleans up and organizes us on the inside, it puts our life back into perspective and it pulls the scattered fragments of our soul together.

“You can come back.” Never were sweeter words whispered to my soul.

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image…And again: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” (Mosiah 13:12-13)

The Lord is jealous and with good reason. Our very breath each day is a gift. He created us and gave us everything we have and all he asks is that we love him and obey him. But insert the Natural Man with all his worldy inclinations and graven images...decorating magazines, sewing machines, computers, books, food (strictly speaking of myself here, feel free to insert your own dieties). We forget the Lord way too easily and on a daily basis. Fortunately he is a loving and merciful God. He recognizes that we will fall short. "For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still” (Isaiah 9:12), meaning that he will not deter the consequences, but will stretch forth his hand and wait for us to take hold so that he can guide us back to the path or pull us out of the deep pit we have dug. Sometimes, however, our focus is so blurred or the pit is too deep that we don’t see his stretched out hand, so he uses other means of recalling us to our sense of duty.

“And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away they dross, and take away all thy tin” (Isaiah 1:25). The reference to turn is ‘return, or repeatedly chastise’.

Chastise: To correct by punishing; to punish; to inflict pain by stripes, or in other manner, for the purpose of punishing an offender and recalling him to his duty. To correct; to purify by expunging faults.

Sometimes it is painful to be recalled back to our duties. It’s embarrassing and humiliating. I was humiliated when I read that article on the second commandment. I hadn’t realized how engrossed I was until it was so blatantly pointed out to me. Being chastised is not pleasant. But the Lord doesn’t do it to be unkind. He is expunging our faults and trying to perfect and purify us.

In my first Isaiah post I spoke of having ingrown toenails. On one of them I had to cut off the side of the nail, all the way down to the root (sorry for those with queasy stomachs!). It grossed me out to do and it really hurt! But taking out the offending part of the toenail that was digging into the flesh and making the wound fester was the only thing that would give it a chance to heal. It still didn’t heal of its own accord after that, I had to keep applying alcohol and every time I did so, it stung. It was a very unpleasant experience to say the least. But within a couple of weeks the infection was gone. It still didn’t look so pretty, but over time it has healed and now you can’t even tell I had one. A couple of years later I got another ingrown toenail. This time at the first sign of it I began applying alcohol right away. It never got to the point of my previous one; this time it was gone within a few days.

I still love to decorate my house. I still get carried away. I still need to apply the alcohol now and then. Decorating my house wasn’t a sin. The sin came in the form of putting that before my other duties. I have received my share of chastisement, but with chastisement comes change and healing. I welcome it because it does two things. First, every time it happens a little bit of dross is purged out of me and I am a better person for it and second, I feel the intense love of my Savior as I am “encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” (2 Nephi 1:15).



Well, I hope you have enjoyed our Isaiah study so far. As you can see I didn’t try to decipher every verse, my intent is to immerse myself in the beauty of Isaiah’s language looking for little gems that I can apply to my life. My knowledge isn’t perfect, but with each chapter I study, my soul and mind are expanding and I am finding the sweetness in his words. Alma expresses it best:

“and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand… And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.”

Happy pondering!

I posted this last week, but found a couple of errors so I pulled it and reworked it. However I am only publishing half of the original. I decided to keep the posts shorter so they are more easily digestible. I think with Isaiah you have to be brief!

In the previous Isaiah post I mused on what it meant to reason with the Lord. The Lord loves us and he wants to give us every opportunity to come back to him. “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” (Moses 1:39). But what happens when we don’t? And furthermore, what are the reasons that caused us to veer off the path in the first place? They are many and varied, but I think they all contain one common element.

“For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens ye have chosen.” (Isaiah 1:29) The footnote for oaks refers to the terebinth trees and gardens used in idol worship.

Several years ago we built a new house. It was the first one we had owned, we had lived in rentals up until that time. I was so excited to be able to decorate that I spent an inordinate amount of time, money and energy on that pursuit. I bought all kinds of magazines and spent hours perusing them, dreaming about what my house was going to look like. One day as I sat down to read I pulled out a stack of Ensigns that I had been neglecting for some time. One cover caught my eye as I was glancing through, but I passed over it. I leafed through the stack, rearranged the pile and then randomly selected one. It was the one I had passed over. On the cover was a picture of Moses with the Ten Commandments and the article depicted was entitled, “The Second Commandment Today—Refusing to Worship Graven Images.” At that point I began to connect the dots; I was being told something. As I read the article, I was filled with a deep sense of shame for there were some points made in the article that seem to be specifically put there for me to read. I recognized that I had been putting the Decorating God before my Savior. Decorating my house was my garden of worship and I had been neglecting my other duties of wife and mother.

Both the first and second commandments instruct us to put God first. I can’t think of any sin that doesn’t begin by disobeying those commandments. The aforementioned article states that worshipping modern images results in confusion, corruption and a divided heart. When I was so immersed in my decorating I was confused about my priorities. My children were neglected, dinner wasn’t ready on time (if ever) and my relationship with my husband suffered. Because God was not first in my life, my focus was askew and it was easy for Satan to lead me down the wrong path.

This experience happened several years ago, but as I write this I can think back on this last week and see too many times that I allowed a little graven image to distract me. It is a never ending battle. In fact I should be in bed right now rather than writing this post! But there is hope. The Lord is always there to guide us back to the strait and narrow. Sometimes it’s just a nudge (toward the bed), but other times it’s not always a pleasant experience…

But you'll have to wait for another post to get the scintillating details.

Happy Pondering!

Seminary…doesn’t the word just make you tired? Can you recall those early mornings, dragging yourself out of a nice warm bed, knowing that all your non Mormon classmates were still snoozing…no fair! My daughter calls it Cemetary. She feels dead in the mornings, but still manages to get up and make herself presentable and get there on time. I’m proud of her. I wasn’t so disciplined myself, however, I did manage to get in three years and one of them was the Old Testament. I’m sure we plowed through Isaiah, but I don’t remember much, except one scripture, which is actually one of my favorites, Isaiah 1:18

“Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

I like it because it makes the Lord seem so personal to me. It’s like he’s inviting me to have a cozy chat with him and he wants to tell me what he can do to help me. He’s telling me that no matter how far gone I am, he can help me. Remember our sick friend from the last Isaiah post? Now he was pretty far gone, but there's still hope for him. This scripture also has a lot of symbolism regarding red and white, crimson and wool which is very fascinating, but I’ll have to save that for another post. For this post I’m looking from another angle.

This verse and others like it have popped up in my life a lot these days. I have been going through a trial of sorts for the last two years, and I have been trying to figure out how to best get through it. I have tried a variety of ways, but most of the time I have been hitting my head against the wall. A few months ago I had a really strange dream and I woke up wondering what it meant. I have had a lot of weird dreams in the last couple of years and I have found that if I immediately read my scriptures that I will be given some answers. So at 4:00 am, I rolled out of bed, picked up my scriptures and randomly opened them. I ended up in the last three verses of D&C 49: 26-28,

“Behold, I say unto you, go forth as I have commanded you; repent of all your sins; ask and ye shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you. Behold I will go before you and be your rearward; and I will be in your midst, and you shall not be confounded. Behold, I am Jesus Christ and I come quickly.”

I wasn’t sure how this connected to my dream and was unclear of what I was being told; obviously I needed to repent of some sins, but which ones? I felt I had so many…and what was I supposed to ask for? I was confused, so I knelt and prayed and the thought came to me, “keep reading”. So I got back up and continued in D&C 50. The first few verses had some phrases that popped out at me and started to give me an inkling of understanding, but overall I was still confused. I cried out in my mind, "I don’t understand!", and then the very next words I read were in verse 10,

“…let us reason together, that ye may understand; Let us reason even as a man reasoneth one with another face to face. Now, when a man reasoneth he is understood of man, because he reasoneth as a man; even so will I, the Lord, reason with you that you may understand."

I love it when that happens, when the Lord gives a quick answer to let you know he’s there. It’s startling, but beautiful. I went on to read the whole section and I’d like to say that I came to a complete understanding of what the Lord meant and what I was to understand, but I didn’t. I found some more phrases that were clues to me, I knew I was being told something, but really, I was rather disappointed. I expected that I would find the meaning to my dream in that section, but I still came away confused. Over the next few days I kept turning to that section and reading and rereading to try and glean more understanding, but came away with little more than I was given that day. So then why did he say he would reason with me and I would understand, yet I still not understand?

What does it mean to reason? I looked up the word ‘reason’ in the Noah Webster 1828 dictionary. I use the dictionary a lot when I study because understanding the full meaning of a word will often bring added dimension. I like the 1828 dictionary because in that day Christian principles were the basis of society, so some of the definitions reflect that standard.

Reason (noun): A faculty of the mind by which it distinguishes truth from falsehood, good from evil, and which enables the possessor to deduce inferences from facts or propositions.

So reasoning is distinguishing truth from falsehood, and good from evil, but how do we know what is truth and what is not? Is the world round or is it flat? Is the earth the center of the universe, or is the sun? Centuries ago this was questionable. Well, Abraham knew, but nobody else did for a very long time; that knowledge came as men studied, observed and questioned. Then as truths were learned and principle was laid upon principle, it became common knowledge that the world was round and the earth revolved around the sun.

In order to reason we need to know what is good and what is evil. Some of that is inborn as we are all given the Light of Christ that we may discern good from evil. We are also taught, from the moment we are able to think, about choices and consequences and how to choose the right, and what happens when we don’t. As we grow older and become accountable for our sins, we learn about repentance and as we make mistakes and apply the principles of repentance we become stronger and more knowledgable about what choices bring happiness and which bring despair. D&C 50:40 says, “Ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of truth.” We grow line upon line, precept upon precept. Our powers of reasoning sharpen with each principle we come to understand.

Over the last couple of months I have immersed myself in Isaiah. I have studied my scriptures nearly every day, sometimes only for a few mintues, but more often for an hour or more. At first I didn’t enjoy it so much. Isaiah is so hard to understand and some days I felt I was getting nothing. I began really concentrating on the imagery, letting the words form pictures in my mind and then writing down all the things that came to me. My thoughts were scattered and random, but every so often something would make sense and a truth would begin to unfold. I began to see connections and my writings became more focused. Line upon line, precept upon precept I began to "grow in the knowledge of truth”.

I spoke of going through a trial over the last couple of years and recently I made a major decision that I thought would help me to pass through this trial. I had tried to make this decision before, about six months ago, only at that time it was a rash decision. I sort of prayed about it (more like I told the Lord what I was going to do) and through my scriptures I was told no, I could not go through with it. I cried and threw a fit but I didn’t do it. However, over the last couple of months my perspective has begun to change. I was able to see the situation in a different light. Through my scripture study understanding was given to me. I reasoned with the Lord about why I thought it was ok to make this decision this time. I prayed many heartfelt prayers and I fasted. I went to the temple and this time I was told yes, I could go through with it.

What made the difference?

D&C 50:21-25 says, "Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together. And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."

Through my consistency in scripture study I have grown in truth and light and my powers of reasoning have been sharpened. I was given more knowledge about this particular trial, and I can see now that had I followed through on the decision the first time, the consequenses would have been disastorous. I know that because the first couple of days were really hard. I questioned if it were right, even though it had been confirmed to me in the temple. I'm still working through the trial, but with the light being given to me I will be able to endure and even find some joy in the process. The other day I started to go back through D&C 50 and this time I have been able to understand more of what the Lord is trying to tell me. He truly was reasoning with me, I just didn't have enough knowledge to understand what he wanted me to know yet.

The world really is round! And I am beginning to see the roundness of my world. As I move Christ toward the center of my life, my world is becoming brighter and brighter, and I am more able to see the beauty and joy within.

“I believe in [Christ] as I believe the sun has risen, not because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Have a great day!

"Laundry"

My last post was a pathetic attempt at some Isaiah type imagery. What does a picture of two cute boys buried in the sand have to do with laundry? At face value it might seem to be that because they are buried in the sand their clothes will need to be washed, or you might consider how little boys tend to generate lots of laundry, and then you are getting closer. But there's a little more to this seemingly random word and picture. That is how Isaiah is, at face value his disconnected and ambigious words confuse and you have to probe a little deeper to understand the message.

I decided to write a little verse about my picture and I hope you enjoy it!



And the people did throw forth their fine twined linens, and their purple mantles and cloths of scarlet and gold and many other cloths did they throw forth which were soiled and full of filth, and they did stretch forth as it were like the sands of the sea and they piled up in heaps as great mountains and the people were buried. And one did rise above the rest and did cause the waters to whirl to and fro and the air to blow forth as a furnace, hot and scourging, and the fine twined linens and the purple mantles and cloths of scarlet and gold were cleansed and purified, yet still did they pile up as great mountains until the one began to disperse them among the people, each to his own kind. And the waters abated and the air did cease to blow for a time and the one came to rest which rest was glorious.


Or in other words, I was up to my neck in laundry!

Have a great weekend!

In ancient times because the written word was scarce, anything of importance either had to be written in stone, or passed along orally, which usually meant memorizing long passages of poetry or prose. Passages written in poetry were easier to remember, however it wasn’t rhyming poetry as we know it. It employed the use of parallelism and imagery. Parallelism is fascinating, but hard to pick out. I will be concentrating more on imagery during this study. Imagery helps us to visualize things and aids in memory retention. It also helps us to see beyond the face value; it broadens our focus and deepens our perspective. I think it is one of Isaiah’s most powerful tools. He puts before us an image or analogy that has meaning on many different levels and leaves it to us to draw out the application.

Isaiah starts right off in chapter one, laying an image before us. In Isaiah 1:5-6 he compares the house of Israel to a body: “Why should you be stricken anymore? Ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.”

Here we have a body—a person—stricken from head to toe, “no soundness in it”; he’s rendered pretty much immobile. The whole head is sick. The head is kind of the control room for the rest of our body. I had a migraine once. It was the only one I have ever had (knocking on wood). I had to be in a dark room without any sound or movement whatsoever. It was the most miserable I have ever been. I couldn’t make any kind of rational decision, let alone even think. I had to have my husband come home from work, because I couldn’t care for my children. I just wanted to die and be let out of this misery! It didn’t matter that the rest of my body was ok, the headache did me in.

Moving along, Isaiah tells us that the heart is faint, it is diseased. I’ve never had a heart attack, but I hear they are very painful. I have had heart ache though. Great anguish, deep within me that I could find no relief from, it literally made me feel sick all over. It affected all my decisions and caused much distress in my life.

On top of it all, there are sores all over this body— putrifying sores that are in need of attention. Gross. I’ve had several ingrown toenails. They are disgusting to look at and painful to the touch. If I stubbed my toe or someone stepped on them the pain was almost unbearable. I had to have a couple of them cut out by a doctor. Even after they healed over, I would cringe and curl up my toes when someone would step too close to them.

So this person is in bad shape. Why? What brought him to that point?

If you go back to verse 2 it says, “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.” This person was brought up and taught correctly, but rebelled. Why do children who are brought up in the light of the gospel rebel? It makes me think of when the Lord came to this continent and for two centuries following his visit the people were righteous. Then a new generation of children fell away. Why?

At the time I studied this chapter my mind had been caught up in thinking about the political scene in our country. The evangelical vote is a big deal these days and I had just read an article depicting how several candidates have hired political strategists specifically to help them attract the Christian voters. “Vain oblations...calling of assemblies” (vs. 13) were the phrases that popped out in this chapter. Rather than these politicians being true to what they believe, they want to know what rhetoric to use to “appeal” to the voters. The footnotes in verse 13 lead us to Matthew 15:9, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men”.

I can’t pretend to understand the political world so this is not meant to be a political post, you’ll have to refer to someone else for that, but I think the words of Isaiah can make us aware of what to watch out for in the world today. Who are we following, who are we allowing to be our leaders? Who do we trust? Are we voting for politicians who are priniciple based, speaking truth, or ones who are “appealing” to us, telling us what we want to hear, whether it is true or not? What path are we going to be led down and what will be our state at the end of that path? Could it be that the Nephites began following after a different leader, trusting in the arm of the flesh?

We're not finished with chapter one yet, so be sure to check back in later for more musings.

Happy pondering!